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Phoenix to relocate to NSW for A-L start

3 minute read

The Wellington Phoenix will be based in NSW for the start of the A-League season and will allow players to bring their families over with them.

STEFAN MARINOVIC of the All Whites looks on during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between the New Zealand All Whites and Peru at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.
STEFAN MARINOVIC of the All Whites looks on during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between the New Zealand All Whites and Peru at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand. Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Wellington Phoenix will allow players to bring their families and partners with them when they relocate to NSW for the start of the A-League season in a bid to make their Australian base a home away from home.

The Phoenix will move their operations from Wellington to NSW for the second time in as many seasons due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, with Wollongong shaping as a likely base.

Wellington's squad members will assemble in NSW on November 1, when they can begin training as a team ahead of the A-League's December 27 start date.

But unlike earlier this year where the Phoenix players were in a Hub as the A-League scrambled to finish the season, Wellington general manager David Dome said the club wanted to set up a training base that felt as normal as possible rather than a hotel-style Hub.

That would include facilitating moves for families and partners, he added.

"Some of the players will take families with them and we're going to facilitate that ... and some of the players may take partners with them as well," Dome told Newstalk ZB.

"We'll sort it out and we're working with them on a case-by-case basis for their accommodation and what that looks like.

"Just to be absolutely clear - they're not going to live in a hotel-type accommodation - it will be accommodation potentially like they would otherwise be having if they were living in Wellington.

"We want to create ourselves as close to a normal living environment as we can."

Dome lauded the commitment of Wellington's staff and players especially given some could choose not to take their families with them, meaning they would be separated for months.

New Zealand-based players will fly to NSW in coming days to join those already based in Australia.

Players based overseas, like Mexican star Ulises Davila and goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic (based in Germany), will fly directly to Australia to complete their hotel quarantine period.

Dome hoped to secure "a dedicated home ground" for Wellington's time in NSW.

"We don't really want to be moving around too much - that doesn't help with your planning and your preparation," he said.

"So certainly our preference is to be based in one particular location."

The Phoenix hope to play home games in Wellington later in the season, but that depends on a trans-Tasman bubble that would allow players and staff to travel without a compulsory two-week quarantine period upon arriving in New Zealand.

Wellington would also have to consider the cost of relocating back to New Zealand.

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