D'Arcy Waldegrave: Who will show up to support Auckland FC?

Auckland FC’s unlikely journey toward A-League supremacy continues this evening as the plucky lads out of Penrose look to roll Adelaide in the first leg of their semi final series.   

Fingers crossed that the faithful turn up to scream and shout and spit and drink and cheer and chant AKLFC to a victory, to set up next week's return leg.  

The faithful will turn up I’m sure, the faithful being the Port, the gang of supporters that have been a constant since the team's inception. As for the rest, we’ll know early this evening.  

Plainly, the A-League's tone-deaf pricing of last week’s thrilling knock out fixture versus Melbourne City was injurious to the spectating body count, the warm prop attendance was a depressing 11,000ish.   

There were mitigating factors, such as the clash with local football and the unexpected nature of the game. AKLFC fluffed their lines against Sydney the previous week and instead of having a week off, they were thrown into an elimination match.   

The most telling issue though was the insane ticket pricing that cut the casual fanbase off at the knees. AKLFC had words with the league and this evening's match hasn’t been cash coshed by the governing body, so hopes are high that the stands are heaving come 6pm.  

But could the reduction in crowd numbers from last year's phenomenal count be as simple as second year syndrome? Auckland casual sports fans are notorious for their flaky attendance record and the team, although flirting all season with top spot, hardly provided consistent top results. The hardcore fans turned up, but the casual fan is where the growth will always be and this area I’d suggest has been lacking.  

Like a cute new puppy at Christmas that everyone wants to cuddle, a year down the track, after some chewed slippers and a couple of accidents on the carpet, the interest wanes somewhat. Not hessian sack style, but close.... 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Wildgrave from News talks'b SO.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Uglandfc's unlikely journey toward A League's supremacy continues this evening.
The plucky lads out of Penrose. They look to roll
Adelaide in the first leg of their semi final series.
Fingers crossed. The faithful turn up to scream and shout
and spit and drank and chair and chant Auckland FC
to victory to set up next week's return leg. Over there,

(00:37):
the faithful will turn up, I'm sure, the faithful, of course,
being the port the gang of supporters that have been
a constant since the team's inception. As for the rest, well,
we'll know early this evening. Plainly, the A League's tone
deaf pricing of last week's thrilling knockout fixture versus Melbourne
City was injurious to the spectating body count. The warm

(00:59):
proper attendance was a depressing eleven thousand ish. There were
mitigating facts such as the class with local football, which
wouldn't really be rescheduled because it was kind of last minute,
and the unexpected nature of the game. Auckland fluffed their
lines against Sydney the previous week. Instead of having a
week off, they were thrown into an elimination fixture. The

(01:21):
most telling issue, though, plainly, was the insane ticket pricing
that cut the casual fan base off at the knees.
AKFC had words of the league in this evening's match
hasn't been cash cost by the governing body, so hopes
high that the stands are heaving come six pm. But
could the reduction and crowd numbers from last year's phenomenal

(01:44):
count be as simple as second year syndrome? Auckland casual
sports fans are notorious for their flaky attendance record and
the team, although flirting all season with top spot, hardly
provided consistent top results. So the hardcore fans turned up,
but the casual fan is where the growth will always be,

(02:07):
and in this area i'd suggest they've been seriously lacking.
It's like a cute new puppy at Christmas that everyone
wants to cuddle, and a year down the track, after
some chewed slippers and a couple of accidents on the carpet,
the interest wanes somewhat, not airc in Sax style, but close.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
That'll do for more from the Your Sport Breakfast with
Darcy Watergrave. Listen live to News Talks sad BE on
Saturday mornings, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio