The Yellow Fever are ready to dust off their scarves and shirts, after the Phoenix confirmed home matches in Wellington and Auckland next month.
Thanks to the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, the currently Wollongong-based Phoenix will be able to return home before the end of the 2020/21 regular season.
The Phoenix will be looking forward to playing in front of the vocal Yellow Fever for the first time in over 400 days, which has fans ready to sing and cheer.
"It's the most exciting news we've had all season," Yellow Fever ringleader Patrick Barnes says.
"It's been great watching them on TV and having them in Australia, which has been good for the team playing games. But there nothing like being there at the stadium cheering the team on in person and we get to do that twice which is really exciting."
The A-League's only Kiwi side haven't played on NZ soil in over a year, and the May 22 kick-off will mark 433 days since their last home match.
The Phoenix will play their first home match against Western United at Wellington's Sky Stadium on May 22, then take on Perth Glory at Auckland's Eden Park on May 30.
It's been so long that the Yellow Fever will be dusting off the scarves and shirts when Western United comes to the capital.
"My scarves are actually in storage and I need to get them out," Barnes adds.
"I put them in there a year ago and havent needed them since, so I'm looking forward to being able to pull them out, dust them off and take them out to the stadium."
The Phoenix will be hoping for bumper crowds in Wellington and Auckland as they push for a spot in the playoffs for the third straight season. Both fixtures will be played in the afternoon with the Wellington game kicking off at 4pm and the Auckland game at 3:30pm.
The Kiwi side have also been helped by Capital Football postponing all afternoon football matches on May 22 to allow local players to attend the Wellington fixture.
"I think that's probably an understatement, I would be hoping for 20 thousand myself," he says. "I think there is a good chance we can get huge crowds to both these games.
"I think the public realise the team has invested a lot moving over to Australia and they will be itching to see them in action again."
The Yellow Fever will be looking to kick things off in style, with a bumper day in store for Phoenix fans as they host former coach Mark Rudan's Western United.
"Just kicking things off, I think we're gonna do a bit of a pub crawl before the game as a tradition," Barnes says. "We'll get our banners and scarves out at the stadium, all the little things that we haven't been able to do from far away.
The Yellow Fever won't just be out in force in the capital, they'll also be making the short trip north to the 'big smoke' for the fixture against Perth Glory.
"I've already booked flights to Auckland and tickets to the Wellington game and I'm sure lots of other Wellingtonians will be at both as well."
As the Phoenix reach the business end of the season, they'll be hoping for two positive results that sees the Yellow Fever twirling their shirts as they hunt a playoff spot.
The Phoenix are currently eighth in the A-League standings, two points off the top six with just seven games remaining.
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