Cash-strapped Wellington Phoenix have had to close the gates to spectators for their A-League 'home' fixture against Melbourne Victory on Wednesday.
Billed as part of the club's 'February football frenzy', the clash will bring together two sides that met last month in the FFA Cup semi-finals, where Victory prevailed 4-1 and went on to defeat Central Coast Mariners for the silverware.
The Phoenix are hoping to build on their 3-1 win over Macarthur FC last weekend, which propelled them up the competition standings, within reach of playoff contention.
But management have announced on social media that the lack of a matchday sponsor to cover stadium services will see Wollongong's WIN Stadium closed to fans.
"Unfortunately, we've had to make a tough decision and play tomorrow night's men's round 12 match against Melbourne Victory behind closed doors," tweet the Phoenix. "This comes after we were unable to lock in a local commercial partner for tomorrow night's match.
"We would like to apologise to all our Australian-based fans, who were looking at making the trip down to the 'Gong tomorrow night. We appreciate all the support you have given us at matches this season."
Victory are well placed on the competition ladder in third, with three games in hand over leaders Western United and two over second-placed Sydney FC.
Wellington actually led their Cup semi 1-0 at halftime, but capitulated over the final half hour.
"It was one of those games that we defended very well, I thought, and we got the goal that we needed, but at that time, with players missing, we lacked a bit of depth to kill that game off," says coach Ufuk Talay.
The Phoenix will have All Whites internationals Clayton Lewis and Tim Payne back in their line-up, and hope to have English journeyman Scott Wootton on the park for his long-awaited club debut.
"Now, when we make changes, they’re like-for-like changes, instead of makeshift and moving players from positions they normally don’t play, which is a good thing for us," says Talay.
"It’s a great opportunity against the guys that just won the Cup. We played them previously, we showed what we can do and now we’ve got to maintain it through the 90 minutes."
