For finals footy, there’s no place like home for Nix star
Four-time A-League Men champion Kosta Barbarouses came home because he wanted to try to win a championship with Wellington Phoenix.
But the All Whites striker, who is second only to former Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Michael Theo for most championship wins, is resigned to the fact he may never get to experience a grand final in Wellington. That is because Australian Professional Leagues, the group that runs the A-League Men and Women competitions, has sold the hosting rights for the next three grand finals to Sydney for a reported $20 million.
Barbarouses will be 35 and offcontract when the deal with the New South Wales government ends in 2025.
‘‘It looks like it’s going to be a bidding war after those three years, from what I’ve read, so it doesn’t look like [I will play a final in Wellington] which is pretty disappointing,’’ Barbarouses said.
He said APL’s announcement, which has led to intense backlash with supporter groups across the competition planning protests for this weekend’s games, came as a ‘‘shock’’ to the players.
‘‘I don’t think anyone saw it coming, especially on the back of how well Australia did at the World Cup.
‘‘To capitalise on that, every decision is crucial for growing the game in this part of the world.
‘‘Obviously there’s a financial benefit to doing it, but the fans of whatever team has done extremely well over the year to earn that right to host a final have now had that taken away from them.
‘‘From a fans’ perspective you’d be pretty disappointed if your team made the final and you had to [travel to Sydney].’’
Barbarouses has played in five grand finals for three different clubs during his A-League career; Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.
On three occasions he got to experience a home grand final after finishing as the top qualifier, including his first in 2011 which was played in front of 50,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
The other two times he got to experience a final as a visiting player, including in 2018 when he scored the match-winning goal to silence the crowd at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle.
He said winning hosting rights for the grand final had previously been a huge incentive to finish first.
‘‘I was lucky being at Victory that they have a massive supporter base so even the away games they’d make the trip.
‘‘But here for example, if we made the final and it should’ve been here, it’s a big ask to make fans go all the way to Australia and pay accommodation for a couple of nights. It’s a bit unrealistic to expect fans to do that. There’s nothing like having a home final, that’s for sure.’’
The Phoenix men and women play Adelaide United in a double header in Wellington today.
The men drew 1-1 with Adelaide in the first round after playing most of the game with 10 men following Yan Sasse’s early red card.
Phoenix supporters group Yellow Fever has planned a protest to show its disapproval of APL’s decision to move the grand finals to Sydney.
In the 20th minute of the men’s match members will vacate the Fever Zone and sit with the travelling Adelaide supporters in a different aisle away from the view of the television cameras.
Barbarouses said he understood the fans’ frustration as they were the ones most affected by the change.