The news that Football Federation Australia (FFA) have declined the Wellington Phoenix a ten year licence extension to compete in the Hyundai A-League has rocked both the fans of the club and the football community as a whole.

As supporters of the club, we want to help the Phoenix show the FFA that they deserve their place in the A-League.

David Gallop, Chief Executive of the the FFA, has listed a number of metrics that the Phoenix need to improve in order to have a continued presence in the A-League. One of these metrics is the number of season memberships that are sold.

The aim of this fundraising effort is to raise money to buy a number of adult+child membership packages (worth $209 each). These will then be donated to organisations around Wellington that have a positive impact on the Wellington community.

We'd like to focus on organisations that have a large base of volunteer workers, to provide a way to say thank you to their volunteers by giving them a day out at a Phoenix match. We believe organisations such as Ronald McDonald House, Wellington Free Ambulance, Canteen and the SPCA fit this criteria, but would love to get ideas for other worthy causes. We won’t strictly limit our campaign to volunteer organisations, so if there are any organisations you believe deserve this opportunity, please send us your ideas via an email to savethenix@yellowfever.co.nz.

Not only will this #SaveTheNix campaign positively contribute to the Wellington community, it will also assist the Phoenix to meet David Gallop’s membership metrics and aid in the Phoenix’s ongoing negotiations with the FFA.