FFA to review Phoenix v Victory match over strip clash and poor pitch

FOOTBALL Federation Australia admits it botched Saturday night’s A-League clash between Melbourne Victory and Wellington.

Wellington's Tom Doyle challenges Melbourne's Kosta Barbarouses in the Hyundai A-League football match between Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory, at QBE Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. (AAP Image/David Rowland) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FOOTBALL Federation Australia admits it botched Saturday night’s A-League clash between Melbourne Victory and Wellington, announcing a review in to the game’s bizarre strip clash and conceding the QBE Stadium pitch was below expectations.

The sport’s governing body is already bumbling its way through ongoing fan boycotts, so the Auckland debacle labelled as “unprofessional” by Victory vice-captain Leigh Broxham was the last thing it needed.

Broxham said he had to throw his boots out after the game due to “a pitch that was basically just painted green” and said there were times when he struggled to tell his teammates — wearing white — apart from silver-clad Wellington players.

The pitch was scored a three out of five on FFA’s official pitch rating guide and adjudged as being “satisfactory” for play.

But staggering pass numbers told a story of woe for both teams.

Melbourne Victory captain Leigh Broxham tackles Wellington`s Michael McGlinchey in Auckland on Saturday night.

Wellington’s successful pass rate of 52.3 per cent was 21.2 per cent down on its season average, while Victory’s success rate of 68.9 per cent was down 9.1 per cent.

Following on from coach Kevin Muscat’s scathing criticism, Broxham said the surface was not good enough.

“The whole thing was a bit unprofessional,” Broxham said.

“We had a pitch that was basically just painted green. I had to throw my boots out after the game because they were completely destroyed.

“I don’t think there’s room for that sort of pitch in the A-League any more, I think the game has surpassed things like that, it shouldn’t happen.”

Victory players arrived in the dressing room on Saturday to find their white away strips laid out, only for the referee to order them to change in to their all-blue home kits because they clashed too much with Wellington’s special one-off silver outfits.

But FFA overruled the referee’s decision and after coming in from their warm-up Victory players found their white away shirts back out in combination with their blue home shorts.

“That’s another thing that comes under that unprofessional tag,” Broxham said.

“That two teams can be that similar at this level is quite strange.

“The game is wanting to move forward and things like this happen.

Part of the pitch in Auckland.

“If you were under pressure and trying to do things quick, sometimes you saw something out of the corner of your eye and you thought ‘that’s normally the colour we’re in’.”

Victory lost the game 2-0 to a Phoenix side who this season took two home games away from its traditional Wellington base.

FFA said in a statement the “approval process for the strips would be subject to an operational review”, with the Phoenix third kit creating issues that “we will ensure are not repeated” again.

“The end result was not ideal, especially for TV viewers,” FFA said.

Head office also said the QBE Stadium pitch was “out of sync” with pitches normally produced for A-League games.

“The pitch was deemed to have met the minimum standard in the midweek inspection and again on match day,” the statement said.

“But given that this was an important, high profile fixture in New Zealand, we expected something more than the minimum standard.”

Originally published as FFA to review Phoenix v Victory match over strip clash and poor pitch