Rotorua football club buys 200 Phoenix tickets

PHOENIX FEVER: Rotorua's Eastlake Junior Soccer Club has bought its entire club tickets to the Wellington Phoenix game in Rotorua on September 22. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Phoenix fever has arrived in Rotorua with one local football club buying more than 200 tickets to the Wellington Phoenix pre-season match at the Rotorua International Stadium.

Eastlake Junior Soccer Club has purchased their entire club tickets to the September 22 match between the Wellington Phoenix and the New Zealand-based All Whites.

Eastlake president Robin Parr said they were looking for a way to thank their coaches at the end of the season.

"It gives the coaches something to take away from the season," he said.

"We had a little bit of spare money and thought we may as well do something for the coaches so let's do this."

He said they bought 23 team packages - two adult tickets and seven children's tickets - which will be given to each coach.

Parr said he also hoped the high-profile match might stir more interest in the beautiful game in Rotorua.

"We have been dropping a few soccer kids for a while but there has been a bit of a resurgence in the 5-year-olds," he said.

"Our biggest loss is probably the 14, 15 and 16-year age group but we are hoping [the match] will get a few more people out and onto the football pitch."

He said the Phoenix match would fit perfectly as an end of season break-up for the club.

Rotorua District Council events manager Crispian Stewart said tickets to the game were selling relatively slow.