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Bleedin' incredible innit!
One joker from the East End covered in scribble can attract 31,853 people to a no-account exhibition, biggest crowd to watch the round ball game here for 25 years.
And 20 minutes after the game, half of them are still hanging around Wellington's Cake Tin
hoping for another glimpse of the opposition captain, despite their team losing 4-1.
And despite the fact the last goal came from a refereeing gaffe, LA Galaxy's Carlos Pavon clearly tripping over his own boots and the ball rather than a Phoenix foot but the crowd going into rapture when their hero slotted with his trademark.
He may be fick, but you have to give David Beckham his due - he wowed the Wellington crowd, he behaved well even when behaving badly in shouting at the ref then quickly backing off, he played the full game and then he swapped shirts with the opposition captain, all the boys applauding, the girls swooning.
The Phoenix bosses got everything they could have hoped for and more.
Beckham was brilliant. And that despite his few touches on the field. The Phoenix game-plan seemed to be to keep the ball away from Beckham.
When he did get it he showed his class, all bar the clear run at the goal late second-half when he might have scored but hit the line-up kick too hard.
That was reminiscent of the Phoenix' play in the A-League competition against Adelaide at the same venue on Friday night, when numerous chances or cross-goal kicks were shied wide or high, everything overcooked, as if the players were too tense ahead of Saturday.
The ticketing deal covered both games so it's interesting that the Adelaide contest attracted around 18,500 fewer than saw the Galaxy. The subsequent predictions about soccer pushing on to new heights in New Zealand remain subject to scepticism.
The feel-good atmosphere in Wellington and at the weekend's other Wow Factor event, the NZ Open in Queenstown, has been underwritten by the ringing of tills, merchandise selling out at both events.
Michael Hill is to be congratulated for rescuing the golfing Open as well as taking it to his spectacular course in Queenstown. The players have spoken enthusiastically about the links-like course, it's looked great on TV and is sure to attract tourists who want to see and/or play it for themselves.
And what about Sir Bob Charles? In today's corporate language they'd describe him as an "asset" to New Zealand golf. Really, he's a legend.
With the spectacular mountain and lake scenery, the outdoor activities and hunting and fishing on offer as the Open plays out its next two years of the three-year deal with Hill, there is the opportunity for the national body to attract top overseas players with incentives rather than large fees.
The only thing missing has been a kakapo on the leaderboard.
Thank God the too-long rugby season is finally over, even if the off-field pantomime over the All Blacks coaching job isn't. It's a shame the Northern Hemisphere's real competitions don't encourage the flair that was evident in the Barbarians' 22-5 win over South Africa.
Gordon Tietjens is a remarkable coach, continually reinventing the NZ Sevens side and able to lift them to victory despite injuries and loss of key players to the 15-man game. He has taken them to 30 sevens titles from 43 attempts, generally finishing second when not first, a phenomenal record.
The sevens squad, who scored a 31-21 victory over arch-rivals Fiji in Dubai at the weekend, will be the only ones from rugby to trouble the Halberg Awards panel this year.
What future for the Black Caps? A crop of recently retired players have headed for the riches on offer in India through the rebel competition. New Zealand has been ignored by the organisers of the ICC-sanctioned Twenty20 championship where two teams from India play two from Australia, England and South Africa for $5 million in prizemoney.
It appears further expansion of the money game in India is driving a wedge between Cricket Australia and its players. A group of leading Aussie players have signed an agreement to play in a Twenty20 tournament in April/May next year, 14 games in 40 days for A$150,000 ($173,000).
That clashes with the Australian tour of Pakistan. Will this mean war? And with forces divided, will New Zealand be a chance in the coming games and the Chappell-Hadlee series?
Will John Wright's steady approach run down John Bracewell's hare-and-tortoise progressand see him take over as coach? And what about the clowns who watered the track at Ellerslie racecourse forcing the cancellation of everything after race three on Saturday?