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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast

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Speaker 1: from News Talks ATB.

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Speaker 2: I gotta say I never thought I would support Auckland

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Speaker 2: in anything. In anything, I mean, duh. I'm from christ Church,

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Speaker 2: so when I was a kid, you know I was,

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Speaker 2: it was a given that Aucklands were nothing more than

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Speaker 2: latte swilling, overpriced haircut donning, ostentatious sports card driving prima donnas.

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Speaker 2: You know it was a given. And look, my parochialism

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Speaker 2: isn't the only force working against Auckland City FC. When

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Speaker 2: the brand new club kicks off in its very first

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Speaker 2: A League match this evening, it faces the unique challenge

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Speaker 2: that comes from trying to launch a new team and

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Speaker 2: a new club and a competition that is already well established.

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Speaker 2: Just think about it, right, Most of the teams we

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Speaker 2: support in different sports have either been around since the

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Speaker 2: competition's inception or have built up a fan base over

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Speaker 2: years or even decades. You know, I support the Crusaders

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Speaker 2: because I was born and raised in christ Church and

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Speaker 2: when Super Rugby was established, they were the team of

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Speaker 2: everyone in my life. Makes sense. I support Liverpool in

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Speaker 2: the English Premier League because when I was six or

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Speaker 2: seven years old and watching football highlights on the news.

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Speaker 2: I asked my dad, who's English and who likes football,

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Speaker 2: what English club we support? He said, ERH, Liverpool, I guess,

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Speaker 2: and so I stuck with that. The Warriors they inspire

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Speaker 2: my loyalty because for all the highs and lows, and

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Speaker 2: yes there are so many lows, they have endured for

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Speaker 2: thirty years and never really shaken off the underdog status.

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Speaker 2: And hey, they are the New Zealand Warriors, don't forget,

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Speaker 2: not the Auckland Warriors. So we're good theoretically at least.

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Speaker 2: It is a bit harder to inspire loyalty in a

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Speaker 2: team that arrives late to the party, especially when that

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Speaker 2: team is the third Auckland based professional football club to

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Speaker 2: compete in the Australian Top League. Rip to the Auckland

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Speaker 2: Kings with a zugh and the New Zealand Knights. Also,

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Speaker 2: I really love the Phoenix. I love the Wellington Phoenix,

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Speaker 2: I love the fan culture and the club has been

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Speaker 2: playing so well over the last few years. I don't know,

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Speaker 2: maybe I'm wrong, but I think there's a risk that

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Speaker 2: any rivalry in a Kiwi Darby in the A League,

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Speaker 2: the Phoenix versus the Knights could just feel a little

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Speaker 2: bit forced baby at least early on right. But for

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Speaker 2: all of that, I've got to say Auckland FC has

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Speaker 2: one massive dynamic working in its favor. People in the

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Speaker 2: nine are so ready for a proper football team. They

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Speaker 2: are so ready for this moment. You see it every

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Speaker 2: time the Phoenix play at Eden Park, you see it

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Speaker 2: at all Whites games, you see it on the sidelines

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Speaker 2: of however many thousand junior football games on Saturday mornings. Sure,

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Speaker 2: it might take a few seasons to deepen the well

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Speaker 2: of loyalty for the club, but you would be hard

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Speaker 2: pressed to find a city or a market on Earth

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Speaker 2: that isn't hungrier for a team to support. And so

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Speaker 2: tonight I will be there. I will be one of

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Speaker 2: the more than twenty thousand at a sold out go

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Speaker 2: Media Stadium. I must have a dozen friends attending. We're

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Speaker 2: all taking kids. Some have already bought season passes. You

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Speaker 2: can hold the fancy haircut, you can hold the lattes.

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Speaker 2: But I will be proudly crossing the rubicon dressed in blue.

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Speaker 2: And if in years to come anyone should question my

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Speaker 2: loyalty to AFC, well, at least I can say I

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Speaker 2: was there from day one.

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Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talks' b from nine am Saturday, or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iheartrate yo