‘Global fuel situation’ stymied plans to bring third English football club to Auckland

Sunday, 7 June 2026

Documents reveal that the match-up between Chelsea Women and Auckland FC, partly funded by the Government, was not the fixture organisers had originally planned. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports.

Organisers were left scrambling to find another football team available to play Chelsea Women FC in Auckland after contract negotiations with an undisclosed side fell through due to the “global fuel situation”, the Sunday Star-Times can reveal.

It was announced last month that high-profile team Chelsea Women would play against an Auckland FC Invitational XI at Eden Park on August 8, as part of the International Football Festival that also includes a pairing of Auckland FC’s men’s squad - fresh off winning the A-League grand final - and premier league side Tottenham Hotspur.

But documents obtained under the Official Information Act from the office of Tourism Minister Louise Upston reveal that wasn’t the original plan.

An approved events list from January this year lists a match between Chelsea Women FC and a redacted team set down for August, which was expected to be announced on February 2.

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However, by March 25, that fixture was on ice after promoter “TEG informed officials that they were unable to execute a contract with [the redacted team] due to the global fuel situation”.

Other details related to the failed contract negotiations were also redacted.

The promoter, TEG, proposed alternative options for consideration, “including attempting to secure a different global team” or “proceeding with a New Zealand-based team following discussions with New Zealand Football”.

The phrase “different global team”, and the reference to the fuel crisis, suggests the original match was expected to see another internationally recognised side visit New Zealand. It’s understood this would have been a third high-profile English team.

“We will work with TEG over coming weeks to explore the most appropriate options for either a local or international team for a later announcement and will provide an update at the next panel meeting,” the document said.

Know more? Contact stewart.sowmanlund@thepost.co.nz

By April 9, well after the planned announcement date, a “revised” match pairing Chelsea Women FC against an Auckland FC Women Invitational team was on the table.

“TEG has consulted with key football stakeholders … to agree on an alternative opposition for Chelsea Women FC,” a briefing stated.

“It is proposed that Auckland FC field its first women’s team ahead of entry into the A-League, competing under official Auckland FC branding as the ‘Auckland FC Invitational XI’.”

This would “mirror” the men’s fixture, the briefing added, which also features an international team playing a local Auckland side.

A briefing noted that this revised concept would maintain the same broadcast reach as the original proposal, “with coverage across 120 countries through more than 30 channels and a global audience of two million viewers”.

There is no suggestion from the documents that officials considered pairing Chelsea Women against the pre-existing Wellington Phoenix Women squad, despite the team recently making it all the way to the final of the A-League Women competition.

In a deleted social media post after the fixture was announced, the Phoenix questioned that decision: “If only there was a women’s football team in New Zealand Chelsea could have played? Maybe one that just reached the Grand Final?”

Notably, the Chelsea fixture will be the first time Auckland FC has fielded a women’s side, which prompted some commentators to question just how competitive the match will be.

Wellington Phoenix has confirmed that it was never approached to play the Chelsea Women team.

Auckland FC did not respond to a request for comment.

But Ethan Fransen from Phoenix supporter group Yellow Fever told the Star-Times that his team got to play English side Wrexham in the capital last year, and it was fair enough that Auckland had a chance this time around.

“It would have been nice and Wrexham was a pretty big success, but at the end of the day it is what it is,” he said.

It was scheduling that prevented Wrexham, co-owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, from playing Auckland as well.

Fransen said that, in general, friendly matches with international teams were positive for the sport.

“These exhibition matches are good for growing the game of football in Australia and New Zealand … we can’t have it every year.”

The two upcoming Auckland fixtures form part of the NZ International Football Festival, which obtained funding from the Government under its $70 million Major Events and Tourism Package.

The fund has also been used to secure concerts by the likes of Robbie Williams and Post Malone, though the precise amount of funding allocated to each event has not been disclosed.

The events fund has been opposed by parties both inside and outside government for being a “slush fund”.

ACT’s Todd Stephenson has been highly critical, previously questioning why taxpayer dollars were being used to subsidise events “featuring billionaire-owned football clubs”.

He said that having an “international drawcard” pull out of a match “highlights the absurdity” of having the Government acting as a sports promoter.

“We have consistently pointed out that these event subsidies rarely bring in the significant numbers of overseas visitors that are promised to justify the spend,” he said.

“Taxpayers are now subsidising what is essentially a local exhibition match. If an event is commercially viable, it doesn’t need government money. If it's not, taxpayers shouldn’t be left on the hook when things fall apart.”

At the time of writing, tickets for the Chelsea match were still available in almost every section of Eden Park. Tickets for the Tottenham v Auckland fixture were selling better, though they were made available a few weeks earlier. Some of the concerts backed by the fund, such as Robbie Williams, are also selling slowly.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has also taken aim at the major events fund. He told an Auckland business crowd last month that it shouldn’t be “a slush fund for subsidising your favourite band or sports team, many of whom would come here anyway”.

Upston previously said the football festival would provide a “winter economic boost” to Auckland. “The matches will be broadcast globally showcasing New Zealand as a world-class destination for culture, sport and entertainment.”

Upston’s office did not respond to questions, but said in a statement that “the team behind the festival have worked extremely hard to put together an exciting event which gives Kiwi football fans something to cheer about at home”.