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Wellington Phoenix choosing to stay away from LA Galaxy

New Zealand's sole A-League club, Wellington Phoenix, do not intend to invite MLS outfit LA Galaxy back for a return bout.

The Phoenix met the David Beckham-led team at Westpac Stadium back in 2007, attracting over 30,000 fans, and the Galaxy then returned to NZ last year for a match with the Oceania All-Stars in Auckland which flopped.

Phoenix media manager John Mitchell admitted his club would not go again as they have been down that path before, following today's announcement by the Newcastle Jets who will have a visit from the Galaxy in November.

"There's certainly no plans as far as I've heard for another game against the Galaxy," Mitchell told Stuff this afternoon.

"I would imagine it would be extraordinarily unlikely.

"They [LA Galaxy] may play another game in Australia but I don't think we'd want to bring him [Beckham] back. There's a massive cost involved and it's just too risky.

"We've done it already and it was a success but I don't see why we'd dip our toe in that pool again."

Match agent Lou Sticca from Tribal Sports Management, who organised the tour, countered by saying it was only ever going to be a one-match tour and that the Phoenix were never part of the calculations.

"From day one it was only going to be a one-game visit from the Galaxy and it was only ever going to be the Jets," he told tribalfootball.com.

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