Will Serepisos lose his beloved Phoenix?

DAVE BURGESS

The long-running saga of Terry Serepisos and his mounting debts would be of little more interest than a property developer falling on hard times if it weren't for his ownership of the Wellington Phoenix.

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It is the football club and the $1.5 million he pumps into it each year that makes his financial prospects of interest to fans and Wellington City Council.

Mr Serepisos has made it clear the Phoenix is not for sale, even though he has proposed in the High Court an "orderly" sale of assets he says are worth $232m to repay debts of $203m.

But council sports portfolio leader John Morrison says Mr Serepisos should start any asset sale with the Phoenix. "This is the ultimate test for Terry. Does he really care about the Phoenix or is he going to destroy it?

"If he stuck up his hand and said: `I love the Phoenix but I'm not in a position to continue to fund it', with the recession, downturn in the property market, and his well-documented financial troubles, then everyone would accept that.

"He could work with whoever and would end up as being founding president of the club. Everyone would recognise his valuable contribution and applaud him at Phoenix matches."

A Yellow Fever member writing on the fan club's website also wants Mr Serepisos to move aside.

"Time to put the fans before your ego, Terry, and sell the club to someone ... who can fund it properly and get in the players we need," Malky said.

With the Hyundai A-League season starting in about six weeks, the Phoenix have only 16 players on their books – squads must have a minimum of 20 – and there has hardly been a sniff of a high-profile signing all year.

Former Blackburn Rovers striker Maceo Rigter arrived for a trial and played in the second half as the Phoenix got thumped 5-1 in a pre-season hitout against Brisbane Roar in Dunedin.

Rigter scored a goal, waved to the travelling Yellow Fellow faithful, before getting on the next plane out of the country.

It was announced last week that he had signed for A-League rivals Gold Coast United.

Underpinning the concern about Mr Serepisos's financial position is his unfaltering belief that a US$100m (NZ$118m) loan is heading his way from Bahrain-based Western Gulf Advisory, a company that several Australian businesses and their lawyer believe is a sophisticated fraud.

So how did it get to the stage where one of Wellington's biggest property developers must either sell his portfolio or wait for a loan that may never come?

His empire was built on social ambition and street smarts gleaned from his beloved father, Dimitrious, known as Jimmy. The family emigrated from Greece in 1965, when Terry was two. Jimmy worked as a painter before delving into residential property. Terry attended Rongotai College, where he became Wellington shot-put champion, but he failed to excel academically.

"I was average at school," he once told The Dominion Post.

He ditched University Entrance for a world education, travelling Europe with brothers Kosta and Lambros.

That fostered a love of fine fashion and fast cars which, in turn, fuelled his quest for wealth.

On his return, he started Trillini menswear stores. In 1991, he was drafted into notorious nightclub Ecstasy Plus in Courtenay Place.

"It wasn't my cup of tea," he said of the experience. But it earned him investment cash. He, Kosta and Jimmy scraped together a deposit to buy the $950,000 Brierleys building opposite and they built Wellington's second apartment complex.

Since then, there have been at least 16 buildings, apartment conversions, extensions to historic buildings and major new developments, which could all disappear from Mr Serepisos's property portfolio if his asset-sale plan gets the green light.

- © Fairfax NZ News