Del Piero a crowd puller in A-League

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - The Associated Press

The A-League has started to reap the benefits of the Del Piero signing. AP photo

Former Juventus star Alessandro Del Piero is proving every bit the drawcard A-League officials hoped with tickets for his Australian debut selling faster than anticipated.

Del Piero is due to make his first A-League appearance for Sydney FC against the Wellington Phoenix in Wellington on Oct. 6 and his impact was immediately apparent when tickets went on sale on Sept. 21.
Phoenix general manager David Dome announced “we’re 10 times more than where we’d normally be. It’s pointing to a very big crowd. If they continue to sell like this, it’ll be huge.”

The Phoenix home stadium holds 34,000 fans and has never been filled for an A-League match. Dome said “I don’t want to start talking about a sell-out or anything like that, but we’re looking at a big crowd.”
Meanwhile, former Aston Villa and England striker Emile Heskey has signed with the Newcastle Jets in Australia’s A-League.

 Newcastle confirmed that it had signed the 34-year-old Heskey for the 2012-2013 season which begins next month.