Western United FC

Last updated

Western United
Western United FC.svg
Full nameWestern United Football Club
Founded2018;6 years ago (2018) as Western Melbourne
Ground Wyndham Regional Football Facility (Ironbark Fields)
Capacity5,000
OwnerWestern Melbourne Group, Sayers Road Investment Co, Jaszac Investments - Jason Sourasis, Theodore Andriopoulos, Steve Horvat, Levent Shevki and John Tripodi
ChairmanJason Sourasis
Manager John Aloisi
League A-League Men
2022–23 7th of 12
Website Club website
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Western United Football Club is an Australian professional Football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit, [1] the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the regional cities of Ballarat, Bendigo, and Geelong; and regional and country towns in western Victoria. [2]

Contents

The club was first established as part of an expansion process in the country's premier soccer competition, the A-League. It began playing in the 2019–20 A-League season, under licence from Football Australia (FA). On May 12, 2022, it announced the establishment of an A-League Women team. [3]

Western United currently play home matches at Ironbark Fields in Wyndham. The club previously played home matches at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston, AAMI Park in Melbourne and Mars Stadium in Ballarat, with the club planning to permanently relocate matches to Wyndham City Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium in Wyndham upon its construction.

History

Origins

In August 2018, the Western Melbourne Group was one of the eight teams that the FFA had accepted in the official bidding phase, as part of the new expansion process. [4] Four months later, the bid's success was announced, along with the bid from Macarthur FC. [5] Western Melbourne will play its home games at Kardinia Park in Geelong for its first two seasons, while it builds its stadium and training centre in Tarneit, with completion expected in 2021.

On 11 January 2019, Western Melbourne Group announced John Anastasiadis as senior assistant coach for the club's debut season. [6] On 24 January 2019, the consortium announced that John Hutchinson would also join the club as an assistant coach. [7]

On 31 January 2019, Western Melbourne made its first player and marquee signing Panagiotis Kone ahead of its inaugural season. [8] On 12 February 2019, Socceroos defender Josh Risdon became Western Melbourne's first Australian signing. [9]

On 13 February 2019, it was announced that the club would be called Western United Football Club after a public vote was held through the Herald Sun newspaper. [10] [11] The club's colours of green and black were also chosen via the same public vote. [12]

In May 2019, Western United announced partnership with sports brand Kappa. [13] Two months later, the club unveiled their inaugural jerseys for their first season in the A-League, featuring green and black stripes. [14]

On 2 June 2019 the Director of Football for Western United, Steve Horvat presented Geelong representative players with their kits for the 2019 Country Championships. Horvat additionally announced the club would set up a Geelong-based academy by 2021.

On 28 May 2022 they became A-League champions, defeating defending champions Melbourne City in the 2022 A-League Men Grand Final. Their Grand Final win saw Western United became just the second expansion side ever to win the A-League Championship, the quickest expansion side to win the championship, the first team since to triumph in their first grand final appearance since Brisbane Roar in 2011, and one of just two teams to have won the championship after finishing outside the top two, with Melbourne Victory first achieving this feat in 2018. [15]

The 2022-23 A-League season saw Western United become the first A-League champion in 6 years to fail to qualify for the A-League finals, with the club finishing the season in 7th place on 32 points, with a final tally of 9 wins,5 draws and 12 losses.

In October 2023, it was announced that Western United had been given approval from the Wyndham City Council to play home A-Leagues matches at their training ground, the Wyndham Regional Football Facility, in the 2023-24 A-League season, with the venue to serve as Western United's temporary home stadium until the Wyndham City Stadium is completed. [16] [17]

The 2023-24 A-League season started promisingly for Western United, with the club recording a 2-1 win over Melbourne City at AAMI Park. However, this was followed by a run of 6 consecutive losses, with this losing run halted with a 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar.

A-League Women's Team

Western United Women also joined the A-League Women for the 2022–23 season, [18] which, with the return of Central Coast Mariners, will expand that league to 12 teams.

Crest

Western United unveiled its official crest in May 2019, which features a stylised 'W' symbol. The club commented that the design was influenced by the pitch of roofs in the suburbs and the West Gate Bridge, with the signature green colour representing growth, harmony and freshness. [19] [20]

Colours

On 13 February 2019, the club revealed that its primary colours will be green and black. [21]

On 18 June 2019, through consulting with Kappa and fans, the club officially unveiled its inaugural home and alternative kits for the 2019–20 A-League season. The home kit consists of green and black vertical stripes where the Western United logo is encased in a faint crest. The alternative kit takes a different approach with a geometric design with varying sized green and black triangles connecting each other through their points. The club's logo is also contained at the bottom of the kit. This design is said to reflect on the club's modern approach in the club's branding. [22]

Sponsors

On 20 May 2019, Western United announced a partnership with Italian sports brand Kappa, which will be the club's inaugural official apparel partner. [23]

Western United announced Probuild as its inaugural sponsor on 3 July 2019 where its logo will be present on the front of its playing kits as well as other apparel. [24]

Ownership

It was revealed in February 2019 that Birmingham Sports Holdings had initially funded the bid's license fee. They later pulled out of the project due to a downturn in the Australian housing market, that devalued the intended housing developments to be built in the same area as the proposed new stadium in Tarneit. [25] [26]

Stadium

Western United's debut home match at Kardinia Park, against Perth Glory, 19 October 2019 Kardinia Park October 2019 Western United v Perth Glory.jpg
Western United's debut home match at Kardinia Park, against Perth Glory, 19 October 2019

Western United currently play their home matches at Ironbark Fields in Wyndham. This is a venue with capacity for 5,000 spectators. This is planned to be a temporary stadium while the Wyndham City Stadium is built in the adjacent precinct. Between 2019-2023, Western United had a somewhat nomadic existence, playing in a range of stadiums across Victoria and Tasmania. However, in early 2024, the club played its first game at its purpose built facility in Wyndham, ending the club's nomadic era.

Western United's training facilities in Tarneit are based on a 60-hectare (150-acre) site, with a two-story building featuring a range of training and gym facilities, function and media spaces, change rooms and staff facilities, kiosks, public toilets and a first aid room, as well as three full-sized pitches, including one with a 5,000 capacity which will be capable of hosting A-League matches. [27] The three pitches will consist of a main grass pitch, which will serve as the main training base for Western United's A-Leagues teams and future girls and boys academy teams and will be suitable for A-League Women's and NPL standard matches, a second grass pitch, which will be suitable for community-level competitive games and can also be used as a training pitch, and a synthetic pitch, which can be used for both training and matches. [28] It is planned that the two grass pitches will be occupied by Western United A-Leagues teams throughout the year while the third, synthetic field will be utilised by the club's academy and community engagement activities. [29]

Prior to moving to these facilities, Western United used the City Vista Recreation Reserve, the home ground of Caroline Springs George Cross FC as their training base. [30] In October 2021 the club then moved its senior men's team and administration staff to The Hangar in Tullamarine, an Australian rules football facility that is home to the Essendon Football Club and Paralympics Australia. [31] Construction on the training facilities in Tarneit commenced in March 2022 and were completed by March 2024. [32] [33] [34]

LocationStadiumCapacityYear
Geelong Kardinia Park 36,0002019–2021
Ballarat Eureka Stadium 11,0002019–2024
Footscray Whitten Oval 10,0002020
Melbourne Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 30,0502020–2024
Launceston York Park 19,0002021–2023
Ballarat Morshead Park Stadium 8,5002022
Hobart North Hobart Oval 10,0002023–2024
Wyndham Ironbark Fields 5,0002024–

As of April 2024. [35]

Wyndham City Stadium

The club has proposed building a 15,000 seated stadium in Tarneit, Victoria. The stadium would be the first major venue in the country to be exclusively owned and operated by an A-League club. [36] The proposal, to be funded entirely privately, has received planning approval from the Victorian Government, and the club has stated it expects construction to commence in mid-2024 with a view to completion by mid-2026. [37] [38]

On 6 December 2019, Western United announced that site investigations had been completed and that construction is expected to commence in mid-2020. [39] On 18 September 2020, Western United announced that a training facility would be built adjacent to the new stadium development. [40] The training facility is planned to have two grass and one artificial soccer pitch, along with seating for 5,000 spectators. The main grass pitch, with the 5,000 seat stand would be used as the training base by Western United, while the other two pitches would have shared community use. The press release also revealed that the club has completed all of the site investigations required to develop a concept masterplan for the new stadium and that planning submission has been submitted to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) for approval. The release also states that construction on the new precinct will commence in early 2021, to be completed by early 2023. On 22 September 2021 Western Melbourne Group, the club's parent company, announced that "in the week commencing 25 October 2021, early works on the site at Leakes Road, Tarneit will commence" which would create access roads to the construction site. [41] The announcement also advised that planning approval for the stadium had not yet been received and that timelines for completion had been refreshed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 2022, construction on the Wyndham City Stadium is still yet to commence, with Western United chairman Jason Sourasis admitting that the club were "naive" to declare they would be able to build a new stadium within two years of their inception. [42] The stadium is now anticipated to become operational in 2026. [43] The club plan to start playing matches at the Wyndham Regional Football Facility in 2024; a small training stadium with a capacity of approximately 5,000 spectators located within the same precinct of the future Wyndham City Stadium. [44]

An update on the construction timeline was given in January 2024. Western United chairman Jason Sourasis stated that construction should begin mid-to-late 2024, with completion in time for the 2026-27 A League season. [45]

On 13 February 2024, it was announced that the Wyndham Regional Football Facility would host the A-League Women match between Western United and Newcastle Jets on 17 March 2024, with Victoria Premier League 1 and A-League Men matches to follow. [46] [47] [48] [49]

Supporters and rivalries

Western United fans holding up a banner reading "The West Has Arrived" at the 2022 A-League Men Grand Final Western United The West Has Arrived.png
Western United fans holding up a banner reading "The West Has Arrived" at the 2022 A-League Men Grand Final

Western United's fanbase are referred to as the "Western Service Crew". [50] The fanbase started in less than a year since the club's foundation which grew to 2,800 members on the Western Service Crew's Facebook page in support of Western United. [51] Throughout the 2020–21 season however, Western United struggled with crowd numbers. This caused them to have the lowest attendance in A-League Men history with 990 people attending a match between Western United and the Newcastle Jets on 26 April 2021. [52] At the end of the 2020–21 A-League season, Western United lost a total home attendance of around 26,000 people reported by Sporting News of every clubs' attendance figures for the season. [53] A month after the season end, an opinioned report was made in "The Roar" newspaper of Western United's "embarrassing stadium fiasco". This contained evidence of the club losing supporters due to playing in different home stadiums like Mars Stadium and Whitten Oval. [54]

Ever since joining the A-League, Western United have consistently suffered from low attendances: the club had the second-lowest average attendance out of all clubs in the 2019–20 and 2021–22 seasons, [55] [56] and had the lowest average attendance of all clubs in the 2020–21, 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons. [57] [58] [59] Despite entering the 2022-23 season as the reigning champions, Western United were one of just two teams which recorded a decrease in their average attendance compared to the previous season; their average attendance for the 2022-23 season was 3,168, compared to their 2021-22 season average of 3,351.

Rivalries

Statistics and records

Besart Berisha is Western United's record goalscorer, with 26 goals in all competitions. Berisha Victory 2014.jpg
Besart Berisha is Western United's record goalscorer, with 26 goals in all competitions.

Connor Pain holds the record for most Western United appearances, having played 108 first-team matches. [69] Dylan Pierias comes second, having played 98 times. The most appearances for a goalkeeper is Jamie Young who played 59 times for Western United.

Besart Berisha is the club's top goalscorer with 26 goals in all competitions and has been their top goalscorer since the club's foundation in 2018. [69] Western United's record home attendance is 10,128, for an A-League Men match against Melbourne Victory on 8 December 2019 at GMHBA Stadium. [69]

Season by season record

Season A-League Men Australia Cup Top scorer
PWDLFAGDPtsPosFinalsNameGoals
2019–20 26123114637+9395thSF – Flag of Kosovo.svg Besart Berisha 18
2020–21 2684143047–172810th – – Flag of Kosovo.svg Besart Berisha 7
2021–22 261367403010453rdWR32 Flag of Serbia.svg Aleksandar Prijović 15
2022–23 2695123447–13327th –R16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Noah Botic 6
Key

Honours

A-League Men Championship

Esports

Players

First team squad

As of 24 October 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Tom Heward-Belle
4 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS James Donachie
6 DF Flag of Japan.svg  JPN Tomoki Imai (vice-captain)
7 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ramy Najjarine
8 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Lachlan Wales
9 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Michael Ruhs
10 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Steven Lustica (vice-captain)
11 MF Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Daniel Penha (on loan from Atlético Mineiro)
13 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Nikita Rukavytsya
17 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ben Garuccio
19 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Josh Risdon (captain)
21 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Sebastian Pasquali
No.Pos.NationPlayer
22 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Kane Vidmar (scholarship)
24 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Connor O'Toole
27 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jacob Tratt
32 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Angus Thurgate
33 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Matt Sutton
38 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Noah Botic
39 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Matthew Grimaldi (scholarship)
41 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Oliver Lavale
42 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Rhys Bozinovski
49 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jake Najdovski
70 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Michael Vonja (scholarship)
77 MF Flag of Japan.svg  JPN Riku Danzaki

Youth

Players to have been featured in a first-team matchday squad for Western United.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
29 DF Flag of Iraq.svg  IRQ Charbel Shamoon
34 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS James York
35 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Max Bisetto
36 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Zach Lisolajski
No.Pos.NationPlayer
37 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Luke Vickery
43 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Khoder Kaddour
44 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jordan Lauton
45 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Abel Walatee

Coaching staff

Football Department

PositionNameRef.
General Manager of Football Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mal Impiombato [70]
Head Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Aloisi [71]
Senior Assistant Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Hayden Foxe [72]
Assistant and Development Coach Flag of New Zealand.svg Andrew Durante [70]
Assistant and Development Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Diogo Ferreira [70]
Goalkeeping Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Michael Theo [73]
Performance Analyst Flag of Australia (converted).svg Harry Reading [70]
Video Analyst Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matthew Ciavarella [70]
Head of High Performance (Consultant) Flag of Australia (converted).svg Darren Burgess [70]
Lead Physiotherapist Flag of Australia (converted).svg Darren Stanborough [70]
Rehabilitation and Lead Academy Physiotherapist Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Hanna [70]
Conditioning Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Massimo Murdocca [70]
Strength Coach Flag of Australia (converted).svg Louis Mazza [70]
Team Doctor Flag of Australia (converted).svg Carlee Van Dyk [70]
Football Operations Manager Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phillip Speake [70]
Team Manager Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Hutchinson [70]

Club captains

DatesNameNotesHonours (as captain)
2019–2023 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Diamanti Inaugural club captain 2021–22 A-League Men Championship
2023– Flag of Australia (converted).svg Josh Risdon

See also

Notes

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