The Wellington Phoenix FC–Western United FC rivalry is a rivalry between New Zealand club

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

and Victorian club

Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...

History

Beginning of rivalry

Following the conclusion of the

2018–19 A-League The 2018–19 A-League was the 42nd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 14th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced on 19 October 2018 and concluded on 28 April 2019. The play-offs began ...

season, Wellington Phoenix manager

Mark Rudan Marko Ante "Mark" Rudan (born 27 August 1975) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. He is currently the head coach for A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers. Rudan was one of the inaugural inductees into the Sydney FC Hall o ...

was announced as the inaugural manager for expansion team Western United. In the following weeks, Rudan signed three Wellington Phoenix players to the club ahead of their inaugural season; club captain and record appearance holder

Andrew Durante Andrew James Durante (born 3 May 1982 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a retired New Zealand international footballer. He is currently the Player Welfare and Development Manager at Western United while also working as a Senior Academy Assistant ...

, reigning A-League Goalkeeper of the Year

Filip Kurto Filip Kurto (born 14 June 1991) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the A-League Men club Macarthur FC. Club career Kurto began his career when he was 7 years old at Naki Olsztyn. In 2005, he moved to OKS 1945 Ols ...

, and

Max Burgess Max Burgess (born 16 January 1995) is an Australian professional footballer who plays for Sydney FC in the A-League. Career Sydney FC Burgess started his career at Rockdale City Suns under coach Branko Culina, where he was spotted by Sydne ...

. Speculation abounded that Rudan solicited these players during the previous season, while all were still contracted to the Wellington Phoenix. This created animosity between fans of Wellington Phoenix and Rudan, along with Western United themselves.

Early matches

The first meeting between the two teams was an A-League match on 13 October 2019 in Western United's first competitive match. The match, played at Wellington's home ground at Sky Stadium, finished 1–0 to Western United via a goal by

Besart Berisha Besart Berisha (born 29 July 1985) is a Kosovan retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Youth and Hamburger SV Berisha began his youth career at German side Berliner VB 49 academies at age of 9. He then moved to var ...

; Durante, Kurto and Burgess all played.

Results

Wellington Phoenix vs. Western United

Western United vs. Wellington Phoenix

Fixture top scorers in the rivalry

Players in bold represent those who are currently playing for Wellington Phoenix or Western United. As of 17 February 2023.

Summary of results

Players who have played for both clubs

Due to the rivalry between the clubs, four players have played for Wellington Phoenix and Western United since 2019. Statistics are sourced from ALeagueStats.com and updated as of 26 December 2022.

Wellington Phoenix, then Western United

Highest attendances

* Wellington 3–0 Western; 24,105 (22 May 2021); Sky Stadium (Wellington Phoenix home) * Wellington 0–1 Western; 8,254 (13 October 2019);

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situ ...

(Wellington Phoenix home) * Wellington 2–0 Western; 7,281 (21 February 2020); Sky Stadium (Wellington Phoenix home) * Wellington 2–3 Western; 5,203 (13 November 2022); Sky Stadium (Wellington Phoenix home) * Western 1–3 Wellington; 5,084 (28 December 2019);

Mars Stadium Eureka Stadium, known commercially as Mars Stadium, is an oval shaped sports stadium located in the Eureka Sports Precinct of Wendouree, north of the CBD of the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. History The first permanent oval used by t ...

(Western United home)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellington Phoenix FC-Western United FC Rivalry Australian soccer rivalries Wellington Phoenix FC Western United FC