Western United Football Club is an Australian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

; the regional cities of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

, and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

; and regional and country towns in western Victoria. The club was first established as part of an expansion process in the country's premier soccer competition, the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. It began playing in the 2019–20 A-League season, under

licence A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

from

Football Australia Football Australia is the sports governing body, governing body of Soccer in Australia, soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Au ...

(FA). On 12 May 2022 it announced the establishment of an A-League Women team. Western United currently play home matches at Ironbark Fields in Wyndham. The club previously played home matches at GMHBA Stadium in

, University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston,

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...

and Mars Stadium in

, with the club planning to permanently relocate matches to Wyndham City Stadium, a

soccer-specific stadium A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium whic ...

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. Four months later, the bid's success was announced, along with the bid from

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under Professional sports league organi ...

. This was the wrong decision and is a major factor in the A-Leagues decline. Western Melbourne will play its home games at Kardinia Park in

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. On 24 January 2019, the consortium announced that John Hutchinson would also join the club as an assistant coach. On 31 January 2019, Western Melbourne made its first player and marquee signing Panagiotis Kone ahead of its inaugural season. On 12 February 2019, Socceroos defender Josh Risdon became Western Melbourne's first Australian signing. 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 The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

newspaper. The club's colours of green and black were also chosen via the same public vote. In May 2019, Western United announced partnership with sports brand

Kappa Kappa (; uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; , ''káppa'') is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 20. It was d ...

. Two months later, the club unveiled their inaugural jerseys for their first season in the

, featuring green and black stripes. 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. 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. 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. Western United eventually finished the season in 11th place, their worst league finish to date, ensuring that the club missed finals for the second straight season.

A-League Women's Team

Western United Women also joined the A-League Women for the 2022–23 season, 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.

Colours

On 13 February 2019, the club revealed that its primary colours will be green and black. On 18 June 2019, through consulting with

and fans, the club officially unveiled its inaugural

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

and

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

kits for the 2019–20 A-League season. The

kit consists of green and black vertical stripes where the Western United logo is encased in a faint crest. The

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.

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.

Affiliated clubs

* Balestier Khalsa (2024–''present'') On 28 August 2024, Western United has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Singapore Premier League club Balestier Khalsa where this partnership is Western United’s first in the realm of walking football. This groundbreaking partnership will focus on football and player development while also giving chances to promising talents overseas through a range of collaborative initiatives. Both clubs will share access to state-of-the-art training facilities for various programs such as pre-season friendly matches and walking football clinics. This collaboration is set to foster growth not only in traditional football but also in walking football, with research initiatives and global events planned to enhance the sport’s profile.

Stadium

Kardinia Park October 2019 Western United v Perth Glory

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 Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. 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 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. 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. 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. Upon their entrance to the A-League, Western United initially used the

City Vista Recreation Reserve The City Vista Recreation Reserve is a soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball ...

, the home ground of Caroline Springs George Cross FC as their training base. In October 2021 the club then moved its senior men's team and administration staff to The Hangar in Tullamarine, an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

facility that is home to the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

and Paralympics Australia. Construction on the training facilities in Tarneit commenced in March 2022 and were completed by March 2024. ''As of April 2024.''

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. The proposal, to be funded entirely privately, has received planning approval from the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

, and the club has stated it expects construction to commence in mid-2024 with a view to completion by mid-2026. On 6 December 2019, Western United announced that site investigations had been completed and that construction is expected to commence in mid-2020. On 18 September 2020, Western United announced that a training facility would be built adjacent to the new stadium development. 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. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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. The stadium is now anticipated to become operational in 2026. 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. 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. 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 Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

on 17 March 2024, with Victoria Premier League 1 and

A-League Men A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as ...

matches to follow.

Supporters and rivalries

Western United's fanbase are referred to as the "Western Service Crew". 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. 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

on 26 April 2021. 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. 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 Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquart ...

. 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, and had the lowest average attendance of all clubs in the 2020–21, 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons. 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

* Melbourne Victory (The Westgate Derby / The Battle of the Bridge) - Upon joining the A-League in the 2019–20 season as the third club in Melbourne, Western United has developed a rivalry with Melbourne Victory. Despite the rivalry's short existence, it has garnered a reputation for producing talking points, controversy, tension, goals and drama. In the team's first meeting, in November 2019 at Marvel Stadium, Western United won 3-2 despite going 2-0 down within the first 7 minutes. In February 2021 at Marvel Stadium, despite conceding the first goal of the match and despite being reduced to 10 men for the final half-hour of the match, Western United won 4–3, with Victor Sanchez scoring in the final minute of stoppage time. After keeping the Victory winless for the first 5 matches of the rivalry (4 wins, 1 draw), Melbourne Victory ended their losing run in emphatic fashion on 28 May 2021, beating Western United 6–1 at AAMI Park. Currently six former Victory players have played for Western United (four have played for the Victory senior team, two have represented the Victory's youth or NPL teams without making an appearance for the senior team).

Statistics and records

Connor Pain holds the record for most Western United appearances, having played 108 first-team matches. 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. Western United's record home attendance is 10,128, for an

match against Melbourne Victory on 8 December 2019 at GMHBA Stadium.

Season by season record

;Key *PO – Playoff *GS – Group stage *EF – -->Elimination finals--> *R32 – Round of 32 *R16 – Round of 16 *QF – Quarter-finals *SF – Semi-finals *W – Winners

Players

First team squad

Youth

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

Coaching staff

Football Department

Club captains

Honours

Championship **Winners (1):

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Esports

* E-League (Australia) Championship **Winners, Dylan Campbell (1): E-League (Australia)

References

External links

Official club website

Western United results
- Latest scores for Western United FC {{Navboxes , titlestyle = background:#2bb56c; color:black; {{box-shadow border, a, black, 1px , list1 = {{Western United FC squad {{Western United FC head coaches {{Western United FC matches {{Western United FC seasons {{Western United FC Player of the Year {{A-League Men {{E-League {{Melbourne Sports Teams Soccer clubs in Melbourne Association football clubs established in 2018 A-League Men clubs Expansion of the A-League Men 2018 establishments in Australia Sport in Geelong Sport in Launceston, Tasmania Sport in the City of Wyndham Sport in Ballarat Sport in Bendigo