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West-Gone United

764 replies · 151,686 views
7 months ago · edited 7 months ago · History
With the TV deal payout going down to a shadow of its former self, there is much less enthusiasm (fewer potential applicants) for new clubs starting, as it needs more money than before. Auckland FC was an outlier to get off the ground due to an owner with big pockets, leveraging off other interests (other sports / other countries).  This bought A-FC some security, and also success.

Christchurch has bugger all in terms of European immigration (per capita) which provided the grassroots footballing heritage in Australia.   And money is really tight in NZ right now.  I also hope the OFC team will be a useful litmus test for local interest, assuming we will get to see the team playing here rather than just in North Island.


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Endorsed by
Southernix
7 months ago · edited 7 months ago · History
What they could do is 14 teams - play each other home & away. 26 League games each. Then, ONLY, the top four could play semi finals - 2 legs, home & away before a grand final. No more minor premiership. Just a straight winner takes all. For the semis, 1 V 3 & 2 V 4. All semi final & grand final games divide the gate takings. 33% of each game take to each club and 34% to the APL.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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Endorsed by
theprof
7 months ago · edited 7 months ago · History
1 v 3 and 2 v 4 is a bit odd.

Finishing first should be rewarded with both a minor premiership trophy, and easiest on paper playoff draw

People get too hung up on how European (esp UK) football comps operate. This is Australasia and all the sporting codes have end of season finals.

Broadcasters and sponsors expect a finals series and pay for them. The A League might as well just be a semi pro comp without the extra revenue the playoffs bring in
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Endorsed by
chopahMainland FCtheprofWanderingSheep
7 months ago · edited 7 months ago · History
coochiee
Buffon II
Doloras
Surely the serious thing to do would be to bring the Snakes back at the same time as introducing another expansion team (Canberra? Woollongong? Gold Coast?) to create a 14 team two-home-and-away-rounds comp


And no finals.

The finals bring badly needed dosh to a cash strapped league. They are never going away.


Canberra have had 2-3 years now to get the $20M+ entrance fee together, and still seem no closer. Their women's team needed a ACT Govt bail out.

Haven't heard any local Gong or Gold Coast groups pushing themselves as alternatives. Need the TV rights deal to improve big time, so the annual club disbursements can get back up closer to where they were before. Macarthur are try to take legal action against the APL, due to financial promises not being met, ie the annual disbursements dropping away to basically nothing.

If WU returns the ALM maybe stuck at 13 teams for awhile, even if the APL want further expansion.

A South Island (popn catchment 1.25M, over 2x bigger than Canberra) team based out of shiny Te Kaha, maybe the best bet to be the 14th team. Having new OFC League club is a start. 

Total catchment is a bit misleading there. Christchurch metro is about 557k and that's probably most of what you're getting, which seems to be only slightly bigger than Canberra.

Dunedin only adds 133k and that would probably only be for a match or two per season. So say 700k max, with 20% being from a second city. Would love to see it, but based it's not really a clearly better option aside than some of the Aussie cities
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Endorsed by
Mainland FC
7 months ago · edited 7 months ago · History
coochiee
1 v 3 and 2 v 4 is a bit odd.

Finishing first should be rewarded with both a minor premiership trophy, and easiest on paper playoff draw

People get too hung up on how European (esp UK) football comps operate. This is Australasia and all the sporting codes have end of season finals.

Broadcasters and sponsors expect a finals series and pay for them. The A League might as well just be a semi pro comp without the extra revenue the playoffs bring in

1 v 4 and 2 v 3, with 1 and 2 having home advantage is the usual format.
But you're right, the reason we (Aleague) have a top six is purely for the broadcast market and removing "dead rubber" games at the end of the season.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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7 months ago
Southernix
coochiee
Buffon II
Doloras
Surely the serious thing to do would be to bring the Snakes back at the same time as introducing another expansion team (Canberra? Woollongong? Gold Coast?) to create a 14 team two-home-and-away-rounds comp


And no finals.

The finals bring badly needed dosh to a cash strapped league. They are never going away.


Canberra have had 2-3 years now to get the $20M+ entrance fee together, and still seem no closer. Their women's team needed a ACT Govt bail out.

Haven't heard any local Gong or Gold Coast groups pushing themselves as alternatives. Need the TV rights deal to improve big time, so the annual club disbursements can get back up closer to where they were before. Macarthur are try to take legal action against the APL, due to financial promises not being met, ie the annual disbursements dropping away to basically nothing.

If WU returns the ALM maybe stuck at 13 teams for awhile, even if the APL want further expansion.

A South Island (popn catchment 1.25M, over 2x bigger than Canberra) team based out of shiny Te Kaha, maybe the best bet to be the 14th team. Having new OFC League club is a start. 

Total catchment is a bit misleading there. Christchurch metro is about 557k and that's probably most of what you're getting, which seems to be only slightly bigger than Canberra.

Dunedin only adds 133k and that would probably only be for a match or two per season. So say 700k max, with 20% being from a second city. Would love to see it, but based it's not really a clearly better option aside than some of the Aussie cities
and with cities like Nelson being closer to Wellington than Christchurch its far from certain that a Christchurch team would catch all of the south island
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Endorsed by
Mainland FCtheprofWanderingSheep
7 months ago
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7 months ago
What does he mean by "question whether NPLV 2026 is possible"? Was there some thought of loaning WU players out to NPL clubs to keep them busy until a possible return to A-League?
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7 months ago
They had no fans anyway.
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7 months ago
Simon B
What does he mean by "question whether NPLV 2026 is possible"? Was there some thought of loaning WU players out to NPL clubs to keep them busy until a possible return to A-League?
I think it's in reference to their reserve team that plays in NPL Victoria - I think they were supposed to still take part in the next season unaffected by the A-League team hibernating. But I guess they are now unsure whether they will be able to participate
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Endorsed by
RRSimon B
4 months ago
Western Melbourne Group faces new wind up threat in new court documents
https://archive.md/J0MEa

The company behind struggling A-Leagues club Western United is facing a new bid to plunge it into liquidation over alleged unpaid debts, court documents reveal. Dominance Enterprises has lodged wind-up action this week in the Federal Court against public company WMG Football Club Ltd, the entity behind professional soccer outfit Western United that had its A-League license withdrawn last year due to financial issues. 
I'm an optimistic pessimist. 
I'm positive things will go wrong.
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Endorsed by
PK
3 months ago · edited 3 months ago · History
No idea if there is any truth to it but seen people suggesting that SMFC are trying to take over the Western license.
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Endorsed by
DolorasPK
3 months ago
RR wrote:
No idea if there is any truth to it but seen people suggesting that SMFC are trying to take over the Western license.
If true, I don't know what they can afford. I'd like this to happen, but they ought get another few people in to help own an A League setup,  to be realistic.
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3 months ago
They've been overdue for the league in my opinion. Historically the best Aus club before Sydney, best currently, just won the Aus championship and just made the GF of the OPL, a professional league. They've shown they can handle professional football so let them in, I'd argue they bring more to the table than Western United. I know there's some concerns about their ethnic roots and some of the conflict that has brought, but honestly from what I've heard they're pretty well behaved compared to clubs like SU58 and Preston. 
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Endorsed by
WanderingSheep
3 months ago
Two almost conflicting rumours about South Melbourne going around. Haven't really seen great sources on either yet. One being they haven't been paying players and have sacked Cohadzic, the other they're trying to join the A-League.

I think they are probably an upgrade over Western Utd (unless Western can get that stadium built) as Western have no real personality to speak of.

BUT honestly, I don't think we needed a third Melbourne team (or third Sydney) and if the league is replacing Western I'd rather somewhere new: Wollongong, Gold Coast, Christchurch, Sunshine Coast, maybe Geelong if you want to keep the license in Victoria.
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Endorsed by
Mainland FC
3 months ago
None of this would be complicated if licences weren't so god damn expensive. Quick google search says the Auckland licence was roughly 21mil-27mil (Though I've heard the actual price was less than that) which is overselling themselves by a wild margin. Goodluck getting teams in some of the smaller cities with those kinds of prices
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3 months ago · edited 3 months ago · History
Receivers have taken control of the parent company of A-League soccer club Western United, whose co-director is Jason Sourasis, the controversial ex-manager of Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury.

The 7000-member club has been in hibernation this season due to financial issues facing its owner-operator WMG Holdings and key investors.

Football Australia two weeks ago rejected its licence application for next season – a decision the club was planning to appeal – and Western United received a wind-up action in April, lodged by security company Dominance Enterprises, with a hearing scheduled for mid-June.

In the latest twist in the saga of the embattled club, WMG Holdings went into receivership this week under the control of firm Alvarez and Marsal, on behalf of project partner Johnson Controls.

The company is also behind plans for an ambitious sporting, entertainment, health and retail precinct in Tarneit, which would have housed Western United.

Former AFL player manager and financial advisor Jason Sourasis has been a key figure behind both the club and the development project.

Another company he oversees, Sayers Road Investment Co – which was also involved in funding the precinct – was last month ordered into liquidation at the request of an investor.

Sourasis has himself been battling legal claims from former clients, including Pendlebury, that he mismanaged their investments. Sourasis denies the allegations and is defending the claims.
From our partners

Sources close to the club, speaking on condition of anonymity to share details of private conversations, said by taking control out of Sourasis’ hands, the receivership could ultimately help save the club and precinct project, which already has $80 million committed by financial backers. It would also allow new governance structures to be implemented to address delivery issues.

Wyndham City Council is due to vote on whether to approve the development this month. If approved, it would pave the way for the expansion of Ironbark Stadium, on which Western United’s future depends.

A source close to the situation said potential suitors had approached WMG Holdings to take ownership of the club.

Sourasis has been contacted for comment.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/control-of-a-league-club-stripped-from-businessman-alleged-to-have-stolen-millions-from-scott-pendlebury-20260602-p6031m.html
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Endorsed by
Bullion
about 2 months ago
they can be as committed as they want, if the funding is coming they are going nowehere!

Queenslander 3x a year.

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about 2 months ago
Time for them to just give it up. 

It's a sad conclusion and all that, but they're just wasting everyone's time at this point.
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Endorsed by
Mainland FCMartotheprofWanderingSheep
9 days ago
Finally some closure hopefully.

Always sad to see a club fold, but also not great seeing it dragged around in a zombie state for a few years
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Endorsed by
coochieeLGMainland FCPK+2
9 days ago
Half a Pint wrote:
Finally some closure hopefully.

Always sad to see a club fold, but also not great seeing it dragged around in a zombie state for a few years
This will allow a club/clubs to be created that will actually have fans!
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9 days ago
Hopefully gives the A-League a chance to ready a second expansion club to join alongside Canberra United in 2028.

Always sucks to see a side go, but they were a poor choice for expansion and outside the green & black had some pretty generic branding.
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Endorsed by
PK
9 days ago
PKB wrote:
 Half a Pint wrote:
Finally some closure hopefully.

Always sad to see a club fold, but also not great seeing it dragged around in a zombie state for a few years
This will allow a club/clubs to be created that will actually have fans!

They had fans, not many but those they had will be rather sad right now.
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Endorsed by
BullionHalf a PintMainland FCOi Oi Edgecumbe+1
9 days ago
https://wufc.com.au/news/a-new-chapter-for-the-west/

Western United have put out a statement this afternoon.

An excerpt:

For the past several years, Western United has been an important part of football in Melbourne’s west. Today marks a significant moment in our history and the beginning of a new chapter.

On Monday 10 August, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) terminated Western United’s Club Participation Agreement.

Over recent months, we have worked closely with the APL on a pathway that gives the club the best opportunity to survive, rebuild and return to the A-League under new ownership.

This creates an opportunity for new custodians, new investment and a fresh start. The objective must now be to preserve Western United’s identity in Melbourne’s west and work towards a return to the A-League for the 2027/28 season.

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Endorsed by
PK
9 days ago
Half a Pint wrote:
https://wufc.com.au/news/a-new-chapter-for-the-west/

Western United have put out a statement this afternoon.

An excerpt:

For the past several years, Western United has been an important part of football in Melbourne’s west. Today marks a significant moment in our history and the beginning of a new chapter.

On Monday 10 August, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) terminated Western United’s Club Participation Agreement.

Over recent months, we have worked closely with the APL on a pathway that gives the club the best opportunity to survive, rebuild and return to the A-League under new ownership.

This creates an opportunity for new custodians, new investment and a fresh start. The objective must now be to preserve Western United’s identity in Melbourne’s west and work towards a return to the A-League for the 2027/28 season.

 
If this isn't delusional extending and pretending then where would that be based? Further West in Geelong? Call it Geelong something then, if it happens. If this is lies though, then get Canberra/Christchurch.
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9 days ago
An ambitious attempt with the stadium plans etc. Would've been nice but I think it shows where the league stands. There just was nowhere near enough support for a third Melbourne club.
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Endorsed by
PKSaSouthernix
9 days ago
InsulinMachine wrote:
An ambitious attempt with the stadium plans etc. Would've been nice but I think it shows where the league stands. There just was nowhere near enough support for a third Melbourne club.
Maybe. At the same time though, it was brought in at a place in the middle of nowhere, with grass and dirt surrounding.
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Endorsed by
kwlapMarto
8 days ago
The gap between wishful thinking, usually from the pundits outside of the area, and the cold hard cash reality, usually ends with the wishful thinking crashing to earth. Looks like the long-term money just wasn't there.  It is a shame, as Aloisi did a lot of good work with the team he assembled.

Canberra franchise has been talked about for years (and Canberra Cosmos played in the old NSL for years).  Yet nothing real has materialised.   For the same reason of a reality check, I am not clamouring for an A-League franchise to start in Christchurch as the corporate money is fairly well tied up by other sports.   And with Scott Robertson already confirmed as the coach of the as yet non-existent NRL franchise here, I do not know if the sponsorship money for an ALM club in Christchurch would simply be there.


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Endorsed by
brtheprof
8 days ago
I must admit, I thought their Green/Black kit was pretty good.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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Endorsed by
brNoah4thenixOi Oi EdgecumbeSouthernix
8 days ago
that's about all they had that was good.
the story behind the kit was lame as all hell!

Queenslander 3x a year.

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Endorsed by
kwlapLG
8 days ago · edited 8 days ago · History
Yet another double post. Sorry guys.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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8 days ago
Mainland FC wrote:
The gap between wishful thinking, usually from the pundits outside of the area, and the cold hard cash reality, usually ends with the wishful thinking crashing to earth. Looks like the long-term money just wasn't there.  It is a shame, as Aloisi did a lot of good work with the team he assembled.

Canberra franchise has been talked about for years (and Canberra Cosmos played in the old NSL for years).  Yet nothing real has materialised.   For the same reason of a reality check, I am not clamouring for an A-League franchise to start in Christchurch as the corporate money is fairly well tied up by other sports.   And with Scott Robertson already confirmed as the coach of the as yet non-existent NRL franchise here, I do not know if the sponsorship money for an ALM club in Christchurch would simply be there.
Here's hoping your "Scott Roberston to be a NRL coach" is said tongue firmly in cheek.
Graham Lowe, great League coach, but man he says some nutty stuff. He's just trying desperately to keep his and Chalmers ChCh NRL bid in the news.

Pragnell think there is money in the Garden City for an A League club. Is there more money sloshing around Canterbury than say public servant Welly? Their own Welnix group? Maybe.

But no rush it seems to happen. APL chiefs have been invited to the All Whites v India game at Te Kaha later this year.
https://www.pressreader.com/foryou?popupArticleId=282316801812183

“One of the prob­lems, his­tor­ic­ally, has been a lack of infra­struc­ture, but Christ­ch­urch and Dunedin have some of the best sport­ing infra­struc­ture in the coun­try right now,” Prag­nell said.

“That’s a really import­ant found­a­tion for this project.”

New A-league licences, which have reportedly cost between A$15 mil­lion (NZ$17.9M) and A$25m, have tra­di­tion­ally been a bar­rier unless an investor with deep pock­ets, like Auck­land FC’S bil­lion­aire backer Bill Foley, can be attrac­ted.

Christ­ch­urch United pres­id­ent Slava Meyn was once inter­ested in join­ing a con­sor­tium to bid for a South Island A-league team, but he later dis­missed it as unsus­tain­able and switched focus to the Oceania Pro League.

But Prag­nell believed a South Island team would attract a backer.

“Once we get parties agreed, the final part of the jig­saw is investors, but I actu­ally don’t think that is a con­cern at all,” he said, cit­ing the num­ber of high-net-worth indi­vidu­als par­tic­u­larly in the South Island and the “rise and growth of foot­ball”.

Invest­ment was a crit­ical part of the jig­saw but he was con­fid­ent the final piece would fall into place.

“We’ve got people who are inquir­ing with us right now. We are say­ing ‘let’s take the time to do this right’.”

Aus­tralian Pro­fes­sional (APL) Leagues chief Steve Rosich didn’t rule out a South Island team in his April inter­view, say­ing: “The trans-tas­man com­pet­i­tion we have now is fant­astic and one of the options that will no doubt be con­sidered in the future is ‘can we add a New Zea­l­and team’? I know there will be a ser­i­ous con­ver­sa­tion in time.” 
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8 days ago
That new planned Tarneit stadium may currently be in a giant paddock, but the Western burbs of Melbs is a big popn growth corridor.
Lots of migrant communities who's sport of choice is football.
 
No other competing pro sports teams in the area. Even the Western Bulldogs AFL team play their matches in the inner CBD (Docklands or MCG).
Longshot perhaps, but WU might yet rise from the ashes down the track.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/361018526/clubs-bizarre-claim-after-being-axed-league-following-revival-attempt

Western United has claimed its licence termination from the A-League marks a “new chapter” in the club’s history despite its future in the competition now being clear.

United attempted to go down all avenues to revive the club and continue in the A-League, but failed to secure a takeover bid from an American investment group.

The club’s resurrection bid was all but ended after losing their licence with Football Australia and then being placed in liquidation late last year amid A$15 million (NZ$18 million) tax debt.

The Australian Professional Leagues revealed in a statement on Monday that United were “in breach of a number of its obligations” under the conditional hibernation agreement that was formed in September last year. 
 
While they acknowledged the club had tried to work “through financial, governance and legal matters to try and rebuild the club”, their involvement in the A-League men’s and women’s competition is no longer an option.

“It’s been a difficult period for everyone connected to Western United - and we want to acknowledge the management, staff, players and especially the fans - who have given so much to the club and will no doubt be hurt by this news,” APL chairperson Stephen Conroy wrote in a statement. 

Western United’s players all became instant free agents after the club was placed in hibernation last year, but the club insisted that did not mean their revival dream was over.

United’s coach John Aloisi had already departed the club in January this year, signing a deal to take the reins of Chengdu Rongcheng FC in China.
After the APL made its announcement, United released a statement attempting to spin the story into a positive.

“Today marks a significant moment in our history and the beginning of a new chapter,” the club wrote.

“Over recent months, we have worked closely with the APL on a pathway that gives the club the best opportunity to survive, rebuild and return to the A-League under new ownership.

“This creates an opportunity for new custodians, new investment and a fresh start.

“The objective must now be to preserve Western United’s identity in Melbourne’s west and work towards a return to the A-League for the 2027/28 season.”

The club said the priority now is to find a sustainable way forward in conjunction with the APL, Wyndham City Council, governments, prospective owners and the football community.

“This should not be the end of Western United. It should be the reset that allows the club to rebuild and return stronger,” the club added. 
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8 days ago
coochiee wrote:
That new planned Tarneit stadium may currently be in a giant paddock, but the Western burbs of Melbs is a big popn growth corridor.
Lots of migrant communities who's sport of choice is football.

No other competing pro sports teams in the area. Even the Western Bulldogs AFL team play their matches in the inner CBD (Docklands or MCG).
Longshot perhaps, but WU might yet rise from the ashes down the track.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/361018526/clubs-bizarre-claim-after-being-axed-league-following-revival-attempt

Western United has claimed its licence termination from the A-League marks a “new chapter” in the club’s history despite its future in the competition now being clear.

 
United attempted to go down all avenues to revive the club and continue in the A-League, but failed to secure a takeover bid from an American investment group.


The club’s resurrection bid was all but ended after losing their licence with Football Australia and then being placed in liquidation late last year amid A$15 million (NZ$18 million) tax debt.


The Australian Professional Leagues revealed in a statement on Monday that United were “in breach of a number of its obligations” under the conditional hibernation agreement that was formed in September last year.
 
While they acknowledged the club had tried to work “through financial, governance and legal matters to try and rebuild the club”, their involvement in the A-League men’s and women’s competition is no longer an option.


“It’s been a difficult period for everyone connected to Western United - and we want to acknowledge the management, staff, players and especially the fans - who have given so much to the club and will no doubt be hurt by this news,” APL chairperson Stephen Conroy wrote in a statement.

Western United’s players all became instant free agents after the club was placed in hibernation last year, but the club insisted that did not mean their revival dream was over.


United’s coach John Aloisi had already departed the club in January this year, signing a deal to take the reins of Chengdu Rongcheng FC in China.
After the APL made its announcement, United released a statement attempting to spin the story into a positive.


“Today marks a significant moment in our history and the beginning of a new chapter,” the club wrote.


“Over recent months, we have worked closely with the APL on a pathway that gives the club the best opportunity to survive, rebuild and return to the A-League under new ownership.

“This creates an opportunity for new custodians, new investment and a fresh start.


“The objective must now be to preserve Western United’s identity in Melbourne’s west and work towards a return to the A-League for the 2027/28 season.”


The club said the priority now is to find a sustainable way forward in conjunction with the APL, Wyndham City Council, governments, prospective owners and the football community.


“This should not be the end of Western United. It should be the reset that allows the club to rebuild and return stronger,” the club added. 
not sure if youve been to Melbourne in recent years, but the area where the stadium was planned to be is a super industrial part of the city with no train access anywhere near it & at least 30 minutes from the nearest suburban area.. 

Also, while it is a high migration area, but its a population that lets just say lightly, can play cricket 14 months a year if they could, there was very little fanfare with this club & this is not surprising.. 

No AFL clubs play in their traditional home anymore but the Western Bulldogs do train in Whitten Oval which is very much in the West of Melbourne & their AFLW play games there... 

A shame it didnt work out, but anyone could see this coming. 
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Endorsed by
LG
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