Western United

[Wanderboy]

6 minutes ago, ManfredSchaefer said:

According to the Age they got off to a 'dream start'...

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/united-declare-allegiance-to-the-west-following-dream-a-league-debut-20191014-p530gd.html

Guess Tarnheit Travellers O/35 have pretty pissweak dreams if beating a Wellington squad that includes Shotirio as one of its key attacking players is their their standard...

To be fair, a win was a dream start for a new team. I'm actually happy they won as I want to see the A-League prosper and any new team to be sort of successful.

Surely it's good for our competition, and the League in general? Imagine if we'd been a failure for the first two or so seasons?

[ManfredSchaefer]

9 minutes ago, Wanderboy said:

To be fair, a win was a dream start for a new team. I'm actually happy they won as I want to see the A-League prosper and any new team to be sort of successful.

Surely it's good for our competition, and the League in general? Imagine if we'd been a failure for the first two or so seasons?

Yeah, lets go all kumbaya and have a group hug over a franchise that bought its way into the HAL with no home ground at the expense of real clubs like the Wolves or South Melbourne, or where the A-League really needs to go, i.e. Canberra. Or how about their promise to bring in a shitload of kids when in fact they've got more veterans playing for them than the cast of 'Old Age Home for 4 Year Olds'. And I guess when you lure away the coach from the Nix and he drags a few players with him, it must feel good to know that you're ace at undermining other clubs. Or perhaps we should remember how the FFA blocked the Victory for wanting to sign Diamanti, yet now it's roll over and let the WU fraudsters get him no questions asked. And ask JT what he thinks about them...I know what he told me and those of us on the Members Committee, and it wasn't generous as you are positing.

I could like a Newy or a Mariners, even if I had enough to drink, a Perth or Roar. However Tarnheit are just another Melchester City except they are playing most of their games at an AFL oval.

[pseudonym]

Western United has a sponsorship with Sportsbet

No logos on merch but listed as a partner

[Wanderboy]

3 minutes ago, ManfredSchaefer said:

Yeah, lets go all kumbaya and have a group hug over a franchise that bought its way into the HAL with no home ground at the expense of real clubs like the Wolves or South Melbourne, or where the A-League really needs to go, i.e. Canberra. Or how about their promise to bring in a shitload of kids when in fact they've got more veterans playing for them than the cast of 'Old Age Home for 4 Year Olds'. And I guess when you lure away the coach from the Nix and he drags a few players with him, it must feel good to know that you're ace at undermining other clubs. Or perhaps we should remember how the FFA blocked the Victory for wanting to sign Diamanti, yet now it's roll over and let the WU fraudsters get him no questions asked. And ask JT what he thinks about them...I know what he told me and those of us on the Members Committee, and it wasn't generous as you are positing.

I could like a Newy or a Mariners, even if I had enough to drink, a Perth or Roar. However Tarnheit are just another Melchester City except they are playing most of their games at an AFL oval.

 

I wouldn't have chosen Tarneit and their NON GUARANTEED railway and stadium/less empty promises option either. It was a disgrace that this joke of a proposal was chosen, and it appears that the supposed financial support of this joke of a club are completely anonymous and may very well have jetted off back to Asia.

It's more than obviously possible, that this will be another one of stupid, ignorant Gallops legacies that will leave our league in the shite. 

I would have preferred Wollongong and Canberra where football actually has a history and presence, but what would I know?

[mack]

The group who started the bid & put up the cash (the Chinese owners of Birmingham FC in England) to the FFA quit the bid because they didn't think the housing market was going to make it worth it.

[matty]

I hope they're successful for the most part, the league needs it

[ManfredSchaefer]

9 hours ago, matty said:

I hope they're successful for the most part, the league needs it

In the grand scheme of what the A-League "needs" I'd suggest they are about 3 rungs below a decent ratings result on ABC TV, and so far behind the importance of the suits doing more to get rusted on sokkah fans throughout Australia into HAL games, no matter their club affiliation, it's not funny.

Right now they're like that expensive extension to the house that you pushed through even though the missus thinks the money should've been spent elsewhere and you aren't too certain that the builders got full council approval. No one wants them to fall over now they're up & running (unless you're an unreconstructed NSL bitter). However the expansion of the HAL that got them & Macarthur Bullshitters up & running was such a missed opportunity. 

[LeeMarvin]

22 minutes ago, ManfredSchaefer said:

However the expansion of the HAL that got them & Macarthur Bullshitters up & running was such a missed opportunity.

Kind of makes me think back to the failed North Queensland and Gold Coast expansions.  Different rationale behind it perhaps (Fox$$$?) but I think the outcomes might be much the same.  Us and City, for all their faults, look like being the only successful A-League expansion teams at this stage.

[ManfredSchaefer]

Just now, LeeMarvin said:

Kind of makes me think back to the failed North Queensland and Gold Coast expansions.  Different rationale behind it perhaps (Fox$$$?) but I think the outcomes might be much the same.  Us and City, for all their faults, look like being the only successful A-League expansion teams at this stage.

Make no mistake...both Fury & Palmer FC were primarily designed to get two key planks of the Lowy agenda up & running (i.e. broaden the base of stadia & sokkah visibility for our 2022 World Cup Bid, and more dollars for the FFA coffers), and they failed dismally because they were so opportunistic. I thought of these two failed ventures as well Lee.

As for us and City, well call me cynical ("You're cynical") but I'd argue that the jury is still out on Heartless. Yes, they have a very secure backer and have achieved a modicum of success, though not as much as they nominally should have considering who they've signed in past years and their financial situation. Has to be said that the Tarnheit Travellers have a geographical identity that they can exploit, whereas no one has ever been able to posit a raison d'etre for Melchester City beyond 'they're not Victory'.

[LeeMarvin]

3 minutes ago, ManfredSchaefer said:

Make no mistake...both Fury & Palmer FC were primarily designed to get two key planks of the Lowy agenda up & running (i.e. broaden the base of stadia & sokkah visibility for our 2022 World Cup Bid, and more dollars for the FFA coffers), and they failed dismally because they were so opportunistic. I thought of these two failed ventures as well Lee.

As for us and City, well call me cynical ("You're cynical") but I'd argue that the jury is still out on Heartless. Yes, they have a very secure backer and have achieved a modicum of success, though not as much as they nominally should have considering who they've signed in past years and their financial situation. Has to be said that the Tarnheit Travellers have a geographical identity that they can exploit, whereas no one has ever been able to posit a raison d'etre for Melchester City beyond 'they're not Victory'.

I feel that the niche for City is to become a glamour bling side appealing to the Eurosnob demographic, thus transcending the need for a geographic base.  Hopefully they will at least be more interesting to watch now with their new manager.

[StringerBellend]

2 hours ago, LeeMarvin said:

Kind of makes me think back to the failed North Queensland and Gold Coast expansions.  Different rationale behind it perhaps (Fox$$$?) but I think the outcomes might be much the same.  Us and City, for all their faults, look like being the only successful A-League expansion teams at this stage.

I’m not sure I’d define city as a success, they still have next to no fans and would contribute nothing to the tv ratings 

but yes given the cfg money they are at least stable unless cfg lose interest 

[matty]

12 hours ago, ManfredSchaefer said:

In the grand scheme of what the A-League "needs" I'd suggest they are about 3 rungs below a decent ratings result on ABC TV, and so far behind the importance of the suits doing more to get rusted on sokkah fans throughout Australia into HAL games, no matter their club affiliation, it's not funny.

Right now they're like that expensive extension to the house that you pushed through even though the missus thinks the money should've been spent elsewhere and you aren't too certain that the builders got full council approval. No one wants them to fall over now they're up & running (unless you're an unreconstructed NSL bitter). However the expansion of the HAL that got them & Macarthur Bullshitters up & running was such a missed opportunity. 

Who cares how important it is, the league needs successful clubs. You've got alot of time on your hands to write a novel several times a day to nit pick 

[Neverbloom]

their forum is buzzing with traffic, has a total of 28 members

[THEWANDERERSPOST]

Pana Kone looks so bad how is he a marquee. Diamanti looks quality though.

[marron]

1 hour ago, Neverbloom said:

their forum is buzzing with traffic, has a total of 28 members

I was going to say, 28 online is pretty good considering a lot of them would be at the game, then it sank in.

[wendybr]

Congrats to the WU and their supporters!

In a stadium that looked about as suitable for football as Soulless, the supporters made  noise all game.

The team has been competitive in both their games so far.  Created chances today...came so close to a win.

Good on them.

[Paul01]

19 minutes ago, wendybr said:

Congrats to the WU and their supporters!

In a stadium that looked about as suitable for football as Soulless, the supporters made  noise all game.

The team has been competitive in both their games so far.  Created chances today...came so close to a win.

Good on them.

To be fair when we started at Soulless sound was good.

But then the Gestapo from FFA, SOP and Auburn LAC stepped and killed it.

[wendybr]

11 hours ago, Paul01 said:

To be fair when we started at Soulless sound was good.

But then the Gestapo from FFA, SOP and Auburn LAC stepped and killed it.

Maybe that's the case in the RBB.

Elsewhere in that stadiunm, it was pretty dismal from the start. Distance from the pitch and  offrom the RBB made any likelihood of a great matchday experience impossible.

Anyway, it's all in the past now.

But I thought WU and their supporters got off to a good start, and hopefully, the venue doesn't undermine that positive start.

I didn't see the crowd figure, but from what I heard during the coverage, they sounded committed to building some atmosphere all game.

Maybe some of the WSW supporters who went can provide details?

[Paul01]

29 minutes ago, wendybr said:

Maybe that's the case in the RBB.

Elsewhere in that stadiunm, it was pretty dismal from the start. Distance from the pitch and  offrom the RBB made any likelihood of a great matchday experience impossible.

Anyway, it's all in the past now.

But I thought WU and their supporters got off to a good start, and hopefully, the venue doesn't undermine that positive start.

I didn't see the crowd figure, but from what I heard during the coverage, they sounded committed to building some atmosphere all game.

Maybe some of the WSW supporters who went can provide details?

Crowd was 6088 with lots of free tickets

[andypk]

We were sat behind the active bay and thought the active support was fair. I can’t think back to the RBB at our first game but surely they were better than WU’s active support who had about 5 or 6 chants on repeat but for most of the second half stuck with a chant to the tune of The Adams Family. I think Perth Glory sing the same chant which may be why they stuck with it as a dis-chant, more than the others. The others chants were mainly the same as Victory’s, including the Besart Berisha chant. I thought there were a decent number in the active section for a first hit out.

There were a similar number of Glory fans, maybe a few less than there as there were Wanderers fans against Victory. We couldn’t hear them at all...No ‘You’re **** ahhhh!’

WU fans seem to be made up of young families and their active support are mainly teenagers and young men in their early 20’s

i heard a few conversations around us about the stadium and the view and they were all positive. The reality is it’s a large AFL ground which makes it a bigger hole than Spotless, if that’s possible. I’d guess that many of the WU fans probably haven’t been to a proper football stadium though and are yet to experience atmosphere.

Their team have started ok and as we all know that helps to get bums on seats but I fear for them if they start to struggle on the pitch. Playing out of a few stadiums wasn’t good for us, let alone a startup club where the fans currently don’t have any emotional investment.

[ManfredSchaefer]

3 hours ago, andypk said:

We were sat behind the active bay and thought the active support was fair. I can’t think back to the RBB at our first game but surely they were better than WU’s active support who had about 5 or 6 chants on repeat but for most of the second half stuck with a chant to the tune of The Adams Family. I think Perth Glory sing the same chant which may be why they stuck with it as a dis-chant, more than the others. The others chants were mainly the same as Victory’s, including the Besart Berisha chant. I thought there were a decent number in the active section for a first hit out.

There were a similar number of Glory fans, maybe a few less than there as there were Wanderers fans against Victory. We couldn’t hear them at all...No ‘You’re **** ahhhh!’

WU fans seem to be made up of young families and their active support are mainly teenagers and young men in their early 20’s

i heard a few conversations around us about the stadium and the view and they were all positive. The reality is it’s a large AFL ground which makes it a bigger hole than Spotless, if that’s possible. I’d guess that many of the WU fans probably haven’t been to a proper football stadium though and are yet to experience atmosphere.

Their team have started ok and as we all know that helps to get bums on seats but I fear for them if they start to struggle on the pitch. Playing out of a few stadiums wasn’t good for us, let alone a startup club where the fans currently don’t have any emotional investment.

Good report Andy

They have a very decent squad no two ways about it, and from the little I saw on the tele they had Perth well sorted for many minutes in the second half. One would have every reason to expect that they will be a strong opponent for all clubs in the coming rounds assuming they can keep their mass of oldies fit & firing. Has to be said that if they do have issues with someone like Kone & Berisha (who in the latter case could just as well miss a game or two for disciplinary reasons) then like everyone else in the comp they'll have to draw on their lesser &/or younger players, and that's going to be more an issue for them than others.

I wonder how the Team 11 supporters, proponents feel right now...

[andypk]

I forgot to mention that WU are using ‘Go West’ by The Pet Shop Boys’ as an anthem of sorts, but not a walkout song. They played it about 10 minutes before the game and also as everyone was leaving the ground.

[Edinburgh]

20 hours ago, andypk said:

Travelled down for the Victory game last night and thought we’d take in Western United’s first home game whilst we were here.

Wow. Just Wow. 

This is the Western United Capo before the game holding up a board with ‘dance’ on it and the dancing letters. 

Active support at its finest
 

Maybe I could give them a bit of guidance?

[wendybr]

Hahaha..well you were certainly leaping around on the TV footage! 

[Edinburgh]

2 minutes ago, wendybr said:

Hahaha..well you were certainly leaping around on the TV footage! 

Not that I was actually any good at it, but I was the nearest thing to a capo on Friday.

[wendybr]

Well done Ed!  

[Neverbloom]

On 19/10/2019 at 5:56 PM, marron said:

I was going to say, 28 online is pretty good considering a lot of them would be at the game, then it sank in.

lol i was hoping it would be more if they were successful but still only 28

[Sithslayer1991]

Team is looking impressive in defense. The quality of Diamanti and Scotty Mac also makes them dangerous in attack. Possible dark horse appearing

[LeeMarvin]

21 hours ago, andypk said:

I forgot to mention that WU are using ‘Go West’ by The Pet Shop Boys’ as an anthem of sorts, but not a walkout song. They played it about 10 minutes before the game and also as everyone was leaving the ground.

Yeah I could hear it the end of the match on the Fox Broadcast.

[ManfredSchaefer]

On 20/10/2019 at 2:05 PM, andypk said:

I forgot to mention that WU are using ‘Go West’ by The Pet Shop Boys’ as an anthem of sorts, but not a walkout song. They played it about 10 minutes before the game and also as everyone was leaving the ground.

There is something quietly ironic about the 'western' supporters of Tarnheit O/35s getting pumped up with a song that was originally performed by an iconic non-hetero band (the Village People) and in the version they use is also a non-hetero version.

I wonder how many of the Geelong hard cases would have a heart attack if they worked this out...