The FFA have announced the first in a series of community meetings to be held regarding the new Western Sydney A-League team.

The first is to be held at Mounties in Mt Pritchard on Thursday April 12th. Time 7:30-9:30pm.

The announcement mentioned space for 300 fans and is said to involve the first discussions around the team name, colours, logo and culture. More information will be added as it comes to hand.

Getting to Mounties:

Google Maps Link

By Train/Bus:

Anyone coming from Parramatta/Fairfield/Granville/Penrith/Blacktown by Train: Take a train to Cabramatta station. The 816 Oliveris Metro Link bus leaves from Cabramatta has a stop right outside Mounties. It is the best option.

Another is the 802 Wesbus from Fairfield Station to Humphries Road. From there continue down Humphries Road until you reach to Edensor Road. Follow Edensor Road until it crosses with Meadows Road, walk down Meadows Road until you get to Mounties..

From Liverpool or further out towards Campbelltown you can either just go to Cabramatta and take the bus listed above, or catch the 807 Oliveris Metro Link bus from Liverpool Station. Leave the bus at the intersection of Meadows Road and Elizabeth Drive and walk to Mounties.

The reason the challenge is tough lies in the timing. Getting a club, now non-existent, ready to make a credible start in the A-League by the start of October, in less than six months, is a task even Sisyphus might dismiss as a bad idea and not at all preferable to eternally rolling boulders up a large hill.

Damian Lovelock, commenting on Sky News, said he looked upon the prospect with ‘cautious pessimism’.

Ordinarily such a project would, or should, be given a year or two, maybe three, to evolve and mature into readiness. But not this one due to the need for FFA to negotiate a scrumptious television deal, which calls for a ten-team competition, in quick time.

Such a challenge is fraught with the kind of dangers that make a football lover tremble and break out in a cold sweat.

Western Sydney, as we have been reminded for a small eternity now, is the heartland of football. Milking its potential for Australia’s showpiece national competition is an opportunity that makes all other sports palpitate and suddenly become apoplectic with envy.

If FFA stuffs this up (and it has form in stuffing things up) the damage to the game’s image may be terminal. Ben Buckley would be advised to take prolonged gardening leave from football, away and somewhere quite distant and maybe a bit less dangerous, like Somalia.

I hope Ben is busy and has cancelled all leave, for there ain’t time to waste here.

Read the rest of the article at the SBS website