Western United FC

Western United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit; the club represents western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the regional cities of Ballarat, and Geelong; and regional and country towns in western Victoria.
The club was established as part of an expansion process in the country's premier soccer competition, the A-League. It began playing in the 2019–20 A-League season, under licence from Football Australia. On 12 May 2022 it announced the establishment of an A-League Women team.
United plays home matches at Ironbark Fields in Wyndham. The club previously played home matches at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston, North Hobart Oval in Hobart, AAMI Park in Melbourne and Mars Stadium in Ballarat, with the club planning to permanently relocate matches to Wyndham City Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium in Wyndham upon its construction.
On 8 August 2025, the club's license to compete in the A-League Men and A-League Women competitions was stripped by Football Australia's independent first instance board, which oversees club licensing. The club appealed the decision for the board to consider, but was wound-up by the Federal Court of Australia on 28 August 2025, however the club have been granted a stay. On 2 September, Football Australia's Appeals and Entry Control Body adjourned its decision on the withdrawal of Western United's licence until 9 September. On 6 September 2025, the club's A-Leagues participation was paused for the 2025–26 season, with the possibility of returning at a later date.

History

Origins and early success (2018–2024)

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. Western Melbourne played home games at Kardinia Park in Geelong for its first two seasons, while building 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 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. Two months later, the club unveiled their inaugural jerseys for their first season in the A-League, 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.

Ownership challenges and financial uncertainty; hiatus (2025–26)

Debts and wind-up

On 1 May 2025, it was reported that the club was subject to a player registration ban by FIFA, effective until the January 2027 transfer window. Media reports indicated that this was due to a dispute with former player Aleksandar Prijovic.
On 2 May, the club's owners announced that KAM Melbourne would acquire a majority stake in the club, subject to the approval of Australian Professional Leagues and Football Australia. Later that month the club was served with breach notices by both their men's and women's teams over unpaid wages. It was reported on 2 August that the club lost $11 million in the 2023/24 financial year, with liabilities exceeding assets by more than $55 million, and a deficit of more than $12m for the preceding period. By this point the proposed KAM Melbourne takeover had not eventuated and then they formally pulled out on 27 August.
On 29 August, the club's parent company WMG Football Club Limited was placed in liquidation, after a Federal Court order. However, the club attempted to argue that it found "a fresh $15 million investment to pay off their debts" and simply needed an adjournment to resolve the situation. Later that day, Western United appealed the decision.

Suspension of license

On 8 August, the First Instance Board of Football Australia determined that Western United had failed to meet the criteria to hold an A-Leagues license. The renewal of the club's license was rescinded, with the club subsequently ejected from both Australian Professional Leagues competitions – the A-League Men and the A-League Women. Appeal by the club followed, with the Football Australia appeals body set to rule on it on 25 August 2025. The APL in the meantime restructured the schedules for the 2025–26 A-League men's and women's seasons to exclude Western United, with the expectation that they will be omitted before mid-September. On 2 September, Football Australia's Appeals and Entry Control Body adjourned its decision on the matter of Western United's licence until 9 September.
On 6 September, the club, APL, Football Australia, Professional Footballers Australia and Wyndham City Council agreed a resolution of United sitting out the 2025–26 seasons, with the stipulation that all players will be released from their contracts, irrespective of the outcomes of any appellations. The club maintained the commitment to return to the competitions after a year on hiatus. The decision received harsh criticism from the PFA president Beau Busch, who described it as a "let down by governance failures and false promises".
On 10 September, the A&ECB determined that the club's appeal had to go to a new hearing, and in the interim the previous licence withdrawal has been set aside.

A-League Women

Western United joined the A-League Women for the 2022–23 season, which, with the return of Central Coast Mariners, expanded the 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 Kappa and fans, the club officially unveiled its inaugural home and alternative kits for the 2019–20 A-League season. The home kit consists of green and black vertical stripes where the Western United logo is encased in a faint crest. The alternative 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

On 28 August 2024, Western United signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore Premier League club Balestier Khalsa.

Stadium

Western United currently play their home matches at Ironbark Fields, a 5,000 capacity venue in the Wyndham. The stadium is a temporary home while the Wyndham City Stadium is built in the adjacent precinct. Western United had a somewhat transient existence between 2019 and 2023, playing in a range of stadiums across Victoria and Tasmania. 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 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 the aforementioned 5,000 capacity stadium which is be capable of hosting A-League matches. The three pitches consist of a main grass pitch, which serve as the main training base for Western United's A-Leagues teams and girls and boys academy teams and will be suitable for A-League Women's and NPL standard matches. A second grass pitch is designed for community-level competitive games and as a training pitch while a third synthetic pitch is used for training and matches.
Upon their entrance to the A-League, Western United initially used the City Vista Recreation Reserve, 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 facility that is home to the Essendon Football Club and Paralympics Australia. Construction on the training facilities in Tarneit commenced in March 2022 and were completed by March 2024.

Location	Stadium	Capacity	Year
Geelong	Kardinia Park	36,000	2019–2021
Ballarat	Eureka Stadium	11,000	2019–2024
Melbourne	Whitten Oval	10,000	2020
Melbourne	Melbourne Rectangular Stadium	30,050	2020–2024
Launceston	York Park	19,000	2021–2023
Ballarat	Morshead Park Stadium	8,500	2022
Hobart	North Hobart Oval	10,000	2023–2024
Wyndham	Ironbark Fields	5,000	2024–