UNITED WE STAND
A-League club’s colours, name revealed
THE A-League’s newest franchise will be called Western United and become the first team to wear green and black, when it kicks off in October.
The club’s chiefs warned rivals yesterday it would continue to recruit aggressively after poaching Socceroos full back Josh Risdon from Western Sydney Wanderers. Risdon, 26, is the second player to sign.
Western United, which will play out of Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium for its first two seasons, will be Victoria’s third A-League club but, unlike Victory and City, will not feature the state’s capital city in its name.
THE A-League’s newest franchise will be called Western United and be the first team to wear green and black when it kicks off in October.
The club’s football chiefs warned A-League rivals yesterday that it would continue to recruit aggressively, after poaching Socceroos fullback Josh Risdon from Western Sydney Wanderers.
Risdon, 26, is the second player to sign, after Greece international Panagiotis Kone was last week announced as its inaugural marquee signing.
Western United, which will play out of Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium for its first two years, will be the Victoria’s third ALeague club, but unlike Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City, it will not feature the state’s capital city in the name.
The name and colours came about via an exclusive News Corp poll, with club chiefs opting to incorporate black and green, which were “neck and neck” in voting.
“This week the club proper has been born,” football director Steve Horvat said.
“It will no longer be a consortium or a bid. We don’t have to refer to a group any more, we can refer to ourselves as a club.
“It will be a real football club with a real name and colours, so it’s a really exciting time for us at the moment.
“This was a big part of our real engagement plan — to go to the community and get their feedback on what our colours should be and our name.
“We had a fan forum back in August during the bidding process which sort of led to a survey where people could suggest names and colours and different things about the club.”
Lou Sticca, who is in charge of player recruitment, declared that Risdon — who signed a two-year deal — was the first of many imminent signings.
“He’s a very good signing, he’s played 20-odd games for Socceroos and is one of the best, if not the best Australian right-back. Delighted to have him on board and it makes a statement,’’ Sticca said.
“People might not like it, but we’ll be very aggressive in the marketplace, both locally and overseas. We’ll abide by ALeague protocols, but we won’t be timid, we need to have a competitive team.
“We don’t have any special conditions like expansion clubs have had previously or in AFL. We’ve been thrown in the deep end and we have to fend for ourselves.
“We’ve been linked with every player who’s coming out of contract (in the A-League) — we haven’t contacted not even 10 per cent of the players we’ve been associated with.”