United under new colours

THE A-League’s newest franchise will be called Western United and become the first team to wear green and black, when they kick off in October.

The club’s football chiefs yesterday warned A-League rivals that they will continue to recruit aggressively, after poaching Socceroos full-back Josh Risdon from Western Sydney Wanderers.

Risdon, 26, is the second player to sign, after Greece international Panagiotis Kone was last week announced as their marquee signing.

Western United will be Victoria’s third A-League club, but unlike Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City, they will not feature the state’s capital city in the name.

The name and colours came about via an exclusive Herald Sun poll, with club chiefs opting to incorporate both black and green, which were “neck and neck” in the voting results.

“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 the Socceroos and one of the best, if not the best Australian right-back,” Sticca said.