HEADING FOR EXIT
Western United may be bounced out of town
WESTERN United concedes it may have played its last game at GMHBA Stadium because of AFL rights to the venue.
The A-League club had been hoping to play Brisbane Roar in Geelong on Sunday but that fixture has been scheduled for AAMI Park in another blow for the roundball game returning to town.
It is understood an alternative date was offered for the Round 12 contest but that gesture was rejected.
It leaves United with no fixtured games at Kardinia Park, and club chief executive Chris Pehlivanis says there are no guarantees around its future prospects of bringing matches down the highway beyond this season.
“It will depend on the window we’re going to play in,” Pehlivanis said.
“We need a facility that’s going to allow us to play a considerable amount of games.
“Unfortunately, we can’t be doing what we’re doing at the moment, which is waiting for the AFL and Geelong Cats to approve. You need some more certainty.
“I can’t say it’s the last time but we’re hopeful we’ll be able to find a solution.”
It was announced last month that Western United would take at least two games in the next two years, including this season, to Launceston.
The move to Tasmania was in part because of a lack of access to venues as it waits for its 15,000-seat Tarneit stadium to be completed.
Pehlivanis said he could not guarantee the second-year club’s future in Geelong, where it played eight matches in its debut season.
That number has been cut to two this year.
“If we do encroach on the AFL season, it is difficult to say we’ll be playing in Geelong during the AFL season,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s going to happen.”
The A-League fixture has been released only until the end of this month, and regularseason matches are scheduled to finish at the end of May.
Pehlivanis said United would continue to work with Geelong and the AFL to find room in the calendar to stage A-League matches at GMHBA Stadium.
“We’re hopeful it isn’t the last time,” he said. “It will all depend on trying to find some availability at the stadium to play games.
“We had some issues obviously with COVID and some fixtures being postponed and now Geelong Cats have got a contractual obligation at the stadium.
EVERY CATS GAME
“We need AFL and Geelong approval for our games to be able to be played there. Whenever we have a fixture scheduled, we need to get it approved by those two parties.”
Kardinia Park Stadium Trust chief executive Gerard Griffin said Geelong’s right to GMHBA Stadium took priority.
“Existing tenancy agreements with Geelong Football Club and the AFL during the AFL season, ensures the Geelong Cats have first rights to the ground for any AFL and AFLW scheduling,” Griffin said. “WUFC were aware of Geelong’s tenancy privileges prior to signing their agreement to host four matches at GMHBA Stadium for the 2020-21 A-League season.
“We hope to see WUFC at GMHBA Stadium again soon”.