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| One of the oldest club logos in English football could just be the newest logo in Australian football |
Club Culture
First from the spot was Mark 'Bozza' Bosnich, promoting his view on the multicultural aura which surrounds football in Western Sydney with spectators sharing memories of football in 'the old country'. The club has to target the audience which currently lack a voice, focusing on the established NSW Premier League sides and working with the clubs to ensure each and every member has a say into how the club should represent the area in the best possible format.
It is this concept of a 'working class' club, an underdog team and a link between old football and new football, which most spectators are looking to achieve with this new Western Sydney club. The key ingredient being family. All clubs want to belong to a family. One of the objectives of Western Sydney FC is to create and maintain the relationship between many different footballing families and bring them under the one umbrella.
Playing Style
"Quite simply we should be seeking to play a Cruyff style of total football. A passing game in a 4-3-3 set up which has pace, strength and technical ability" - Words of wisdom from one of the many potential Western Sydney FC fans.
There are plenty of coaches linked with the position in recent weeks, most notably Paul Okon, Tony Popovic and even former Brisbane Roar coach Frank Farina. The issue here though is whether or not the club needs to source their manager overseas or whether they'll settle for a local based coach. With a shortlist of three managers from the NSW Premier League including Sydney Olympic's Peter Tsekenis, Sydney United's Jean-Paul de Marigny and Sutherland Sharks' Robbie Stanton all among those as targets, the biggest issue now is for the club to start interviewing for the role and hire a coach to start building a team.
Team Name, Colours and Logo
"We need to have Western Sydney in our name. It's who we are. Call us Western Sydney Wanderers FC. Red jersey, black shorts, red socks. Ole ole ole" - A fan from the floor.
The battle between red and blue is world wide, Liverpool FC have Everton FC, Inter Milan have AC Milan, Melbourne Victory have Melbourne Heart. It makes sense to have the new Western Sydney side in a predominantly red kit to continue this theme. With Bonnyrigg White Eagles, Sydney United, Blacktown City FC, Bankstown City Lions FC and Parramatta Eagles FC all wearing their red home kits proudly on game day, it appears that this is the colour of choice for the new Western Sydney football club.
Home Ground
"NO TO ANZ STADIUM!" was the cry from all 200 people in attendance at the fan forum.
Despite shouts for Marconi Stadium and Sydney United Sports Centre (Edensor Park) to be used as a temporary base for the new club, Parramatta Stadium appears the most viable option with a capacity of just over 21,000. That said, both Lyall Gorman and Ben Buckley said they were willing to put forward proposals for a purpose built stadium in the Fairfield/Liverpool area in the hope that the new Western Sydney club would have their own home ground with top facilities, training base and academy up and running in the next couple of years.
Overall
With shouts and cries from the audience of not wanting the club to fail, CEO of Football Federation Australia (FFA) Ben Buckley assured the anxious crowd that this time it would be different. The federation are looking to build the club from the bottom up, starting with the fans and not starting with a boss in an armchair.
When asked how long FFA were willing to fund the Western Sydney Football Club before selling the club on to private ownership or to a community model, Mr. Buckley stated the the FFA were behind the club long term and not in for a one year, two or five year trial period.
With another four forums set to happen in the coming months to formally decide on all the fine details, it appears that expansion into Western Sydney is happening seven years too late. The clubs have been waiting for representation, the fans have become disillusioned with the competition and the players are tired of not knowing what tomorrow brings. Hopefully with Western Sydney Wanderers FC, the A-League will receive a much needed boost and will start to mend the bridges between old soccer and new football which so many people still feel alienates them.