2020–21 Western United FC season

The 2020–21 Western United FC season is the club's second season since its establishment in 2018. The club will only participate in the A-League after the 2020 FFA Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[1]

Western United
2020–21 season
ChairmanJason Sourasis
ManagerMark Rudan
StadiumAAMI Park, Melbourne
GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
Mars Stadium, Ballarat
FFA CupCancelled

Review

Background

Western United's inaugrural campaign had seen the team finish 5th and advance to the 2020 A-League Finals series, where they won the elimination-final against Brisbane Roar with the only goal from a free kick from Alessandro Diamanti. They advanced to the semi-final where they lost 2–0 against Melbourne City.[2]

Pre-season

The club confirmed four player departures on 31 August 2020 which included Valentino Yuel, Thiel Iradukunda, Oskar Dillon, and Patrick Antelmi.[3] The club's first transfer of the season came on 2 October, when Western United signed former Melbourne City winger Lachlan Wales on a two-year deal.[4] In the span of two days on 6–7 December, two players Tomoki Imai and Andrew Durante both extended their contracts by one-year.[5][6]

On 21 October, Jonathan Aspropotamitis departed the club to join Perth Glory and continue their AFC Champions League campaign.[7] As the club returned to training ahead of the 2020–21 A-League campaign, they signed a sponsorship with Strapit Sports Tape for two A-League seasons.[8] On 11 November, the club confirmed the departure of James Delianov who was injured throughout Western United's entire inaugural season as he signed for Adelaide United the same day.[9][10] The day after, the club officially announced their kits for the 2020–21 season designed by Kappa.[11]

On 27 November, the club signed Spanish midfielder Víctor Sánchez who made over 300 appearances in Spain's top-flight La Liga including a spell at Barcelona for three years.[12] Western United played their first friendly on 28 November against local A-League rivals Melbourne City where they lost 2–1 in Melbourne in a behind closed doors match.[13]

December

Western United kicked off their season in the A-League for their second campaign against Adelaide United where the match resulted in a 0–0 draw.[14] Their new players included Víctor Sánchez, Lachlan Wales, Nicolas Milanovic, and Ayom Majok.

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  POL Filip Kurto
2 DF  AUS Aaron Calver
3 DF  AUS Brendan Hamill
4 DF  NZL Andrew Durante
5 DF  AUS Dylan Pierias
6 DF  JPN Tomoki Imai
7 FW  KVX Besart Berisha
8 FW  AUS Lachlan Wales
10 MF  AUS Steven Lustica
11 FW  AUS Connor Pain
12 FW  AUS Stefan Zinni (injury replacement)
13 DF  AUS Ivan Vujica
14 MF  AUS Max Burgess
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF  AUS Joshua Cavallo
19 DF  AUS Josh Risdon
20 MF  ESP Víctor Sánchez
21 MF  AUS Sebastian Pasquali
22 DF  AUS Tomislav Uskok (vice-captain)
23 MF  ITA Alessandro Diamanti (captain)
25 MF  AUS Luke Duzel (scholarship)
26 MF  AUS Nicolas Milanovic (scholarship)
27 MF  AUS Jerry Skotadis
29 FW  AUS Ayom Majok (scholarship)
30 GK  AUS Ryan Scott
34 MF  ESP Iker Guarrotxena

Transfers

Transfers in
No. Position Player Transferred from Type/fee Contract length Date Ref
8FW Lachlan Wales Unattached Free transfer 2 years 2 October 2020 [15]
20MF Víctor Sánchez Unattached Free transfer 2 years 27 November 2020 [16]
29FW Ayom Majok Cumberland United Scholarship 2 years 3 December 2020 [17]
12FW Stefan Zinni Avondale Injury replacement 2 months 27 December 2020 [18]
34MF Iker Guarrotxena Unattached Free transfer 14 January 2021 [19]

Transfers out
No. Position Player Transferred to Type/fee Date Ref
26FW Patrick Antelmi Sydney United End of contract 31 August 2020 [20][21]
7FW Valentino Yuel Unattached End of contract 1 September 2020 [21]
24MF Thiel Iradukunda Unattached End of contract 1 September 2020 [21]
28DF Oskar Dillon Unattached End of contract 1 September 2020 [21]
15DF Jonathan Aspropotamitis Perth Glory Mutual contract termination 21 October 2020 [22][23]
20GK James Delianov Adelaide United Mutual contract termination 11 November 2020 [24][25]
33FW Apostolos Stamatelopoulos Unattached Mutual contract termination 25 January 2021 [26]

Contract extensions
No.NamePositionDurationDateNotes
6 Tomoki ImaiDefender1 year6 October 2020[27]
4 Andrew DuranteCentre-back1 year7 October 2020[28]

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

28 November 2020 (2020-11-28) Melbourne City 2–1 Western United Melbourne, Australia
 Report
Stadium: City Football Academy
Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)
5 December 2020 (2020-12-05) Western United 9–0 North Geelong Warriors Geelong, Australia
15:00 AEDT
Report Stadium: GMHBA Stadium
12 December 2020 (2020-12-12) Western United 2–3 Melbourne City Ballarat, Australia
15:00 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Morshead Park Stadium
20 December 2020 Brisbane Roar 0–2 Western United Gold Coast, Australia
Report
Stadium: Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss

Overview
Competition Record
P W D L GF GA GD Win %
A-League 1 0 1 0 0 0 +0 000.00
Total 1 0 1 0 0 0 +0 000.00

Updated to match played 28 December 2020
Source: Competitions

A-League
Main article: 2020–21 A-League

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Central Coast Mariners 7 5 0 2 12 7 +5 15 Qualification to Finals Series, 2021 FFA Cup round of 32, and 2022 AFC Champions League group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2 Brisbane Roar 5 4 0 1 13 6 +7 12 Qualification to Finals Series and 2021 FFA Cup round of 32[lower-alpha 1]
3 Perth Glory 5 3 0 2 15 12 +3 9
4 Western Sydney Wanderers 6 2 3 1 7 6 +1 9
5 Macarthur FC 6 2 2 2 6 9 −3 8
6 Sydney FC 4 2 1 1 6 4 +2 7
7 Adelaide United 6 2 1 3 8 10 −2 7 Qualification to 2021 FFA Cup round of 32[lower-alpha 2]
8 Newcastle Jets 7 2 1 4 7 9 −2 7
9 Melbourne City 6 2 0 4 6 10 −4 6
10 Western United 5 1 2 2 8 9 −1 5
11 Wellington Phoenix[lower-alpha 3] 4 1 1 2 5 6 −1 4
12 Melbourne Victory 5 1 1 3 5 10 −5 4
Updated to match(es) played on 7 February 2021. Source: A-League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Least red cards; 5) Least yellow cards; 6) Toss of a coin in an event of a tie of two clubs.
Notes:
  1. The top two teams enter the Finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the Finals series at the elimination-finals.
  2. The top 8 teams qualify for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participate in a playoff round.[29]
  3. Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Results summary
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
1 0 1 0 0 0  0 1 0 1 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0 0  0

Last updated: 28 December 2020.
Source: Ultimate A-League

Results by round
Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
GroundHAHHAHHAAHHHAHAAHAAHHAAAHA
ResultD
Position
Updated to match(es) played on 28 December 2020. Source: Ultimate A-League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches
28 December 2020 1 Western United 0–0 Adelaide United Geelong
19:05 AEDT Report Stadium: GMHBA Stadium
Attendance: 5,128
Referee: Shaun Evans
1 January 2021 2 Western Sydney Wanderers v Western United Sydney
19:00 AEDT Report Stadium: Bankwest Stadium
6 January 2021 3 Western United v Macarthur FC Geelong
19:00 AEDT Report Stadium: GMHBA Stadium
12 January 2021 4 Western United v Wellington Phoenix Geelong
19:05 AEDT Report Stadium: GMHBA Stadium

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Players with no appearances not included in the list.

As of 28 December 2020
No. Pos. Nat. Name A-League Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Filip Kurto 1010
2 DF Aaron Calver 1010
4 DF Andrew Durante 0 (1)00 (1)0
5 DF Dylan Pierias 1010
6 DF Tomoki Imai 1010
7 FW Besart Berisha 1010
8 FW Lachlan Wales 1010
10 MF Steven Lustica 1010
11 FW Connor Pain 1010
13 DF Ivan Vujica 0 (1)00 (1)0
20 MF Víctor Sánchez 1010
22 DF Tomislav Uskok 1010
23 MF Alessandro Diamanti 1010
26 MF Nicolas Milanovic 0 (1)00 (1)0
27 MF Jerry Skotadis 0 (1)00 (1)0
29 MF Ayom Majok 0 (1)00 (1)0

Goalscorers
As of 28 December 2020
Rank No. Pos Nat Name A-League Total

Disciplinary record
As of 28 December 2020
Rank No. Pos Nat Name A-League Total
1 2 DF Aaron Calver 1 0 1 0
8 FW Lachlan Wales 1 0 1 0
10 MF Steven Lustica 1 0 1 0
20 MF Víctor Sánchez 1 0 1 0
23 MF Alessandro Diamanti 1 0 1 0
29 MF Ayom Majok 1 0 1 0
Total6060

Clean sheets
As of 28 December 2020
Rank No. Pos Nat Name A-League Total
1 1 GK Filip Kurto 1 1
Total11

References
  1. "Coronavirus forces FFA Cup to be cancelled". The World Game. SBS. 7 July 2020.
  2. Rayson, Zac (26 August 2020). "City cruelly end underdogs' dream debut season in brutal semi-final". Fox Sports.
  3. "Western United squad update". Western United. 31 August 2020.
  4. "Western United sign Olyroo Lachie Wales". Western United. 2 October 2020.
  5. "Tomoki Imai re-signs with Western United". Western United. 6 October 2020.
  6. "Andrew Durante signs on for Western United". Western United. 7 October 2020.
  7. "Aspropotamitis departs Western United FC". Western United. 21 October 2020.
  8. "Western United and Strapit rise up for next two A-League seasons". Western United. 28 October 2020.
  9. "James Delianov departs Western United". Western United. 11 November 2020.
  10. "Reds sign Delianov to two-year deal". Adelaide United. 11 November 2020.
  11. "Western United's kits revealed for 2020/21 A-League season". Western United. 12 November 2020.
  12. "Western United sign experienced midfielder Víctor Sánchez". Western United. 27 November 2020.
  13. "A-League Pre-Season Report: Melbourne City 2-1 Western United". Melbourne City. 29 November 2020.
  14. "Report: Western United draw with Adelaide United in season opener". Western United. Football Federation Australia. 28 December 2020.
  15. "Western United sign Olyroo Lachie Wales". Western United. 2 October 2020.
  16. "Western United sign ex-La Liga midfielder". The World Game. SBS. 27 November 2020.
  17. "Western United sign young striker Ayom Majok". Western United. 3 December 2020.
  18. "Western United sign Stefan Zinni". Western United. 27 December 2020.
  19. Monteverde, Marco (14 January 2021). "A-League: New Western United signing Iker Guarrotxena keen to make an early impression". news.com.au.
  20. Sydney United [@SydUtd58FC] (31 August 2020). "WELCOME BACK Just in case you missed the game yesterday, Patrick ANTELMI and Yianni PERKATIS re-joined Sydney United from Western United and Perth Glory, respectively. Welcome back lads!!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. "Western United squad update". Western United. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  22. "Aspropotamitis departs Western United FC". Western United. 21 October 2020.
  23. Morgan, Gareth (21 October 2020). "Glory swoop for talented young duo". Perth Glory.
  24. "James Delianov departs Western United". Western United. 11 November 2020.
  25. "Reds sign Delianov to two-year deal". Adelaide United. 11 November 2020.
  26. "Apostolos Stamatelopoulos departs". Western United. 25 January 2021.
  27. "Tomoki Imai re-signs with Western United". Western United. 6 October 2020.
  28. "Andrew Durante signs on for Western United". Western United. 7 October 2020.
  29. "FFA Cup to introduce Hyundai A-League play-off process from 2020". Football Australia. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.