In case you missed it, the name and colours of the A-League’s newest team were officially confirmed early on Thursday morning.
Western United FC was born, with the club’s colours being green, black and white. Personally, I’m not fond of the name but I do like the colour scheme. But does my opinion really matter on this topic? No it shouldn’t.
Not to those in charge of the new club anyway. I’m not the target market, I’m already a fan of an A-League team. I’m a Melbourne Victory supporter, my approval should not be their highest priority.
I can’t comprehend the motive behind the social media backlash the announcement attracted. Comments left on the official A-League Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages were extremely negative.
This is before I looked on the new club’s social pages, where the same trend continued. But the majority of these comments were coming from fans who already supported another A-League team.
Why are already affiliated A-League supporters so outraged by the name of the new club? Does it really matter to you? It’s fine to have an opinion on the new team, but there’s no point getting so worked up about an entity that you won’t support.
The social media reaction suggested that the team’s name was too ‘general’ and ‘vague’. That’s a fair criticism. However, it was noted that club chiefs didn’t really want to include Melbourne in the name.
You can understand that notion, as the club will play its first two seasons mostly in Geelong and regional Victoria. Will those in Geelong identify with a team that has Melbourne in their name? Probably not.
So why not use Victoria in the name you say? Sounds awfully close to Victory. Why not use a gimmicky name such as Roar, Jets or Glory? Whether that’s any better than a traditional moniker such as ‘United’ is up for debate.
A Facebook group titled ‘We Are West’ is the official active supporter group for the new club. The group has over 1200 members and anecdotally the most popular names that supporters claimed they had voted for was Western United FC and Western Athletic FC.
One of those names eventually won out from the News Limited poll, leaving the members content with the final decision. Isn’t that what is important here? Keeping those who will actually support the team relatively happy?
The ‘general’ name that outsiders have criticised, was actually the one that garnered the most support. Others might think it’s boring, but supporters of the new club may find it uniting.
Western United FC will follow the path of sporting teams such as the Western Bulldogs and Wests Tigers and frankly it’s not the prerogative for others to intervene, if the fans of the club have got what they wanted.
M20
Guest
Should play these guys in their first trial game https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_United_F.C.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
It is a nice look. Something akin to Mohun Bagan AC's pin striping would work well.
Tom
Guest
I went for Wyndham city. I still don't agree with Western United, I is just hard to see the marketing opportunities it brings to the league
Glen
Guest
I actually really like Beijing Guoan's look which uses a two-tone green. With a bit of black and yellow trim. On a wider note, Boston Celtics are using much more black and green in their jerseys and merchandise lately.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Did PMANSASPR come up with that acronym?
Philip Panas
Roar Rookie
I was talking about the A-League clubs
Wayne
Roar Guru
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets Give Canberra a little more Respect. They are actually Called Canberra United in both W and Y Leagues
Fadida
Roar Rookie
On the shirt colours, Sporting Lisbon have a variety of green shirts which look great. I'd like to see dark green and black hoops, much like WSW. It'd look fantastic
jamesb
Roar Guru
It will be tough for the new club where in their first two or three years, they will play their home games at Geelong. Maybe when they eventually (and hopefully) play at their own stadium, they could rebirth the club with a small name change of Western Wyndham United.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Any name will work if you put the effort in - just ask Google and Yahoo! Would I have done it differently if it were my decision? Yes. Am I morally outraged at their choice? No. Am I surprised at “the internets” negative reaction? Hell no, that’s what they do lol.
josh
Roar Rookie
Missed opportunity for, Western Greater Metropolitan Melbourne Regional Football, Athletic and Sporting Club or WGMMRFASC. Is the nickname going to be The Roads? On the team colors, "The blacktop of the bitumen with the greenery of our suburbs. It seemed like a perfect combination."
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
A new entity arrives and there is an outpouring of disparranging comments on social media from those who who feel threatened by the newcomer. Pretty standard stuff.
Philip Panas
Roar Rookie
There’s already two united’s (Adelaide and Newcastle). You are comparing a traditional moniker (United) which is used all over the world, by multiple clubs in the same leagues, to oddly specific names such as Roar and Jets. It’s not a fair comparison in my opinion.
Nick Symonds
Guest
On the subject of active supporters, North Terrace sounds a little generic. How about something more original like Bitter Victorians? https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/bitter-victorians-union-worker/7785398
Nick Symonds
Guest
They could've gone with Wynd Ham United.
JuBe
Guest
Except there is already a United. Would you say fans of other clubs had no right to an opinion if the club had been named Western Jets, or Western Roar? Victoria is apparently too close to Victory, but duplicating United is ok. Also it makes no sense - you can unite a city, you can't unite a direction.
Brendo51
Roar Pro
I cannot speak for a lot of other posters but I have commented on the name because personally I care about football in this country and because I want this team to survive and provide a incentive for football to grow in this state. A football club’s name is extremely important it can scream the community it represents, it can provide marketing and branding opportunities, it can be used to bind the fans together. The issue I have with the cowboys, is they have chosen a name so generic it makes it next to impossible for them to grow with this name. All the marketing so far “We are United”, “We are West” seems very bland. Problem I foresee is they want to embrace Geelong without actually being based on Geelong. To me its over reaching, surely positioning themselves as a West Melbourne team makes more sense. Yes I know the first two years are going to be based in Geelong but its two years people, are they a Geelong team or a West Melbourne team. imo they can’t be both. Even if that works, what happens if a second tier gets up and a Geelong team pitches for the 2nd Division (yes I know its a big if). I really hope they are a success, it will be really interesting to see the crowd numbers in their 2nd year in Geelong and then once they move to West Melbourne. I hope I am wrong but I think they are going to find it hard to build a solid base of supporters, just think the name doesn’t help.
Mark
Guest
I suppose you could say it’s the ‘right’ name on the basis that it is a very safe bet and they could have done far worse.