Winners...
WesternUnited
playersliftthe
A-Leaguetrophy
seasonoftransition
fortheA-League
perhapsendedinthe
mostaptfashion–
a first championship
successforan
expansionclubstillfindingits feet
inprofessionalfootball.
WesternUnited,just fouryears old,
andmuchderidedfortheirrather
genericname(theywereoriginally
namedWestern Melbourne,where the
teamisbased),smallfanbase,and the
nomadicnatureoftheirnascent
existence.Alreadyintheirshortlife,
Western Unitedlift
thetrophy
JohnAloisi’ssidedefytheoddstowintheirfirstmajortitle
A
theyhaveutilisedsixhomegroundsas
theywaitfortheirmuch-anticipated
boutiquestadiumtobebuilt.
Somedoubtwhetheriteverwillbe,
givenitwas supposedtobereadyfor
thisseason.Asyet,not a singlebrick
hasbeenlaidatthe proposedsite in
Wyndham.
Butthereis no doubtthatunderJohn
Aloisi thebuildingblockswereinplace
forsuccessonthepitchatleast.After
missingthe finalslastseason,Aloisi
replacedMarkRudan as coach,and
recruited superbly.
ImportsAleksandarPrijovic(whogot
Caption
13 goals,including oneinthe Grand
Final winoverMelbourneCity, andsix
assists),Leo Lacroix,andto an extent,
ReneKrhin,madebigcontributions.As
didAustraliansignings,JamieYoung,who
kept 12 cleansheets,NeilKilkenny,who
keptthingstickingoverinmidfield,and
BenGaruccio,whosescorpionkickgoal
against WesternSydney Wanderers
duringthe regular seasondrew
worldwideattention.
Westernwerefartoo savvyfor
reigningchampionsMelbourneCityin
theGrandFinal.Their2-0wininfront
ofover 22,000fanssupplementeda
Australia
SIMONHILL
82 WORLDSOCCER
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