Football fans in Penrith had their say in the new Hyundai A-League club for Sydney on Tuesday night.
Football fans in Penrith had their say in the new Hyundai A-League club for Sydney on Tuesday night.
More than 100 supporters from the local area attended the third of the fan forums, held at the Joan Sutherland Centre in Penrith, where they discussed the future of the new club.
The panel of experts in Penrith included Head of A-League Lyall Gorman, Daily Telegraph journalist Tom Smithies and FNSW CEO Eddie Moore.
It was another lively night, as the different aspects of the club were debated – here are just some of the topics covered and comments shared on social media among the football family…
@petenowakowski
Tonight at the #NewSydneyClubForum, club names are set to be discussed. Still favouring Western Sydney Wanderers.
@Livio_1
I thinks Sydney should be left out. Wests FC is good. Anyone west of the Eastern Coast line could relate to WestsFC. Simple
@OlympicGM
what about the team’s colours? @ajthunting wants to know if there will be a recognition for traditional owners of the land?
@RedtoBrownWine
RT @NewSydneyClub We now move onto Club Name, Colours and Logo. Thoughts? #NewSydneyClubForum >> Blue and Gold, Parra Eels style 🙂 RB
On facebook:
From the floor: “Our fans should have a culture of positivity”
Tom Smithies from the Daily Telegraph: “The new club must have a fan representative on the board”.
Playing Style and Personnel is the discussion topic at the moment. Thoughts?
Jimmy Cas: “The Tiki Taka of Barcelona would keep everyone happy.”
Shane Pleasance: “An attacking style, as the game does get stale with these defensive games.”
Asked to the audience: “What is better? Local or imported players?”
Wesley Pope: “local obviously. this isnt the EPL.”
Melinda Green: “Let’s ask the past 4 Johnny Warren medalists, shall we? I think where a local and imported player are of the same quality, choose the local, but if the import can bring something else to the game then there’s no problem in signing them.”
Matthew Putland: “Need a good mixture of both, a lot of the success of the club is going to put bums on seats and a marquee player will have a better chance of doing that.”
Rogan Burns: “Your kidding yourself if you want all local how about a local western Sydney based youth league team? And a mix in the senior squad? We need to be competitive to keep fair whether fans keeping this team afloat.”
From the floor: “We need natural born leaders to motivate the club when we are not playing well”
A member of the audience believes that Western Sydney won’t attract a lot of players because of a stigma that surrounds it. What do you think about that?
Amanda Rose: “What stigma? They haven’t had a chance to define themselves yet. A fresh start and clean slate means there is the potential for a massive following and audience.”
Kevin Kay Gee George: “Dont worry about those so called players, we are western sydney and proud of it, whoever represents western sydney should be proud to do so as well.”
We now move onto Club Name, Colours and Logo. Thoughts?
Matthew Di Stefano: “red and black!! Sydney athletic”
Damon Palmar: “red white black, western sydney rovers”
Joseph La Delfa: “please dont give the team a name like power, force, hurricanes, falcons, tigers, bears, eagles or anything along the lines of an MLS team (san jose earthquakes…) a traditional name! also the colours dont have to be unlike anything else in the a league, the ladder is starting to look like a rainbow.”
Adam Shearer: “the west sydney rangers, blue white and red stripes.”
We’re now talking about Home Grounds and Match Day. Thoughts?
Josh Jansons: “Penrith or Parramatta please!!!”
Amanda Rose: “Parramatta Stadium”
Matthew Field: “Campbelltown stadium or Parramtta Stadium, OR, marconi stadium!”
Markus Staveley: “Parramatta Stadium. The heart of the West. The best venue by far for spectators and Parramatta is the 2nd CBD.”
The next forum takes place at 7.30pm, Thursday, 26th April, at Castle Hill RSL
77 Castle Street, Castle Hill, NSW 2154.
Fans are encouraged to register their interest in the new Sydney club by clicking here.
Note: If you have already registered your interest in the New Sydney Club, look out for an email in your inbox so you can confirm your attendance for any of the forums.
Fans are also invited to join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter:
