The 2020–21 season was the second in the history of Western United Football Club. The club only participated in the A-League after the 2020 FFA Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
Western United finished tenth in their A-League season, forcing them to play in an FFA Cup play-off in the 2021–22 season.
Review
Background Western United's inaugural 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.
Pre-season The club confirmed four player departures on 31 August 2020 which included Valentino Yuel, Thiel Iradukunda, Oskar Dillon, and Patrick Antelmi. 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. In the span of two days on 6–7 December, two players Tomoki Imai and Andrew Durante both extended their contracts by one-year.
On 21 October, Jonathan Aspropotamitis departed the club to join Perth Glory and continue their AFC Champions League campaign. 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. 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. The day after, the club officially announced their kits for the 2020–21 season designed by Kappa.
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. 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.
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. Their new players included Víctor Sánchez, Lachlan Wales, Nicolas Milanovic, and Ayom Majok.
Players
Transfers Transfers in No.PositionPlayerTransferred fromType/feeContract lengthDateRef 8 UnattachedFree transfer2 years2 October 2020 20 UnattachedFree transfer2 years27 November 2020 29 Scholarship2 years3 December 2020 12 Injury replacement2 months27 December 2020 34 UnattachedFree transfer6 months14 January 2021 9 UnattachedFree transfer4 months26 February 2021 17 Loan4 months12 March 2021 12 Dalibor MarkovicMelbourne VictoryFree transfer12 April 2021
Transfers out No.PositionPlayerTransferred toType/feeDateRef 26 End of contract31 August 2020 7 UnattachedEnd of contract1 September 2020 24 UnattachedEnd of contract1 September 2020 28 UnattachedEnd of contract1 September 2020 15 Perth GloryMutual contract termination21 October 2020 20 Adelaide UnitedMutual contract termination11 November 2020 33 UnattachedMutual contract termination25 January 2021 17 UnattachedMutual contract termination10 February 2021 12 End of contract27 February 2021
Contract extensions No. Name Position Duration Date Notes 6 Tomoki Imai Defender 1 year 6 October 2020 4 Andrew Durante Centre-back 1 year 7 October 2020 5 Dylan Pierias Right-back 2 years 4 May 2021 11 Connor Pain Winger 2 years 10 May 2021 30 Ryan Scott Goalkeeper 2 years 20 May 2021 26 Nicolas Milanovic Midfielder 2 years 1 June 2021
Kits Supplier: Kappa / Sponsor: Simonds & Tasman Logistics / Sleeve sponsor: Victoria University
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overview
A-League
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Statistics
Appearances and goals Players with no appearances not included in the list.
No.Pos.Nat.NameA-LeagueTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GK80802DF15(3)015(3)03DF9(6)09(6)04DF17(2)017(2)05DF20(6)620(6)66DF2612617FW20(3)720(3)78FW14(10)414(10)49FW0(7)00(7)010MF14(6)114(6)111FW25(1)125(1)112DF1(2)01(2)013DF5(7)15(7)114MF0(1)00(1)017MF0(5)00(5)019DF2(1)02(1)020MF18318321MF2(4)02(4)022DF23123123MF20(4)120(4)125MF8(5)08(5)026MF0(10)00(10)027MF3(7)03(7)029MF0(1)00(1)030GK18(1)018(1)031MF1(3)01(3)032FW0(2)00(2)034FW17(5)317(5)3
Goalscorers NameA-LeagueTotal17FWBesart Berisha7725DFDylan Pierias6638FWLachlan Wales44420MFVíctor Sánchez3334FWIker Guarrotxena3366DFTomoki Imai1110MFSteven Lustica1111FWConnor Pain1113FWIvan Vujica1122DFTomislav Uskok1123MFAlessandro Diamanti11Own Goals11Totals11
Disciplinary record The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
Rank Name A-League Total 1 4 DF 3 0 1 3 0 1 2 20 MF 9 1 0 9 1 0 22 DF 9 1 0 9 1 0 4 3 DF 5 1 0 5 1 0 5 10 MF 4 0 0 4 0 0 6 6 DF 3 0 0 3 0 0 7 FW 3 0 0 3 0 0 25 MF 3 0 0 3 0 0 34 FW 3 0 0 3 0 0 10 2 DF 2 0 0 2 0 0 5 DF 2 0 0 2 0 0 8 FW 2 0 0 2 0 0 11 FW 2 0 0 2 0 0 13 DF 2 0 0 2 0 0 23 MF 2 0 0 2 0 0 30 GK 2 0 0 2 0 0 17 12 DF 1 0 0 1 0 0 14 MF 1 0 0 1 0 0 26 FW 1 0 0 1 0 0 27 MF 1 0 0 1 0 0 29 MF 1 0 0 1 0 0
Clean sheets NameA-LeagueTotal130GKRyan Scott6621GKFilip Kurto22Total88
References
External links