Western United to be based at the Bombers’ Hangar
Western United has announced a new base, with the A-League club to be located at The Hangar for the next two years until its new facilities at Tarneit open for business.
A $21.5 million upgrade and expansion of Essendon Football Club’s headquarters at Tullamarine was recently completed, with Western United to join existing partner Paralympics Australia at the AFL club’s home.
It’ll be the first time United’s administration staff and A-League team will be located under the same roof.
The club will continue to utilise George Cross FC’s home ground, City Vista Recreation Reserve, with its academy teams to play home games at the venue throughout the Victorian NPL competition.
Western United joined the A-League on the assumption their purpose-built stadium and training headquarters would be up and running ahead of this A-League season, however delays have seen the project heavily delayed, with early-constructions works expected to finally commence this month.
The Wyndham City elite training facility which will feature a 5000-seat grandstand is expected to be completed ahead of the purpose-built 15,000-seat stadium, and the club, which includes A-League men’s and academy teams, and a women’s team from 2022/23, will base themselves at the facility once complete.
Western United’s football program will relocate to the facility near Melbourne Airport from this week, with the club’s administration joining early next year.
The club will primarily utilise the community oval at The Hangar, with players and staff also accessing some of the new performance and expanded office areas.
The A-League club will play home games during the upcoming season at GMHBA Stadium, Mars Stadium and AAMI Park. It had initially hoped to play seven matches at Lakeside Stadium, however primary tenant, NPL club South Melbourne successfully blocked the move, forcing those games to be shifted to Melbourne Victory and City’s home ground.
Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell welcomed Western United Football Club to the NEC Hangar.
“We welcome Western United as partners at the NEC Hangar and look forward to a strong partnership between the cross-code organisations over the years to come,” Campbell said.
“While this partnership will deliver important outcomes for the Essendon Football Club, providing an important step forward in our aspirations for developing a truly world-class, multi-faceted sports and community precinct, it’s also important to note that the partnership and particularly the use of training facilities will have no direct impact on the operations of our football programs.
“The NEC Hangar will now be home to three of Australia’s premier sporting organisations, with particularly strong connections in the north-west region of Melbourne. The growth of the NEC Hangar as a vibrant multi-purpose facility accommodating both elite and community sport, also aligns perfectly with the broader growth projections of the wider Melbourne Airport precinct, specifically the Elite Park zone of which we are a proud foundation partner.
“With our existing dedicated community oval, coupled with a new community and education hub, sports museum, function centre, athlete accommodation, community health and wellbeing centre and public cafe set to be officially unveiled in the coming months, the NEC Hangar’s vision to meaningfully serve Melbourne’s north-west community will soon come to life.
Getting to work in the new office 🏢 pic.twitter.com/BiJJEZhauV
— Western United FC (@wufcofficial) October 18, 2021
Western United CEO Chris Pehlivanis praised the alignment between the two clubs in the new partnership.
“Our core values at Western United are togetherness, effort and growth, and this partnership speaks to those values in every way," Pehlivanis said.
“Our club has grown enormously over a short period of time and as a result, we needed to explore all options to accommodate both our staff and our players and their increasing high-performance needs.
“To be able to utilise the world-class facilities at the NEC Hangar and bring our team together was a really attractive solution for us while we build our permanent home in Tarneit.”
The 2021/22 A-League season kicks-off on November 19, with Western United’s first home game of the season against Melbourne Victory at Geelong on November 20.
