The Premier of Western Australia has welcomed Leeds United to Perth this morning as Jesse Marsch’s side continue their tour Down Under. Leeds travelled from Brisbane to the west coast of Australia on Tuesday afternoon ahead of Friday’s pre-season clash with Crystal Palace at the Optus Stadium.
United will be taking part in the Perth’s Festival of International Football and the club will be holding a number of events in the suburb city of Fremantle over the next couple of days. The first event held was at Gage Roads Brewery with the Premier of WA, Mark McGowan, and the Mayor of Fremantle, Hannah Fitzhardinge.
The pair spoke about welcoming Leeds back to the state, three years after their last visit, and the impact they hope the festival of sport can have, particularly as the country continues to open up after a strict Covid lockdown. Jesse Marsch also took the opportunity to greet the Perth media and he acknowledged to the state’s indigenous people.
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“If I can firstly welcome Leeds United, Jesse and the players to Western Australia,” McGowan said in front of a large local press pack. "They're the first team to arrive of the four who are coming to Western Australia for the Festival of International Football.
"Four of the most famous football teams in the world are based in Perth, which is a very exciting time for our state to have such internationally recognised sporting brands and teams here in Western Australia. What this is all about is providing the opportunity for people to see some wonderful demonstrations of the world game at the Optus Stadium.
"I'm sure it will be a marvellous spectacle. Can I thank the teams for taking the opportunity to come to the other side of the world as they prepare for the start of their seasons and assisting us in promoting Western Australia and Perth to the rest of the country and the world.
“This is part of our Reconnect WA package we launched a few months ago once we opened our inter-state and international borders. We've put a huge effort into getting people to come here and work, sporting teams to come, just to ensure the world knows we're open for business. They have massive social media following and massive home support which will all be focused on Perth and WA over the course of the next few days.”
Marsch, who presented the Premier with a signed Leeds shirt as a thank you for their warm welcome, added: "I'd like to start by acknowledging the original inhabitants of this land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation. We're really excited to be here and play at the Optus Stadium against Crystal Palace.
“To see all our Leeds United fans here in Australia has been outstanding, we expect a really good crowd, a blue and yellow crowd to support us on Friday night and we know it'll be a good match. One thing I can say is for all of us coming out of the Covid period of time, it's been nice to have some sort of normalcy and get back to work, back to life, enjoying things more and being out.
“For us to be able to travel here again to Australia and see our fans and enjoy the experience and get work done as well, to feel that sense of normalcy has been great. It was cool to see a lot of our fans at the airport, a little bit surprising I would say. The Leeds United passion extends all over the world and we've been able to feel it everywhere we've been here.
“We're hearing there will be a big crowd on Friday night. I'm new to the club, I knew it was a big club, but to see how many fans we have all over the world is really incredible. I know the history of the club is attached to some players here in Australia. We know how important they are to the history of our club. It's been great, a lot of fun.
"We've been really amazed with the demeanour of the people, how welcoming everyone has been, the technology we've had access to, in every way, this is my first time in Australia and to experience all of the beauty of the country first hand has been amazing."
The Whites will be joined in Perth by Manchester United, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace over the next few days, with United taking on Villa at the Optus Stadium on Saturday evening.
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