They are not exactly expansion bedfellows, and certainly not friends. But Macarthur FC and Western United bear striking similarities – and not just because they are expansion clubs. The very nature of the both their births, selected by then-Football Federation Australia to join A-League Men in 2018, means comparisons are inevitable.
Off the field, both United and the Bulls have quickly become two of the most universally derided clubs in all of Australian football, the mere mention of their names almost certain to attract cantankerous commentators with grievances to air. Alas, unlike the likes of Melbourne Victory or Sydney FC, this is not born of a disdain derived from envy of trophies or from long-standing historical grievances – marketable hatred – but, instead, their very nature of existence.
United’s detractors frequently round more on their failure to deliver the stadium they promised during the expansion, whereas the Bulls come under fire for ticket prices and an inability to fashion and invest in a sustainable strategy to connect with potential supporters in Sydney’s booming southwest. Given these things were at the core of their expansion bids, however, this betrays the metaphysical angst which exists at the core of their disdain.
The clubs are scorned because of what they are perceived to represent. They are adjudged as entities hoisted upon the league by a former broadcaster hungry for more Sydney and Melbourne teams and a federation, desperate for the fattest licence fees on offer. This carries with it its own level of animus – and that is not exactly wrong, if lacking in a bit of nuance – though early missteps in communication and approach have not exactly helped undercut these negative first impressions.
Yet even ignoring existing discussions on being dark twins of the expansion process, both have also charted eerily similar on-field paths since their birth.
Under former NSL stars and A-League foundation players Mark Rudan and Ante Miličić, they overcame the Covid-19 challenges affecting their first season in the league to reach the ALM semi-finals, only to lose to Melbourne City. Both lost high-profile Mediterranean marquees ahead of their second season – Panagiotis Kone from Western and Beñat Etxebarria for Macarthur – but still continued to invest heavily in their squads with the hope of going one better in their second year.
But maddeningly for those within the club’s inner sanctums, results failed to flow from this largess in their sophomore campaigns;. United collapsed during 2020-21’s home stretch to finish 10th and Macarthur are officially out of the 2021-22 play-offs.
And now, with Miličić’s mid-week announcement that he is set to step down from the Bulls job, both clubs’ foundation coaches will also have lasted two seasons before they moved on.
Looking ahead, though, should the strange parallels between the two sides continue, this does not necessarily have to spell disaster for Macarthur.
In 2021-22 – their third campaign in the ALM – United are locked into a top-three spot and still have their second-place destiny in their hands. With among the highest – if not the highest – wage bills in the league and an internal pre-season expectation of a top-two finish, it is not exactly a quintessential underdog tale but, alongside Victory’s reinvigoration, a demonstration of how quickly fortunes can turn.
United’s foibles when they are forced to serve as the active team in possession have become an obvious trend this season. But from a pragmatist’s standpoint, first-year coach John Aloisi has not been tasked with building a team to beat Manchester City or Real Madrid, but a team to win the ALM. After being consigned to the coaching scrap heap, his side remain alive in the race for the premiership with two games remaining.
In the long run, this will all prove meaningless unless the club can sort itself out off the field, namely deliver on promises of infrastructure and supercharge efforts to endear themselves to Victoria’s west. The same goes for Macarthur as they seek out a replacement for Miličić, an upswing in results and the challenge of establishing what it actually means to be Macarthur FC.
But it is invariably easier to fashion an identity when you are winning. And while these parallels do not mean the Bulls should rush out and appoint Ross Aloisi, their expansion companions have demonstrated that Miličić’s departure does not have to consign them to on-field misery in 2022-23.
