My concern with the name like 'Athletic' is that it requires the club to be involved in more than just one sport imo lol - hence the 'Athletic' part, because it's not just a football club. Petty, I know lol

Out of those five, the least cringey are perhaps Western United and Western Melbourne Warriors. No doubt the presence of just Western in all these names is designed to capture all of Western Victoria in the catchment.

Yep, iirc it was an ex socceroo. He went to a couple of the forums and each time was shut down.

Yep just saw that, good spot. There was also "Sporting Melbourne FC" but that has lapsed so I guess that was ahead of the entrance of Heart.

Couldn't agree more - nobody calls it 'the westside' here, it's always 'the west' or 'western Melbourne' etc. No doubt the peanuts running marketing think that this will make people all the way down to Warnambool want to support the club.

First three are quite acceptable. Always liked Athletic in football club names

Looks like there are 5 registered names so far:

• Western Melbourne Athletic FC (https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1986715?s=1dee8670-fb3b-448f-bff2-831523e510bf&sortBy=-ID)
  
• Western Athletic FC (https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1986716?s=1dee8670-fb3b-448f-bff2-831523e510bf&sortBy=-ID)
  
• Western Melbourne Warriors FC (https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1986717?s=1dee8670-fb3b-448f-bff2-831523e510bf&sortBy=-ID)
  
• Westside Pride FC (https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1986718?s=1dee8670-fb3b-448f-bff2-831523e510bf&sortBy=-ID)
  
• Western United FC (https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1986719?s=1dee8670-fb3b-448f-bff2-831523e510bf&sortBy=-ID)
  

'Westside' is such an ugly looking/sounding word. Wtf is wrong with West Melbourne United or Western 'Insert Franchise Name'?

Anyone else remember when that old bloke in one of the community forums ahead of the formation of WSW suggested Pride as a name and was laughed down?

Sure is

That said, didn't seem to matter when CFG trademarked 'Melbourne City', despite a team already existing in the lower leagues.

Isnt that already an NPL2 team in Queensland?

Oh dear.

Seems it has: https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1986718?q=westside+pride

Apparently 'Westside Pride' has been registered as IP

.He referes to signing for "Western Melbourne" so that might just sort the name. Going to be great having all these western derbies with MSWS Sydney, Western Sydney Wanderers and Western Melbourne

So Kone is officially announced. You'd hope that means they're close to a head coach announcement too..or that they've at least got it fairly sorted behind the scenes.

I think it's more that Victory demonstrated an ongoing commitment to have a game brought down there, but WMG are seeing them as a stepping stone and inevitably taking off after a while:

"What I've seen from Victory and Trent is they are committed to long term building a relationship here ... that's the sort of stuff we want to see,"

Ideally of course Geelong could have a team of their own.

No need to worry about parking, the 500 people that turn up will have plenty of space.

I reckon it's more about the fee. WMG know they can't even come close to filling a 36k stadium so I reckon they would most likely be seeking a lower fee at Kardinia. Hence why 'Victory are welcome', as they can get a decent attendance and pay the appropriate fees. 

Geez this is going to be ugly

it almost seems like Kardinia Park boss Michael Brown doesnt want Western Melbourne games there (or he's posturing for a good deal). From October til May there will probably only be about 9-10 events at Kardinia Park. 1 x Victory home game (it seems like it will continue), 2 x BBL games, approx 3 x AWFL games and approx 3 x AFL games. Plenty of room for at least 10 Western Melbourne games. The only real down time is January when they need a cricket pitch for the BBL.

it would be great to see them pack out knights stadium.  it prob wouldnt cost too much to bump up the capacity a touch.

i wish city would do something similar.

I'm inclined to agree with this - if they are deadset in moving to their new stadium in three years, than new fans will swallow playing at AAMI Park much more readily than playing in Geelong.

Of course, you run the risk of them pulling the pin on the stadium and then having three teams playing at AAMI Park.

they have apparently signed Panagiotis Kone.

As ive said just play at AAMI Park. Any backlash coming of 3 teams at one venue will be offset by playing in a venue ppl will want to go to..particularly those in the heartland western suburbs.

Robstazzz .....”What's the bet West Melbourne won't engage with the public like they should, will get fuck all crowds, and after 1 season the owners come out and say fuck this we won't spend 150 million on a new stadium of no one is coming, and basically be a hindrance to the A-league in the same way Clive Palmer was with GCU.”

****

It’s a worry. Important that they start building the stadium ASAP so that they are committed to seeing the project through.....pretty sure that was part of their pitch and acceptance. And funny to think that G.C.U. had a stadium all ready to go for them....and still failed.

I do agree that choosing Western Melbourne for next season sounds like a mistake, but I’m sorry to say Canberra also cane with significant risks. No bid was without pros and cons and far above the others.

As much as I am for increased pathways and geographical growth of the competition, Canberra is actually a relatively small market with a limited corporate base, which would be needed to make such a club viable.

I love the passion that seemed to come from the bid, just as I did from my preferred option of Team 11, but the Canberra bid’s overall metrics looked very weak, and those were a major factor in the decision making process. FOXTEL plays a part in the decision too, and a small market like the ACT was always on the back foot there.

I want to see Canberra in the competition, but realistically it was not the strongest bid on paper. It should get a chance next, along with another Brisbane team, but strengthening the position in the largest markets is likely going to be a priority they will still chase.

Western Melbourne makes sense only with a stadium in place though, which is why it seems such a mess at this stage as they tru to get the jigsaw puzzle pieces in place.

🤣🤣🤣obvious  multi is obvious 

Season doesn't start until October and the hate for this bid is classic.

Western Melbourne ole.

I'm so pissed off this bid won the right to enter the league next season. If true that they intend on building a new stadium which would be ready in 3 years time, than the obvious thing to do would have been to grant them a lisence for the next expansion phase, and make it by the time the stadium is built. 
There is just so much wrong with this bid. Playing in an oval shaped stadium that's shared with AFL and Cricket, and at 36k capacity is just crap, not to mention the stadium being in a different city to Melbourne.
In the end when you really think about it how is this bid any different than that other flop of a bid Southern Sydney playing out of 3 different stadiums and representing two cities until their new stadium at Loftus was to be built?
It's pretty much the same garbage bid from another city at the expense of a proper bid from Canberra that was easily the best bid in my opinion. 
People have rocks in their head of they think expansion will help next season. It only helps of done right. When WSW came into the league there was a huge positive impact, the same can't be said about GCU and NQ Fury, and I'm pretty sure this pathetic bid will be just as bad. 
What's the bet West Melbourne won't engage with the public like they should, will get fuck all crowds, and after 1 season the owners come out and say fuck this we won't spend 150 million on a new stadium of no one is coming, and basically be a hindrance to the A-league in the same way Clive Palmer was with GCU.

It wouldn’t be a popular decision but they should swallow their pride and head straight for aami Park.

1) they will be closer to the inner west core suburbs

2) being centralised will bring in people from all parts of melb to have a look, hell id turn up a couple times

3) playing in a decent stadium.

Not only is Kardinia Park scheduling a major issue for the upcoming season, the following yr with the t20 World Cup will see them potentially locked out of the ground the entire summer.

The only way I can see West Melbourne working in the short term is if the backers use some of their millions to refurbish the Knights Stadium and play out of their. It's in a shit location with basically no public transport and parking, but we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point.