A-League newcomers Western United are not ruling out shifting games from the cavernous GMBHA Stadium to smaller venues which would more adequately cater for their fledgling fan base.The competition's newest club has plans to eventually build its own venue in Tarneit but until that happens it has signed a deal to play its matches at Geelong's AFL ground and at Ballarat's smaller Mars Stadium, also an AFL venue.

But small crowds for the opening four home fixtures against Perth Glory, Melbourne City, Western Sydney and Newcastle Jets have given officials at the club not just cause for concern but pause for thought.

The crowd for Saturday night's loss to the Jets was posted as 5688, following the 4588 turnout for the win over the Wanderers.

full article: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/western-united-won-t-rule-out-home-ground-switch-20191118-p53bqz.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Gully_Reserve

?

Not so outlandish he mentioned it in the article

“But there are several purpose built soccer grounds in the western suburbs which would fit the bill if Western wanted to move, the FFA approved it and a financial deal with their short term landlords could be worked out.

These include venues like the Melbourne Knights' stadium in Sunshine and Green Gully's ground in Keilor.”

Please do. The Roar game and Sydney FC on the weekend were gripping games. Not solely because of the football but the crowd playing a significant role. I cannot stop staring at the empty seats whenever teams play at Westpac or Suncorp.

True.

one thing I am allergic against though is people sitting down on hills at football. It’s not a picnic ffs.

Would be pretty cool to see Knight Stadium host games but very unlikely to happen

Why these clowns thought playing temporarily at Kardinia Park would ever work beats me. They should definitely ask Knights if they can play at their ground, they aren't getting close to the numbers to justify playing at a bigger venue and Knights could always do with some extra revenue to make some stadium improvements.

It would also certainly give the games against MV and City far more legitimacy than they currently have by playing out of a West Melbourne ground rather than some random oval miles away in another city.

Playing 2 or 3 seasons out of Kardinia Park was part of the pitch to the FFA to win a license.
Team 11 didn't have a suitable venue, South Melbourne did, but South Melbourne is South Melbourne.
Anyway, WU is currently averaging around 5,500 for its home games, how many did the FFA expect would see a new club playing out of Geelong?
Surely they knew it would not top 6k as an average for the season?
Therefore, they knew WU's attendances were going to look small in a large cricket ground.  They knew it from the start, why be worried about it now?

Get out of Geelong been saying this before round 1 

Geelong is for ice junkies that's suck off the Geelong FC 

They don't care about football it is probably one of the worst cities in the country. 

I'd goto knights to watch a match just for the old school vibes 

It will be interesting to see how long blue chip sponsors like hyundai will hang around if indy hal does go full nsl. My guess is not very long...

Pretty sure WP played at a scaffolding stadium and it didn’t hit FFA staff bonuses.

Every now and then is unlikely to be a problem for such sponsors.

More and more teams, week after week, that may well be a different story...

So one team?
after 2 new stadiums in Sydney? 

They must be the most deluded people in Aussie football (and that's saying something) if they thought they'd pull more than a 5k average in a soulless oval stadium 50km's away from where their "true" home is. 

They should honestly just fuck off this whole "western region" business, rename themselves West Melbourne United and play out the next few years at Knights Stadium. The public transport is shit but I'm sure they could arrange some bus services from Albion station or whichever is closest. They wouldn't be expecting more than 5k average there anyways, which at Somers St. would actually be rocking. 

MK would have to first allow it but I don’t see why not if it adds up financially. Also I don’t see why MK couldn’t play in the AL out if that stadium at the same time also.

The last FFA A League clusterfuck. And what a doozy it is

One of the reasons crowds are low has to be the lack of information regarding the Tarneit stadium. It's been nearly 12 months and all we have is O'Rouke telling us that WU told him that its going to happen early next year. Which may be true, but the fans need to hear this stuff from the club. The fans aren't going to invest their time and money in a club that they have little idea about what the future holds. They need some proper evidence that this stadium is going to happen.
As for other stadiums, I still reckon they could trial a game or two at Whitten Oval. Obviously no footy oval is ideal, but the location is about as perfect as it gets for club representing the West. All Western train lines run through footscray station and the stadium is literally across the road. 

Footscray station is nowhere near Whitten oval.  You're thinking of west Footscray station

It's not too late for WU to move their Ballarat games to Morshead Park.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballarat_Regional_Soccer_Facility

https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums.php?id=417

https://twitter.com/PaulMavroudis/status/738958906982989825

https://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/arch-showcase/2016/10/19/ballarat-regional-soccer-facility-in-victoria-australia-by-k20-architecture/

They let Avondale play there, they'd only get more for letting WU use it.

Seems like if they got it right they could sell much food and drink also.

Knights should go for it imo.

Personally i'd love to have city at lakeside or even have WU play a couple there to test their reach in the cbd..our social club would make a killing.

Green gully would be pretty stupid.

Yeah, its definitely the venue that is the problem...

It's a smart move but ffs the decision to go to Geelong in the first place certainly wasn't...
At least their willing to correct themselves.
As I've said in the past... once the stadium announcement comes (early next year), people will stop being so cynical about this club.

City at Lakeside would be very interesting to see. Could help SM lobby for upgrades to support your own bid.

Victory can barely afford to play at AAMI Park, and that's with far higher attendances, hence the need to have some games at Docklands. CFG must be losing a fortune to play there.

On paper Knights stadium would be perfect, but I cant imagine them giving the green light, considering the grudge that clubs like Knights and South would hold against the A league and the FFA, and if they do it would be at some exorbitant rental cost. It's a real shame as I think it would have been perfect.

Does Green Gully actually have any stands? I thought it was just an open field. What about Olympic Village or Pascoe Vale?

Regarding the Roar, that was a brilliant venue with so much potential. If they redevelop the stand at the open end then they are onto a winner.

Hopefully they have seen the light and try to move more of their games here.Also, it's great leverage for getting a better deal with SunCorp

It has a bit of a covered area next to the canteen, grass banks on three sides and a lemon tree.

As well they should.  

Heidelburg's Olympic Village is an interesting one as it's in City's notional home area, and is currently undergoing an upgrade: https://shaping.banyule.vic.gov.au/olympicpark

CFG could throw in with them and spring for more seating on the Western side. Anyone with fond memories of the 15k crowd for that FFA Cup match would be keen.