Macarthur's catchment is south west Sydney which includes the areas served by the District Football Associations of Bankstown, Southern Districts and Macarthur.  As will always be the case there is overlap with both Wanderers and Sydney FC.

Here are some population stats from the so called catchment areas/local government areas for this franchise.
I've categorised the LGA's: Main Catchment: 262,298, Regional Catchment 81,345, Secondary Catchment 275,534 & Ambitious Catchment 373,931


Main Catchment:
Campbelltown: 168,139


Camden:94,159


Regional Catchment:
Wingecarribee: 50,493


Goulburn Mulwaree: 30,852


Secondary Catchment (Both border Campbelltown, I have queries over how much of Liverpool will feel engaged with MFC as I would say most already support WSW and a few Syd FC, however I think Wollondilly is a genuine catchment area):

Wollondilly: 52,230


Liverpool: 223,304


Overly Ambitious (I don't see people from here travelling to CTown hence the overly ambitious catchment, thought about adding Georges River 158,411 & Fairfield 210,612 but didn't):

Canterbury-Bankstown: 373,931

All I can make out of this is that they still have plans to build their own training base in Campbelltown which will be ready for when they enter their second season in the A-league.

As for their first season they've signed a deal to play at Fairfield Showground, instead of what they had originally planned in Campbelltown for their first season. 

Can someone explain the discrepancies in these reports?

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/macarthur-fc-set-to-move-into-brand-new-training-base-from-2021-20191028-p5350w.html

Macarthur FC set to move into brand-new training base from 2021

Macarthur FC are set to walk into a state-of-the-art training complex in their second season in the A-League after breaking ground on the construction of a new facility in Campbelltown on Monday.

Five football fields, a gym, swimming pool, indoor futsal courts and administration facilities will be included in the new facility funded by the federal government, local council and Western Sydney University.

The Bulls will become the major tenant of the facility once it's completed in two years time, allowing the club to move in before the start of the 2021/22 A-League season.

The A-League expansion club will train out of the WSU campus for their inaugural season next year before moving into the 7000 square metre elite sports facility across the road the following year.

The proposal for the training base was understood to have been one of the items in the club's original bid document when vying for one of the two A-League expansion licences last year. Club sources suggest they have spent the past year negotiating the facility primarily with the Campbelltown City Council.

The design of the centre of excellence suggest Macarthur could be about to bid for a W-League licence as well, with fields, change rooms and other facilities set aside specifically for women's teams. The Bulls will house their A-League and National Youth League squads at the facility as well as their indigenous football academy, Dharawal FC.

Monday's announcement of the site sees the Bulls become the second football club in Sydney to have a large-scale, elite training base after Western Sydney Wanderers moved into their permanent home in Rooty Hill this season. They will have up to 10 football fields there as well as offices, gymnasium and other facilities. Sydney FC have flagged their intention to open a Centre Of Excellence but are yet to finalise a site for their club base.

Macarthur's inaugural head coach, Ante Milicic is set to formally begin working with the club this week while balancing his duties with the Matildas. Milicic has been living in Croatia in recent years but relocated back to Sydney this week.

https://www.macarthurfc.com.au/news/macarthur-fc-announce-partnership-fairfield-city-council-house-training-base 

Macarthur FC Announce Partnership with Fairfield City Council to House Training Base

Macarthur FC today announced a partnership with Fairfield City Council, that will see the A-League expansion club use the recently redeveloped Fairfield Showground as the team’s training base, when the clubs pre-season training begins in September.

The partnership will see Macarthur FC use the upgraded facilities as the main training base for the A-League squad.

Fairfield Showground has recently undergone a $25 million redevelopment, which includes the installation of a $3.5 million synthetic football pitch - alongside the existing turf pitch, in addition to upgraded lighting and a new $5.1 million multipurpose amenity building.

The partnership between Macarthur FC and Fairfield City Council establishes a local connection with the most northern parts of the club’s catchment area.

With preparations well underway for the clubs first pre-season, Macarthur FC Head Coach, Ante Milicic welcomed the partnership.

“Providing the players with these first-class facilities, enables us to have the best preparation for our inaugural season.” Milicic added.

“The training fields at Fairfield Showground will provide the coaching staff and players with a great advantage when planning for each session.” Milicic said.

Fairfield City Mayor, Frank Carbone welcomed Macarthur FC to Fairfield.

“Welcoming Macarthur FC to Fairfield Showground is a proud moment for our City. It demonstrates the importance of this wonderful facility in providing high-class facilities and reinforces the investment in the Showground.

“Fairfield Showground was always envisaged to be a place for the whole community to enjoy. From grassroots to elite sports teams, family-friendly festivals, parks and playgrounds, there really is something for everyone,” the Mayor said.

Looks like alot of good people involved in and around Macarthur fc!

I think this is a temporary arrangement.  The designs for the centre of excellence at the University in Campbelltown were finalised a couple of months ago and construction should start soon.

Just looking a map I would have thought this was right in the middle of Wanderers territory?

Macarthur FC today announced a partnership with Fairfield City Council, that will see the A-League expansion club use the recently redeveloped Fairfield Showground as the team’s training base, when the clubs pre-season training begins in September.

The partnership will see Macarthur FC use the upgraded facilities as the main training base for the A-League squad.

Fairfield Showground has recently undergone a $25 million redevelopment, which includes the installation of a $3.5 million synthetic football pitch - alongside the existing turf pitch, in addition to upgraded lighting and a new $5.1 million multipurpose amenity building.

The partnership between Macarthur FC and Fairfield City Council establishes a local connection with the most northern parts of the club’s catchment area.

With preparations well underway for the clubs first pre-season, Macarthur FC Head Coach, Ante Milicic welcomed the partnership.

“Providing the players with these first-class facilities, enables us to have the best preparation for our inaugural season.” Milicic added.

“The training fields at Fairfield Showground will provide the coaching staff and players with a great advantage when planning for each session.” Milicic said.

Fairfield City Mayor, Frank Carbone welcomed Macarthur FC to Fairfield.

“Welcoming Macarthur FC to Fairfield Showground is a proud moment for our City. It demonstrates the importance of this wonderful facility in providing high-class facilities and reinforces the investment in the Showground.

“Fairfield Showground was always envisaged to be a place for the whole community to enjoy. From grassroots to elite sports teams, family-friendly festivals, parks and playgrounds, there really is something for everyone,” the Mayor said.

https://www.macarthurfc.com.au/news/macarthur-fc-announce-partnership-fairfield-city-council-house-training-base

Speaks well

The task of selling Macarthur FC to prospective signings has become markedly easier for coach Ante Milicic, who no longer needs to convince new players to join the expansion club.

The Bulls have made something of a statement with the unveiling of three Australian internationals, an Olyroo and a former English Premier League striker as the first five players in their inaugural squad - and it's not just the public taking notice.

With almost half a squad still to build, Milicic says he no longer needs to woo transfer targets to the Campbelltown club. To the contrary, players are becoming increasingly eager to join the Bulls alongside former Socceroos captain Mark Milligan, Adam Federici, Tommy Oar, Matt Derbyshire and Denis Genreau.

"With the signings we have made, the tide is turning," Milicic said. "In October and November, a lot of players were thinking Man City was going to call them. It was a lot of 'we'll wait, we'll see, we will have a think about it'. I don’t get those responses anymore."

Macarthur have a handful of other confirmed additions they are yet to announce - including a foreign midfielder - but the club is becoming duly picky when it comes to its next players.

With the financial uncertainty of the league and the lack of salary-cap clarity for next season, players are expected to become available. However, Milicic is not being hasty, looking to add only those who can help forge an attacking, aggressive style similar to that he helped create as Ange Postecoglou's Socceroos assistant.

"I'm, looking to dominate teams but within the principles of play that I believe strongly in," Milicic said. "There is a style of football that I believe in so when I go about recruiting, I look for players in their position that can execute what I want. I won’t sign a player who is just available."

Milicic was part of two previous expansion clubs, as an assistant coach at Melbourne Heart in 2010 and Western Sydney Wanderers in 2012. His experience at both taught him that a player's character traits can often be more important than ability, given the difficulties start-up clubs face in their first season.

"It’s very important to have the right people in the key roles of the football club, and that means admin, that means football department, and also playing roster," he said. "Particularly your leaders and your senior players that can drive the standards continuously every day."

The former Matildas coach opted not to remain with the Australian women's national team beyond this year despite being wanted by Football Federation Australia. He was adamant about honouring his contract with Macarthur, its staff and the players he had already recruited.

"In the end, I had a contract with Macarthur," he said. "I had committed to staff, I had already committed to nine player signings at Macarthur, and in the end it was a situation where I honoured that contract."

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/they-thought-man-city-was-going-to-call-them-players-quit-being-coy-on-macarthur-20200817-p55mke.html

Macarthur FC are proud to announce that local Matilda product Alanna Kennedy has joined as the clubs Community Ambassador.

A proud Rosemeadow product, Kennedy has always maintained a close relationship with the area, often visiting her local primary school Rosemeadow Public, between balancing her national and club commitments.

https://www.macarthurfc.com.au/news/local-matilda-alanna-kennedy-announced-community-ambassador

Good to see. It seems they are really trying to engage the local playing and supporter base.

Macarthur FC has welcomed Highlands Soccer Association to the clubs growing community engagement program with the association agreeing to support the club as a local association partner. The agreement between Macarthur FC and Highlands SA (Soccer Association), sees them join existing associations Bankstown Amateur Football Association, Southern Districts Football Association, Macarthur Football Association and Southern Tablelands Football Association.  The partnership between the five associations and Macarthur FC now sees the A-League newcomers cover territory from Bankstown, through Liverpool and Campbelltown, into the Wollondilly and down to Goulburn. Macarthur FC’s community engagement program now encompasses over 120 clubs, while supporting almost 40,000 players and officials. These figures, set to rise in coming years, will see the club situated in the fastest growth corridor in Australia...

https://www.macarthurfc.com.au/news/highlands-football-benefit-partnership-macarthur-fc

Something for our resident analyst GrazeAnatomy to take note of. Never know where football can take you.  

Kate Cohen has been signed as Macarthur's football analyst.

https://www.macarthurfc.com.au/video/kate-cohen-appointed-macarthur-fc-football-analyst

I feel that this club will be a success, especially with Southern tablelands coming onboard. 
The gaffa and assistants Milicic, Sterjovski, Jolic and Crea, future gaffa and current player Millsy, along with Jovanovic, L Rose, Oar,
Federici and loan player Najjar makes for a very good start. 

More news from the Bulls.

GRASSROOTS football in the Southern Tablelands has been given a boost following a MOU between A-League newcomers Macarthur FC and Southern Tablelands Football Association.
The MOU will see Southern Tablelands Football Association (STFA), join the three existing football associations already partnered with Macarthur FC, Macarthur Football Association, Southern Districts Football Association and Bankstown Amateur Football Association.
...


https://www.macarthurfc.com.au/news/southern-tablelands-fa-joins-forces-macarthur-fc

I think it will be a bigger success than WU.

Traditionally the south west of Sydney has been very much League heartland but with football the biggest game numerically.  Wests basically walked away from the region when they joined with the Tigers to become WestsTigers after the SuperLeague war and they only play 3 or 4 games a season at Campbelltown Stadium with average attendance in the 10k to 15k depending on how the club is going.  As a very rough estimate A-League teams attendance is about two thirds of what NRL clubs get in Sydney so the Bulls might get 7k to 10k attendance.  That level of support would see home games providing positive income for the club as the Council has agreed to annual payments for ground hire of $1 for the next 10 years.

There is a significant anti NRL sentiment based on Wests walking away from the region and there has been strong positive reaction to the announcement of Macarthur joining the A-League so the new club seems to be garnering good support.

One of the real positives is the population growth in the region that has been driving strong growth in player registrations.  With population growth predicted to continue at current levels for at least the next 20 years and with the Bulls being the only professional sporting club in the region the club may be adopted by the populace as their club taking interest well beyond football people.

The fact that there is committed support in the region for both Wanderers and Sydney FC will have an impact on support for the club but there have been many that have said they will attend games as a neutral.

I haven't lived in Campbelltown for 30 years but I still have a number of friends there and my comments are made having discussed the new club with them.

Us Novocastrians are honestly just stoked to be included tbh. 

Does anyone who lives in Sydney think this club will be a success? Is there much talk/hype about this team locally? 

There are many in Sydney that believe the government thinks it is NPW = with P for Parramatta 

The interview was done a couple of days before the WWC2023 announcement.

Honestly I'd even be happy for them to drop the S part and it sounds great to me!

I have been told that they do - but that NSW stands for 
Newcastle
Sydney 
Wollongong

If you're warming the pine in a dead end club in some crappy part of Europe, you'd be dying to get back to Australia at this point in time.

They seem to have done everything correct for a new club

The city of Newcastle work extremely hard in bidding for what games we get. 

I truthfully do not know if anyone from Central Coast Council, Stadium, etc do likewise? 

I’m far more excited about Macarthur entering the league than Western United.

Really like the way they’ve gone about their football hires.

I think Milicic and Sterjovski will do well.

Also excited to watch a refreshing batch of overseas Aussie talent returning to Australia.

That would seem to indicate Milicic is leaving Matildas as planned.

A quote from a video interview with Ante Milicic.

"We've signed 9 players. 4-5 of them are Australians playing in Europe that haven't played in A-League before."