Wanderers to honour the past

Western Sydney Wanderers FC will join nine clubs in the eighth season of the competition starting in October with the shadow of a rich heritage hanging over the players' flaming red and black hoops.

"That's why we call Western Sydney Wanderers the newest, oldest club in Australian football," executive chairman Lyall Gorman told a large congregation of media, officials and advertisers.

"We will show respect for those who have been the pioneers of football in western Sydney and build on the legacy they have left us."

The strong reference to the old Wanderers club of 132 years ago would appear to be a master stroke from club owner Football Federation Australia, which occasionally has been accused of neglecting the game's past.

"The King's School played a team known as the Wanderers in 1880 at a ground not far from here," he said.

"It was the first ever game played in New South Wales.

”But there has been a constant presence ever since because football has been part of the fabric of western Sydney."

Gorman later told The World Game that the modern-day Wanderers could not possibly ignore the area's past as it looks to establish its future.

"This is the birthplace and heartland of football in NSW," he said.

"And I want to build this club on tradition and respect for its past and on the shoulders of the pioneers who have been here before us.

"From the King's School and the Wanderers in the 1880s to the Premier League clubs and those from the National Soccer League, which was Australia's first national sporting competition."

It is all well and good for the new football to recognise its chequered past.

However, the history of football in this country is littered with false dawns that brought about abrupt and painful ends to many clubs.

Which might explain the Wanderers' no-frills approach as it prepares to make its entry to the competition, with the first three players confirmed - Tarek Elrich, Aaron Mooy and Kwabena Appiah-Kubi - all local products.

The fledgling club has resisted the temptation of hiring a marquee player, is offering only one-year contracts to players and will play most of its matches at the 20,000-capacity Parramatta Stadium instead of the larger ANZ Stadium.

These measures are designed to ensure the sustainability of a new organisation that has been the dream of thousands of football fans in Sydney's west.

"The creation of the A-League in 2005 taught us a lot about structure and the beginnings of clubs," said Gorman, who was the driving force behind Central Coast Mariners in its first years before he moved on to become A-League boss three years ago.

"The message here is to take our time because it is far better to go to the market with a strong and consolidated position.

"We've chosen to sit back and carefully analyse every part of our business.

"We've got a bit of time up our sleeves to make the best possible decisions so that the club's strong foundations are put in place

"This is not a one-year plan we've got but one for 20, 30 years.

"This is the way we intend to run our club."

Western Sydney Wanderers' debut match in the A-League is on Saturday 6 October against the Mariners.