# 2020–21 Western United FC season

The 2020–21 season was the second in the history of Western United Football Club. The club only participated in the A-League after the 2020 FFA Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
Western United finished tenth in their A-League season, forcing them to play in an FFA Cup play-off in the 2021–22 season.

## Review
### Background

Western United's inaugural campaign had seen the team finish 5th and advance to the 2020 A-League Finals series, where they won the elimination-final against Brisbane Roar with the only goal from a free kick from Alessandro Diamanti. They advanced to the semi-final where they lost 2–0 against Melbourne City.

### Pre-season

The club confirmed four player departures on 31 August 2020 which included Valentino Yuel, Thiel Iradukunda, Oskar Dillon, and Patrick Antelmi. The club's first transfer of the season came on 2 October, when Western United signed former Melbourne City winger Lachlan Wales on a two-year deal. In the span of two days on 6–7 December, two players Tomoki Imai and Andrew Durante both extended their contracts by one-year.
On 21 October, Jonathan Aspropotamitis departed the club to join Perth Glory and continue their AFC Champions League campaign. As the club returned to training ahead of the 2020–21 A-League campaign, they signed a sponsorship with Strapit Sports Tape for two A-League seasons. On 11 November, the club confirmed the departure of James Delianov who was injured throughout Western United's entire inaugural season as he signed for Adelaide United the same day. The day after, the club officially announced their kits for the 2020–21 season designed by Kappa.
On 27 November, the club signed Spanish midfielder Víctor Sánchez who made over 300 appearances in Spain's top-flight La Liga including a spell at Barcelona for three years. Western United played their first friendly on 28 November against local A-League rivals Melbourne City where they lost 2–1 in Melbourne in a behind closed doors match.

### December

Western United kicked off their season in the A-League for their second campaign against Adelaide United where the match resulted in a 0–0 draw. Their new players included Víctor Sánchez, Lachlan Wales, Nicolas Milanovic, and Ayom Majok.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | POL | Filip Kurto |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Aaron Calver |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Brendan Hamill |
| 4 | DF | NZL | Andrew Durante |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Dylan Pierias |
| 6 | DF | JPN | Tomoki Imai |
| 7 | FW | KOS | Besart Berisha |
| 8 | FW | AUS | Lachlan Wales |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Kaine Sheppard |
| 10 | MF | AUS | Steven Lustica |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Connor Pain |
| 12 | DF | AUS | Dalibor Markovic |
| 13 | DF | AUS | Ivan Vujica |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | AUS | Max Burgess |
| 17 | MF | AUS | Brad Inman (on loan from ATK Mohun Bagan) |
| 19 | DF | AUS | Josh Risdon |
| 20 | MF | ESP | Víctor Sánchez |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Sebastian Pasquali |
| 22 | DF | AUS | Tomislav Uskok (vice-captain) |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Alessandro Diamanti (captain) |
| 25 | MF | AUS | Luke Duzel |
| 26 | MF | AUS | Nicolas Milanovic (scholarship) |
| 27 | MF | AUS | Jerry Skotadis |
| 29 | FW | AUS | Ayom Majok (scholarship) |
| 30 | GK | AUS | Ryan Scott |
| 34 | MF | ESP | Iker Guarrotxena |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 8 | FW | Lachlan Wales | Unattached | Free transfer | 2 years | 2 October 2020 |
| 20 | MF | Víctor Sánchez | Unattached | Free transfer | 2 years | 27 November 2020 |
| 29 | FW | Ayom Majok | Cumberland United | Scholarship | 2 years | 3 December 2020 |
| 12 | FW | Stefan Zinni | Avondale | Injury replacement | 2 months | 27 December 2020 |
| 34 | MF | Iker Guarrotxena | Unattached | Free transfer | 6 months | 14 January 2021 |
| 9 | FW | Kaine Sheppard | Unattached | Free transfer | 4 months | 26 February 2021 |
| 17 | MF | Brad Inman | ATK Mohun Bagan | Loan | 4 months | 12 March 2021 |
| 12 | DF | Dalibor Markovic | Melbourne Victory | Free transfer | | 12 April 2021 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date |
| 26 | FW | Patrick Antelmi | Sydney United | End of contract | 31 August 2020 |
| 7 | FW | Valentino Yuel | Unattached | End of contract | 1 September 2020 |
| 24 | MF | Thiel Iradukunda | Unattached | End of contract | 1 September 2020 |
| 28 | DF | Oskar Dillon | Unattached | End of contract | 1 September 2020 |
| 15 | DF | Jonathan Aspropotamitis | Perth Glory | Mutual contract termination | 21 October 2020 |
| 20 | GK | James Delianov | Adelaide United | Mutual contract termination | 11 November 2020 |
| 33 | FW | Apostolos Stamatelopoulos | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 25 January 2021 |
| 17 | MF | Joshua Cavallo | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 10 February 2021 |
| 12 | FW | Stefan Zinni | Avondale | End of contract | 27 February 2021 |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Name | Position | Duration | Date |
| 6 | Tomoki Imai | Defender | 1 year | 6 October 2020 |
| 4 | Andrew Durante | Centre-back | 1 year | 7 October 2020 |
| 5 | Dylan Pierias | Right-back | 2 years | 4 May 2021 |
| 11 | Connor Pain | Winger | 2 years | 10 May 2021 |
| 30 | Ryan Scott | Goalkeeper | 2 years | 20 May 2021 |
| 26 | Nicolas Milanovic | Midfielder | 2 years | 1 June 2021 |

## Kits

Supplier: Kappa / Sponsor: Simonds & Tasman Logistics / Sleeve sponsor: Victoria University
| Home | Away | Goalkeeper$^1$ | Goalkeeper$^2$ | Goalkeeper$^3$ |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League | 28 December 2020 | 5 June 2021 | Matchday 1 | 10th | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 030.77 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 030.77 |
Source: Competitions

### A-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 8 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 43 | +2 | 35 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 34 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 10 | Western United | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 28 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 11 | Newcastle Jets | 26 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 24 | 38 | −14 | 21 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 12 | Melbourne Victory | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 31 | 60 | −29 | 19 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
* ↑ The top 8 teams qualified for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participated in a playoff round.
* ↑ Qualified as the 2021 FFA Cup winners.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Ultimate A-League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 24 |
| Ground | H | B | B | A | H | H | A | B | H | A | H | A | H | A | B | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | D | B | B | L | W | D | L | B | W | W | L | L | W | L | B | W | W | L | W | D | W | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L |
| Position | 4 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Points | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 23 | 24 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 |

#### Matches
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Players with no appearances not included in the list.
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League | A-League | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Filip Kurto | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Aaron Calver | 15(3) | 0 | 15(3) | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Brendan Hamill | 9(6) | 0 | 9(6) | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Andrew Durante | 17(2) | 0 | 17(2) | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Dylan Pierias | 20(6) | 6 | 20(6) | 6 |
| 6 | DF | | Tomoki Imai | 26 | 1 | 26 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | | Besart Berisha | 20(3) | 7 | 20(3) | 7 |
| 8 | FW | | Lachlan Wales | 14(10) | 4 | 14(10) | 4 |
| 9 | FW | | Kaine Sheppard | 0(7) | 0 | 0(7) | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Steven Lustica | 14(6) | 1 | 14(6) | 1 |
| 11 | FW | | Connor Pain | 25(1) | 1 | 25(1) | 1 |
| 12 | DF | | Dalibor Markovic | 1(2) | 0 | 1(2) | 0 |
| 13 | DF | | Ivan Vujica | 5(7) | 1 | 5(7) | 1 |
| 14 | MF | | Max Burgess | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| 17 | MF | | Brad Inman | 0(5) | 0 | 0(5) | 0 |
| 19 | DF | | Josh Risdon | 2(1) | 0 | 2(1) | 0 |
| 20 | MF | | Víctor Sánchez | 18 | 3 | 18 | 3 |
| 21 | MF | | Sebastian Pasquali | 2(4) | 0 | 2(4) | 0 |
| 22 | DF | | Tomislav Uskok | 23 | 1 | 23 | 1 |
| 23 | MF | | Alessandro Diamanti | 20(4) | 1 | 20(4) | 1 |
| 25 | MF | | Luke Duzel | 8(5) | 0 | 8(5) | 0 |
| 26 | MF | | Nicolas Milanovic | 0(10) | 0 | 0(10) | 0 |
| 27 | MF | | Jerry Skotadis | 3(7) | 0 | 3(7) | 0 |
| 29 | MF | | Ayom Majok | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| 30 | GK | | Ryan Scott | 18(1) | 0 | 18(1) | 0 |
| 31 | MF | | Adisu Bayew | 1(3) | 0 | 1(3) | 0 |
| 32 | FW | | Manyluak Aguek | 0(2) | 0 | 0(2) | 0 |
| 34 | FW | | Iker Guarrotxena | 17(5) | 3 | 17(5) | 3 |

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | A-League | Total |
| 1 | 7 | FW | | Besart Berisha | 7 | 7 |
| 2 | 5 | DF | | Dylan Pierias | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | 8 | FW | | Lachlan Wales | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 20 | MF | | Víctor Sánchez | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 34 | FW | | Iker Guarrotxena | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | 6 | DF | | Tomoki Imai | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 10 | MF | | Steven Lustica | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 11 | FW | | Connor Pain | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 13 | FW | | Ivan Vujica | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 22 | DF | | Tomislav Uskok | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 23 | MF | | Alessandro Diamanti | 1 | 1 |
| Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 1 | 1 |

### Disciplinary record

The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Name | A-League | A-League | A-League | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | 4 | DF | Andrew Durante | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 20 | MF | Víctor Sánchez | 9 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 22 | DF | Tomislav Uskok | 9 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 3 | DF | Brendan Hamill | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 10 | MF | Steven Lustica | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | DF | Tomoki Imai | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 7 | FW | Besart Berisha | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 25 | MF | Luke Duzel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 34 | FW | Iker Guarrotxena | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 2 | DF | Aaron Calver | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 5 | DF | Dylan Pierias | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 8 | FW | Lachlan Wales | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 11 | FW | Connor Pain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 13 | DF | Ivan Vujica | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 23 | MF | Alessandro Diamanti | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 30 | GK | Ryan Scott | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 12 | DF | Dalibor Markovic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 14 | MF | Max Burgess | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 26 | FW | Nicolas Milanovic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 27 | MF | Jerry Skotadis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 29 | MF | Ayom Majok | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | A-League | Total |
| 1 | 30 | GK | | Ryan Scott | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | 1 | GK | | Filip Kurto | 2 | 2 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 8 | 8 |