# 2024–25 Western United FC season

The 2024–25 season is Western United Football Club's sixth season in the A-League Men. In addition to the domestic league, Western United also participated in this season's edition of the Australia Cup.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 4 | DF | AUS | James Donachie |
| 5 | FW | AUS | Oliver Lavale (scholarship) |
| 6 | DF | JPN | Tomoki Imai (vice-captain) |
| 7 | FW | AUS | Ramy Najjarine |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Hiroshi Ibusuki |
| 10 | MF | AUS | Matthew Grimaldi |
| 13 | DF | AUS | Tate Russell |
| 14 | FW | AUS | Jake Najdovski |
| 17 | DF | AUS | Ben Garuccio (captain) |
| 19 | FW | AUS | Noah Botic |
| 20 | FW | AUS | Abel Walatee (scholarship) |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Sebastian Pasquali |
| 22 | DF | AUS | Kane Vidmar (scholarship) |
| 23 | MF | AUS | Rhys Bozinovski |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | FW | AUS | Michael Ruhs |
| 29 | DF | IRQ | Charbel Shamoon (scholarship) |
| 30 | DF | AUS | Dylan Leonard (scholarship) |
| 32 | MF | AUS | Angus Thurgate |
| 33 | GK | AUS | Matt Sutton |
| 34 | MF | AUS | James York (scholarship) |
| 35 | GK | AUS | Alex Nassiep (scholarship) |
| 37 | FW | AUS | Luke Vickery (scholarship) |
| 41 | DF | AUS | Besian Kutleshi (scholarship) |
| 43 | DF | AUS | Khoder Kaddour (scholarship) |
| 44 | MF | AUS | Jordan Lauton |
| 47 | DF | NZL | Luka Coveny (scholarship) |
| 70 | GK | AUS | Michael Vonja |
| 77 | MF | JPN | Riku Danzaki |

## Transfers and contracts
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Name | From | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 9 | FW | Hiroshi Ibusuki | Unattached | Free transfer | 2 years | 21 May 2024 |
| 13 | DF | Tate Russell | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 2 years | 14 June 2024 |
| 41 | DF | Besian Kutleshi | Melbourne City NPL | Free transfer | 3 year scholarship | 2 August 2024 |

#### From youth squad

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Notes |
| 20 | FW | Abel Walatee | 20 | 2 year scholarship contract |
| 37 | FW | Luke Vickery | 18 | 2 year scholarship contract |
| 43 | DF | Khoder Kaddour | 20 | 2 year scholarship contract |
| 30 | DF | Dylan Leonard | 16 | 2 year scholarship contract |
| 47 | DF | Luka Coveny | 18 | 2 year scholarship contract |
| 34 | MF | James York | 19 | scholarship contract |
| 44 | MF | Jordan Lauton | 21 | 1-year scholarship contract |
| 29 | DF | Charbel Shamoon | 20 | scholarship contract |
| 35 | GK | Alex Nassiep | 18 | 3.5 year scholarship contract |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Name | To | Type/fee | Date |
| 19 | DF | Josh Risdon | Unattached | End of contract | 8 May 2024 |
| 10 | MF | Steven Lustica | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2024 |
| 13 | FW | Nikita Rukavytsya | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2024 |
| 24 | DF | Connor O'Toole | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2024 |
| 27 | DF | Jacob Tratt | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2024 |
| 8 | FW | Lachlan Wales | Gyeongnam FC | End of contract | 28 June 2024 |
| 11 | MF | Daniel Penha | Atlético Mineiro | End of loan | 12 July 2024 |
| 1 | GK | Tom Heward-Belle | Montedio Yamagata | Undisclosed | 18 January 2025 |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Name | Position | Duration | Date | Notes |
| 21 | Sebastian Pasquali | Central midfielder | 2 years | 11 June 2024 | |
| 23 | Rhys Bozinovski | Defensive midfielder | 3 years | 9 September 2024 | New 3-year contract, replacing previous contract which was until end of 2024–25 |
| 44 | Jordan Lauton | Central midfielder | 2 years | 27 January 2025 | Contract extended from end of 2024–25 to end of 2026–27. |
| 33 | Matt Sutton | Goalkeeper | 2 years | 5 February 2025 | Contract extended from end of 2024–25 to end of 2026–27. |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| 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 Men | 20 October 2024 | 3 May 2025 | Matchday 1 | | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 46 | 30 | +16 | 052.38 |
| Australia Cup | 24 July 2024 | 24 July 2024 | Play-offs | Play-offs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 050.00 |
Last updated: 16 March 2025 Source: Competitions

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Auckland FC | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 42 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 2 | Western United | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 46 | 30 | +16 | 38 | Qualification for AFC Champions League Elite and Finals series |
| 3 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 34 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne City | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 34 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Melbourne Victory | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 33 | 27 | +6 | 33 | Qualification for Finals series |
* ↑ Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is part of the Oceania Football Confederation.
* 1 2 The top two teams enter the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the finals series at the elimination-finals.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 16 March 2025. Source: Ultimate A-League Away figures include Western United's 3–1 win on neutral ground in Unite Round against Perth Glory on 22 November 2024.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | N | H | H | A | A | H | B | A | A | A | H | B | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | B | H | A | A | H | H |
| Result | D | D | L | L | W | L | D | W | W | W | X | W | L | W | W | X | D | D | L | W | W | W | W | X | | | | | |
| Position | 6 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | | | | |
| Points | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 29 | 32 | 35 | 38 | 38 | | | | | |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

### Australia Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
    As of match played 16 March 2025
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League Men | A-League Men | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 4 | DF | | James Donachie | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | FW | | Oliver Lavale | 3+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Tomoki Imai | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | Ramy Najjarine | 1+11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | | Hiroshi Ibusuki | 20+1 | 9 | 0+1 | 0 | 22 | 9 |
| 10 | MF | | Matthew Grimaldi | 13+8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| 13 | DF | | Tate Russell | 19+2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
| 14 | FW | | Jake Najdovski | 0+8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | | Ben Garuccio | 9+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 19 | FW | | Noah Botic | 17+4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 11 |
| 20 | FW | | Abel Walatee | 10+7 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| 21 | MF | | Sebastian Pasquali | 4+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | | Kane Vidmar | 3+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 23 | MF | | Rhys Bozinovski | 17+4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| 24 | FW | | Michael Ruhs | 1+11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 |
| 29 | DF | | Charbel Shamoon | 13+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | | Dylan Leonard | 19+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 32 | MF | | Angus Thurgate | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| 33 | GK | | Matt Sutton | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | | James York | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | | Luke Vickery | 1+8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 44 | MF | | Jordan Lauton | 1+12 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 47 | DF | | Luka Coveny | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 48 | FW | | Mark Leonard | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | | Riku Danzaki | 18+3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 5 |
| Player(s) transferred out but featured this season ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | | Tom Heward-Belle | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
    As of match played 16 March 2025
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League Men | A-League Men | A-League Men | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | 1 | 30 | DF | | Dylan Leonard | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 44 | MF | | Jordan Lauton | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 32 | MF | | Angus Thurgate | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 23 | MF | | Rhys Bozinovski | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 24 | FW | | Michael Ruhs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | DF | | Tomoki Imai | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 17 | DF | | Ben Garuccio | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 19 | FW | | Noah Botic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 20 | FW | | Abel Walatee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 10 | FW | | Matthew Grimaldi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 21 | MF | | Sebastian Pasquali | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 22 | DF | | Kane Vidmar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 37 | FW | | Luke Vickery | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 32 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 1 |

### Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.
    As of match played 16 March 2025
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Goalkeeper | A-League Men | Australia Cup | Total |
| 1 | 33 | | Matt Sutton | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 4 | 0 | 4 |