A-League’s newest club draws on the rich cultural heritage of the Macarthur region
The A-League’s newest team has today unveiled its name, logo and colours at a packed luncheon function in Campbelltown, south-west of Sydney.
Macarthur FChas been named after extensive community consultation as a name synonymous with the geographical region that bridges Sydney and rural New South Wales, and named after Elizabeth and John Macarthur who were founders and pioneers of the Australian wool industry.
Macarthur FC is a club that covers the same geographic footprint involving two grassroots football associations and nine clubs.
The region has long had an involvement with the game starting with the Camden Havens club that was established in 1922.
The Macarthur region has also been the childhood home of at least 20 Socceroos and 10 Matildas players with a combined games total of 600 for the Socceroos and 433 for the Matildas.
This heritage includes five men and five women who have played in at least one World Cup, with Brett Emerton (100 games) and Heather Garriock (139) each having reached a century of national team appearances.
The colours of the club are black, white and ochre – also selected as a result of community consultation.
Black and white are seen as emblematic colours that are representative of the culturally and linguistically diverse people who live in the region and who, like the club, are authentically fun, tribal, proud, hard working and inclusive.
Ochre is included to represent one of the traditional colours for the local Dharawal Aboriginal people on whose land the Macarthur region sits.
The logo includes a bull which is demonstrative of the club’s physical power as well as a tilt to history when a runaway herd of cattle was discovered in the region in 1795, and three stars of the Southern Cross to symbolise football’s links with the grassroots football community, the national premier league and the A-League.
The club is seen as a unifying force for rich and diverse culture of the region, with football bringing together people who sing with one voice.
The Macarthur region’s population is estimated to hit 1 million by 2032, an increase of more than 50% since the 2016 Census.
Macarthur FC will join the A-League from the 2020-21 season and will play at a refurbished Campbelltown Stadium, with its training headquarters to be based at a Centre of Excellence which is being constructed.
Until the Centre of Excellence is ready, Macarthur FC will use facilities of the University of Western Sydney at Campbelltown.
