Western United gears up for historic A-League clash at Mars Stadium

Western United will take on Wellington Phoenix in its first A-League soccer clash at Mars Stadium this Saturday.

The green and black will face the Phoenix in the first of its four games at Ballarat’s premier multi-sports and events facility in the round 12 clash.

After two friendly games in Ballarat, this is the first competitive fixture for points played by Western United in Ballarat.

Western United is inviting junior players and coaches from the Ballarat District Soccer Association and South West Victoria clubs to be part of history for this Saturday’s match.

Clubs can participate in the pre-match celebrations with an ‘Olympic opening ceremony’ style walk around the perimeter of the pitch ahead of the match.

Participants are required to wear their club’s gear and are encouraged to bring banners and flags to showcase their club during the parade.

The event will feature celebratory music and will be displayed on screens at the ground and broadcast live, at times, on Fox Sports.

Each participating junior player and club coach will receive a match ticket on arrival.

The walk will start at about 4.15pm. Participants will meet at the gravel area near Gate 1 by 3.30pm.

Kick-off for the game is at 5pm.

Western United’s stars are set to be on show this Saturday.

Skilful Italian international Alessandro Diamanti has been hailed as one of the best players in the league this season.

Alongside the United captain is another big-name foreign player in Greek international Panagiotis Kone, who played for his nation at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Western United also has A-League legend Besart Berisha in its ranks. The former Melbourne Victory hero has been scoring goals galore in the green and black after joining earlier this season.

The A-League 2019-2020 season draw features:

  • Western United v Wellington Phoenix at Mars Stadium on Saturday 28 December 2019 at 5pm

  • Western United v Brisbane Roar at Mars Stadium on Sunday 16 February 2020 at 4pm

  • Western United v Western Sydney Wanderers at Mars Stadium on Sunday 29 March 2020 at 4pm

  • Western United v Melbourne City at Mars Stadium on Friday 10 April (Good Friday) 2020 at 4pm.

Mars Stadium has state-of-the-art facilities, including media facilities, that will enable the matches to be telecast live on Foxtel.

/Public Release. View in full here.