Western United is gearing up for a spectacular return to Ballarat with the Green and Black set to take on Newcastle Jets on Saturday March 5 at Mars Stadium.
The match will also celebrate women in sport as it falls just before International Women’s Day.
Western United CEO Chris Pehlivanis said he and the entire Club is eager to get back in front of the loyal fans in Ballarat.
“The Ballarat region as a whole – the fans, the council and all the partners – have been such big and important supporters of our Club throughout our existence so far,” he said.
“The Ballarat family is a crucial part of our wider Western United family and I’m really excited to see our passionate fans in the region come out in full force.
“We’ve had some great memories at Mars Stadium already and we’ll hopefully create many more. Our Club is in the best form it’s ever been in and another win in Ballarat would help continue that.
“We’ll need all our fans to come down, get behind the team and support us to make that happen, and hopefully we get a great turn out and a great celebration of football in Ballarat.”
Western United will take the opportunity to celebrate women throughout the fixture, and particularly female involvement in football.
All the ball kids for the match will be female, as will all the half-time heroes representing their clubs by having a match on the pitch during the interval.
There will also be a strong presence of women at United’s Chairman’s function, with a focus on the Western United Women’s Development Squad and a chance to highlight several women working at the Club.
Western United General Manager Community & Operations Darren Harris said that expanding the diversity of the Club is important in order to be successful on and off the pitch.
“Western United, as we’ve always said, is an inclusive Club. We welcome all people into our family and we’re really proud to be taking some significant steps in recognising women in our organisation,” he said.
“Our A-League Women license is around the corner and our partnership with Calder United has been fantastic in that, and we have so many great women working in all areas of the Club.
“As a Club, we thought it was really important to do something like this and we’re really excited and thankful to be able to celebrate women in football together with our fans in Ballarat.”
Western United defeated Macarthur FC 4-1 at Mars Stadium last season in one of the highlights of the entire campaign, and John Aloisi will be hoping for a similar result to that one against the Jets.
John Aloisi’s men are yet to play Newcastle in the league this season, United will be hoping to make that seven in a row on March 5 and continue the push for silverware in the back half of the season.
Next Match Details
Western United vs Newcastle Jets
Saturday 5 March
Mars Stadium, Ballarat
Kick-off: 3:05pm
Purchase the Ballarat Superpass
