MELBOURNE : Western United defied the sceptics when they captured their first A-League championship in May and will now look to consolidate the gains in the new season starting Friday.
John Aloisi's team will kick off the 2022/23 season against cross-town rivals Melbourne City in a repeat of the title-deciding "Grand Final", which United won 2-0 in a major surprise.
As Melbourne's third side behind Victory and City, Western United were mocked by rival fans when they joined the league in 2019 and failed to build a home stadium promised in their expansion bid.
Few are laughing now, though, with the green-and-black team having built a strong culture on the field, if not a big support base.
"We want to be a team that keeps evolving. We know we had a lot of areas that we could improve," former Australia striker Aloisi told reporters this week.
"The biggest thing for us (over the off-season) was not having that complacency.
"But from the word 'go', I can see that the boys are motivated and ready - and excited. They've trained probably even harder than they did last pre-season."
Construction finally started in March for United's training base in the remote western suburbs of Melbourne but it could be years before their planned 15,000-seat stadium is completed.
They will share the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on the other side of town with Victory and City this season, one of a raft of venues United used for home games in the last campaign.
United will again be captained by former Italy midfielder Alessandro Diamanti but the 39-year-old will miss Friday's opener as he continues his long rehab from a knee injury dating back to February.
NEW ARRIVALS
City, part of the consortium that owns Premier League champions Manchester City, will be
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