Western Sydney Wanderers’ very own CommBank Stadium is gearing up for a very historic Australia Cup final this Saturday, involving two of Western Sydney’s finest teams. Ironically, the stadium’s tenants won’t be partaking in this match, instead it’ll be the Wanderers’ close neighbors Sydney United 58 and Macarthur FC who will be contesting Saturday’s final for a chance to win their first Australia Cup title.
Both Western Sydney teams came from contrasting backgrounds – Sydney United are the first non A-League Men team to qualify for the Australia Cup final since its inception in 2014, a historic club formed in 1958 by Croatian immigrants with significant pedigree within Australian football. Despite being mere part-timers who have yet to play in the professional A-League Men, Sydney United have produced a number of Australia internationals, such as Mark Bosnich, Tony Popovic, and Mile Jedinak. They weren’t even the best team of this season’s National Premier League New South Wales, with Sydney United finishing the 2022 campaign in 8th place, 12 points off champions Sydney Olympic.
By contrast, Macarthur FC were formed in 2020, with complications regarding the pandemic meaning that this year is the Bulls’ debut in the competition. They are being coached by Dwight Yorke, the Trinidad and Tobago legend who once donned the jerseys of Manchester United and Sydney FC among others, in his first ever job as a head coach. Despite their relatively young age, Macarthur have boasted a number of seasoned campaigners – Daniel Arzani has six caps already for the Australia national team in the tender age of 23, while Craig Noone have played for the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City, and Bolton Wanderers. Captain Ulises Davila was once part of the infamous Chelsea loan army, turning out for the likes of Vitesse Arnhem, Cordoba, and Vitoria Setubal during his time with the Blues, while Al Hassan Toure is seeking to win his second Australia Cup title, having won the competition in 2019 with Adelaide United.
Sydney United were given the hosting rights for this year’s final but as their Sydney United Sports Centre is too small for a match of that scale, the game was moved to Western Sydney Wanderers’ CommBank Stadium where a sellout crowd was expected to attend the match. Fans from both teams were excited for Saturday’s final, with the neutrals hoping that Sydney United would pull off another giant-killing after dispatching the likes of Western United and Brisbane Roar en route to the showpiece match.
Should Macarthur win this year’s Australia Cup, they would be assured a spot in the 2023/24 AFC Cup should the Bulls receive a continental license. If Sydney United wins, however, they will be unable to participate in the AFC Cup due to them being a semi-professional club, with the AFC Cup berth going into the A-League Men standings for the upcoming 2022/23 season instead.