The 2023–24 season was Western United Football Club (women)'s second season, in the A-League Women. Western United finished 3rd in their A-League Women, finishing in the elimination-finals.
Players
First-team squad
Review and events
Background In Western United's inaugural and previous season in 2022–23, they finished 2nd in the regular season and finished in the Grand Final as runners-up, losing 4–0 to Sydney FC.
Pre-season
On 9 June, Kahli Johnson signed on for the season. During this off-season, Jaclyn Sawicki and Angela Beard were being represented with the Philippines in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. On 26 July, American attacker Catherine Zimmerman signed ahead of the season from rivals Melbourne Victory. The next week saw the signing of Australian defender Grace Maher on a one-year deal from Canberra United. On 18 August, six players departed Western United; Francesca Iermano, Aleksandra Sinclair, Danielle Steer, Tiana Jaber, Sydney Cummings, and Hariet Withers. Three days later, Alana Cerne signed on for the season.
Kahli Johnson was called up to the Australia U20 squad on 22 August in a week-long training camp. The same day saw Adriana and Melissa Taranto sign on for the season. The day after, Mark Torcaso; remaining in his role as head coach for Western United had become the new head coach of the Philippines women's national team with assistant coach Andrew Durante. Within that, Natasha Dakic, Silver Bell Morris, and Alyssa Dall'Oste all signed on for the season. On 24 August, Japanese winger Keiwa Hieda signed for the season from affiliated club Calder United. Five days later, Emma Robers and Stacey Papadopoulos signed on for the season and Angela Beard made a permanent transfer to Swedish club Linköping FC. On 31 August, Julia Sardo and Tyla-Jay Vlajnic signed on for the season, as did Jaclyn Sawicki the day after. Calder United goalkeeper Natalie Picak signed a scholarship deal on 4 September, and midfielder Lucy Richards signed on 6 September; that day saw Alana Cerne and Kahli Johnson be called-up to the Australia U23 squad for two friendlies against Italian club AC Milan and Scotland U23. On 7 September, Raquel Deralas signed on for the season.
Western United played their first friendly of the season on 27 September against an FV State Team selection at The Home of the Matildas, winning 1–0 with Emma Robers scoring the goal. They revisited the venue on 7 October in a behind closed doors friendly against Melbourne Victory in a 2–0 loss. On 11 October, Australian attacker Kiara De Domizio signed for the season from Sydney Olympic.
October
Catherine Zimmerman was confirmed to be out due to a foot injury that occurred during pre-season ahead of the 2023–24 A-League Women round 1 clash against Perth Glory away. The match resulted in a 2–0 loss sending Western United to the bottom of the table after Round 1. On 16 October, the Wyndham City Council approved plans for home matches to be played at the Wyndham Regional Football Facility (later known as Ironbark Fields) in Tarneit. On 18 October, the APL Grand Final decision was reversed and replaced with Unite Round; a regular season round played in Sydney. This resulted in Western United's home match in Round 12 against Sydney FC change to play at Allianz Stadium.
Chloe Logarzo and Lucy Richards entered the squad ahead of Round 2 against rivals Melbourne Victory at home. Western United won 2–1 in a comeback win in the last minute thanks to goals from Melissa Taranto and Keiwa Hieda recording their first win of the season rising to eighth place. On 31 October, Australian youth international and AFF Women's Championship winner Avaani Prakish signed a professional contract ahead of the season.
November On 1 November, American goalkeeper and previous season's winner of Western United's Player of the Season Hillary Beall returned on loan from American club Racing Louisville until the end of the season. Her, alongside Kiara De Domizio, Avaani Prakish, and Natasha Dakic entered the squad for Round 3 against Melbourne City at home. The match resulted in a 2–2 draw after taking the lead through Hannah Keane, going behind, and equalizing late on through Kahli Johnson rising into the top six at sixth place spot.
Jaclyn Sawicki and Tyla-Jay Vlajnic both returned from international duties ahead of Round 4 against Wellington Phoenix away as Western United fell to their second loss of the season, losing 3–1 with only Chloe Logarzo scoring a consolation goal in the 93rd minute falling outside the top six to seventh place. The next week had Melissa Taranto return from injury, and Natalie Picak enter the squad ahead of Round 5 against Brisbane Roar away. Western United returned to winning ways after 1–0 win through Kahli Johnson remaining unmoved in the ladder at seventh place.
Three days after the match against Brisbane Roar, Kahli Johnson and Avaani Prakish were called-up for the Australia under-20 team for 10 days in China. Tyla-Jay Vlajnic returned to the squad ahead of Round 6 against the Western Sydney Wanderers at home, as Western United fell to a 2–0 loss falling to eighth place.
December On 1 December, Western United confirmed the departure of head coach Mark Torcaso for further progression in his stint with the Philippines women's national team, with assistant coach Helen Winterburn also departing after accepting a full-time position as football coach at the Central Coast Sports College. With this, Kat Smith was appointed as new coach, with Chelsea Noonan appointed as new assistant coach. With an unchanged squad for Round 7 against Adelaide United away, the match resulted in a 3–1 win via a brace from Adriana Taranto, and Hannah Keane sent them back into the top six at fifth place.
Kahli Johnson and Avaani Prakish both returned from their international duties ahead of Round 8 against the Newcastle Jets away as Western United fell to a 4–2 loss; reaching level terms twice through Chloe Logarzo and Stacey Papadopoulos before conceding the last two goals, falling to seventh place. In the lead-up to the following week, Kahli Johnson went out of the squad due to leg injury ahead of Round 9's clash against Perth Glory at home. The match resulted in a 1–0 win through Chloe Logarzo scoring the only goal in the 18th minute heading back up to fifth place. Kiara De Domizio and Lucy Richards entered the squad ahead of Round 10 against Canberra United away with Chloe Logarzo played her 100th A-League Women match; resulting in a 1–1 draw with Adriana Taranto equalizing after an Alana Cerne own goal; falling to sixth place.
Transfers
Transfers in No.PositionPlayerTransferred fromType/feeContract lengthDateRef. 34 Melbourne Victory Free transfer 1 year 26 July 2023 18 Canberra United Free transfer 1 year 4 August 2023 20 Scholarship 1 year 24 August 2023 26 Scholarship 1 year 24 August 2023 12 Free transfer 1 year 6 September 2023 7 Free transfer 1 year 11 October 2023 13 Free transfer 1 year 31 October 2023 21 Loan 9 months 1 November 2023 5 Unattached Free transfer 5 months 6 February 2024 31 Free transfer 4 months 22 February 2024
Transfers out No.PositionPlayerTransferred toType/feeDateRef. 5 Unattached End of contract 23 February 2023 13 End of contract 16 May 2023 20 End of contract 27 June 2023 21 End of loan 29 June 2023 7 Unattached End of contract 18 August 2023 25 Unattached End of contract 18 Unattached End of contract 12 Unattached End of contract 23 Undisclosed 29 August 2023 21 End of loan 16 February 2024
Contract extensions No.PlayerPositionDurationDateRef. 9 Hannah Keane Forward 1 year 22 February 2023 10 Kahli Johnson Forward 1 year 9 June 2023 15 Adriana Taranto Midfielder 1 year 22 August 2023 16 Melisa Taranto Midfielder 1 year 2 Stacey Papadopoulos Forward 1 year 28 August 2023 11 Emma Robers Midfielder 1 year 19 Tyla-Jay Vlajnic Defender 1 year 31 August 2023 24 Julia Sardo Defender 1 year 4 Jaclyn Sawicki Midfielder 1 year 1 September 2023 17 Raquel Deralas Forward 1 year 7 September 2023
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
A-League Women
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches The final league fixtures were announced on 24 August 2023.
Finals series
Statistics
Appearances and goals Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
Name A-League Women Total Regular season Finals series Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals 1 GK 7 0 1 0 8 0 2 DF 21+1 1 1 0 23 1 4 MF 20 1 1 0 21 1 5 DF 5+2 1 1 0 8 1 6 MF 17 9 0 0 17 9 7 FW 0+3 1 0+1 0 4 1 9 FW 18+2 10 0 0 20 10 10 FW 6+6 3 1 0 13 3 11 MF 8+7 0 1 0 16 0 12 DF 1+6 0 0 0 7 0 13 MF 3+10 0 0+1 0 14 0 14 DF 2+2 0 0 0 4 0 15 MF 18+1 5 0 0 19 5 16 MF 21 1 1 0 22 1 18 MF 22 1 1 0 23 1 19 DF 15+1 0 1 0 17 0 20 FW 12+10 3 0+1 0 23 3 22 FW 22 0 1 1 23 1 24 DF 8+7 0 0+1 0 16 0 31 GK 2 0 0 0 2 0 34 FW 1+3 1 1 1 5 2 Player(s) transferred out but featured this season 21 GK 13 0 0 0 13 0
Disciplinary record Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
Rank Name A-League Women Total Regular season Finals series 1 2 DF 5 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 2 15 MF 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 16 MF 3 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 4 22 MF 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 7 FW 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 6 4 MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 FW 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 18 MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 34 FW 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Total 20 0 0 4 0 0 24 0 0
Clean sheets Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.
Rank Goalkeeper A-League Women Total Regular season Finals series 1 21 4 0 4
See also 2023–24 Western United FC season
References
External links Western United official website