Western United, Legally Sidelined
The A-Leagues sit at the apex of professional football in Australia and New Zealand, organising men’s, women’s and youth games alongside a flourishing E-League competition. Since separating from Football Australia in 2020, the Australian Professional Leagues (“APL”) have assumed responsibility for the operational, commercial, and marketing control over the A-Leagues. Meanwhile, Football Australia has retained regulatory and licensing authority, a legal realignment designed to further empower clubs and model the dynamics of top global football leagues.[1]
Founded in 2019, champions in 2022, and defunct by 2025, Western United FC reflects how insolvency law and sports licensing can operate concurrently but not complementarily. On 8 August, Football Australia’s First Instance Body revoked the club’s licence, citing financial instability and compliance breaches.[2] Western United pointed to a potential deal with US-based investor KAM Sports as grounds for appeal. However, on 29 August, the Federal Court placed its operator, WMG Football Club Ltd, into liquidation despite the club’s arguments that $15 million had been secured.[3] On 6 September, the APL announced Western United would enter ‘conditional hibernation’ for the 2025-26 season, providing clarity on what has been an uncertain turn of events for players, coaches, staff and supporters of the club.[4]
Western United’s issues had been accumulating for some time, with reports of delayed wage and superannuation payments dating back to the 2021-22 season.[5] Matters worsened with a FIFA-imposed player registration ban, effective from 30 April 2025, following a contractual dispute with former striker Aleksandar Prijovic. This prevented the club from signing new players for three transfer periods – effectively until January 2027.[6] The decision to revoke their licence, although recognised to have significant ramifications, was portrayed as one made by Football Australia to uphold their commitment to the ‘integrity, stability and fairness of competitions for all clubs, players and stakeholders’.[7]
Ultimately, Western United’s current state reflects the operation of three intersecting regimes: the Federal Court’s power under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to order liquidation when a company has no capacity to meet its debts; Football Australia’s regulatory authority to revoke a licence following breaches of financial compliance; and the APL’s responsibility to preserve operational stability, which was undermined by the uncertainty created through overlapping appeals and liquidation proceedings. The separation of Football Australia and the APL, designed to grant clubs greater autonomy, has instead exacerbated this crisis by dividing authority and leaving little scope to coordinate strategy.
What has resulted is a testament to the compounding nature of these decisions in producing instability. The Federal Court’s ruling was clear-cut. Corporate law was applied in the interest of creditor protection, despite proposals for a rescue package and salvage plan. Football Australia’s decision, rooted in the preservation of integrity, removed the club’s licence and with it, its commercial capacity to generate revenue or attract investment, fundamentally undermining any realistic chance of continuation. Each decision was valid within its own mandate, yet success in one forum offers no assurance against adverse outcomes in another, a dynamic that ultimately culminated in liquidation. The APL’s decision to place the club in conditional hibernation is a product of essential uncertainty created by overlapping legal processes. By shifting Western United to the sidelines for the 2025-26 season, the APL has allowed those proceedings to run their course without denying certainty to the other competing teams.
This trajectory of events has left players and staff particularly exposed, with contracts terminated only weeks before the season was due to commence. Players have been forced into the market as free agents on a tight turnaround. This leaves them now competing for opportunities in an already restricted transfer window, with the club’s staff and other officials also facing uncertainty.[8] Importantly, the club’s academy will continue to operate during the senior team’s hiatus, preserving its developmental role and ensuring a pathway for future talent.[9]
While hibernation marks only a chapter and not the end of the story, this sequence of events shows how the intersection of insolvency law, licensing management and operational governance can create tension when not adequately coordinated. Football Australia and the APL’s separation has inadvertently entrenched this fragmentation. This has resulted in a structure that safeguards creditors and competitions, but leaves players, staff, and communities to bear the greatest costs.
References:
[1] Liam Butterworth, ‘A-League clubs say the 'handbrake is off' after separating from Football Australia. Here's why’, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)(Web Page, 31 December 2020) <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-31/what-a-league-separation-from-football-australia-means-for-clubs/13023888?utm_source=chatgpt.com>.
[2] ABC News, ‘Beleaguered Western United stripped of A-League licence in 'regrettable' decision’, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)(Web Page, 8 August 2025) <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-08/a-league-western-united-stripped-of-licence/105629622>.
[3] Guardian staff reporter, ‘Western United wound up as court rejects last-ditch attempt to save A-League club’, the Guardian(Web Page, 29 August 2025) <https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/aug/29/western-united-wound-up-as-court-rejects-last-ditch-attempt-to-save-a-league-club?utm_source=chatgpt.com>.
[4] ‘APL statement: An update on Western United Football Club’, A-Leagues(Web Page) <https://aleagues.com.au/news/apl-statement-western-united-2025-26-conditional-hibernation-details/?utm_source=chatgpt.com>.
[5] Vince Rugari, ‘‘We are sorry’: Players released as Western United placed in A-League ‘hibernation’ mode’, The Sydney Morning Herald(Web Page, 6 September 2025) <https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/we-are-sorry-players-released-as-western-united-placed-in-a-league-hibernation-mode-20250906-p5mswk.html>.
[6] Alyssa Bone, ‘Aussie club slapped with recruitment ban by FIFA’, Nine(Web Page, 1 May 2025) <https://www.nine.com.au/sport/football/news-2025-western-united-unable-to-register-new-players-fifa-ban-punishment-20250501-p5lvvw.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com>.
[7] ABC News, ‘Beleaguered Western United stripped of A-League licence in 'regrettable' decision’, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)(Web Page, 8 August 2025) <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-08/a-league-western-united-stripped-of-licence/105629622>.
[8] Vince Rugari, ‘‘We are sorry’: Players released as Western United placed in A-League ‘hibernation’ mode’, The Sydney Morning Herald(Web Page, 6 September 2025) <https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/we-are-sorry-players-released-as-western-united-placed-in-a-league-hibernation-mode-20250906-p5mswk.html>.
[9] Joey Lynch, ‘Western United in 'hibernation', won't play upcoming A-League seasons’, ESPN.com(Web Page, 6 September 2025) <https://www.espn.com.au/football/story/_/id/46170422/western-united-hibernation-play-upcoming-league-seasons?utm_source=chatgpt.com>.