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The Western United Thread

Intaj Khan and Formee Education owner Azeezur Rahaman launch bid to buy Western United

Struggling football club Western United could have just secured its ticket back into the A-Leagues, with a pair of wealthy business tycoons throwing in a massive offer to buy it.

A pair of wealthy Melbourne-based business tycoons have launched an audacious bid to save a struggling former top flight soccer club, with the aim of bringing it back into the professional ranks.

Documents seen by the Herald Sun revealed a bold offer made earlier this month by property developer Intaj Khan and Azeezur Rahaman — the founder of education powerhouse “Formee Education” — to buy A-Leagues outfit Western United.

Under the proposed deal the pair offered to hold a combined 75 per cent stake (37.5 per cent each).

It’s understood the pair submitted financial statements to the A-Leagues competition.

Multiple sources connected to the game confirmed the pair’s interest in the club.

Mr Khan told the Herald Sun he and Mr Rahaman had put together a “strong” proposal to secure the club’s future.

“It’s important that we safeguard the community and also get the club back on track as soon as possible,” he said.

“The club has many challenges. We need local people to work with local kids because of the understanding of the local demographic.”

Mr Khan said it was “sad” to see that while the World Cup was in full swing, Wyndham kids and the club’s loyal supporters faced “uncertainty”.

Their proposed takeover would be a huge boost to its hopes of rejoining the A-Leagues Men’s and Women’s competition after an attempt to regain its licence for the 2026/27 season — which starts in October — was quashed by Football Australia.

Earlier this month it was revealed the former manager of Collingwood superstar Scott Pendlebury, Jason Sourasis, who is now facing a legal battle against the former Pies skipper, was removed from the company behind Western United.

If Western United was to be granted entry back into the A-Leagues competition it would bring the number of teams to 13 in the men’s competition and 12 in the women’s.

The Wyndham-based club beat out Victorian football powerhouse South Melbourne Hellas and a strong bid from a southeast Melbourne-based group in to score an A-Leagues licence in 2018.

Much of the club’s ability to suede Football Australia at the time was a promise to privately build its own stadium on Wyndham Council-owned land in Tarneit.

However, construction of the stadium never commenced, with the club only getting as far as a 5000 capacity training stadium that was used for home games.

The council has also strongly advocated for the government to commit towards building a new railway station across from the proposed stadium site within the next 15 years.

During its short stint as a professional club, Western United – which mainly used AAMI Park as its home ground before moving into Ironbark Fields at Tarneit – won the 2021/22 Championship, defeating cross-city rivals Melbourne City 2-0 in the Grand Final.

By 2036 Wyndham is projected to be home to about 475,000 people.

An Australian Professional Leagues spokesman said the competition would “continue to support the club and ownership group as they reset”.

A Western United spokesman said the club had been “engaging multiple interested parties” with a “view of securing a new ownership model that will set stable foundations and create a sustainable future for the organisation”.

The club believes it has a “pathway to move forward” and secure an “eventual return to the A-Leagues”.
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erogenouszone said:
A stadium is going to cost someone 300 million dollars minimum. For now they are where they are and will be for a few years at least, new owners or not new owners.
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WU cant keep playing out of the training ground.
New owners would have to build a boutique stadium or there can't be a WU.
 
Forget hibernation or whatever it is they are calling it.

Can the whole thing. Sell the licence to Canberra or Sunshine coast. Add in the next licence at the same time to get to 14 teams.

Revisit Western Melbourne in 10 years when it is ready. Let Wyndham council do whatever they want with Ironbark for the next 10 years and actually properly investigate how to build a club properly.

If a stadium is a requirement, thats fine, build one, but do everything the opposite to what WUFC have done over the past 8 years
 
CentreHalf said:
Forget hibernation or whatever it is they are calling it.

Can the whole thing. Sell the licence to Canberra or Sunshine coast. Add in the next licence at the same time to get to 14 teams.

Revisit Western Melbourne in 10 years when it is ready. Let Wyndham council do whatever they want with Ironbark for the next 10 years and actually properly investigate how to build a club properly.

If a stadium is a requirement, thats fine, build one, but do everything the opposite to what WUFC have done over the past 8 years
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WMG tried to 'renegotiate' cost of the Stadium build with Wyndham council. Aim was to shove more cost onto the council rate payers. Council outright rejected the new proposal.
If the two parties eventually agree they may well build it.
Going on the past, I highly doubt it that it will happen in this decade.
 
Ange's high line said:
WMG tried to 'renegotiate' cost of the Stadium build with Wyndham council. Aim was to shove more cost onto the council rate payers. Council outright rejected the new proposal.
If the two parties eventually agree they may well build it.
Going on the past, I highly doubt it that it will happen in this decade.
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WMG need to be removed from the equation. They need to be wound up entirely.

If it's going to be privately funded, then get proper businesses and proper people involved. There is demand for a stadium in the region. Whether it is government funded or private, doesn't really matter.

Personally, I would be building it in Werribee. It will become the CBD of the west inside the next 15 years and easily accessible from Melbourne and the other western suburbs which will be the catchment area. Tarneit is still an absolute dump.

Once a stadium is built, put a team in there. Not the other way around.
 
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