With $15m academy and no fees, Western Sydney Wanderers make a pitch for talent of the future.
FOR a man in the process of spending an awful lot of money, Paul Lederer had a definite spring in his step on Thursday afternoon as he toured the new Western Sydney Stadium getting close to completion in Parramatta.
In 12 months’ time the Wanderers chairman will be preparing for his club’s first game there, but there are other landmarks coming rather sooner.
Within the next four months the club’s new headquarters in Rooty Hill will be opened, along with the first three of nine pitches to house every team at the club from the A-League and W-League down to the youngest juniors.
This first stage has cost Lederer and his fellow directors $15m, but the running costs will be substantial too as the club will charge no fees to those selected for its academy.
With most elite academies across NSW charging around $2-3k per child, this is a significant and ongoing statement by the Wanderers, especially as every team will have only professional coaching.
Built on land leased from Blacktown Council, the new headquarters will house the club’s administration as well as a gym and medical facilities, all under one roof. Eventually there are plans for more development, including a club for supporters to frequent, but the move to bring every representative team together is seismic in itself.
“This is our seventh year in existence and we’ve been unbelievably successful considering the age of the club,” Lederer told The Saturday Telegraph.
“But I like to think this is the second stage of our life, the most exciting stage. It’s once in a lifetime: building a brand new stadium for 30,000 people, world class in every facet, and on top of that we’re building an academy, which to me is equally important.
“This is a venture we’ve planning for three years – (CEO) John (Tsatsimas) and I went around the world and looked at all the latest facilities. In my view this will be just as good.”
In such a fertile football region, the decision to charge nothing to those selected for the junior squads will give the club a major competitive advantage in attracting the brightest talent.
“We will have no fees,” said Lederer. “We will be the first elite club in Australia to have no fees. If you want to play for the club, you can. It’s a costly exercise, but we will pay for it.
“We want to give an equal opportunity to boys and girls, whoever they are, to be the best. We will give them the best amenities, the best coaching, that’s what we’re building.
“Equally we have invested heavily in the W-League this year and we’re very keen to have the women perform to the peak of their ability. They have separate amenities, separate changing rooms, so they feel utterly comfortable.”
Lederer isn’t given to bluster, but he gets increasingly passionate when asked why – even allowing for his lifelong love of football - he would spend so much time and money on this project.
“We’re not doing this for the short term or for financial gain,” he said. “We’re doing it because we enjoy it and we want to make a difference to Western Sydney. If we achieve that, we are on a good track.
“Why do we do it? It’s because we’re passionate and believe in something. We are conscious of a young kid, whose father is working long hours, maybe in a factory, can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars a year to play football.
“If you have two or three kids that might be $7500 - that eliminates a lot of talent that goes by the wayside because they just can’t afford it.
“Western Sydney is a working class area and we are conscious of that. We believe in this area, that’s why we’re putting our hard-earned money into it.
“We want the Western Sydney people to believe in us. I worked 45 years in Western Sydney, I spent 12 to 15 hours a day in Western Sydney. I built businesses only in Western Sydney, I’ve had lots of factories.
“I’ve done very well, personally, extraordinarily well. Now I can put something back into Western Sydney.”
