Western Pride FC

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Full nameWestern Pride Football Club
Nickname(s)Pride
Founded2012
Dissolved2023 (Merged with Ipswich City FC)
GroundBriggs Rd Sporting Complex
Capacity~3,500
OwnerFootball Ipswich Inc.
ManagerVacant (Men) and Russell Yarrow (Women)
LeagueFQPL
20235th of 12
WebsiteClub website

Western Pride Football Club was a soccer club based in Ipswich, Queensland. The club is best known for winning the NPL Queensland Grand Final in 2017. Pride's Senior Men currently play in the Football Queensland Premier League, following relegation in 2018, while the juniors and Senior Women teams play in their respective NPL or FQPL Queensland competitions.

The club was founded in 2012 by a new entity called Football Ipswich, set up by local football clubs to represent the Greater Ipswich Region and surrounding Western Corridor.[1]

Pride were inaugural members of the Men and Women's NPL Queensland competitions, the 2nd tier of Australian football.[2]

In 2023 it was announced that Pride and Ipswich City FC would merge ahead of the 2024 season, with the new club being called Ipswich FC.

Senior Men managers[edit]

Period Name
2012–2014 Kasey Wehrman
2015 Karl Dodd
2015 Karla Reuter and Wayne Heath (Caretakers)
2015–2018 Graham Harvey (football manager)
2018 Reggie Davani (Caretaker)
2018–2019 Sergio Raimundo
2019 Terry Kirkham
2019–2020 Andrew Catton
2020–2022 Brian Hastings

Senior Women managers[edit]

2014–2015 Byron Hellmuth
2015 Lorena Maggio
2016 Len Manwaring
2017–2019 Belinda Kitching
2019 Connor George (caretaker)
2020 George Kalogeridis
2021 Trent Gregson
2021-2022 Pye Augustine
2022- Russell Yarrow

Senior Men squad[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Australia AUS Ashton Bonsall
— GK Australia AUS Josh Boyle
— DF Australia AUS Aaron Buzinki
— DF Australia AUS Kelton Scriggins
— DF Australia AUS Noah Humphrey
— DF Australia AUS Daniel Kovacevic
— DF Australia AUS Ben Piper
— DF Australia AUS Alex Hastings
— DF Australia AUS Mark Ingerson
— DF Australia AUS Mikhail Hastings
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Australia AUS Adam Sawyer
— MF Australia AUS Ryan Stieler
— MF Australia AUS Logan Harmer
— MF Australia AUS Braydon Doolan
— MF France FRA Ferdinand Annor
— MF Australia AUS Will Asante
— FW Australia AUS Patient Lukonga
— FW England ENG Jack Webb

Senior Women squad[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Australia AUS Beth Moran
— GK Australia AUS Imarnie Fatnowna
— GK Australia AUS Kyra Mills
— DF Australia AUS Lauren Brimelow
— DF Australia AUS Marin Austin-Barlow
— DF Australia AUS Emily Evetts
— DF Australia AUS Emma Barnes
— DF Australia AUS Meg Krautz
— DF Australia AUS April Gleeson
— MF Australia AUS Bronti Hogkinson
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Australia AUS Jascinta Perrin
— MF Australia AUS Alana Giggins
— MF Australia AUS Giselle Heck
— MF Australia AUS Olivia Brown
— MF Australia AUS Imogen Noon
— FW Australia AUS Meaghan McElligott
— FW Australia AUS Charli Phillips

Honours[edit]

2017: National Premier Leagues Queensland Champions[3]

Competition history (Senior Men)[edit]

Season League FFA Cup
Division (tier) Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position Queensland Finals NPL Finals
2013 NPL Queensland (2) 22 6 3 11 41 49 −8 21 8th DNQ DNQ Not yet founded
2014 NPL Queensland (2) 24 5 0 19 39 73 −34 15 12th DNQ DNQ Preliminary Round 4
2015 NPL Queensland (2) 22 7 2 13 39 57 −18 23 11th DNQ DNQ Preliminary Round 5
2016 NPL Queensland (2) 22 6 6 10 39 43 −5 24 10th DNQ DNQ Preliminary Round 5
2017 NPL Queensland (2) 22 12 5 5 73 27 46 41 3rd Champions DNQ Preliminary Round 5
2018 NPL Queensland (2) 26 19 0 7 96 33 63 57 3rd Semi Final DNQ Preliminary Round 5
2019 NPL Queensland (2) 28 8 1 19 37 70 −33 25 13th DNQ DNQ Preliminary Round 5
2020 FQPL (2) 20 9 1 10 42 46 −4 28 7th DNQ DNQ

Source:[4]

Key: Premiers / Champions Promoted ↑ Relegated ↓

The tier is the level in the Australian soccer league system

Competition history (Senior Women)[edit]

Season League
Division (tier) Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position Queensland Finals
2014 SEQ Premier League (2) 19 0 0 19 18 108 −90 0 14th DNQ
2015 NPL Queensland (2) 22 6 1 13 42 94 −52 19 8th DNQ
2016 NPL Queensland (2) 20 5 2 13 18 48 −30 17 8th DNQ
2017 NPL Queensland (2) 18 1 0 17 11 76 −65 3 10th DNQ
2018 NPL Queensland (2) 26 6 2 18 61 110 −49 20 11th DNQ
2019 NPL Queensland (2) 24 3 2 19 28 95 −67 11 11th DNQ
2020* NPL Queensland (2) 1 0 0 1 0 4 −4 NA NA DNQ

Source:[5]

Key: Premiers / Champions Promoted ↑ Relegated ↓

The tier is the level in the Australian soccer league system

  • Western Pride withdrew from the Senior Women's competition after one match of the 2020 season.

Background[edit]

With no existing Ipswich clubs in a position to apply for the newly formed NPL Queensland in 2012, a decision was made to work together to create a representative club for the region. New Pride President Todd Hunt had been calling for Ipswich clubs to work together for the sake of footballers in the region since 2007.[6]

Before World War II, Ipswich had been an important region for Australian football, with a number of Australia national soccer team representatives hailing from the region, including the Socceroos' first captain Alex Gibb.[7]

Ipswich clubs Dinmore Bushrats, Bundamba Rovers, Blackstone Rangers and St Helens won 19 Brisbane Premierships between 1920 and 1957. However, ethnic community clubs formed after World War II migration brought professionalism to club football, drawing players from Ipswich to Brisbane, seeing the fortunes of Ipswich clubs wane.[8] Ipswich would see a brief return to dominance in the mid-1980s when Ipswich United (1985 Premiership/Championship double) and Coalstars SC (1986 Championship) saw the last time the region won a Men's title in the highest division.[9]

Ipswich continued to produce international and professional footballers, but the rate slowed dramatically. Most recently Coalstars SC produced Australia women's national soccer team FIFA Women's World Cup players Belinda Kitching and Bryony Duus, Socceroo Neil Kilkenny,[10] and Everton F.C., Stoke City F.C. and Crewe Alexandra F.C. goalkeeper Jason Kearton.

Western Pride was created in 2012 when a group of Ipswich football identities and local clubs Ipswich Knights FC, Western Spirit FC, Ipswich City FC, Springfield United and Colleges United formed Football Ipswich with a view of creating a club to meet the entry requirements to the then Australian Premier League (now National Premier Leagues Queensland).[11]

Western Pride was created to provide a more professional pathway for Ipswich youngsters within the city, having seen many young Ipswich players move to successful Brisbane clubs such as Olympic FC and Queensland Lions FC.

History[edit]

Pride's inaugural men's player/coach was former Socceroo Kasey Wehrman who led the team from 2012 until his resignation in July 2014 to return to Norway.[12]

In October 2014, former A-League player Karl Dodd accepted the position of Head Coach of the Western Pride FC Senior Men's Team in the National Premier League (Qld). Former Matilda Karla Reuter signed on as Assistant Manager of the Men's team.

Dodd led the team to an impressive start to the season, however in June 2015 he was recruited by Brisbane Roar FC to take up a position as the High Performance Manager.[13]

Dodd was replaced by former Whitsunday Miners FC coach Graham Harvey.[14]

Pride Women's team first appeared in the SEQ Premier League, and were coached by Byron Hellmuth. In 2015 Pride gained a licence to the newly formed NPL Queensland Women'scompetition. Byron Hellmuth and New player/coach Lorena Maggio led the team to an 8th-placed finish.

On 18 May 2016 Pride Men played the New Zealand national football team at Briggs Rd Sporting Complex as part of the visitors preparations for the OFC Nations Cup. New Zealand prevailed 2–0 in front of a crowd of 1,200 fans.[15][16]

Pride Men signed Papua New Guinea international Nigel Dabinyaba late in the season, who became the first current international to play in the NPL Queensland competition.

Two of Pride's 2016 squad were signed by Brisbane Roar's Youth team. Hayden Mchenery signed mid-season after 12 months at Pride where he rebuilt his career after suffering osteitis pubis.[17] Joe Duckworth signed at the end of the season after top scoring for Pride with 11 goals in 21 appearances.[18]

2017 season[edit]

Former Australia women's national soccer team goalkeeper and Ipswich player Belinda Kitching was appointed manager of the Senior Women side during the off-season.[19]

Kitching was joined by her former Ipswich and international teammate Bryony Duus who took up the role of U17 manager and assistant coach to the Senior Women's squad.[20]

Former playerHarrison Sawyer re-signed for the Men's side after stints at A-League sides Brisbane Roar and Newcastle United Jets. He scored four hat-tricks in five games, and 15 goals in his 7 games back with the club before returning to professional football in the Philippines.[21]

In the final round of the regular season Pride Men secured a historic 3rd-placed finish and a first-ever club finals series following a run of 9 straight victories.[22] Pride won the right to host the Grand Final after defeating Gold Coast City FC 3–0 in the semi-final, and seeing Premiers Brisbane Strikers lose to 4th place Moreton Bay United FC in the other semi.

Pride defeated Moreton Bay 2–1 in the Grand Final at Briggs Rd in front of a crowd of 3383. Goals from Cameron Crestani and a last minute Dylan Wenzel-Halls free-kick gave Pride its first major trophy.[23]

Two weeks earlier Pride's U18 Boys won the Premiership – the club's first competition win at any level in its five-year history.[24]

Pride Women finished second-last after a string of injuries deprived the team of many of its experienced players. A decision was taken to promote U17 players with a view to giving them experience ahead of the 2018 season.[25]

2018 season[edit]

Striker Dylan Wenzel-Halls scored 23 goals in 11 appearances, before being signed by Brisbane Roar on a professional contract.[26][27]

Coach Graham Harvey lead Pride to 2nd in the table by Round 16, before departing to take up a professional contract in Hong Kong.[28]

Notable players[edit]

  • List of current and former players who played professionally or have represented their nation at senior level.
Afghanistan
Australia
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
  • Samoa Mariecamilla Ah Ki
A-League
W-League
Singapore Premier League
South African Premier League

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lems, David (23 October 2012). "New APL club keen to work with others next season". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. ^ Grams, Jacob (3 October 2012). "Brisbane City, Brisbane Strikers and Moreton Bay United granted APL licences". Courier-Mail. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Pride Seal First Silverware After Late Late Winner – Football Queensland – NPL – SportsTG". SportsTG. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Western Pride FC". Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Western Pride FC – First grade women's season results". Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  6. ^ Whiting, Michael (6 September 2007). "Call For Unity As Knights Go Down". Ipswich News. News Corp.
  7. ^ Pramberg, Bernie (29 January 2015). "Spencer Kitching looks back on playing for Australia and how the game has changed in Queensland". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables". www.elitetograssroots.net/. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  9. ^ Lems, David. "31 years on, Ipswich eyes historic grand final feat". Queensland Times. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Neil Kilkenny: 'Everyone said we'd lose at United. I knew we had a chance'". The Independent. 23 January 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  11. ^ Lems, David. "How Ipswich created a successful football franchise". Queensland Times. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  12. ^ Lems, David (15 July 2014). "Wehrman to end two-year association with Western Pride". Warwick Daily News. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  13. ^ "Dodd Departs Pride for Roar - Football Queensland - NPL".
  14. ^ "Harvey is New Pride Coach - Football Queensland - NPL".
  15. ^ "All Whites beat Western Pride 2–0". New Zealand Football. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  16. ^ Gossip, By Phantom Sports (20 May 2016). "Preparing to face the best". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Promising Pride player joins Roar". The Courier Mail. 22 June 2016.
  18. ^ Lems, David. "Joe snapped up by Roar after success at Pride". Ripley Today.
  19. ^ "Ex-Matilda To Guide Pride Women". NPL Queensland. Football Queensland.
  20. ^ McKenzie, Garry (24 December 2016). "Former Aussie player boosts Pride coaching ranks". The Courier Mail. APN.
  21. ^ "Player Statistics for Harrison Sawyer". SportsTG. SportsTG. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  22. ^ Lems, David (20 August 2017). "Joe's fabulous five, now it's a shot at finals". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  23. ^ Lems, David. "HISTORIC WIN: Massive sporting celebration erupts in Ipswich". Queensland Times. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  24. ^ Lems, David (20 August 2017). "From easybeats to premiers: Teenage duo shares in glory". The Courier Mail. News Corporation. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  25. ^ "Pride's punishing pre-season to bolster women's program". Queensland Times. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  26. ^ "Dylan Wenzel-Halls – Player Statistics". SportsTG. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  27. ^ "Roar sign prolific NPL young gun". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  28. ^ Lems, David. "Top footy coach lured to Hong Kong league". The Queensland Times. News Corp. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
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