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Origins

The Western Sydney region was regarded as a potential location for one of the founding A-League clubs in 2005, originally intended to be the base for Sydney FC. When Sydney FC put forward their bid to participate in the inaugural A-League season, Football NSW (which backed the bid) desired for the club's home ground to be Parramatta Stadium in Western Sydney. Though after winning the A-League licence, Football Federation Australia (FFA) Chairman Frank Lowy forced a number of changes to the bid. The main of these were in moving the club to Sydney Football Stadium in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and simultaneously reducing Football NSW's involvement from 100 to 25 percent. Frank Lowy's son, David Lowy, was also installed as a major investor. In response, Football NSW made the decision to pull out its involvement with Sydney FC amid claims the A-League club had become a "plaything" for Frank Lowy and his family. Football NSW stated its dislike of Lowy's autocratic style in establishing the club and the perceived lack of consultation on key club issues. An unsuccessful bid named "Sydney Blues", which had proposed to play at the Sydney Football Stadium was the only other Sydney-based bid. Sydney FC entered the A-League with a five-year city exclusivity deal as part of the league's "one-city, one-team" policy, preventing the establishment of another Sydney-based club until the deal expired.

By 2008, as the five-year deal wound to its conclusion, FFA announced its intention to expand the A-League, with a second Sydney-based club a favourable option. FFA received 10 expressions of interest, two of which from potential Western Sydney based teams. Despite the unsuccessful attempt to establish a Western Sydney-based team in the form of Sydney Rovers (due to financial and technical reasons), FFA were still strongly committed in pursuing a club in the region.

Foundations

The catalyst for the formation of the Western Sydney Wanderers was FFA revoking Gold Coast United's A-League licence on 29 February 2012. After a series of running battles between FFA and Clive Palmer – owner of Gold Coast United, over topics such as crowd control, stadium attendance capacities and breaches of A-League regulations. The loss of Gold Coast United brought the league down to nine clubs, one fewer than what FFA needed for their upcoming television rights negotiations.

On 4 April 2012, then FFA CEO Ben Buckley announced the creation of "New Sydney Club" based in the city's west to play in the A-League. The new club would be set up to compete in the 2012–13 season, though despite several attempts by FFA to find a backer to own and run the club no individual owner or consortium of owners decided to take on the new Sydney club. With the October deadline approaching, FFA decided to push through the club by taking on the ownership role themselves. This was helped by securing $4 million from the Australian Government in a grant for the creation and ongoing costs of the club.

As notable Australian soccer players Scott Chipperfield, Tim Cahill and Lucas Neill expressed their support for the Western Sydney-based club, so did the local soccer community, with FFA holding supporter forums in Mount Pritchard, Parramatta, Rooty Hill, Penrith, Castle Hill, Campbelltown and Bankstown, where community members discussed such topics as the club's values and culture, playing style, home ground, and proposed names and colours. Following the community forums, FFA launched an online survey to decide on various options for the new club. It covered similar aspects of culture, location, team colour and playing style. A final survey was later launched with a specific focus on the club's colours and name. Options for team colours were black and red, black and white, and red, white and black. Options for the team name were Athletic, Wanderers, Wolves, Strikers and Rangers.

On 17 May 2012, former A-League head Lyall Gorman was appointed chairman of the as yet unnamed club. Tony Popovic was also announced as the inaugural head coach of the Western Sydney team. Popovic joined the club after requesting to be released from the final year of his contracted role as assistant coach of Crystal Palace, after ending talks with both A-League Sydney clubs and stating his desire to build a club from scratch as an opportunity he could not pass up. Popovic signed with the Western Sydney team to take the helm for four seasons. On 22 May 2012, Popovic's close friend Ante Milicic also joined the club as assistant coach.

On 25 June 2012, the official club name, logo and colours were formally announced. The name "Western Sydney Wanderers FC" was officially released, as was the club logo, the home playing strip, the home ground (Parramatta Stadium) and the first three signed players: Aaron Mooy, Tarek Elrich and Kwabena Appiah. The name 'Wanderers' had been an overwhelming favourite among fans and community groups, with it also paying homage to Wanderers F.C., the first registered soccer club in Australia, who played in the area in 1880.

Popovic era

Inaugural season

With the start of Western Sydney Wanderers' first season approaching, Tony Popovic was charged with putting together a competitive squad for the 2012–13 A-League, which would be the team's only competition of the season. The squad was made up of relative unknowns, though included former Japan international and Asian Footballer of the Year Shinji Ono, as well as Jérome Polenz, Mateo Poljak, Youssouf Hersi, Iacopo La Rocca and Dino Kresinger. On 6 October 2012, Western Sydney Wanderers played their first competitive match of any kind against reigning A-League Premiers Central Coast Mariners in the first round of the league. The match ended in a 0–0 draw. It took the team a further three weeks, until the fourth round of the league to win their first competitive match of any kind; after two consecutive losses, one of which the first Sydney Derby, the encounter against reigning A-League Champions Brisbane Roar ended 0–1 in favour of Wanderers, with Mark Bridge netting the club's first competitive goal after the team failed to score in their opening three games.

A slow start into the team's first season soon turned positive as Western Sydney Wanderers quickly emerged as one of the leading soccer clubs in Australia. A historic record-breaking season in the league saw the club break an all-time Australian national league record and win their first A-League Premiership after topping the A-League table through a record-undefeated streak, which included 10 straight wins. This feat gained the club direct qualification into the 2014 AFC Champions League, as well as a place in the A-League finals series. A 2–0 win against Brisbane Roar in the semi-finals of the finals series lead the club to the 2013 A-League Grand Final, which on 21 April 2013, Wanderers eventually lost 0–2 to Central Coast Mariners at a sold out Sydney Football Stadium. The success of the club's first season was pitted on first-time coach Popovic who had built the team from its foundations in the space of only five months. Popovic was awarded A-League Coach of the Year and goalkeeper Ante Covic Goalkeeper of the Year. The club's inaugural success, both on and off the field, sparked much interest worldwide, though most notably within Australia, where soccer has often struggled to gain mainstream interest.

2013–14 season

The club's second season saw Brendon Santalab and Australian international Matthew Špiranović join the team. Wanderers held second position behind Brisbane Roar throughout the majority of the season despite criticism over the team's squad rotation policy which Popovic implemented with consideration to the AFC Champions League and the short turnaround between matches. On 26 February 2014, the club made their Champions League debut against Ulsan Hyundai. A goal within the first minute of the match by Santalab was cancelled out as the South Korean side scored three unanswered goals to win the match. Nevertheless, the team eventually finished top in their group to progress to the Round of 16. After finishing runners-up in the 2013–14 A-League season, Wanderers secured direct qualification into the 2015 AFC Champions League, as well as a place in the A-League finals series. A 2–0 win against Central Coast Mariners in the semi-finals of the finals series on 26 April 2014, saw the team progress to their second A-League Grand Final in as many seasons. On 4 May 2014, Western Sydney Wanderers competed against Brisbane Roar in the 2014 A-League Grand Final at a sold out Lang Park. 10,000 Wanderers supporters travelled north for the occasion, but after taking the lead through a header from Špiranović the team failed to hold the lead late in the game, later letting slip the A-League Championship during extra time. Following the loss, the team was forced a quick turnaround for their home and final leg of the Champions League Round of 16 – a home and away series against Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Despite being down 3–1 on aggregate, the team managed to overturn the result and win 2–0 to progress to the quarter-finals in what was Ono's, Hersi's, Polenz's and inaugural captain Michael Beauchamp's final match for the club.

2014–15 season

Prior to the 2014–15 season, the club signed Brazilian midfielder Vítor Saba, as well as Seyi Adeleke, Dutch international Romeo Castelen and Australian international Nikita Rukavytsya. On 12 August 2014, Western Sydney Wanderers competed against Adelaide City in the first round of the inaugural season of the FFA Cup. The match ended 1–0 in favour to Adelaide City, with Wanderers becoming the first professional club to lose to a semi-professional side in the competition.

Asian Champions League title

The Cup loss was directly followed by Wanderers' continued campaign in the 2014 AFC Champions League; as due to the calendar format of the Asian tournament, the quarter-finals – a home and away series against Guangzhou Evergrande, resumed after a three-month break. The first match was won by Wanderers 1–0, and a 2–1 loss in the second leg was enough to see the club progress to the semi-finals, due to the away goals rule. The first leg of the semi-final clash against FC Seoul ended in a 0–0 draw. In the return leg, Wanderers defeated FC Seoul 2–0, courtesy to goals from Mateo Poljak and Shannon Cole, which advanced the club to the 2014 AFC Champions League Final. In the first leg of the Champions League final, Wanderers defeated Al-Hilal 1–0 at home, and on 1 November 2014, Western Sydney Wanderers won the AFC Champions League after managing a goalless draw in the second leg of the final against Al-Hilal, winning 1–0 on aggregate courtesy of Tomi Juric's goal. They became the first Australian team to be crowned Asian champions, an achievement they reached in only their first attempt in the Asian tournament. There were some controversial decisions from the Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura, where Al-Hilal felt they deserved two clear penalties. Prior to the final match, Wanderers were criticised by the opposition coach in the media; after being crowned Asian champions, Tony Popovic responded by saying, "We were called a small club yesterday – today we are the biggest in Asia". At the 2014 AFC Annual Awards, Western Sydney Wanderers was named Asian Club of the Year, and Tony Popovic Asian Coach of the Year.

The club's Asian success however, was not replicated in the beginning of the A-League season, with the team managing only three draws out of the first nine matches. The team's poor domestic run was put on hold while the team travelled to Morocco for the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, where Wanderers faced Mexican side Cruz Azul in a quarter-finals clash on 13 December 2014. After going down to 9-men, Wanderers failed to hold onto the lead late into the match; an unfavourable 3–1 scoreline in extra-time saw Wanderers matched-up against ES Sétif of Algeria in a fifth place play-off. A 2–2 draw led to a penalty shoot-out which finished 5–4 in favour of the African champions, ending Wanderers' run in the tournament with the team finishing in sixth place. After returning home, the team finished the year with a loss in Wellington, in what was the team's 44th match in all competitions for the calendar year – a record for an Australian club. A short mid-season break gave Popovic the chance to organise the squad for the remainder of the season. This included the addition of Japanese internationals Yūsuke Tanaka and Yojiro Takahagi, as well as Australian-born Kerem Bulut among others as either injury replacements or squad replacements for Vítor Saba, Seyi Adeleke and foundation player Kwabena Appiah. As the season resumed, it became apparent that a heavy schedule would be the team's downfall. Wanderers had to manage entering into the 2015 AFC Champions League group-stage with the former season's rivals Guangzhou Evergrande and FC Seoul as well as rescheduled mid-week league fixtures. After a grueling three months the club ended their third season in the league in ninth position, whilst their Champions League season also ended unfavourably with the title-holders eliminated from the group stage, finishing third in their group.

2015–16 season

The beginning of the 2015–16 season saw Popovic extended his initial contract with the club for a further three seasons. The effects from the 2014–15 season were felt by the players as Popovic released almost half the squad. In their place Popovic signed 3 Spanish foreign players and Italian striker Federico Piovaccari as a marquee. In the FFA Cup the Wanderers progressed with wins against Brisbane Roar & Palm Beach, then were beaten in a penalty shootout against Perth Glory in the quarter final.

After a slow start to the 2015–16 A-League season, with only 1 point after three matches, Wanderers found their winning ways with a seven-game winning streak to see the team top the league table. The club was unable to stay on top of the league however, and after mixed results in the final half of the season they finished 2nd below Adelaide United, who the Wanderers had failed to beat in the last few weeks of the season.

In their final series semi-final match, Wanderers hosted Brisbane Roar at Parramatta Stadium in the last game before the stadium was demolished. In front of a sold-out crowd of 20,084 Brisbane started the game strongly by racing to a 3–0 lead inside 23 minutes but the Wanderers responded with two goals to make it 3–2 at half time. Romeo Castelen scored an equaliser then put the Wanderers 4–3 in front, only for Brisbane to score again to take the game to extra time. In the 102nd minute substitute Dario Vidosic scored the decisive goal to send Wanderers to a third Grand Final in four years. In the 2016 A-League Grand Final Adelaide United defeat Wanderers 3–1 in front of a crowd of 50,119. 15 players left the club at the end of the season.

2016–17 season

The 2016–17 A-League season began when Western Sydney Wanderers played home to Sydney FC at ANZ Stadium, with Sydney FC winning 4–0. After three years without a derby win, on 18 February, Western Sydney Wanderers, beat Sydney FC 1–0 at ANZ Stadium, Brendon Santalab scoring off a Mitch Nichols cross in the first-half. Three days after the Sydney Derby they started their Asian Champions League campaign by losing 4–0 to Urawa Reds, and subsequent results saw them fail to qualify from the Group Stage. After defeating Wellington Phoenix 3–1 they confirmed their place in the A-League finals, with Brendon Santalab scoring twice to make him the Wanderers all-time leading goal scorer. The team qualified for the A-League finals to play the 3rd place Brisbane Roar. The game ended 1–1 after extra time and Wanderers lost the penalty shoot-out, ending their domestic season.

Gombau era

2017–18 season

The Wanderers began this season with the FFA Cup. They started by defeating Wellington Phoenix 1–0 with new marquee signing Oriol Riera scoring in the 120th minute of the game. A routine 4–0 defeat of Bentleigh Greens followed in the Round of 16. The quarter final match against Blacktown City FC was an epic encounter. The Wanderers went out to an early 1–0 lead through an Oriol Riera penalty kick. Blacktown hit back in the second half and took the game to extra time, where substitute James Andrew scored to put Blacktown ahead. Riera popped up again in the 111th minute to equalise, and the Wanderers held their nerve in the shootout to win it 4–2.

In a huge shock for the A-League and the Wanderers in particular, on 1 October 2017, foundation coach Tony Popovic quit the club to join Karabükspor in the Turkish Super Lig, taking with him assistant manager Andres Carrasco & goalkeeping coach Zeljko Kalac. The Wanderers installed Hayden Foxe as caretaker manager while they looked to appoint a full-time manager. After defeating Perth Glory in the opening round, they lost the FFA Cup Semi-Final against Adelaide United.

Josep Gombau was announced as the new manager for the Wanderers on 1 November 2017. His first game in charge was a 1–1 home draw against Melbourne City. The team then lost 3 in a row against Adelaide, Brisbane and a 5–0 drubbing against city rivals Sydney FC. Gombau stabilised the team somewhat in the busy January new year period, where he went 4 games without loss between January 1 and January 18, but the team were unable to string together more than 2 wins in a row. A 3–0 win against Brisbane in the penultimate week of the season put them in the last play-off position, 1 point ahead of Brisbane and Perth, who were facing each other in the final week.

While a win would have secured a finals berth as Brisbane defeated Perth 3–2, the Wanderers season fell apart in the second half. Having taken an early lead with an Oriol Riera goal, the Wanderers conceded two goals to Adelaide before Marcelo Carrusca levelled the game heading into half-time. The 62nd minute sending off of Keanu Baccus for kicking out at an opponent left them a man down and needing to attack. As they pushed players forward Adelaide kept breaking on the counter-attack, eventually scoring the winning goal in the 80th minute through Ryan Kitto.

On the 19 April, after a disappointing season where the Wanderers failed to qualify for the 2017–18 A-League finals and players making problems with his management style known to reporters and the public, Gombau was fired. The Wanderers finished the season in 7th place on 33 points, two behind Brisbane, one ahead of Perth, having won 8 games, drew 9, lost 10, scoring 38 goals and conceding 47 against.

Babbel era

2018–19 season

After Gombau was sacked the Wanderers looked to Europe and appointed former German international player Markus Babbel to take over the side, on 19 May 2018. The team stumbled through to the Semi-Final of the FFA Cup with narrow victories over far inferior competition, requiring a 92nd-minute winner from Roly Bonevacia to defeat the amateur Darwin side Hellenic Athletic 4–3, before a 2–1 win against 3rd tier side Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC in the Round of 16. They faced A-League opposition in the Quarter Finals, defeating Melbourne City FC in a scrappy 2–1 game before bowing out of the competition in a comprehensive defeat by rival side Sydney FC in the first FFA Cup Sydney Derby. The A-League season began poorly for the Wanderers, winning just two games in the first half of the season in Rounds 3 and 7. That second win against the Central Coast Mariners was the last win for 10 games, and included losing 6 games in a row in the congested January period.

Babbel made multiple signings in the January transfer window, bringing in Mitchell Duke, Kwame Yeboah and Giancarlo Gallifuoco as an injury replacement for Jordan O'Doherty who suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury. Performances improved in the second half of the season, winning games against the Mariners, Adelaide & Brisbane Roar as well as a shock 3–0 win against Melbourne City. Ultimately their early season form ensured that the 3–2 Round 24 loss against Newcastle Jets was the final blow in their hopes to play in the A-League finals series. The final Sydney Derby to be played at ANZ Stadium was a 1–1 draw, leaving games against the Central Coast and then Melbourne Victory to end their three-year nomadic existence away from their newly opened Western Sydney Stadium.

2019–20 season

The Wanderers began the season, their first at the Western Sydney Stadium in Parramatta, with a stadium opening friendly against English EFL Championship side Leeds United on Saturday 20 July 2019. Leeds won 2–1. The Wanderers played their first A-league match at their new home Bankwest Stadium on 12 October 2019. They defeated the Central Coast Mariners 2–1. They then won their next 2 matches with a 2–1 win against Melbourne Victory and a 1–0 victory over Sydney FC in front of a record crowd of 28,519.

On 16 January, striker Simon Cox joined the club after his departure from English, League One outfit, Southend United, replacing Alexander Meier. On 20 January, Babbel was sacked due to a run of poor performances, and Jean-Paul de Marigny was named as the caretaker.

Jean-Paul de Marigny era

Having taken over as interim coach from Round 17 of the 2019–20 season, the club played 7 games, winning 3, drawing 3 and losing 1 game. The 1–1 draw with Sydney FC during the final Sydney Derby of the season saw the Wanderers go through a season without losing a game to Sydney FC. When the league was suspended in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the results did little to improve the club position on the competition ladder, although they had closed the gap on the position above from 2 points to 1 and improved their goal different deficit. They entered the suspension period in 8th place, four points behind the last finals position.

On 14 July 2020, de Marigny was elevated to the full time position, with his contract to run until the end of the 2020–21 A-League season. The league resumed in July, with the club playing 5 games to finish the season. They drew the first game, won the second, lost two games that effectively ended their chances of making the finals series, including a heavy 5–3 loss against Western United and ended the season with a narrow win against Melbourne Victory. The club ended the season in 9th place with 33 points, coming from 9 wins, 6 draws and 11 losses from 26 games. The Wanderers unexpectedly sacked de Marigny on 12 October 2020, offering a short statement that they had 'parted ways' and were going to appoint a new coach in the coming days.

Robinson era

Three days after the sacking of de Marigny, the club appointed Carl Robinson on 15 October 2020 as the new head coach. Robinson, a Welsh ex-international was the current head coach of fellow A-League side the Newcastle Jets and had lost only a single game since his arrival at Newcastle earlier in the year. It was reported in the media that Robinson had a release clause in his contract that allowed him to leave the Jets due to the dire financial situation of Newcastle whose owner Martin Lee had not funded the club since October 2019 and was stripped of his license.

2020–21 season

The Wanderers began the 2020–21 A-League season by releasing Radosław Majewski, Nicholas Suman, Mathieu Cordier, Nick Sullivan, Tristan Prendergast, Matthew Jurman and Mitchell Duke. Pirmin Schwegler also retired from professional soccer. Several youth players were promoted, including Jarrod Carluccio and 16 year old Allesandro Lopane while German winger Nicolai Muller earned a contract extension. Although Daniel Lopar had left Australia during the COVID lockdown which saw him miss the end of the previous season, he returned to Australia in late October, then left again as the cancellation of the league's TV rights deal caused a collapse in funding, requiring players to agree to new, lower paid contracts or to leave. Robinson bought in a raft of players to replace them, including Bernie Ibini, James Troisi and Jordon Mutch. Duke, a Wanderers talisman, also return to the club 8 games into the season on a short-term loan deal.

Performances during the season were inconsistent but poor overall. With the fixture list impacted by COVID delays & cancellations, there was a brief period when the Wanderers were in first place on the A-League ladder, but they did so having played four games while the other clubs had played less, as low as 1 game in the case of Perth Glory & Melbourne Victory. After their 13th game and on a winning run of 3 games the Wanderers were in 2nd place on 22 points, 3 points behind the surprise package Central Coast Mariners. It was the high point of the season as the side failed to win any of the next 6 games. This included a dismal loss to the last placed Melbourne Victory, who leapt out to a 5–1 lead before three Wanderers goals late in the game, including a long range strike from Muller made the final score 5–4, as Bruce Kamau missed a glorious chance to level the game in the 95th minute. The other teams had begun to catch up the amount of games played and the Wanderers position on the ladder sank like a rock, falling to 9th place on 25 points, level with Wellington Phoenix but behind on goal difference. Winning the 2nd Sydney Derby by 3–2 was followed by a 5–0 win against Western United but the inconsistency reared up again, as the next match, an away trip to Perth saw the club lose 5–0, allowing Andy Keogh to go from having a scoreless season to four in a single game. Sydney FC finally overcame their 887-day wait for a Derby win as they completed a comfortable 1–0 win at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with the video review system ruling out a goal for each side. A 2–1 loss at Parramatta to Wellington Phoenix left the Wanderers requiring wins in their final two games and for a large number of other results to go their way.

2021–22 season

Robinson was fired after 7 games of the 2021/22 A-League season with the Wanderers in 2nd last place after the side were defeated 3–0 by fellow cellar dwellers Brisbane Roar. The Wanderers had also been embarrassingly eliminated from the 2021 FFA Cup in a 2–1 Round of 16 loss to semi-professional side APIA Leichhardt FC where Robinson's team selection was criticised as a second string team in a competition the club had vowed to take seriously. He left the club on 30 January 2022.

Rudan era

2021–22 season

Marko Rudan was appointed as his replacement, with a contract lasting the remainder of the 2021/22 season. His first game in charge was a 1–0 win against Perth Glory, with Jack Rodwell scoring the winner in the 25th minute. Inconsistent results followed with the side unable to put together two wins in a row and they remained firmly in the bottom half of the table. The highlight of the season was defeating Sydney FC in a comprehensive 2–0 win on 5 March 2022, a day after the club announced they had given Rudan an extended contract through the 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons. Starting with a 0–0 draw against Adelaide United the team began a 5-game run without a win followed by a win against Newcastle then a 1–0 loss to Wellington Phoenix that made qualification for the finals extremely unlikely and exposed the side to a potential 2022 Australia Cup qualifying play-off against another side in the bottom 4 A-League teams. A player exodus begun in earnest as Keanu Baccus, who was the club's second most capped player and Phillip Cancar signed for clubs in the Scottish Premier League.

2022–23 season

Rudan's first full season came to be defined by the relationship with Sydney FC their Sydney Derby rival. Milos Ninkovic, a Sydney FC "talisman" who had made 221 appearances was not able to come to an agreement with Sydney FC and on 3 July 2022 he joined the Wanderers. Former teammate and now media pundit Alex Brosque said the move was a "slap in the face" to both clubs and criticised all those involved in a transfer, saying it should never have happened. Calem Nieuwenhof, a young Sydney FC midfielder also joined the Wanderers as he looked for more playing time. English midfielder Jack Rodwell left to sign a 2-year contract with Sydney FC. The Wanderers won 4 of the first 6 games in outright 2nd place after a 1–0 away win at the new Allianz Stadium.

The derby win was the last match before a month long break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the next 10 games they won just two games including a 1–0 loss in Parramatta to Sydney FC. The A-League's first ever 4–4 draw against Adelaide United saw new loan signing Amor Layouni scoring a stoppage time equaliser on debut to rescue a point. The Wanderers travelled away to Perth once more and lost 1–0 despite dominating the game after a 2nd minute red card to Jordan Elsey. Tomislav Mrcela was sent off with 10 minutes to play and in the 95th minute Aaron McEneff scored a lucky, deflected goal from the edge of the penalty area to send the home crowd into raptures.

Western Sydney smashed in four goals in the 3rd derby of the season. The final match of the round had the Wanderers needing a draw against Melbourne City to secure 3rd place. Brandon Borrello opened the scoring & continued the sterling form since displayed since he replaced Sulejman Krpić at the point of the attack. Marco Tilio hit back after half-time before the first Wanderers goal for Nicolas Milanovic was responded to instantly by Jamie Maclaren. Lawrence Thomas saved a penalty from Andrew Nabbout to keep the game at 2–2. In stoppage time Western Sydney's players threw players forward but lost the ball in front of the Melbourne penalty area and City began a lightning counter-attack that ended with Tilio standing up Mrcela, sending the defender left and right before firing into the bottom corner past Thomas to win the game 3–2. Western Sydney finished on 41 points in 4th place, winning 11 games, drawing 8 and losing 7 with a +16 goal difference.

The loss of 3rd placed proved decisive. Instead of playing the Wellington Phoenix it was first ever A-League finals Sydney Derby. Morgan Schneiderlin scored a 39th-minute penalty but outside that attack & goal the Wanderers were defensive and lacking fight. Sydney FC came out for the second half looking for blood and controlled the game. Mrcela went off hurt in the 61st minute, reminiscent of the Wanderers lost 2014 Grand Final when Topor-Stanley had to leave the game. Adama Traore made a brutal defensive error in the 69th minute. His defensive header back across goal was taken by Robert Mak who took a touch and fired in the equaliser. Rudan was unable to shift the game tactically and it seemed inevitable that Sydney would score again and Adam le Fondre scored, the shortest player on the field rose above the pack at a corner with a flick on 6 yards from goal past Thomas for a 2–1 scoreline. With 5 minutes to play, Wanderers captain Marcelo was found unmarked from a free kick and a player of his quality should have scored but the ball went flying over the bar to groans from the crowd. The last seconds played out with Thomas coming forward for a corner in a desperation attack but Sydney FC held on for a famous win. An exceptionally disappointing result from a season where a semi-final appearance looked like the minimum final result. After the game Ninkovic and Sydney FC coach Steve Corica were involved in a dressing room scuffle with Ninkovic entering the away side dressing room, getting into an argument with his former coach and being escorted out of the room by two Sydney FC staffers.

2023–24 season

Marcelo signed a one-year extension to keep him at the Wanderers. Shortly after the finals loss Morgan Schneiderlin announced he would be leaving the Wanderers as the club balked at a reported 1 million AUD salary demand. Jack Clisby returned to his old club and was joined by new signings Dylan Pierias, Lachlan Brook, Joshua Brillante, Doni Grdić, Swedish attacker Marcus Antonsson and junior attacking sensation Marcus Younis was upgraded to a 2 year scholarship contract. Layouni, who had started brightly in his short-term loan spell began talks with both the Wanderers and Melbourne City to join on a transfer but elected instead to return to a European club. Daniel Wilmering left to join the Newcastle Jets. Adama Traore joined Melbourne Victory while Terry Antonis was released a year early and joined Melbourne City. Rhys Williams's severe hamstring rupture forced him into retirement. 17 year old Liam Bonetig moved to Scottish giants Celtic after the defender was scouted at the Wanderers Academy and the Australian School Boys tournament, with the Wanderers receiving FIFA training compensation worth ~$360,000. Jarrod Carluccio and Oliver Bozanic were moved on loan to Perth Glory.

The Wanderers started the season well with strong performances in the early rounds of the Australia Cup main stage. The Round of 32 away trip to Perth against Floreat Athena FC resulted in a 6–1 demolition of the NPL WA club, with Lachlan Brook scoring 5 goals, a cup record for a main stage fixture. Adelaide United were up next and they were unable to hold back the striker duo of Marcus Antonsson and Brandon Borrello who scored two goals each with Miloš Ninković scoring his first goal for the Wanderers in a 5–1 rout. The team were knocked out of the Cup in the quarter final after a 4–2 loss away to Brisbane Roar.