Welcome Home, West Adelaide: Kilburn Opens as West Adelaide Look Toward the Future
Image credit: pagonisphotography
West Adelaide opened their new stadium with a clash against A-League club Adelaide United on Wednesday night.
Sitting in ninth on the table in State League 1, West Adelaide were given a golden opportunity to christen their new ground with a win over the best team in the state.
With seven games left in the second tier of football in South Australia, a win tonight could’ve given West Adelaide a massive chance to push toward a finals birth.
For Adelaide United, it gives an opportunity for the club to continue its preparations for the new A-League season.
However, it was more than that for West Adelaide.
It represents the start of a new era.
After being founded by the Greek community in 1962, the club has historically played at Coopers Stadium. They won the National State League in 1978, and the South Australian State League 10 times.
The club dissolved into the Adelaide Olympic side before the start of the 1999-2000 season, despite having just won the 1999 Federation Cup, its third title in that competition.
In 2008, West Adelaide rejoined in the third tier of Football in SA, before a return to the topflight in 2014. With Hindmarsh being used for the A-League competition, the club home base became Rushworth Reserve in Enfield.
Despite winning the Premier’s Plate and the Championship in the NPL in 2015, the club was relegated to State League 1 at the end of the 2023 season.
With a new 15-million-dollar stadium, West Adelaide will be striving for promotion back to the topflight.
The Kilburn Sportsplex has a 5000-strong capacity, and includes offices, full-size pitches, a function centre, and media facilities, as well as an undercover grandstand for nearly 1000 guests.
With the history of the club heavily linked with Greece, the club will have authentic Greek food available during the home games. Inside the club rooms, the club has state-of-the-art bar and dining facilities. There are more developments to come as well, including a digital scoreboard, in the coming months.
Despite West Adelaide losing on Wednesday night, there was a great moment in the 37th minute to stop an Adelaide United attack. Josh Harvey went in to win the football, taking it off the toe of Adelaide United trialist Godwin Bentil and saving a certain goal.
For Adelaide United, Austin Ayoubi started the game the same way he ended the last A-League campaign. He continued to display his talent and gave Carl Veart every reason under the sun to include him against Central Coast in October, looking dangerous with the ball down the wings.
Meanwhile, Godwin Bentil also scored two goals and had plenty of chances as he pleads his case for a permanent contract.
The highlight of the night was a thunderous hit from Josh Cavallo. From well outside the D, Cavallo found the ball on the half volley. The ball hit the right woodwork and rebounded in. Cavallo had an unfortunate end to last season, and missed a number of games through injury.