Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Australian soccer has a chequered history of failed clubs and ugly ethnic rivalries, but now the competition's newest club, the Western Sydney Wanderers, is on the verge of a fairytale finish to its debut season.

As well as uniting one of the most diverse regions in the country, the club is closing in on a very rare sporting achievement: taking out the title in its first year of competition.

Conor Duffy reports.

CONOR DUFFY, REPORTER: This is only training. And even on a wet mid-week morning, the noisy, passionate turnout shows the Wanderers have truly found a home in Western Sydney.

MOTHER: Consumes their life. It's my son's birthday today and it's all about the Wanderers. (Laughs)

WOMAN: Just so proud. My poor brother's broken his ankle in a plastered up cast, still going to the games. Re-broke his ankle actually last week.

CONOR DUFFY: Out on the paddock, the team and captain are still shocked to be preparing for Sunday's A-League grand final against the Central Coast Mariners.

MICHAEL BEAUCHAMP, CAPTAIN: That's something that you only hear about in movies, to see from a company brand that started from scratch to be where it is now, to have sellout crowds, it's unheard of.

CONOR DUFFY: Japanese star Shinji Ono sealed the Western Sydney Wanderers' grand final spot with one of the goals of the season last weekend. It's a remarkable rise for a team that was put together in a rush last year when the Gold Coast side collapsed. It's still owned by the A League, which previously resisted basing a side here.

MICHAEL BEAUCHAMP: It's something that the people of the west can be proud of. They've got a team that represents them and, you know, it's something that myself being from the west is - I am proud to be a part of.

CONOR DUFFY: The Wanderers' hardcore fans, led by the red and black block, have been crucial to that success and have brought a new flavour to Australian sport.

They capped Saturday's win with the entire stadium performing the Poznan, a European celebration where fans link arms and turn their backs in a display of unity.

LYALL GORMAN, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: Last Friday night, there were 19,500 people in venue. 19,000 of them at the 80th minute turned and did the Poznan. I've never experienced that in any sporting event I've been doing in my life in Australia or globally.

CONOR DUFFY: In the past there's been an ugly face to the beautiful game in the west. Clashes like this one between Croatian and Serbian* fans gave the code a bad name. The club says ethnic tension is a thing of the past.

LYALL GORMAN: Whether it's our gear steward who's Serbian, whether it's Ethiopian, whether it's Dutch, whether it's German, Italian, Japanese and so on, we reflect this community, which gives it the capacity to come together as one and not feel like they've got to be isolated supporting a particular ethnic base.

CONOR DUFFY: Aside from a few arrests this season, the club's fans have mostly stayed out of trouble. Players and supporters say they're as keen to keep troublemakers away as anyone else.

MICHAEL BEAUCHAMP: When you have 20,000-odd people there supporting the team, obviously you're gonna get a couple of rotten eggs, I s'pose you'd call 'em, and they're not people that we want at the games. We want people there - there's a lot of families that are there as well. We want people there to feel safe.

CONOR DUFFY: Away from the ground, the club's inspired a local band called Exit Row to release a single about the team's rowdy home games.

ANDREW TORRISI, SINGER, EXIT ROW: To be honest, we've all been big soccer fans all our lives and it was good to have a team that the whole area can get behind and support. And what better way to bring a community together than with music?

CONOR DUFFY: These fans say decades of the term "Westie" being thrown at them as a insult has helped unite them. Now they wear it as a badge of honour.

FAN: For a while, you didn't want to admit to being a Westie, but now, I don't know, it feels like if you find another person when we're in the city or something like that, that's from out west, it feels like you've got something in common with them and you're a bit more proud to be from the west.

FAN II: You just give it to everyone else.

CONOR DUFFY: Back at training, the fans are getting their last glimpse of the team. Captain Michael Beauchamp reckons the Wanderers have one last win in them this season.

MICHAEL BEAUCHAMP: I think we've proven ourself now and it's time to go on and hold that trophy up and, you know, it's gonna be a tough match, don't get me wrong, but we'll be prepared for that battle.

LEIGH SALES: Conor Duffy reporting.

*Editor's note: (April 19) The report incorrectly stated that the violence was between Croats and Bosnians.