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Macarthur South West Sydney are already stirring up their future A-League derby rivals and have confirmed an interest in former Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak.
Macarthur South West Sydney haven't started their A-League life yet but they have already sparked rivalry within Australian football's biggest market.
The unsuccessful Sydney candidate Southern Expansion expressed disappointment that Football Federation Australia (FFA) voted against its own metrics and data by going with the Macarthur bid.
Macarthur SWS director Gino Barra said his club would have been ready to enter the A-League next season along with Western Melbourne, the other successful bidder, but they were happy to start in 2020-21.
Barra said his club would be massive on-field competitors with Western Sydney, but great mates off the field.
"That's the only real growth corridor within Sydney and it will continue to be that so I expect the western Sydney derby to be the biggest derby in town,' Barra said.
Sydney FC midfielder Brandon O'Neill doubted the status of the Sky Blues derbies with the Wanderers would be threatened by the emergence of another Western Sydney club.
"No matter what Sydney team came into it they would have a lot to uphold in terms of the matches being played, the intensity of the game, the atmosphere of the crowd," O'Neill said from ANZ Stadium, where Sydney and the Wanderers play on Saturday.
"We had a round one game here (in 2016), 61,880 people and it was incredible, so I think our derby will still be the main one."
Barra said a community forum would help determine the names and colours of his club and he hoped to announce the results within the next couple of weeks.
He confirmed former Socceroos captain and western Sydney product Mile Jedinak would be a potential target.
"Mile and me go back along way, so the chances of him coming back are strengthened by this (successful) bid," said Macarthur SWS director Sam Krslovic.
Krslovic was a former president of Sydney United, the NSL club Jedinak captained.
Barra said the club would look locally for their their inaugural coach.
'We'll be looking to appoint sooner rather than later as the coach needs to drive the recruitment and be the face of the club,'" Barra said.
Wanderers' players weren't concerned about having a nearby rival.
"It's going to create some divide between the two teams and fans, but that's football," Wanderers' midfielder Keanu Baccus said.
They weren't worried about possibly losing supporters to a neighbouring club.
"We've got a very passionate supporting base already, they've been very loyal to us and as long as we keep doing the right thing, doing well then, I think we'll have all the fans there," Wanderers' Jordan O'Doherty said.
Southern Expansion had $20 million cash up-front deposited in an Australian bank account for the licence fee and committed $3 million for marquee players.
"Unfortunately, it will now take at least a decade of projected growth elsewhere in Sydney to even come close to what Southern had put on the table," Expansion chief executive Chris Gardiner said.
"If FFA wanted immediate success for A-League expansion, it's surprising that they've voted against Southern Expansion.
