February 21, April 11 and May 10 – fans of the Western Sydney Wanderers in Macarthur and south west Sydney region mark these dates in your diaries.
That’s when your team will be playing their 2017 AFC Champions League group stage home games at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
The draw was held last night in Kuala Lumpur and as a result the Wanderers now know their opponents will be FC Seoul, the winner of the third play-off and the second Japanese club.
A special function was held last month at Campbelltown Sports Stadium to announce that all three Wanderers home games will be staged there.
The Wanderers meet again with opponents FC Seoul having previously played them in both of the club’s Champions League campaigns to date.
The winners of the third play-off and the second Japanese club have yet to be determined.
The Wanderers return to Asia for the third time after winning the tournament in 2014 and narrowly missing out on a knock-out berth in the 2015 tournament.
The Red & Black have qualified for the tournament as runners-up of the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season and were joined in the main draw by Adelaide United, with Brisbane Roar aiming to qualify for the group stage via the play-off bracket.
Western Sydney Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas praised the quality the quality of the competition and the excitement building up for the club’s return.
“The draw tonight highlights that another ACL campaign is just around the corner for the Western Sydney Wanderers,’’ he said last night.
“We are extremely excited to be drawn with our old semi final rivals FC Seoul in the group stage and we look forward to consolidating our position once again in the coming months against the most well regarded in Asia.”
♦ The three home games at Campbelltown Sports Stadium:
• Tuesday, February 21, 2017: Western Sydney Wanderers vs Japan second club;
• Tuesday, April 11, 2017: Western Sydney Wanderers vs FC Seoul;
• Wednesday, May 10, 2017: Western Sydney Wanderers vs winner of play-off 3.
♦ The rest of the schedule is:
Tuesday, February 28: Winner of play-off 3 vs Western Sydney Wanderers;
Wednesday, March 15: FC Seoul vs Western Sydney Wanderers;
Wednesday, April 26: Japan second club vs Western Sydney Wanderers.
Chris Greaves Lauren Therese