Melbourne Victory vows to keep playing in Geelong as turf war looms with Western United

A turf war is looming with A-League expansion club Western United but Melbourne Victory has vowed to keep playing in Geelong and solidify its foothold in the western market.

Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

Melbourne Victory has vowed to keep playing in Geelong despite A-League expansion club Western United’s imminent arrival.

Victory hosts Ernie Merrick’s Newcastle Jets at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, with a 15,000-plus crowd expected.

It is Victory’s final chance to solidify its foothold in the western market before the newcomers kick off.

The turf war will kick off from October, when Western United become the A-League’s 11th club.

Although it is yet to sign a deal with GMHBA Stadium, Western United plans to play most of its games at the ground for at least two seasons, until its self-funded 15,000-seat stadium is built at Tarneit.

It’s understood Victory has had a longstanding agreement to play games in Geelong and chief executive Trent Jacobs said the club would not walk away from the region.

“This is our fifth A-League game in Geelong and we’ve played a Champions League playoff game and the friendly with Atletico Madrid. That relationship will remain at the forefront of our plan going forward,’’ Jacobs said.

Melbourne Victory’s James Troisi in action against Central Coast at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium. Picture: AAP

“We’ve built a fantastic connection with the local community through club-based relationships. We’ve got a number of key partners in Geelong like TAC and WorkSafe so we want to continue to reinforce that relationship.

“There’s so much more for us to learn about what it is that Western United are going to do by way of game venues, what catchment areas they’ll look at from a fan and supporter engagement perspective so at the moment it’s a bit difficult to ascertain exactly what that’s going to look like, therefore what the rivalry will look like.

“So it’s a bit of a watch and see at this point.”

Victory kicks off its Asian Champions League campaign on Tuesday night at home to Koreans Daegu FC.

Returning defender James Donachie is likely to come in for suspended German defender Georg Niedermeier, while Swedish striker Ola Toivonen could come into the first XI after his second-half cameo last weekend against Melbourne City.