Western United’s Australia Cup is over but fans got a small glimpse of the future.
Australia Cup action came to Ironbark Fields on Tuesday night with Western hosting Sydney FC in the round of 16.
It was a young Western side that took to the park, with Sydney winning 1-0.
Among those on the pitch for Western United was Besian Kutleshi.
At 16 years, 151 days old, Kutleshi became the club’s youngest-ever debutant in a competitive fixture, surpassing Dylan Leonard (17 years 51 days) in the men’s side and Avaani Prakash (16 years 327 days) for the entire club.
Having been a star performer at centre-back under Andreas Papanicolaou in the Victorian Premier League 1 this season, Kutleshi was entrusted with the right-back position by John Aloisi against the Sky Blues.
Besian Kutleshi was one of the highlights for Western United on Tuesday night
Not only did Kutleshi simply make his senior bow, but the youngster emerged as one of the best players on the pitch in an incredible display.
Among the starting line-up were six players that have developed in the Western United Academy, with Kutleshi alongside them having starred at VPL 1 level this season.
An additional six out of the seven substitutes also came directly out of the Academy, including 17-year-old striker Tobias Servin who was named in
Kutleshi was also one of four United youngsters – all aged 20 or younger – in the starting line-up who had progressed from junior clubs in the west.
Overall, the average age of 22.8 years in the starting line-up was the youngest in Western United’s history.
