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Sydney FC

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Sydney FC

Full name

Sydney Football Club

Nickname(s)

Bling FC

Founded

2004

Ground

Aussie Stadium,
Sydney

Capacity

41,159 (soon 45,500)

Chairman

Image:Flag of Australia.svg Edmund Capon

Manager

Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg Terry Butcher

League

A-League

2005–06

1st (final)
2nd (league)





Home colours





Away colours

Sydney Football Club, founded in 2004, is an A-League club based in Sydney, Australia. Its home ground is Aussie Stadium, in the suburb of Moore Park. The club has gained a reputation as the "glamour team"^{[citation needed]} of the competition due to the club's high-profile personnel, which includes investor and actor Anthony LaPaglia, and has previously included ex-Manchester United star Dwight Yorke as the club's first "marquee player" and also FIFA World Cup 1990 winner Pierre Littbarski as the team manager in its inaugural season. Generally known simply as Sydney FC, they were the inaugural A-League champions in 2005-06, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the Grand Final. In December 2005, Sydney FC finished in 5th place (out of 6) in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship.

1 History
2 Stadium
3 Supporters
4 Rivalries
5 Players
- 5.1 Current squad
6 Notable former players
7 Managers
8 Team honours
9 Records
10 Top scorers
11 References
12 External links

[edit] History

Sydney FC was founded in 2004, as Sydney's representative in the newly formed A-League competition. They went into the inaugural A-League season as favorites after a successful preseason in which the club lost only one match. On June 11, 2005 the club won the 2005 Oceania Club Championships, having qualified for this tournament by winning the Australian World Club Qualification Competition in May of that year. After 11 consecutive victories, Sydney suffered their first ever defeat at the hands of Perth Glory in the Pre-Season Cup semi-final after an injury-time goal from Perth's Nick Ward.

Sydney FC's first home league match was against Melbourne Victory on August 28, 2005. This event drew a record crowd for a regular season match in Australia. The stated figure was 25,208, though this is likely to be an underestimation of the true crowd size as the number of people who 'walked up' to the game meant that ticket sellers at the gate were unable to cope. For only the second time in the history of the SCG Trust (the operators of Aussie Stadium), the gates were opened twenty minutes after the game had started, permitting around two–thousand fans to enter for free.<ref>"Sydney FC urge fans to pre purchase tickets", August 29 2005.</ref>

In December 2005, Sydney FC competed in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship as Oceania's entry to the tournament following their 2005 Oceania Club Championships success in June. On December 12, in front of a crowd of over 28,000 at Japan's Toyota Stadium, Sydney FC narrowly lost to Costa Rican champions Deportivo Saprissa 1-0, denying the club a semi–final match against European champion Liverpool. Four days later, Sydney FC defeated the African "Club of the Century" Al-Ahly 2–1 to finish the competition in fifth place. On the 22nd of November 2006, Sydney FC, along with their rivals Adelaide United, were chosen to be the first clubs to represent the A-League and Australia in the Asian Champions League.

Image:A league pre season sydney vs newcastle.jpg

At the conclusion of the twenty–one game regular season, Sydney FC finished in second place, seven points behind Adelaide United. However, in the Major Semi–Final they defeated Adelaide 4–3 on aggregate, ensuring a home Grand Final which produced a sell–out crowd of 41,689 (above the stated capacity of Aussie Stadium) against the Central Coast Mariners on March 5, 2006. Sydney won the match 1–0 after Dwight Yorke set up Steve Corica for the deciding goal.

After the first season, coach Pierre Littbarski left the club following a dispute over his contract which involved a significant pay cut from his reported $700,000 first year salary. <ref>"Littbarski commits to Sydney", April 13 2006.</ref> <ref>"Littbarski quits, blasting club 'lies'", May 4 2006.</ref> He was replaced by former England international and Motherwell manager Terry Butcher on May 17, 2006. <ref>"Butcher named as boss of Sydney", May 17 2006.</ref> During the 2006 off-season, Sydney FC recruited Ruben Zadkovich (previously on a short-term contract with Sydney FC), Alex Brosque (Queensland Roar) and Jeremy Brockie (New Zealand Knights).

[edit] Stadium

Main article: Aussie Stadium

Sydney FC play their home matches at Aussie Stadium (formerly called Sydney Football Stadium). Chosen for its easy access, with shuttle buses running from nearby Central Station on match days, it has been the venue for several Australian international matches (notably the 1993 World Cup Qualifyer against Argentina). The stadium's capacity is stated at 41,159, though the attendance of the A-League grand final exceeded this number by over 500. Aussie Stadium is currently being renovated to expand the capacity to 45,500.

Media reports during the 2006 off-season suggested that the club was considering moving its home games to Telstra Stadium due to the cost of operating at Aussie Stadium, reported at $110,000 per game. <ref>"Sydney FC look further afield for a new home", April 22, 2006.</ref> However, Aussie Stadium remains Sydney FC's home venue.

[edit] Supporters

In the inaugural A-League season Sydney FC averaged an attendance of 19,647 (16,668 during the regular season), a record for an association football club in an Australian national league.<ref>National Soccer League Attendances. AusFootballReview. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.</ref>

Image:Covecoatofarms23ib.jpg

The most vocal supporters sit at the northern end, around Bay 23 of Aussie Stadium, and are known as "The Cove". The term came from the original name given to the settlement of Sydney — Sydney Cove. This settlement was located on the piece of land that is now the Circular Quay ferry terminal. Most Cove members attend every home match while a smaller group travel around the country to support the team at away matches. They sing football/Sydney FC chants, wear club colours (sky blue in particular), wave banners and flags and generally try to help lift the team and demonstrate fervent support. Some members make unofficial Cove merchandise such as scarves, flags, banners, patches and clothing to distribute or sell.

On July 7, 2006, Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes recorded a club song entitled 'Sydney FC For Me' with 25 members of The Cove singing back-up vocals.<ref>"Barnesy and The Cove record Sydney FC club song", July 7, 2006.</ref>. It was released prior to the start of the 06-07 season

[edit] Rivalries

Sydney FC have developed a strong rivalry with Melbourne Victory FC. Matches between the two clubs have been bitter, controversial events with numerous clashes between players and supporters. Adelaide United FC are also considered rivals of Sydney FC by many fans, due to a firery and hard-fought finals series in the 2005/06 season.

[edit] Players

[edit] Current squad

As of September 15, 2006

No.		Position	Player
1	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	GK	Clint Bolton
2	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	DF	Iain Fyfe
3	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	DF	Alvin Ceccoli
4	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	DF	Mark Rudan (captain)
6	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	MF	Ufuk Talay
7	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	MF	Robbie Middleby
8	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	MF	Ruben Zadkovich
9	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	FW	David Zdrilic
10	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	MF	Steve Corica

No.		Position	Player
11	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	FW	Sasho Petrovski
12	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	MF	David Carney
13	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg	FW	Jeremy Brockie
14	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	FW	Alex Brosque
15	Image:Flag of Northern Ireland (bordered).svg	MF	Terry McFlynn
16	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	DF	Mark Milligan
17	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	DF	Jacob Timpano
18	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	DF	Wade Oostendorp
20	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	GK	Justin Pasfield
21	Image:Flag of Australia.svg	DF	Nikolai Topor-Stanley