Sydney FC
history::See also Sydney FC W-League.
,David Traktovenko & Paul Ramsay
| chairman = Scott Barlow
| mgrtitle = Coach
| manager = VĂtÄ›zslav LaviÄŤka
| league = A-League
| season = 2009–10
| position = 1st (league)
TBD (finals)
| current = Sydney FC season 2009–10
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Sydney Football Club, founded in 2004, is an Australian professional association football club based in Sydney and competes in Australia's premier competition, the A-League. Sydney FC won the inaugural A-League Championship in 2005–06 by defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the Grand Final. After winning the 2004–05 Oceania Club Championship, Sydney FC competed in and finished fifth (of six teams) in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship in December 2005. As inaugural A-League Champions, Sydney FC competed in the 2007 AFC Champions League, and finished 2nd in its group behind Japanese giants Urawa Red Diamonds. Sydney FC also went on to compete in the 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship in Hawaii as the representative of Australia and its A-League. In February 2009, Sydney FC again made Australian football history when its Youth Squad won the inaugural 2008–09 National Youth League Championship. The club made further history in the A-League 2009-10 season, defeating arch rivals Melbourne Victory 2-0 to take out the Premiership.
Its home ground is Sydney Football Stadium, a 45,500 seat multi-use venue in the suburb of Moore Park. Right from the beginning Sydney FC was marketed as the "glamour club" of the new competition,, with the involvement of the club's high-profile personnel, including investor and actor Anthony LaPaglia, ex-Manchester United star Dwight Yorke as the team's first "marquee player" and 1990 FIFA World Cup winner Pierre Littbarski as manager in the first season. Sydney went on to sign Former English International defender Terry Butcher as the 2006–07 season coach, Brazilian superstar midfielder Juninho Paulista in the 2007–08 season, and Socceroos legend John Aloisi as striker in their 2008–09 season, with each as the highest paid footballer in Australia in their respective seasons. Strikers Benito Carbone of Italy, and Japanese legend Kazuyoshi Miura have also made appearances in the sky blue jersey.
Foundation
The first steps towards the foundation of Sydney FC were taken in April 2004 when Soccer New South Wales (now Football NSW) announced their intention to bid for a licence in the new Australian football competition. at ANZ Stadium during 2007.]] The bid was lodged with the Australian Soccer Association (now Football Federation Australia) on 19 July, challenged only by a consortium headed by Nick Politis, known as the "Sydney Blues", for Sydney's place in the 'one team per city' competition. A public row broke out between the two bidders after reports that the ASA were set to vote in favour of Sydney FC, causing Politis to withdraw his support for a team, and leaving Sydney FC as the only candidate remaining.
Sydney was officially launched as a member of the new 8-team A-League on 1 November 2004, with a 25% stake in the club held by Soccer NSW, the remainder privately owned. Walter Bugno was announced as the inaugural chairman of the club.
By February 2005, Sydney had filled 16 of their allowed 20 squad positions — attracting Socceroos Clint Bolton, Steve Corica and David Zdrilic as well as youth internationals Justin Pasfield, Mark Milligan, Wade Oostendorp, Iain Fyfe and Jacob Timpano. German Pierre Littbarski was signed as Head Coach, to be assisted by former Norwich City player Ian Crook. Sydney FC played its first ever match against Manly United FC on 25 March 2005, winning 6–1. Shortly after, Sydney set off on a tour to the United Arab Emirates to play matches against local teams FC Hatta, Al Ain FC and Al Jazira, winning all three. Whilst in Dubai, Sydney FC announced that they had agreed to terms with former Manchester United player Dwight Yorke to join Sydney as their "marquee player" – one paid outside of the $1.5 million salary cap — for two seasons.
Pre-League
Sydney FC's first competitive match was held against Queensland Roar at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford as part of an Australian qualifying tournament to enter the 2005 Oceania Club Championship. After winning the match 3–0, Sydney went on to defeat Perth Glory and the Central Coast Mariners to win their first piece of silverware and qualify for the Oceania Club Championship, to be held in Tahiti. Despite an early scare against New Zealand club Auckland City FC, Sydney won all of their matches in the competition and qualified for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship in Japan. The start of the 2005 Pre-Season Cup marked Sydney FC's first match at Sydney Football Stadium, as well as Dwight Yorke's first appearance for the club — Yorke scoring the first goal of Sydney's 3–1 win which stretched their unbeaten run to 9 competitive matches (15 including friendlies). Upon reaching the semi-finals, Sydney's unbeaten run finally ended at 11 with Perth Glory midfielder Nick Ward scoring in injury time to inflict the new club's first ever loss.
A-League
Sydney FC's first season was ultimately a success. Finishing 2nd on the ladder behind Adelaide United they went on to defeat Central Coast Mariners 1-0 in the 2006 A-League Grand Final with Steve Corica scoring in the second half. However their success wouldn't last long, with German manager Pierre Littbarski leaving the club due to being forced to accept a lower pay cheque and inaugural marquee player Dwight Yorke being signed by English Premier League club Sunderland A.F.C.. Former English international Terry Butcher was signed as their new coach for the 2006-07 season, however it was regarded as an overall failure, with Sydney playing poor football, despite the signing of Alex Brosque and Benito Carbone as a Guest player. Sydney also had 3 points taken away during the season, after it was found that they had breached the Salary cap, involving player David Zdrillic. Despite the off field problems, Sydney scraped into the finals series, however lost out in the semi final to Newcastle Jets. Despite him leading Sydney into the finals, Sydney fans were unhappy with Butchers tactics, and both Butcher and Sydney FC went their separate ways. Sydney would then sign Branko Culina for their 2007 Asian Champions League campaign, where they finished second in the group, one point behind ultimate champions and J-League heavyweights Urawa Red Diamonds. Despite the ACL success, Sydney FC's start to the 07-08 season was poor, and the club sacked him, replacing him with former Adelaide United manager John Kosmina. Sydney FC played well for the rest of the season, but got knocked out in the finals by Brisbane Roar. However Kosmina couldn't repeat the success of the previous season, getting rid of Brazilian international Juninho and replacing him with Socceroos hero John Aloisi on a million dollar contract. However Aloisi didn't perform well at all during the season, and came under heavy fire, along with manager Kosmina, whose tactics were seen as controversial, and his relationship with the media, often becoming angry and frustrated didn't help causes either, many players fell out of favour with the coach, including Steve Corica and Clint Bolton and for the first time in the clubs history, they failed to make the play-offs. As a result Kosmina was fired, and new Owners were brought in - Russian billionaire David Traktovenko. The fresh change at the club was about to bear fruit, when Sydney announced they had signed Czech Republic manager Vitezslav Lavicka. Lavicka completely changed the structure of the club, and for its first time turning it into a serious, European style football club. He kept faith in Steve Corica and John Aloisi and several others who had threatened to walk out on the club, and as a result, Sydney FC won its first premiership in the clubs history.
The primary club colour of Sydney FC is sky blue, which represents the state colour of New South Wales. The secondary club colour is navy blue, with additional contrasting colours of orange and white.
The Sydney FC badge was created and used since the clubs founding in 2004. It features a football set centrally in a stylised crest shape. Above the ball is the shape of three shells of the Sydney Opera House, an internationally recognisable symbol of the city of Sydney. Below the ball is the Commonwealth Star, a seven-pointed star symbolising the Federation of Australia.
Sydney FC play their home matches at Sydney Football Stadium (commonly known as SFS, and formerly known as Aussie Stadium), located in the Sydney suburb of Moore Park. It was built in 1988 to be the premium "rectangular field" for rugby league matches. It is also now used for association football and rugby union for major matches and domestic competition.
The stadium has easy access from the city centre, with shuttle buses running from nearby Central Station on match days. It has been the venue for several Australian international matches (notably World Cup Qualifier against Argentina in 1993). The stadium's capacity was stated at 41,159 prior to renovations in 2007, although the attendance of the 2006 A-League grand final exceeded this number by over 500. The currently stated capacity is 45,500.
Sydney FC have played matches at other Sydney venues. Parramatta Stadium in western Sydney was the venue for an AFC Champions League match against Indonesian football side Persik Kediri in April 2007 when the SFS was unavailable due to a NRL match being played there. A friendly match against LA Galaxy was played at ANZ Stadium in November 2007 due to its greater capacity, which drew a crowd of 80,295. Some argue that if the home stadium of Sydney FC was moved to the ANZ Stadium in Homebush Bay, then it would attract much larger crowds, making it an easier travel distance from the stadium to the south and south-west districts of Sydney. However, the FFA has said they would like a separate team in Western Sydney
Training ground
Sydney FC's primary training ground is at Macquarie University in North Ryde where they use the grounds, they also have advantage of the aquatic centre which they use for post match recovery sessions, leasing the facilities until at least late 2009. Occasionally Sydney will train at the SFS and have been seen after home games having recovery sessions at local beaches such as Coogee, Bondi Beach and Maroubra.
Supporters
,
Sydney FC primarily draw support from right across the city of Sydney as the only A-League team from Australia's largest city.
The largest supporters group of Sydney FC are known as "The Cove"»Sydney Morning Herald : They're not just dribblers - these Coves are committed, and are located at the northern end of Sydney Football Stadium. The name 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. Cove members attend every home match and also travel as a group around the country to support the team at away matches. As a vocal group, The Cove demonstrates its support by singing football chants, wearing club colours, waving flags and holding banners.
On 7 July 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. It was released prior to the start of the 2006–07 season.
Melbourne Victory (see also The City Derby) — The clash between Australia's two biggest cities is considered the biggest rivalry in the league by both sets of fans. Sydney and Melbourne have been historical rivals for over a century, and their football teams are no exception. The rivalry between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory has become arguably the most bitter in the A League, with almost every match between the two teams characterised by spiteful confrontations, controversy and consistently record-breaking crowds when the 2 teams go head-to-head.
Other rivalries include:
Adelaide United — The two strongest teams in the first season have continued their bitterness with each other. While Adelaide took out the Premiership in the regular season, Sydney went on to take out the Championship title in the league finals. Since then, there has only been one game between the two sides decided by more than one goal. However on 21 September 2008 in the Sydney v Adelaide game at SFS Sydney FC took away the game with a 3–0 win, breaking this streak.
Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets — 2 local derbies of New South Wales, with easy travel between Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast. Central Coast finished as runner-up from the first season as Sydney took the Championship title. The minor rivalry was expressed in a fantastic 5–4 game in season three, with Sydney victorious due to a penalty kick in stoppage time. Newcastle defeated Sydney FC in the 2006/07 season 3–2 on aggregate to progress to the minor semi finals.
On 21 December 2009, Sydney FC inaugurated an elite academy that will develop young players. The main goal of the academy is to produce better players by providing technical and tactical knowledge. It is also to identify potential new talent that can represent Sydney in the National Youth League and A League in future seasons. This shows a continued commitment from Sydney to invest in and develop junior talent for the benefit of grassroots football. The initial 26 players taken in, who have been drawn from the NSW State League clubs and consists of junior players aged from 14-18, started training with the academy at Macquarie University.»The World Game : Sydney inaugurate academy
Current senior squad
Correct as of February 20, 2010
,
,
- McFlynn has permanent Australian residency and therefore does not count to the foreign players list »Terry McFlynn's Aussie pride advances FC
Other squads
Current Youth squad
Sydney FC's Youth Squad plays in the A-League National Youth League.
Current Women squad
Sydney FC's Women Squad play in the 8 team W-League.
Below is a list of notable footballers who have previously played for Sydney FC. Generally, this means players that have played 50 or more competitive matches for the club. However, some players who have played fewer matches are also included, as they were the club's integral founding members, were integral members of a championship winning team, have at least one senior international cap or made significant contributions to the club's history
{|
|valign="top"|
Australia
'''Brazil
|width="33"|
|valign="top"|
- Benito Carbone
- Dwight Yorke
- John Aloisi
- Matthew Bingley
- Clint Bolton
- Mark Bridge
- Alex Brosque
- David Carney
- Alvin Ceccoli
- Shannon Cole
- Simon Colosimo
- Steve Corica
- Hayden Foxe
- Robbie Middleby
- Mark Milligan
- Stuart Musialik
- Sasho Petrovski
- Tony Popovic
- Nikolai Topor-Stanley
- Ruben Zadkovich
- David Zdrilic
- Juninho Paulista
- Kazuyoshi Miura
- Jeremy Brockie
- Karol Kisel
- Byun Sung-Hwan
- Stephan Keller
- Dwight Yorke
Managers
Managers by Years (2005–present) Hyundai A-League games only.
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Nat
!Period
!Honours
!Managed
!Won
!Drawn
!Lost
!Win %
|-
| Pierre Littbarski
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2005–2006
| 2004-05 Oceania Club Champions
2005-06 Hyundai A-League Champions
| 24
| 12
| 7
| 5
| 50%
|-
| Terry Butcher
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2006–2007
|
| 23
| 9
| 8
| 6
| 39%
|-
| Branko Culina
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2007
| AFC Champions League 2007 Group Stage
| 9
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 22%
|-
| John Kosmina
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2007–2009
|
| 35
| 13
| 11
| 11
| 37%
|-
| Tony Popovic (Caretaker) *
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2009
|
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
| -
|-
| VĂtÄ›zslav LaviÄŤka
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2009-present
| 2009-10 Hyundai A-League Premiers
| 27
| 15
| 3
| 9
| 56%
|-
|}
- Tony Popovic was appointed caretaker after Kosmina had been sacked. He was manager of the team for 1 game, a friendly against Shanghai Shenhua during the 2008-09 off-season. Sydney lost the match 2-1
Senior Squad Coaching Staff
- Head Coach: VĂtÄ›zslav LaviÄŤka
- Assistant Coach: Tony Popovic
- Assistant Coach: Michal Zach
- Strength/Conditioning Coach: Craig Duncan
- Goalkeeping Coach: John Filan
- Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Daniel Biggs»http://www.sydneyfc.com/default.aspx?s=sydfc_coachingstaff&pid=1319
- Club Doctor: Dr. Andrew McDonald
- Club Physio: Stan Ivancic
- Assistant/Masseur: Joe Niutta
Youth Squad Coaching Staff
- Youth Coach: Steve O'Connor
- Assistant Coach: Steve Corica
- Assistant Coach: Grant Lee
- Goalkeeping Coach: Jimmy Fraser
- Physiotherapist: Stuart Turner
- Trainer: Kylie Johnson
Management Team
- Chief Executive Officer: Stefan Kamasz
- Head Coach: VĂtÄ›zslav LaviÄŤka
- Financial Controller: Phil Coy
- Chief Commercial Officer: Ken Sharp
- General Manager, Football: David Mason
- General Manager, Marketing and Memberships: Kate Lalak
Board of Directors
- Chairman:'''Paul Ramsay AO
- '''Vice Chairman:
Scott Barlow - Director: Chris Rex
- Director: Elliott Rusanow
Year by year history
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;width:100%; text-align:center"
|+Sydney FC League and Tournament Qualification History'''
!Season !! P !! W !! D !! L !! F !! A !! Teams !! League
Position !! Finals
Qualification!! Finals Series
Position !!ACL Qualification !!ACL Placing !!Pan-Pacific
Championship !!FIFA Club World Cup
|----
|2005–06 || 21 (24) || 10 (12) || 6 (7) || 5 (5) || 35 (40) || 28 (31) || 8 || 2nd || Qualified || bgcolor="#98FB98"| Champions || Qualified for 2007 || DNP || DNP || 5th*
|----
|2006–07|| 21 (23) || 8 (9) || 8 (8) || 5 (6) || 29 (31) || 19 (22) || 8 || 4th || Qualified || Minor Semi-Finals || DNQ || Group Stage (2nd) || DNP || DNP
|----
|2007–08 || 21 (23) || 8 (8) || 8 (9) || 5 (6) || 28 (28) || 24 (26) || 8 || 3rd || Qualified || Minor Semi Finals || DNQ || DNP || 4th || DNP
|----
|2008–09 || 21 (21) || 7 (7) || 5 (5) || 9 (9) || 33 (33) || 32 (32) || 8 || 5th || DNQ || DNP || DNQ || DNP || DNP || DNP
|----
|2009–10 || 27 (27) || 15 (15) || 3 (3) || 9 (9) || 35 (35) || 23 (23) || 10 || bgcolor="#98FB98"| 1st || Qualifed || TBD || Qualified for 2011 || DNP|| TBD || DNP
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;width:50%; text-align:center" |+Sydney FC Pre-Season Cup History''' !Season !! P !! W !! D !! L !! F !! A !! Position |---- |2005–6 || 4 (4) || 2 (2) || 0 (0) || 1 (2) || 5 (5) || 1 (2) || Semi-Final |---- |2006–07 || 4 (6) || 3 (4) || 1 (1) || 0 (1) || 7 (10) || 2 (4) || Semi-Final |---- |2007–08 || 3 (3) || 0 (0) || 1 (1) || 2 (2) || 0 (0) || 6 (6) || Group Stage |---- |2008–09 || 3 (3) || 1 (1) || 0 (0) || 2 (2) || 4 (4) || 7 (7) || Group Stage |}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;width:50%; text-align:center" |+Sydney FC Asian Champions League History''' !Season !! P !! W !! D !! L !! F !! A !! Position |---- |2007|| 6 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 8 || 5 || Grouping Stage (2nd in Group) |}
:P = Played :W = Wins :D = Draws :L = Loss :F = Goals For :A = Goals Against :DNQ = Did Not Qualify :DNP = Did Not Participate :TBA = To Be Announced :( ) = statistic including A-league Finals :* = Participated as OFC member.
PlotData=
, bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center
, from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:2
, from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:4
, from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:3
, from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:5
, from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:1
, from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2010 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "Hyundai A-League"
,
- W-League:
- Premiers (1): 2009
- Champions (1): 2009
- Oceania Club Championship: 1
- 2005 — Champions
- Asian Champions League Appearances: 2
- 2007 — Group Stage
- 2011 — (To Be Determined)
- FIFA Club World Cup Appearances: 1
- 2005 — 5th
- Pan-Pacific Championship Appearances: 1
- 2008 — 4th
- Record victory: 9–2 (vs Sobou FC — Oceania Club Championship, 2 June 2005)
- Record A-League victory: 5-1 (vs Central Coast Mariners, 5 November 2005)
- Record defeat: 0–5 (vs Melbourne Victory — A-League, 16 October 2005)
- Undefeated streak: 11 matches (7 May 2005 – 6 August 2005) – N.B.: The 17 matches quoted includes friendly matches, which are not included in this record
- A-League Regular Season Attendance: 33,458 (vs Melbourne Victory — 20 January 2008)
- A-League Finals Series Attendance: 41,689 (vs Central Coast Mariners — 5 March 2006)
- Record Average Regular Season Attendance: 16,710 (2005–06)
- Record Season Total Attendance: 183,803 (2005–06)
- Record Attendance: 80,295 (vs LA Galaxy — 27 November 2007)
- Most appearances:
- All competitions: Iain Fyfe 120
- A-League: Steve Corica & Clint Bolton - 102
- Most goals:
- All competitions: Sasho Petrovski — 26
- A-League: Steve Corica & Alex Brosque 23
- Record transfer fee received: AU$500,000 for Dwight Yorke from Sunderland A.F.C. .Transfer fee of ÂŁ200,000;
Sponsorship
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Years!!Kit Manufacturer!!Major Sponsor!!Minor Sponsor
|-
|2005–2007||Reebok||Healthe||HBA Heath Insurance
|-
|2007–2009||Reebok||Bing LeeJVC||HBA Health Insurance
|-
|2009–present||Reebok||Bing LeeSony||MBF Health Insurance
|}
Other sponsors include:
PULSAR Watches
Star City Casino
Qantas
Musashi
Macquarie University
Sony
Hyundai Motor Company (In Association with A-League)
- Shanghai Shenhua — In December 2008 Sydney management released a statement that Sydney had signed a permanent sister-club relationship with Chinese Super League Club Shanghai Shenhua, both clubs will trade players, as well as coaching tips and medical and training methods.