Sydney FC - Central Coast Mariners (2:2) (Testspiele, 17. July 2010)
1:0 Brosque (1.), 1:1 Kwasnik (59.), 2:1 Bridge (60.), 2:2 Simon (67.)
Attendance: 700
Cost:
Programme: Nil
CLUB HISTORY: (wiki)
Sydney FC is a professional football (soccer) club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football (soccer) competition, the A-League. Sydney FC were inaugural winners of the A-League in 2006 and are considered as one of the most successful teams in Australia having won two national A-League Championships (2006 and 2010) and one Premiers' Plate (2010). Covertly, Sydney also remain the only A-League team to have won the OFC Champions League as since 2006, competing A-League teams have gained qualification to the AFC Champions League instead, in which Sydney has also competed finishing 2nd in the group stage of the 2007 season of the tournament and will also compete in the 2011 season. Having won titles in the W-League and in the National Youth League Sydney hold the distinction of being the only club in the A-League to have won all 3 competitions.
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.
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.
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 Alvin Ceccoli, 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.
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.
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[19] and inaugural marquee player Dwight Yorke being signed by Premier League club Sunderland. 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.[20] 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 Čulina 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.
Kosmina couldn't repeat the success of the previous season, replacing Brazilian international Juninho 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 Vítězslav Lavička. 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 club's history. Sydney made it to the Grand Final of the 5th season of the A-League after defeating Wellington Phoenix in the preliminary final. The Grand Final was played against Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. Sydney took the lead after 61 minutes through a Mark Bridge header, just seconds after Melbourne had a goal disallowed for offside. Melbourne equalised through Adrian Leijer in the 81st minute, and the game went on to a penalty shootout with no goals scored in extra time. Melbourne skipper Kevin Muscat missed his penalty, with his shot hitting the post. Sydney FC won the Grand Final 4-2 on penalties which handed them their second Hyundai A-League Championship.
HONOURS:
A-League:
Champions (2): 2005–06, 2009-10
Premiership (1): 2009-10
Finals Series Appearances (4): 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009-10
Fair Play Award (1): 2009-10
Oceania Club Championship: 1
2005 — Champions
Oceania Club Championship Australian Qualifying Tournament: 1
2005 — Champions
Asian Champions League Appearances: 2
2007 — Group Stage
2011 — Group Stage
FIFA Club World Cup Appearances: 1
2005 — 5th
Pan-Pacific Championship Appearances: 1
2008 — 4th
STADIUM HISTORY
(ausstadiums.com) The Sydney Showground Main Arena (Skoda Stadium) is currently being redeveloped to be home of the new Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL club. The upgrade will see seating capacity increase from 13,000 to 25,000, and upgraded corporate hospitality, bars and function space, as well as new media facilities and improved audio and sound systems. The Main Arena surface will also be reconfigured. The venue will be known as Skoda Stadium following a naming rights deal with the club's major sponsor.
The Sydney Showground was originally built as Australia's premier Baseball venue and was opened in 1998. It was used as the main Baseball arena for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In 2001, the Canterbury Bulldogs moved to the Showground to play their NRL home games however it was a short stay, as they moved across the road to ANZ Stadium shortly after. During the famous annual Sydney Royal Eastern Show, the stadium acts as the main arena for the event.
The elegant grandstand and tiered grass banks provide ample seating for spectators. The main stand is a two-level high-tech design with fantastic views of the ground. From the top of the stand, views of the city skyline in the distance can be seen.
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