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It’s official – the inaugural Sydney Derby is a sell out. The news that Parramatta Stadium will be at full capacity for the first meeting between Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers caps off what has been a stunning few weeks for football in Sydney.

Sydney FC’s capture of Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero, coupled with the much anticipated A-League debut for the Western Sydney Wanderers, has sparked unprecedented media coverage and interest in the A-League from the harbour city. Over thirty five thousand fans packed Allianz Stadium to witness Del Piero’s home debut for the Sky Blues, whilst the Wanderers attracted a healthy debut attendance of ten and a half thousand on a rainy and windy Saturday night in Sydney’s west.

With only one point between them from their opening two matches, both teams will head to Parramatta Stadium desperate for a win and a chance to claim initial bragging rights, in what is expected to … Continue Reading

Three – Western Sydney Wanderers.

Probably the most anticipated expansion club in the A-League’s short history, Western Sydney Wanderers’ inclusion into the A-League was viewed as so vital to the competition by Football Federation Australia that a decision was made for the club to be set up and funded, at least initially, by the governing body.

Western Sydney has fast become Australia’s most sought after sporting area. With an expanding population and a rich sporting history across many codes, it has in recent years become somewhat of a battle ground for the hearts and minds of the western Sydney sporting public. Traditionally a football and Rugby League stronghold, the area has become even further crowded with the AFL’s incursion into the region with the introduction of the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

In 2009, Football Federation Australia awarded Sydney Rovers FC entry into the A-League, however the bid faltered after failure to secure funding meant that football fans in the … Continue Reading

Seven – The title defence.

Getting to the top is easy, staying there is the hard part. It’s an old saying that has an all too familiar truth for A-League clubs. Only once in the competition’s history has a club managed to successfully defend its title.

Brisbane Roar achieved the feat with successive Grand Final victories in 2011 and 2012, playing an impressive brand of football that would also set a new benchmark for performance and style, whilst accumulating an Australian record of 36 matches unbeaten along the way. The mastermind behind Brisbane’s A-League dominance, Ange Postecoglou, has since left the club, choosing to return to his home city and join Melbourne Victory as their new head coach.

The reigns have been handed to Rado Vidosic, who has been the clubs’ assistant coach since the Roar’s inaugural season in 2005. Vidosic has managed to retain the bulk of the Championship winning side, with last seasons Golden Boot winner, Albanian … Continue Reading

Ten – Foreign Recruits.

New signings are always exciting for fans of the A-League. In what seems an impossibly long off-season, small respites are often offered up in the excitement and anticipation of player recruitment, no more so than the announcement from an A-League club that a new foreign recruit has arrived.

The A-League has had what some may consider a patchy history of success when it comes visa players, with limited resources and scouting networks, clubs have all too often been at the mercy of YouTube video highlight reels. Thankfully, much like the competition itself, foreign recruitment has improved with each passing season. With players such as Carlos Hernandez, Besart Berisha, Thomas Broich and Marcos Flores having set the standard for foreign signings in recent seasons, version eight of the A-League looks set to continue the upward trend with an array of impressive foreign recruits lined up to make their Australian football debuts

Adelaide United have secured the … Continue Reading

When the Hyundai A-League was launched back in 2005, eight professional football clubs were charged with the responsibility of bringing a game that had long lingered in the shadows of the Australian sporting landscape out into the mainstream. Their mandate was to take on and confront the existing and well-established idea that football in Australia was only a secondary sport, a game that would only ever be played and supported by those on the periphery of local sporting culture. The aim of the A-League was to challenge and change the make-up of the Australian sporting psyche, to help plant football in the hearts and minds of the Australian public.

Some of the clubs granted licences were newly created ‘franchises’, entities created for the sole purpose of Australia’s new professional football league, whilst others were re-branded or re-jigged versions of existing entities. With the majority of entrants having no established fan base and no footballing history, a key … Continue Reading

Top flight domestic football seems destined to return to SBS, the television station many claim as Australian football’s historical home. The long time flag-bearer for football appears to have won out in the race for hosting rights to the A-League’s free-to-air component under a new deal rumoured to be close to being finalised by Football Federation Australia. The deal will reportably see SBS air one game a week, and the possibility of a weekly highlights package is also being mooted. Fox Sports will reportedly also retain the rights to televise every A-League match live.

Since the launch of the A-League back in 2005, Fox Sports have been the sole owner of televised matches in Australia, and their belief in the competition early on helped establish the A-League in the domestic sporting market. Their coverage of the game, showing every match live as well as extensive pre and post-match analysis was a huge step forward for the sport … Continue Reading

It’s hard to imagine now, but barely over a fortnight ago football was front page news for all the wrong reasons. Crowd incidents at two pre-season games in Sydney were met with predictable responses by the mainstream media, and again football and its fans were portrayed as something to be feared, and something not to be trusted. It stabbed at the heart of every fan across the country and, unfortunately for many, it was a path all too well trodden. With just over a month until the start of the new season, it was publicity the A-League could well do without. Like its predecessor, the National Soccer League (NSL), the A-League seemed destined to lose its battle with an often hostile Australian media.

But Australian domestic football is a resilient beast, having taken many knocks over the course of it’s existence and will no doubt have many more to weather. When news that Sydney FC were in … Continue Reading

The long awaited entrance of the A-League’s newest club, Western Sydney Wanderers, is edging closer. In fact, it’s fair to say that the competitions latest debutant has probably created more excitement than any of its predecessors, since the very first A-League match kicked off back in August 2005.

Beginning as far back as 2004 at the A-League’s inception, football fans and administrators debated the merits of an A-League club based in Sydney’s western suburbs, with many citing the area’s rich history in producing football talent and it’s cultural diversity as making it a natural choice. The area was considered early on, with Soccer NSW declaring Parramatta Stadium as its preferred choice as a base for Sydney’s sole A-League entry.

When Soccer NSW president Tom Doumanis announced in October 2004 that Sydney’s newest professional sporting entity and self proclaimed glamour club, Sydney FC, had ultimately chosen Moore Park as it’s spiritual home, he ensured that the debate about an … Continue Reading

Position: 5th
(knocked out of the finals by Wellington 3-2)

Change in position from 2010/11: ↑ 4

Win-draw-loss record: 10-8-9
(37 goals scored, 42 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Bruno Cazarine (8)

Average attendance: 11,861

After a disappointing 2010/11 season that saw Sydney FC finish outside a finals place, and was marked by average attendances plummeting to a new club low, the 2011/12 pre-season saw renewed vigour and optimism surround the club, with the appointment of new CEO Dirk Melton and the major off-season marquee signing of Socceroo Brett Emerton. Emerton was hailed as a coup not just for Sydney FC, but along with Melbourne Victory’s capture of Harry Kewell, for the A-League in general.

Experienced Dutch central defender Pascal Bosschaart was brought in to shore up Sydney FC’s previously shaky defence, and was partnered with another new recruit in Socceroo Michael Beauchamp in Sydney’s new look defensive line up. The season started well for the Sky Blues, with an opening round draw to fierce rivals Melbourne Victory followed by a … Continue Reading

You know you are talking about the A-League when someone asks you for the crowd figure before the score….

As football fans across the country prepare for another bumper weekend of football, attention will inevitably turn to the stadium gates and the amount of clicks each turnstile clocks up. In what is being billed by the FFA as the ‘rivalry round’, expectations are high amongst supporters and football officials as a trio of derby matches headlines the bill.

Season seven on the Hyundai A-League has started well, with renewed interest in the league both in the stands and across the media. TV ratings are up and the league has ‘fresh air’ after delaying the start of the season to avoid clashes with rival football codes and to encourage extra column inches in the mainstream press that were previously reserved for the dominant finals series of the NRL and AFL.

The FFA has certainly played its part, by scheduling a … Continue Reading