Sydney were apparently presented with a trophy for winning this match. Alejandro Salazar made his debut, having missed Sydney’s first two matches with a broken foot, playing the last 20 minutes. Sydney scored the first five goals before conceding. Zdrilic was excellent on debut, setting up four of the goals and “contending with McFlynn for man of the match honours”.[SFC][PB][CJB]
Sydney FC 7 (Petrovski [2], Carney [2], Rudan, Bingley, Timpano) def. FC Hatta 1
Sydney FC squad: Clint Bolton (gk), Iain Fyfe, Alvin Ceccoli, Mark Rudan, Steve Laurie, Ufuk Talay, Robbie Middleby, Matthew Bingley, David Zdrilic, Sasho Petrovski, David Carney, Alejandro Salazar, Andrew Packer, Terry McFlynn, Jacob Timpano, Wade Oostendorp, Justin Pasfield (gk)
[Steve Corica stomach bug, Mark Milligan groin injury]
¤ 16 April 2005: Sydney FC vs Al Ain Sports and Cultural Club, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (Friendly)
This match was originally scheduled to be played against Dubai Cultural and Sports Club.[SFC][SFC]
Sydney FC 1 (Talay ~45′) def. Al Ain 0
Sydney FC squad (unconfirmed): Clint Bolton (gk), Iain Fyfe, Alvin Ceccoli, Mark Rudan, Steve Laurie, Ufuk Talay, Robbie Middleby, Matthew Bingley, David Zdrilic, Steve Corica, Sasho Petrovski, David Carney, Alejandro Salazar, Andrew Packer, Terry McFlynn, Mark Milligan, Jacob Timpano, Wade Oostendorp, Justin Pasfield (gk)
¤ 16 April 2005: The signing of Dwight Yorke (Birmingham City), who won the treble in 1999 with Manchester United, as a marquee player for two seasons is confirmed.[TWG]
¤ 18 April 2005: Sydney FC vs Al Jazira Sports and Cultural Club, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Friendly)
The last game on the UAE tour, Mark Rudan suffers a hamstring injury and also manages to get a red card.[SFC][AlJ]
Sydney FC 1 (Zdrilic 15′) def. Al Jazira 0
Sydney FC squad (unconfirmed): Clint Bolton (gk), Iain Fyfe, Alvin Ceccoli, Mark Rudan, Steve Laurie, Ufuk Talay, Robbie Middleby, Matthew Bingley, David Zdrilic, Steve Corica, Sasho Petrovski, David Carney, Alejandro Salazar, Andrew Packer, Terry McFlynn, Mark Milligan, Jacob Timpano, Wade Oostendorp, Justin Pasfield (gk)
Sent off: Rudan ~80′, Khalaf Salim (Al Jazira) ~80′
¤ 27 April 2005: Sydney FC vs Australia Under-20, Marconi Stadium, 7:00pm (Friendly)
The end of Sydney’s five-match winning streak. Mark Milligan and Jacob Timpano both played for the Young Socceroos, with Milligan handballing off the line from a Carney header to give Sydney a penalty. Steve Corica reportedly suffered a back injury whilst reaching for coffee.[SFC][SMH]
Sydney FC 1 (Talay 25′ pen) drew Australia U20 1 (Celeski 48′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay, 7 Robbie Middleby (13 Alejandro Salazar 74′), 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (18 Wade Oostendorp 88′), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney (5 Steve Laurie 77′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn
[Mark Rudan hamstring injury; Steve Corica back injury]
Australia U20: 1 Danny Vukovic (gk), 2 Mark Milligan, 3 Chris Tadrosse, 4 Jacob Timpano, 5 Ryan Townsend, 6 Stuart Musialik, 7 Vince Lia (15 David Williams 79′), 8 Billy Celeski, 9 Jay Lucas (16 Michael Matricciani 79′), 10 Kristian Sarkies (14 Jobe Wheelhouse 70′), 19 Ben Griffin
¤ 03 May 2005: Sydney FC club launch. Healthe are announced as Sydney FC’s major sponsors, whilst David Zdrilic and Mark Rudan are named club and team captains respectively. [SFC]
¤ 07 May 2005: Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar, Central Coast Stadium, 3:45pm (Oceania Club Championship qualifying – Rd 1)
Sydney FC’s first competitive match was the first match in a double-header held in Gosford. Mark Rudan is still unavailable due to the hamstring injury he suffered against Al Jazira.[SFC][A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 3 (Packer 18′, Talay 41′ pen, Petrovski 53′) def. Queensland Roar 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay (10 Steve Corica 57′), 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (c; 17 Jacob Timpano 71′), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney (7 Robbie Middleby 66′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan
Queensland Roar: 1 Tom Willis (gk), 2 Karl Dodd, 3 Remo Buess, 4 Chad Gibson (c), 5 Josh McCloughan, 8 Massimo Murdocca (7 Shin Tae-Yong 75′), 9 Michael Baird, 11 Jonti Richter, 13 Tyler Simpson (17 Reece Tollenaere 51′), 15 Matt McKay, 16 Seo Hyuk-Su (18 Warren Moon 57′)
Cautions: Zdrilic 14′, Talay 14′, Bingley 34′, Baird 35′, McKay 47′, Baird 71′
Sent off: Baird 71′
¤ 11 May 2005: Sydney FC vs Perth Glory, Members Equity Stadium, 7:30pm (Oceania Club Championship qualifying – SF)
Perth Glory, as winners of the final NSL Championship, were entered directly into the se
mi finals of the OCCQ tournament. Ufuk Talay nets Sydney’s first own goal.[SFC][A-L]
Sydney FC 2 (Carney 49′, Petrovski 76′) def. Perth Glory 1 (Talay 47′ og)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay (10 Steve Corica 82′), 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney (7 Robbie Middleby 68′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan
Perth Glory: 20 Milan Jovanic (gk), 4 Simon Colosimo, 5 Jamie Harnwell, 7 Scott Miller, 8 Nick Ward, 10 Bobby Despotovski, 12 Hiroyuki Ishida (6 Steve McMahon Jr 88′), 13 Ante Kovacevic, 14 Jamie Coyne (2 Matt Horsley 85′), 16 Neil Teggart, 19 Naum Sekulovski (15 Billy Celeski 89′)
Cautions: Bolton 45′, Zdrilic 89′
¤ 15 May 2005: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, Central Coast Stadium, 3:00pm (Oceania Club Championship qualifying – Final)
Sydney wins its first competitive tournament, booking a place in the Oceania Club Championship in Tahiti. David Carney’s goal took a heavy deflection off a Mariners defender. The match was originally scheduled to be held at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, but was moved when Sydney and Central Coast were the two confirmed teams. [SFC][CCM]
Sydney FC 1 (Carney 18′) def. Central Coast Mariners 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay (4 Mark Rudan 85′), 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney (7 Robbie Middleby 64′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan (10 Steve Corica 77′)
Central Coast: 1 John Crawley (gk), 2 Wayne O’Sullivan (17 Matthew Osman 69′), 4 Noel Spencer (c), 5 Michael Beauchamp, 6 Andre Gumprecht (7 John Hutchinson 71′), 9 Nik Mrdja, 10 Tom Pondeljak, 11 Damien Brown (23 Dean Heffernan 59′), 12 Stewart Petrie, 15 Andrew Clark, 18 Alex Wilkinson
Cautions: Clark 63′, Zdrilic 82′, Hutchinson 88′
Sent off: Clark 80′
¤ 16 May 2005: Sydney name a 21-man squad for the upcoming Oceania Club Championship, with one player to be omitted. Justin Pasfield, Jacob Timpano and Mark Milligan are all called up for Australia U20 World Cup duty, to be replaced by Mitchell Blowes (Kemblawarra), Todd Brodie (Marconi Stallions) and Brendan Renaud (St George), whilst John Buonavoglia (St George) joins prior to Dwight Yorke’s arrival. Robbie Cattanach (Belconnen Blue Devils) is also signed on a short-term deal in expectation of David Zdrilic‘s call-up to the Australian Confederations Cup squad, but Frank Farina gives special dispensation for Zdrilic to miss the Socceroos international against New Zealand in order to play in the OCC. Buonavoglia is also close to being ruled out, with his son being admitted to hospital after a sudden bout of meningitis. [SMH][A-L][SFC][SMH]
¤ 23 May 2005: Sydney FC vs Picton Rangers, Valentine Park, 7:00pm (Friendly)
The last match before Sydney headed to the Oceania Club Championship, Littbarski used the chance to introduce several new faces into the team. [SFC]
Sydney FC 4 (Middleby 25′, Rudan 30′, og ~50′, Buonavoglia 75′) def. Picton Rangers 2 (15′, 61′)
Sydney FC: Mitchell Blowes (gk), Wade Oostendorp, Steve Laurie, Mark Rudan, Brendan Renaud, Todd Brodie, Alex Salazar, Steve Corica, Robbie Middleby, Robbie Cattanach, Johnny Buonavoglia
¤ 31 May 2005: Sydney FC vs Auckland City FC, Stade Pater, Tahiti, 6:30pm (Oceania Club Championship – Group stage)
Steve Corica, yet to start a match so far, comes on as a substitute and scores from a free kick in the 3rd minute of injury time to give Sydney a 3-2 victory. Mark Rudan re-injures his hamstring. [SFC][SFC][OFC]
Sydney FC 3 (Ceccoli 32′, Packer 47′, Corica 90+3′) def. Auckland City 2 (Young 37′, Smith 78′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c; 5 Steve Laurie 26′), 6 Ufuk Talay (10 Steve Corica 72′), 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic, 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn (21 John Buonavoglia 85′)
Auckland City: 1 Ross Nicholson (gk), 4 Paul Seaman (18 Chadwick Coombes 75′), 5 Jonathan Perry, 7 James Pritchett, 8 Jonathan Smith (6 Liam Mulrooney 80′), 9 Paul Urlovic (19 Reginald Davani 75′), 10 Grant Young, 11 Neil Sykes, 14 Christopher McIvor, 20 Greg Uhlmann, 21 Riki van Steeden
Cautions: Perry 17′, Urlovic 42′, Talay 43′, Ceccoli 82′, Petrovski 90′
¤ 02 June 2005: Sydney FC vs Sobou FC, Stade Pater, Tahiti, 9:00pm (Oceania Club Championship – Group stage)
Sydney’s biggest win sees the first hat-tricks for the club in competition – David Zdrilic’s completed in the 42nd minute, Sasho Petrovski’s in the 71st. The result confirms that Sydney will progress to the semi-finals, but will be without Ufuk Talay for the final group match, after he received a yellow card for reportedly placing a free kick 1m from the mark indicated by the referee.[SFC][OFC]
Sydney FC 9 (Fyfe 5′, Petrovski 14′ 43′, 71′, Zdrilic 19′, 40′ 42′, Brodie 79′, Salazar 82′) def. Sobou FC 2 (Wate 57′, Daniel 90+2′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli (19 Brendan Renaud 46′), 6 Ufuk Talay, 7 Robbie Middleby, 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (c; 13 Alejandro Salazar 46′), 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney (16 Todd Brodie 60′), 14 Andrew Packer
Sobou FC: 20 David Aua (gk), 2 Charlie Somasi, 3 Mapi Bigilam (5 Dugi Deno 48′), 4 Harrison Kamake (15 Philip Sabua 39′), 7 Sowera Guti, 8 Karo Gebo, 9 Richard Daniel, 11 Billy Namuesh (21 Charlie Kwanteki 85′), 12 Clifford Wate, 14 Andrew Kassam, 17 Tony Kepou
Cautions: Talay 27′, Kassam 35′, Gebo 61′
Sent off: Kepou 74′
¤ 04 June 2005: Sydney FC vs AS Pirae, Stade Pater, Tahiti, 3:00pm (Oceania Club Championship – Group stage)
Terry McFlynn comes in for the suspended Talay, whilst John Buonavoglia replaces Sasho Petrovski in the starting line-up. David Zdrilic, with the Confederation Cup in Germany looming, sets a new Sydney FC record for most goals in a match, scoring four goals in the first half.[SFC][SFC][OFC]
Sydney FC 6 (Zdrilic 11′, 25′, 35′, 39′, Buonavoglia 43′, Carney 85′) def. AS Pirae 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli (18 Wade Oostendorp 46′), 7 Robbie Middleby, 8 Matthew Bingley (5 Steve Laurie 46′), 9 David Zdrilic (c; 13 Alejandro Salazar 63′), 10 Steve Corica, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 21 John Buonavoglia
AS Pirae: 16 Matahi Peu (gk), 5 Heirani Bennett, 6 Steven Bennett, 7 Vincent Simon, 8 Jose Hmae, 9 Raimana Li Fung Kuee, 11 Walea Kalama (20 Teva Zaveroni 46′), 12 Hiro Poroiae (2 Iotua Kautai 67′), 17 Tinomana Sinjoux, 18 Naea Bennett (10 Raimoana Bennett 46′), 22 Gael Kenon
Cautions: Bingley 12′, McFlynn 72′
¤ 07 June 2005: Sydney FC vs Tafea FC, Stade Pater, Tahiti, 6:00pm (Oceania Club Championship – SF)
Sydney reach their second final in two attempts and are only one match away from reaching the FIFA World Club Championships. They are to play AS Magenta, who beat AS Pirae 4-1 in the other semi-final.[SFC][SFC][OFC]
Sydney FC 6 (Petrovski 26′, Zdrilic 39′, Talay 44′ pen, Corica 65′, 90′, Salazar 87′) def. Tafea FC 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay, 7 Robbie Middleby (16 Todd Brodie 60′), 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (c; 13 Alejandro Salazar 69′), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn (10 Steve Corica 46′)
Tafea FC: 1 David Chilia (gk), 3 Geoffrey Lego Gete, 4 Ephraim Kalorib, 6 Graham Demas, 7 Moise Poida, 8 Pita Maki (17 Philip Silas 90′), 9 Rick Mahe, 10 Jean Naprapol, 12 Hubert Nake, 16 Alphonse Qorig (14 Joseph Namariau 70′), 18 Robert Tom
Cautions: Qorig 8′, Demas 9′, McFlynn 30′, Middleby 40′, Tom 43′, Petrovski 61′
¤ 10 June 2005: Sydney FC vs AS Magenta, Stade Pater, Tahiti, 9:00pm (Oceania Club Championship – Final)
Sydney secure their place in the FIFA Club World Championship to be held in Japan at the end of 2005 with a 2-0 victory over New Caledonian club AS Magenta.[SFC][SFC][OFC]
Sydney FC 2 (Bingley 16′, Zdrilic 59′) def. AS Magenta 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay (10 Steve Corica 62′), 7 Robbie Middleby (16 Todd Brodie 76′), 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (c; 13 Alejandro Salazar 89′), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn
AS Magenta: 1 Michel Hne (gk), 2 Nicolas Ouka, 4 Andre Sinedo, 5 Jackie Wiako, 6 Gil Elmour, 7 Stevens Longue, 8 Jules Wea, 9 Paul Poatinda (16 Noel Kaudre 46′), 10 Pierre Wajoka, 11 Michael Hmae (12 Francis Watrone 78′), 17 Robert Wadriako
Cautions: Talay 53′, Kaudre 55′, Hne 83′, McFlynn 84′, Zdrilic 88′
¤ 13 June 2005: Sydney unveil a three-year sponsorship deal with Sydney City Hyundai.[SFC]
¤ 22 June 2005: Iain Fyfe is named as Sydney FC’s player of the tournament for the Oceania Club Championship, winning the incredibly generous prize of the use of a Hyundai Tuscon for six months.[SFC]
¤ 30 June 2005: Dwight Yorke arrives in Australia to begin his Sydney FC career. He was originally scheduled to arrive one day earlier, but excess baggage problems at Dubai International Airport forced a delay.[TWG][SFC]