¤ 02 July 2005: Australian U-20 captain and Sydney FC defender Jacob Timpano leaves Australia for a one week trial with Leicester City, despite the FFA threatening to block any potential deal. He returns home unsuccessful.[FT][SMH]
¤ 04 July 2005: Dwight Yorke completes his first training session with Sydney FC.[SFC]
¤ 08 July 2005: Sydney FC vs Belconnen Blue Devils, Belconnen Soccer Centre (McKellar), 7:00pm (Friendly)
This was billed as Yorke’s first match with Sydney, but he pulled out beforehand. Atrocious conditions saw many of the approximate 1,500-strong crowd leave at half-time.[SFC][SFCU]
Sydney FC 1 (Petrovski 33′) def. Belconnen Blue Devils 0
Sydney FC: Justin Pasfield (gk), Iain Fyfe, Alvin Ceccoli, Robbie Middleby, Steve Corica, Sasho Petrovski, David Carney, Alejandro Salazar, Andrew Packer, Terry McFlynn, Mark Milligan (Steve Laurie)
Belconnen: 1 Nathan Denham (gk), 7 Alex Castro, 8 Elliot Zwangobani (c), 9 Robbie Cattanach, 10 Danny Macor, 11 David Arranz, 12 Robert Hooker, 13 Mike Katz, 14 Dustin Wells, 15 Matt Valeri, 18 Steve Hayes
Subs: 16 Adam Casey, 17 Paul Ivanic
¤ 23 July 2005: Sydney FC vs New Zealand Knights FC, Aussie Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
Sydney’s first match at Aussie Stadium, with a crowd of 8,714, thanks mainly to a Sydney Morning Herald promotion giving away thousands of free tickets. Dwight Yorke makes his debut for the club, and scores from a penalty.[SFC][SMH]
Sydney FC 3 (Yorke 25′ pen, Petrovski 45′, 72′) def. New Zealand Knights 1 (Fitzsimmons 83′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 7 Robbie Middleby (13 Alejandro Salazar 71′), 10 Steve Corica (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke (6 Ufuk Talay 74′)
New Zealand: 1 Danny Milosevic (gk), 3 Ronnie Bull, 4 John Tambouras, 5 Danny Hay (c), 6 Neil Emblen, 7 Steve Fitzsimmons, 8 Ben Collett (18 Zhang Xiaobin 76′), 9 Simon Yeo, 10 Sean Devine, 12 Cole Tinkler, 15 Joshua Rose (16 Noah Hickey 68′)
Cautions: Hay 16′, Milosevic 24′, Yeo 60′, Fitzsimmons 84′
¤ 28 July 2005: Tim Parker is appointed to the role of Executive General Manager, with Sydney FC’s inaugural CEO Andy Harper becoming the club’s Director of Football Development.[SSN]
¤ 30 July 2005: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, Central Coast Stadium, 7:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
Sydney FC stretch their unbeaten run to 18 matches (10 competitive matches) by defeating Central Coast in Gosford. Clint Bolton maintains a clean sheet by saving a penalty from Nik Mrdja.[SFC]
Sydney FC 2 (Corica 57′, Petrovski 79′) def. Central Coast Mariners 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay (7 Robbie Middleby 82′), 10 Steve Corica (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke
Central Coast: 1 John Crawley (gk), 2 Wayne O’Sullivan (17 Matthew Osman 82′), 4 Noel Spencer (6 Andre Gumprecht 79′), 5 Michael Beauchamp, 7 John Hutchinson (19 Adam Kwasnik 77′), 8 Dean Heffernan, 9 Nik Mrdja, 10 Tom Pondeljak, 12 Stewart Petrie, 15 Andrew Clark, 18 Alex Wilkinson
Cautions: Petrovski 29′, Bolton 37′, Packer 65′, Hutchinson 66′
¤ 30 July 2005: The draw for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship is carried out, with Sydney FC set to face CONCACAF champions Deportivo Saprissa in their first match. The winner is drawn to play against UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool.[FIFA]
¤ 01 August 2005: Mark Milligan is put out of action for eight weeks after undergoing a double hernia operation. He had been playing with the injury for over eight months in order to compete in the under-20 World Championships.[SFC]
¤ 04 August 2005: Sasho Petrovski is called into Guus Hiddink’s first Socceroos training camp after a four-year absence from the national team. The selection means that Petrovski will miss Sydney’s Pre-Season Cup semi-final, should they qualify.[TWG]
¤ 04 August 2005: Joe Schirripa (Central Coast United) is signed on a short-term deal until the beginning of October to replace the recovering Mark Milligan.[TWG]
¤ 06 August 2005: Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar, Barlow Park, 7:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
Sydney finish on top of Group B and book a home semi-final with a scoreless draw against Queensland.[SFC][A-L]
Sydney FC 0 drew Queensland Roar 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton, 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 7 Robbie Middleby, 10 Steve Corica (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer (21 Joe Schirripa 84′), 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke
Queensland Roar: 20 Scott Higgins (gk), 2 Karl Dodd, 3 Remo Buess, 4 Chad Gibson (c), 8 Massimo Murdocca, 11 Jonti Richter, 14 Ben Griffin, 16 Seo Hyuk-Su, 17 Reece Tollenaere, 19 Alex Brosque, 21 Spase Dilevski
Cautions: Petrovski 21′, Dodd 31′, Corica 80′
¤ 08 August 2005: The official launch of the Hyundai A-League is held at Darling Harbour. The competition’s $3 million marketing campaign, based on the slogan “It’s Football. But not as you know it”, is unveiled.[A-L]
¤ 10 August 2005: Centrebet installs Sydney FC as $2.05 favourites to win the inaugural A-League title, ahead of Perth Glory/Melbourne Victory ($6.00), Newcastle United ($8.00), Central Coast ($15.00), Adelaide United/Queensland Roar ($17.00) and New Zealand Knights ($34.00).[F]
¤ 14 August 2005: Sydney FC vs Perth Glory, Aussie Stadium, 5:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – SF)
Sydney suffer first loss after going 19 matches unbeaten, with Perth’s Nick Ward scoring in injury time at the end of the match. With Petrovski and Yorke away on international duty, David Zdrilic and Mark Rudan return from injury, the latter earning a yellow card for grabbing Steve McMahon Jr by the throat.[A-L]
Perth Glory 1 (Ward 90+1′) def. Sydney FC 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay, 7 Robbie Middleby (4 Mark Rudan 68′), 10 Steve Corica (c), 12 David Carney, 13 Alejandro Salazar (9 David Zdrilic 68′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano
Perth Glory: 1 Jason Petkovic, 2 Matt Horsley, 4 Simon Colosimo, 6 Steve McMahon Jr (8 Nick Ward 88′), 7 Scott Miller, 10 Bobby Despotovski, 12 Hiroyuki Ishida (19 Naum Sekulovski 66′), 13 Ante Kovacevic, 14 Jamie Coyne, 15 Billy Celeski, 21 Adrian Caceres (18 Henry Fa’arodo 75′)
Cautions: Despotovski 37′, Celeski 43′, Carney 55′, Talay 78′, Fa’arodo 79′, McMahon 83′, Rudan 83′, Fyfe 90+5′
¤ 23 August 2005: Sasho Petrovski is named in the 22-man Socceroos squad to play the Solomon Islands in the Oceania World Cup qualifying playoff. Clint Bolton and Iain Fyfe are also named in the train-on squad.[A-L]
¤ 26 August 2005: Sydney FC announced a three-year partnership with Star City Casino, which will become the club’s “home away from home”.[SFC]
¤ 28 August 2005: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory FC, Aussie Stadium, 5:00pm (A-League – Rd 1)
Sydney FC’s first A-League match, with Dwight Yorke scoring the first goal for the club. The crowd was officially announced as 25,208, but due to the huge number of walk-ups, the SCG trust threw open the gates for the second time in history 15 minutes in.[A-L][A-L][Age]
Sydney FC 1 (Yorke 44′) drew Melbourne Victory 1 (Thompson 73′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c; 17 Jacob Timpano 76′), 6 Ufuk Talay (8 Matthew Bingley 76′), 9 David Zdrilic (12 David Carney 58′), 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 19 Dwight Yorke
Melbourne Victory: 20 Eugene Galekovic (gk), 2 Kevin Muscat (c), 5 Geoffrey Claeys, 6 Steve Pantelidis (18 Chris Tadrosse 66′), 7 Michael Ferrante, 8 Andy Vlahos, 9 Danny Allsopp, 10 Archie Thompson, 12 Carl Recchia, 13 Kristian Sarkies (19 Ricky Diaco 66′), 15 Adrian Leijer
Cautions: Pantelidis 56′, Ferrante 61′, Muscat 64′, Packer 69′
¤ 02 September 2005: John Buonavoglia (St George) joins Sydney on a short-term contract to cover for the international callups of Sasho Petrovski, Dwight Yorke and Wade Oostendorp.[SFC]
¤ 02 September 2005: Sydney FC vs New Zealand Knights FC, North Harbour Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League – Rd 2)
Sydney FC notch up their first A-League win. Sasho Petrovski and Dwight Yorke were away on international duty, replaced by John Buonavoglia and Robbie Middleby, the latter scoring in injury time to seal the three points.[SFC][A-L][SFC]
Sydney FC 3 (Rudan 25′, Bingley 73′, Middleby 90+4′) def. New Zealand Knights 1 (Rose 69′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 6 Ufuk Talay, 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (22 John Buonavoglia 82′), 10 Steve Corica, 12 David Carney (17 Jacob Timpano 89′), 14 Andrew Packer (7 Robbie Middleby 70′), 15 Terry McFlynn
New Zealand Knights: 1 Danny Milosevic (gk), 2 Darren Bazeley, 4 John Tambouras, 5 Danny Hay (c; 21 Jeremy Christie 67′), 6 Neil Emblen, 7 Steve Fitzsimmons, 8 Ben Collett, 10 Sean Devine (9 Simon Yeo 74′), 11 Zenon Caravella, 14 Josh Maguire (16 Noah Hickey 80′), 15 Joshua Rose
Cautions: Devine 21′, Christie 72′, McFlynn 87′, Emble
¤ 11 September 2005: Sydney FC vs Newcastle United Jets, EnergyAustralia Stadium, 5:00pm (A-League – Rd 3)
Sydney’s first loss in the competition, and Newcastle’s first win. Dwight Yorke, who returned from international duty on the previous day, was none-too-pleased about starting from the bench by Littbarski, and came on in the second half to score a goal. Steve Corica picked up a silly straight-red with a vicious challenge from behind, while the Jets’ Mateo Corbo joined him in the sheds for his part in the ensuing scuffle.[A-L][A-L]
Newcastle United Jets 2 (Milicic 6′, Johnson 18′) def. Sydney FC 1 (Yorke 78′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 6 Ufuk Talay (12 David Carney 76′), 7 Robbie Middleby (19 Dwight Yorke 45+1′), 8 Matthew Bingley (14 Andrew Packer 42′), 9 David Zdrilic, 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski, 15 Terry McFlynn
Newcastle Jets: 1 Liam Reddy (gk), 3 Jade North, 5 Ned Zelic (c), 7 Richard Johnson, 8 Matt Thompson (15 Stuart Musialik 87′), 9 Ante Milicic (19 Mark Bridge 61′), 10 Nick Carle, 12 Paul Kohler, 13 Mateo Corbo, 16 Labinot Haliti (2 Steve Eagleton 74′), 22 Allan Picken
Cautions: McFlynn 13′, North 38′, Corbo 39′, Petrovski 56′, Thompson 61′, Corbo 70′, Rudan 79′, Musialik 90+1′
Sent off: Corica 70′, Corbo 70′
¤ 16 September 2005: Wade Oostendorp is the only A-League contracted player named in the 20-man Joeys squad to play in the FIFA U17 World Championship in Peru.[A-L]
¤ 16 September 2005: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners FC, Aussie Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League – Rd 4)
Jacob Timpano replaces the suspended Steve Corica, while Dwight Yorke returns to the starting lineup and makes it 3 goals from 3 appearances. Alvin Ceccoli attempts to block an injury-time Noel Spencer free kick with his arse, and sends it looping over Clint Bolton to hand the Mariners the win. Terry McFlynn plays despite a recent family tragedy in Northern Ireland.[A-L][A-L][A-L]
Central Coast Mariners 3 (Petrie 20′ pen, Gumprecht 35′, Spencer 90+1′) def. Sydney FC 2 (Packer 13′, Yorke 72′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c; 17 Jacob Timpano 87′), 6 Ufuk Talay, 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (11 Sasho Petrovski 64′), 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer (7 Robbie Middleby 84′), 15 Terry McFlynn, 19 Dwight Yorke
Central Coast: 1 John Crawley (gk), 2 Wayne O’Sullivan, 4 Noel Spencer (c), 5 Michael Beauchamp, 6 Andre Gumprecht, 7 John Hutchinson, 8 Dean Heffernan, 10 Tom Pondeljak, 12 Stewart Petrie (19 Adam Kwasnik 50′), 15 Andrew Clark, 18 Alex Wilkinson
Cautions: Bingley 47′, Spencer 50′, Gumprecht 59′
¤ 21 September 2005: Captain Mark Rudan is ruled out of Sydney FC’s next match, against Queensland Roar, with a hamstring cork.[SFC]
¤ 23 September 2005: Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar FC, Suncorp Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League – Rd 5)
Steve Corica returns from suspension to score a double, while Terry McFlynn seals the win with a quality chip over Tom Willis.[A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 3 (Corica 5′, 67′, McFlynn 72′) def. Queensland Roar 1 (Timpano 50′ og)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay, 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski (9 David Zdrilic 85′), 12 David Carney (7 Robbie Middleby 78′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn (8 Matthew Bingley 83′), 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke (c)
Queensland Roar: 1 Tom Willis (gk), 2 Karl Dodd (17 Reece Tollenaere 74′), 3 Remo Buess, 4 Chad Gibson (c), 5 Josh McCloughan, 8 Massimo Murdocca, 9 Michael Baird, 10 Royce Brownlie (11 Jonti Richter 36′), 16 Seo Hyuk-Su, 18 Warren Moon (19 Alex Brosque 51′), 21 Spase Dilevski
Cautions: Baird 14′, McFlynn 38′, Talay 50′
¤ 28 September 2005: Sydney FC release defender Steve Laurie, who made just two competitive appearances in his time at the club. A replacement is yet to be signed.[SFC]
¤ 04 July 2005: Dwight Yorke completes his first training session with Sydney FC.[SFC]
¤ 08 July 2005: Sydney FC vs Belconnen Blue Devils, Belconnen Soccer Centre (McKellar), 7:00pm (Friendly)
This was billed as Yorke’s first match with Sydney, but he pulled out beforehand. Atrocious conditions saw many of the approximate 1,500-strong crowd leave at half-time.[SFC][SFCU]
Sydney FC 1 (Petrovski 33′) def. Belconnen Blue Devils 0
Sydney FC: Justin Pasfield (gk), Iain Fyfe, Alvin Ceccoli, Robbie Middleby, Steve Corica, Sasho Petrovski, David Carney, Alejandro Salazar, Andrew Packer, Terry McFlynn, Mark Milligan (Steve Laurie)
Belconnen: 1 Nathan Denham (gk), 7 Alex Castro, 8 Elliot Zwangobani (c), 9 Robbie Cattanach, 10 Danny Macor, 11 David Arranz, 12 Robert Hooker, 13 Mike Katz, 14 Dustin Wells, 15 Matt Valeri, 18 Steve Hayes
Subs: 16 Adam Casey, 17 Paul Ivanic
¤ 23 July 2005: Sydney FC vs New Zealand Knights FC, Aussie Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
Sydney’s first match at Aussie Stadium, with a crowd of 8,714, thanks mainly to a Sydney Morning Herald promotion giving away thousands of free tickets. Dwight Yorke makes his debut for the club, and scores from a penalty.[SFC][SMH]
Sydney FC 3 (Yorke 25′ pen, Petrovski 45′, 72′) def. New Zealand Knights 1 (Fitzsimmons 83′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 7 Robbie Middleby (13 Alejandro Salazar 71′), 10 Steve Corica (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke (6 Ufuk Talay 74′)
New Zealand: 1 Danny Milosevic (gk), 3 Ronnie Bull, 4 John Tambouras, 5 Danny Hay (c), 6 Neil Emblen, 7 Steve Fitzsimmons, 8 Ben Collett (18 Zhang Xiaobin 76′), 9 Simon Yeo, 10 Sean Devine, 12 Cole Tinkler, 15 Joshua Rose (16 Noah Hickey 68′)
Cautions: Hay 16′, Milosevic 24′, Yeo 60′, Fitzsimmons 84′
¤ 28 July 2005: Tim Parker is appointed to the role of Executive General Manager, with Sydney FC’s inaugural CEO Andy Harper becoming the club’s Director of Football Development.[SSN]
¤ 30 July 2005: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, Central Coast Stadium, 7:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
Sydney FC stretch their unbeaten run to 18 matches (10 competitive matches) by defeating Central Coast in Gosford. Clint Bolton maintains a clean sheet by saving a penalty from Nik Mrdja.[SFC]
Sydney FC 2 (Corica 57′, Petrovski 79′) def. Central Coast Mariners 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay (7 Robbie Middleby 82′), 10 Steve Corica (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke
Central Coast: 1 John Crawley (gk), 2 Wayne O’Sullivan (17 Matthew Osman 82′), 4 Noel Spencer (6 Andre Gumprecht 79′), 5 Michael Beauchamp, 7 John Hutchinson (19 Adam Kwasnik 77′), 8 Dean Heffernan, 9 Nik Mrdja, 10 Tom Pondeljak, 12 Stewart Petrie, 15 Andrew Clark, 18 Alex Wilkinson
Cautions: Petrovski 29′, Bolton 37′, Packer 65′, Hutchinson 66′
¤ 30 July 2005: The draw for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship is carried out, with Sydney FC set to face CONCACAF champions Deportivo Saprissa in their first match. The winner is drawn to play against UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool.[FIFA]
¤ 01 August 2005: Mark Milligan is put out of action for eight weeks after undergoing a double hernia operation. He had been playing with the injury for over eight months in order to compete in the under-20 World Championships.[SFC]
¤ 04 August 2005: Sasho Petrovski is called into Guus Hiddink’s first Socceroos training camp after a four-year absence from the national team. The selection means that Petrovski will miss Sydney’s Pre-Season Cup semi-final, should they qualify.[TWG]
¤ 04 August 2005: Joe Schirripa (Central Coast United) is signed on a short-term deal until the beginning of October to replace the recovering Mark Milligan.[TWG]
¤ 06 August 2005: Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar, Barlow Park, 7:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
Sydney finish on top of Group B and book a home semi-final with a scoreless draw against Queensland.[SFC][A-L]
Sydney FC 0 drew Queensland Roar 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton, 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 7 Robbie Middleby, 10 Steve Corica (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski, 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer (21 Joe Schirripa 84′), 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke
Queensland Roar: 20 Scott Higgins (gk), 2 Karl Dodd, 3 Remo Buess, 4 Chad Gibson (c), 8 Massimo Murdocca, 11 Jonti Richter, 14 Ben Griffin, 16 Seo Hyuk-Su, 17 Reece Tollenaere, 19 Alex Brosque, 21 Spase Dilevski
Cautions: Petrovski 21′, Dodd 31′, Corica 80′
¤ 08 August 2005: The official launch of the Hyundai A-League is held at Darling Harbour. The competition’s $3 million marketing campaign, based on the slogan “It’s Football. But not as you know it”, is unveiled.[A-L]
¤ 10 August 2005: Centrebet installs Sydney FC as $2.05 favourites to win the inaugural A-League title, ahead of Perth Glory/Melbourne Victory ($6.00), Newcastle United ($8.00), Central Coast ($15.00), Adelaide United/Queensland Roar ($17.00) and New Zealand Knights ($34.00).[F]
¤ 14 August 2005: Sydney FC vs Perth Glory, Aussie Stadium, 5:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – SF)
Sydney suffer first loss after going 19 matches unbeaten, with Perth’s Nick Ward scoring in injury time at the end of the match. With Petrovski and Yorke away on international duty, David Zdrilic and Mark Rudan return from injury, the latter earning a yellow card for grabbing Steve McMahon Jr by the throat.[A-L]
Perth Glory 1 (Ward 90+1′) def. Sydney FC 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay, 7 Robbie Middleby (4 Mark Rudan 68′), 10 Steve Corica (c), 12 David Carney, 13 Alejandro Salazar (9 David Zdrilic 68′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 17 Jacob Timpano
Perth Glory: 1 Jason Petkovic, 2 Matt Horsley, 4 Simon Colosimo, 6 Steve McMahon Jr (8 Nick Ward 88′), 7 Scott Miller, 10 Bobby Despotovski, 12 Hiroyuki Ishida (19 Naum Sekulovski 66′), 13 Ante Kovacevic, 14 Jamie Coyne, 15 Billy Celeski, 21 Adrian Caceres (18 Henry Fa’arodo 75′)
Cautions: Despotovski 37′, Celeski 43′, Carney 55′, Talay 78′, Fa’arodo 79′, McMahon 83′, Rudan 83′, Fyfe 90+5′
¤ 23 August 2005: Sasho Petrovski is named in the 22-man Socceroos squad to play the Solomon Islands in the Oceania World Cup qualifying playoff. Clint Bolton and Iain Fyfe are also named in the train-on squad.[A-L]
¤ 26 August 2005: Sydney FC announced a three-year partnership with Star City Casino, which will become the club’s “home away from home”.[SFC]
¤ 28 August 2005: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory FC, Aussie Stadium, 5:00pm (A-League – Rd 1)
Sydney FC’s first A-League match, with Dwight Yorke scoring the first goal for the club. The crowd was officially announced as 25,208, but due to the huge number of walk-ups, the SCG trust threw open the gates for the second time in history 15 minutes in.[A-L][A-L][Age]
Sydney FC 1 (Yorke 44′) drew Melbourne Victory 1 (Thompson 73′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c; 17 Jacob Timpano 76′), 6 Ufuk Talay (8 Matthew Bingley 76′), 9 David Zdrilic (12 David Carney 58′), 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski, 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn, 19 Dwight Yorke
Melbourne Victory: 20 Eugene Galekovic (gk), 2 Kevin Muscat (c), 5 Geoffrey Claeys, 6 Steve Pantelidis (18 Chris Tadrosse 66′), 7 Michael Ferrante, 8 Andy Vlahos, 9 Danny Allsopp, 10 Archie Thompson, 12 Carl Recchia, 13 Kristian Sarkies (19 Ricky Diaco 66′), 15 Adrian Leijer
Cautions: Pantelidis 56′, Ferrante 61′, Muscat 64′, Packer 69′
¤ 02 September 2005: John Buonavoglia (St George) joins Sydney on a short-term contract to cover for the international callups of Sasho Petrovski, Dwight Yorke and Wade Oostendorp.[SFC]
¤ 02 September 2005: Sydney FC vs New Zealand Knights FC, North Harbour Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League – Rd 2)
Sydney FC notch up their first A-League win. Sasho Petrovski and Dwight Yorke were away on international duty, replaced by John Buonavoglia and Robbie Middleby, the latter scoring in injury time to seal the three points.[SFC][A-L][SFC]
Sydney FC 3 (Rudan 25′, Bingley 73′, Middleby 90+4′) def. New Zealand Knights 1 (Rose 69′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 6 Ufuk Talay, 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (22 John Buonavoglia 82′), 10 Steve Corica, 12 David Carney (17 Jacob Timpano 89′), 14 Andrew Packer (7 Robbie Middleby 70′), 15 Terry McFlynn
New Zealand Knights: 1 Danny Milosevic (gk), 2 Darren Bazeley, 4 John Tambouras, 5 Danny Hay (c; 21 Jeremy Christie 67′), 6 Neil Emblen, 7 Steve Fitzsimmons, 8 Ben Collett, 10 Sean Devine (9 Simon Yeo 74′), 11 Zenon Caravella, 14 Josh Maguire (16 Noah Hickey 80′), 15 Joshua Rose
Cautions: Devine 21′, Christie 72′, McFlynn 87′, Emble
n 90+1′
¤ 11 September 2005: Sydney FC vs Newcastle United Jets, EnergyAustralia Stadium, 5:00pm (A-League – Rd 3)
Sydney’s first loss in the competition, and Newcastle’s first win. Dwight Yorke, who returned from international duty on the previous day, was none-too-pleased about starting from the bench by Littbarski, and came on in the second half to score a goal. Steve Corica picked up a silly straight-red with a vicious challenge from behind, while the Jets’ Mateo Corbo joined him in the sheds for his part in the ensuing scuffle.[A-L][A-L]
Newcastle United Jets 2 (Milicic 6′, Johnson 18′) def. Sydney FC 1 (Yorke 78′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 6 Ufuk Talay (12 David Carney 76′), 7 Robbie Middleby (19 Dwight Yorke 45+1′), 8 Matthew Bingley (14 Andrew Packer 42′), 9 David Zdrilic, 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski, 15 Terry McFlynn
Newcastle Jets: 1 Liam Reddy (gk), 3 Jade North, 5 Ned Zelic (c), 7 Richard Johnson, 8 Matt Thompson (15 Stuart Musialik 87′), 9 Ante Milicic (19 Mark Bridge 61′), 10 Nick Carle, 12 Paul Kohler, 13 Mateo Corbo, 16 Labinot Haliti (2 Steve Eagleton 74′), 22 Allan Picken
Cautions: McFlynn 13′, North 38′, Corbo 39′, Petrovski 56′, Thompson 61′, Corbo 70′, Rudan 79′, Musialik 90+1′
Sent off: Corica 70′, Corbo 70′
¤ 16 September 2005: Wade Oostendorp is the only A-League contracted player named in the 20-man Joeys squad to play in the FIFA U17 World Championship in Peru.[A-L]
¤ 16 September 2005: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners FC, Aussie Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League – Rd 4)
Jacob Timpano replaces the suspended Steve Corica, while Dwight Yorke returns to the starting lineup and makes it 3 goals from 3 appearances. Alvin Ceccoli attempts to block an injury-time Noel Spencer free kick with his arse, and sends it looping over Clint Bolton to hand the Mariners the win. Terry McFlynn plays despite a recent family tragedy in Northern Ireland.[A-L][A-L][A-L]
Central Coast Mariners 3 (Petrie 20′ pen, Gumprecht 35′, Spencer 90+1′) def. Sydney FC 2 (Packer 13′, Yorke 72′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c; 17 Jacob Timpano 87′), 6 Ufuk Talay, 8 Matthew Bingley, 9 David Zdrilic (11 Sasho Petrovski 64′), 12 David Carney, 14 Andrew Packer (7 Robbie Middleby 84′), 15 Terry McFlynn, 19 Dwight Yorke
Central Coast: 1 John Crawley (gk), 2 Wayne O’Sullivan, 4 Noel Spencer (c), 5 Michael Beauchamp, 6 Andre Gumprecht, 7 John Hutchinson, 8 Dean Heffernan, 10 Tom Pondeljak, 12 Stewart Petrie (19 Adam Kwasnik 50′), 15 Andrew Clark, 18 Alex Wilkinson
Cautions: Bingley 47′, Spencer 50′, Gumprecht 59′
¤ 21 September 2005: Captain Mark Rudan is ruled out of Sydney FC’s next match, against Queensland Roar, with a hamstring cork.[SFC]
¤ 23 September 2005: Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar FC, Suncorp Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League – Rd 5)
Steve Corica returns from suspension to score a double, while Terry McFlynn seals the win with a quality chip over Tom Willis.[A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 3 (Corica 5′, 67′, McFlynn 72′) def. Queensland Roar 1 (Timpano 50′ og)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay, 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski (9 David Zdrilic 85′), 12 David Carney (7 Robbie Middleby 78′), 14 Andrew Packer, 15 Terry McFlynn (8 Matthew Bingley 83′), 17 Jacob Timpano, 19 Dwight Yorke (c)
Queensland Roar: 1 Tom Willis (gk), 2 Karl Dodd (17 Reece Tollenaere 74′), 3 Remo Buess, 4 Chad Gibson (c), 5 Josh McCloughan, 8 Massimo Murdocca, 9 Michael Baird, 10 Royce Brownlie (11 Jonti Richter 36′), 16 Seo Hyuk-Su, 18 Warren Moon (19 Alex Brosque 51′), 21 Spase Dilevski
Cautions: Baird 14′, McFlynn 38′, Talay 50′
¤ 28 September 2005: Sydney FC release defender Steve Laurie, who made just two competitive appearances in his time at the club. A replacement is yet to be signed.[SFC]