2008–09 Sydney FC season

Sydney FC
2008-2009 season
Chairman Andrew Kemeny
Manager John Kosmina
A-League 5th
A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup Group stage (3rd)
Top goalscorer Alex Brosque 5 Goals
Highest home attendance 18,251 v Central Coast Mariners (Round 10)
Lowest home attendance 8,502 v Queensland Roar (Round 13)
Home colours
Away colours
← 2007–08
2009-10 →

The 2008–09 season is Sydney FC's fourth season of football (soccer) in Australia, and will compete in the A-League 2008-09 season.

2008-09 Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Australia GK Clint Bolton
2 Australia DF Iain Fyfe
3 Australia DF Nikolas Tsattalios
4 Australia MF Simon Colosimo
5 Australia MF Mitchell Prentice
7 Australia DF Robbie Middleby
8 Australia MF Stuart Musialik
10 Australia MF Steve Corica (captain)
11 Australia FW Brendon Santalab
12 Australia MF Shannon Cole
14 Australia FW Alex Brosque
15 Northern Ireland MF Terry McFlynn
16 Australia FW Chris Payne
17 Australia DF Jacob Timpano
18 Australia FW Adam Casey
No. Position Player
19 Australia FW Mark Bridge
20 Australia GK Ivan Necevski
21 Australia MF Adam Biddle
22 United States MF Michael Enfield
23 Australia FW John Aloisi
25 Australia MF Robbie Mileski
27 Australia DF Matthew Jurman
28 Netherlands MF Bobby Petta
29 Australia DF Beau Busch
30 Australia GK John Filan
31 Australia DF Anthony Golec
32 Australia MF Brendan Gan
34 Australia MF Rhyan Grant
35 Australia FW Kofi Danning
36 Australia DF Zachary Cairncross

Pre-season

Sydney commenced pre-season training on 28 April 2008, and have been actively promoting the club to the Sydney community in the lead up to the season.

A number of friendly matches against NSW Premier League opposition are expected to be arranged in May and June.

Sydney played their first pre-season match against NSW Premier League side Blacktown City Demons at Gabbie Stadium which ended in a 0–0 draw. The match was significant in which Michael Enfield played his first game in almost a season, and fellow American Matt Taylor played his first trial game for the club. Sydney lost their 2nd trial match against Sutherland a week later losing 2–1 on artificial turf. Jacob Timpano scored Sydney's goal late in the 1st half. It was his first goal for the club after almost a year and a half on the sidelines through injury. Sydney's 3rd and final Pre-season friendly ended up a 2–0 win over Manly United, with Newly signed 17yr old Chris Payne scoring the double for the Sky Blues against his former club. It is their last Pre-season friendly before starting in the annual pre-season cup which starts later this month.

A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup

Sydney have been drawn into Group B for the A-League Preseason Challenge Cup along with Queensland Roar, Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix.[1]

Fixtures

Round 1
19 July 2008
Sydney FC 2 – 1 Queensland Roar
Terry McFlynn  17'
Chris Payne  54'
Mitchell Prentice  59'
Adam Casey  79'
Simon Colosimo  86' 		(Report) Andrew Packer  44'
Sergio van Dijk  49'
Hyuk-Su Seo Red card 57'

Round 2
19 July 2008
Central Coast Mariners 3 – 0 Sydney FC
David D’Apuzzo  32'
Andrew Clark  34'
Brad Porter  43'  70'
Sasho Petrovski  56'  60'
Nik Mrdja  69' 		(Report) Steve Corica  49'
Alex Brosque  63'
Iain Fyfe  68'
Simon Colosimo  74'
Chris Payne  77'
Dez Giraldi  90'
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford, NSW
Attendance: 7,107
Referee: Chris Beath

Round 3
2 August 2008
Sydney FC 2 – 3 Wellington Phoenix
Alex Brosque  16'  69'
Iain Fyfe  36'
Dez Giraldi  61'
Mitchell Prentice Yellow cardRed card 61', 91'
Ryan Walsh  61' 		(Report) Leo Bertos  24'
Andrew Durante Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 35', 91'
Troy Hearfield  57'
Shane Smeltz  62' (pen)
Adam Kwasnik  80'
Leilei Gao  82'
WIN Stadium, Wollongong, NSW
Attendance: 6,124
Referee: Strebre Delovski

On a freezing cold night at Campbelltown Sydney came victorious against Queensland Roar 2–1. After a scoreless 1st half, Queensland scored first through their new Dutch import, before Sydney hit back minutes later through newly signed 17-year-old Chris Payne, late in the 2nd Half Alex Brosque was fouled near the penalty area and former Perth Glory midfielder Mitchell Prentice took a shot that fired into the top right corner of the net. Sydney next travel up to Gosford To play the Central Coast Mariners.

Sydney played the Mariners up at Bluetongue Stadium on 27 July. Central Coast had recently been in the News with former Socceroos and Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich reportedly signing a 2-year contract. Sydney dominated the first 15 minutes until Brad Porter scored 2 minutes before half time. Sydney had several excellent chances early in the 2nd through Alex Brosque and Terry McFlynn but Bosnich denied any Sydney goal. 2 late goals for Central Coast through former Sydney player Sasho Petrovski and Nik Mrdja. Sydney had a 70th minute Steve Corica penalty stopped by Bosnich. Sydney now will hope to get through to the Pre-Season final with a win over Wellington Phoenix at WIN Stadium next Saturday Night.

Sydney played Wellington at WIN stadium, needing a victory and the Central Coast Mariners beeting the Queensland Roar in order to get into the Pre-Season cup final. Sydney started off well with early goals from Alex Brosque and Iain Fyfe both operning up their goal tally's for the season, and sydney looked to have the game under control by half time. Until 15 minutes into the 2nd half Wellington got a goal back through Troy Hearfield. A last-man sliding tackle by Dez Giraldi earnt Wellington a Penalty, as well as Giraldi's marching orders. The penalty was converted past Sydney's 2nd keeper Ivan Necevski leveling the scores at 2–2. with 9 minutes to go till full-time a defensive mistake cost Sydney the game when Jacob Timpano but a terrible pass-back to Necevski and Wellington's Chinese import Leilei Gao intercepted it, and slotted the ball past a stunned Necevski.
Sydney now go into the start of the 4th A-League season short on players with Alex Brosque, Dez Giraldi, Mitchell Prentice, and Simon Colosimo all out on Suspension, and John Aloisi, Brendon Santalab, and Michael Enfield all injured, as well as Mark Bridge, and Stuart Musialik out on Olyroo duties for the Beijing Olympics.

A-League

Sydney will again compete in the A-League competition.[2]

Home-and-Away fixtures

Round 1

16 August 2008
19:00 UTC+10
Sydney FC 0 – 0 Melbourne Victory
Report
Summary
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 16,227
Referee: Mark Shield

Round 2

23 August 2008
19:00 UTC+10
Central Coast Mariners 2 – 3 Sydney FC
Petrovski  13' (Pen),  67' Report

Summary

 Corica  6',  14'
Musialik Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 69'
Cole  81'
Bluetongue Stadium
Attendance: 10,932
Referee: Ben Williams

Round 3

31 August 2008
15:00 UTC+10
Sydney FC 5 – 2 Perth Glory
Brosque  3'
Corica  21' (Pen)
Bridge  39'
Cole  43'
Topor-Stanley  88' (o.g.) 		Report
Summary 		Dadi  12',  67' (Pen)
Djulbic Yellow cardRed card 20', 20'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 11,732
Referee: Peter Green

Round 4

13 September 2008
19:00 UTC+10
Newcastle Jets 0 – 0 Sydney FC
Report
Summary 		Prentice Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 83', 87'
EnergyAustralia Stadium
Attendance: 11,535
Referee: Peter O’Leary

Round 5

20 September 2008
17:00 UTC+10
Sydney FC 3 – 0 Adelaide United
McFlynn  2'
Brosque  34'
Santalab  79' 		Report
Summary
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 12,462
Referee: Ben Williams

Round 6

28 September 2008
17:00 UTC+12
Wellington Phoenix 2 – 1 Sydney FC
Smeltz  42'
Brown  76' 		Report
Summary 		Brosque  20'
Westpac Stadium
Attendance: 6,729
Referee: Chris Beath

Round 7

4 October 2008
19:00 UTC+10
Sydney FC 1 – 1 Queensland Roar
Musialik  90+3' Report
Summary 		Miller  49'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 12,403
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 8

19 October 2008
14:00 UTC+8
Perth Glory 2 – 1 Sydney FC
Harnwell  5',  47' Report
Summary 		Santalab  11'
Fyfe Red card 90+1'
Members Equity Stadium
Attendance: 7,759
Referee: Peter O’Leary

Round 9

25 October 2008
19:00 UTC+11
Melbourne Victory 0 – 1 Sydney FC
Report
Summary 		Bridge  20'
Telstra Dome
Attendance: 31,564
Referee: Ben Williams

Round 10

1 November 2008
19:00 UTC+11
Sydney FC 3 – 3 Central Coast Mariners
Bridge  28'
Casey  39'
McFlynn  57' 		Report
Summary 		Simon  63',  81'
Mrdja  78'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 18,251
Referee: Srebre Delovski

Round 11

7 November 2008
20:00 UTC+11
Sydney FC 1 – 2 Wellington Phoenix
Musialik  77' Report
Summary 		Bertos  34'
Smeltz  89' (Pen)
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 12,856
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 12

22 November 2008
18:30 UTC+10:30
Adelaide United 2 – 0 Sydney FC
Ognenovski  45+2'
T. Dodd  78' 		Report
Summary 		McFlynn Yellow cardRed card 29', 61'
Hindmarsh Stadium
Attendance: 9,509
Referee: Ben Williams

Round 13

28 November 2008
20:00 UTC+10
Sydney FC 1 – 1 Queensland Roar
Corica  64' Report
Summary 		McKay  12'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 8,502
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 14

7 December 2008
17:00 UTC+11
Newcastle Jets 1 – 2 Sydney FC
Wheelhouse  11' Report
Summary 		Fyfe  15'
Gan  78'
EnergyAustralia Stadium
Attendance: 7,872
Referee: Srebre Delovski

Round 15

13 December 2008
19:00 UTC+11
Central Coast Mariners 2 – 1 Sydney FC
Macallister  11'
Jedinak  90+1' (Pen) 		Report
Summary 		Aloisi  65' (Pen)
Bluetongue Stadium
Attendance: 11,220
Referee: Peter Green

Round 16

21 December 2008
17:00 UTC+11
Sydney FC 1 – 4 Perth Glory
Musialik  61' Report
Summary 		Pellegrino  11'
Golec  36' (o.g.)
Srhoj  49'
Middleby  69' (o.g.)
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 12,165
Referee: Ben Williams

Round 17

27 December 2008
19:00 UTC+11
Melbourne Victory 3 – 2 Sydney FC
Thompson  14'
Ward  71'
Ney Fabiano  80' 		Report
Summary 		Cole  1'
Gan  4'
Telstra Dome
Attendance: 25,398
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 18

3 January 2009
19:30 UTC+10:30
Adelaide United 2 – 0 Sydney FC
Cássio  45+1'
Alemão  83' 		Report
Summary 		Jurman Red card 90+3'
Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 23,002
Referee: Chris Beath

Round 19

11 January 2009
18:00 UTC+11
Sydney FC 1 – 0 Wellington Phoenix
Danning  85' Summary Hearfield Red card 64'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 9,605
Referee: Ben Williams

Round 20

17 January 2009
19:00 UTC+10
Queensland Roar 3 – 1 Sydney FC
Van Dijk  16',  28',  90+3' Summary Danning  25'
CairncrossRed card 87'
Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 19,111
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 21

25 January 2009
17:00 UTC+11
Sydney FC 4 – 0 Newcastle Jets
Brosque  13',  41'
Milligan  77' (o.g.)
Bridge  86' 		Report
Summary
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 9,551
Referee: Kevin Docherty

Player details

Scorers

Total Player Goals per Round
 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
5 Australia Alex Brosque 1 1 1 2
4 Australia Mark Bridge 1 1 1 1
4 Australia Steve Corica 2 1 1
3 Australia Shannon Cole 1 1 1
3 Australia Stuart Musialik 1 1 1
2 Australia John Aloisi 1 1
2 Australia Kofi Danning 1 1
2 Australia Brendan Gan 1 1
2 Australia Brendon Santalab 1 1
2 Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn 1 1
1 Australia Adam Casey 1
1 Australia Iain Fyfe 1
A goal was scored from a penalty kick
Two goals were scored from penalty kicks

Transfers

The later parts of the 2007–08 season saw the departure of Mark Rudan to Japanese second division side Avispa Fukuoka and the club released David Zdrilic, Ruben Zadkovich and Patrick da Silva at season's end. Ufuk Talay joined his former team mate Mark Rudan and coach Pierre Littbarski at Avispa Fukuoka the end of the season.

New signings for the 2008–09 season started in earnest in March with the official announcements of Simon Colosimo from Perth, Mark Bridge and Stuart Musialik from Jets and a new marquee player in John Aloisi from the Mariners reportedly with a pay packet of up to A$1.4m a season.[3] With Aloisi joining as the marquee and other signings being under the salary cap, Sydney were unable to retain Brazilian Juninho at the club and he was unceremoniously released during the off-season. Ruben Zadkovich was snatched up by Newcastle but ended up heading over to England on a reported 2-year contract with relegated Premier League team Derby County. Manly United young gun Chris Payne caught Kosmina's eye during a pre-season trial and signed the youngster on a 2-year youth contract. And in Mid-July Kosmina signed Wollongong Wolves striker Dez Giraldi on an 8 week loan spell to replace the injured Brendon Santalab.


In

Player From League Fee Date
Australia Simon Colosimo Perth Glory (released) Australia A-League Free 3 March 2008[4]
Australia Mark Bridge Newcastle United Jets FC Australia A-League Free 3 March 2008[5]
Australia John Aloisi Central Coast Mariners Australia A-League Free 3 March 2008[5]
Australia Stuart Musialik Newcastle United Jets Australia A-League Free 11 March 2008[6]
Australia Mitchell Prentice Perth Glory (released) Australia A-League Free 3 May 2008[7]
Australia Chris Payne Manly United Australia NSW Premier League $3000 20 May 2008
Australia Shannon Cole Sydney Olympic Australia NSW Premier League Free 14 August 2008

Out

Player To League Fee Date
Australia Ufuk Talay Avispa Fukuoka Japan J.League 2nd Division Free 12 February 2008[5]
Australia Ruben Zadkovich Derby County (released) England Premier League – 3 March 2008[5]
Australia David Zdrilić Released – – 3 March 2008[5]
Brazil Patrick da Silva Released – – 3 March 2008[5]
Australia Ben Vidaic Sydney United Australia NSW Premier League Free 18 March 2008[8]
Brazil Juninho Paulista Released – – 12 April 2008 [9]
Australia Mark Milligan Released – – 28 April 2008

Short-term signings

Player Team Start Date End Date Reason
United States Matt Taylor Hollywood United F.C. 26 June 2008 3 July 2008 Trial
Australia Dez Giraldi Wollongong FC 25 July 2008 29 September 2008 On loan to replace Injured Brendon Santalab
Australia Ryan Walsh Blacktown City Demons 14 August 2008 21 August 2008 Suspension Replacement
Australia John Filan Wigan Athletic 28 August 2008 1 November 2008 Suspension Replacement
Netherlands Bobby Petta Para Hills Knights 25 October 2008 On loan to replace Injured Michael Enfield
Australia Beau Busch Manly United 25 October 2008 Suspension Replacement

Loan out

Player Team League Start Date End Date
Australia Adam Biddle Blacktown City Demons Australia NSW Premier League 1 March 2008 26 April 2008[10]
Australia Ivan Necevski Blacktown City Demons Australia NSW Premier League 1 March 2008 26 April 2008[10]
Australia Nikolas Tsattalios Penrith Nepean United Australia NSW Premier League 1 March 2008 26 April 2008[10]
Australia Ben Vidaic Sydney United Australia NSW Premier League 1 March 2008 18 March 2008[10]

References

  1. ↑ 2008 Pre-Season Cup Draw, Football Federation Australia, 2 May 2008
  2. ↑ Hyundai A-League 2008/09 Season Draw, Football Federation Australia, 2 May 2008
  3. ↑ Cockerill,M (4 March 2008). "Aloisi is football's gold standard but Sydney play down bling envy". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  4. ↑ Announced 27 January 2008; will join the club for preseason in April; "Sydney FC signs Simon Colosimo to two year deal". sydneyfc.com. 27 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Sydney FC scores hat trick with Aloisi Bridge and Colosimo". sydneyfc.com. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  6. ↑ "Bling FC attracts Musialik". theworldgame.com.au. 10 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  7. ↑ "Prentice Cat Out Of Sydney Bag". au.fourfourtwo.com. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  8. ↑ "Vidaic released by Sydney". FourFourTwo Australia. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  9. ↑ "Sydney have no room for Juninho". FoxSports Australia. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Four Sydney FC players to help boost NSW Premier League". sydneyfc.com. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-04.