2007–08 Sydney FC season

The 2007–08 season is Sydney FC's third season of football (soccer) in Australia. The club finished seventh in the A-League Pre-season Challenge Cup and competed in the 2007–08 A-League season.

Sydney FC
2007–2008 season
ChairmanGeorge Perry;
Andrew Kemeny
ManagerBranko Čulina;
John Kosmina
A-League3rd (League)
Semi-finals (Finals)
A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup7th
Pan-Pacific Championship4th
Top goalscorerLeague: Alex Brosque (8 goals)
All: Alex Brosque (11 goals)
Highest home attendanceLeague: 33,458 (20 January 2008, vs Melbourne);
All: 80,295 (27 November 2007 vs Los Angeles Galaxy)
Lowest home attendance10,732 (7 December 2007, vs Newcastle Jets)

After a disappointing start to the season, the club sacked coach Branko Čulina in October,[1] and appointed John Kosmina. The team recovered from its poor start to finish third on the league table, securing a place in the finals series but being eliminated in the semi-final by Queensland Roar.

The club represented Australia at the Pan-Pacific Championship in February 2008 and finished fourth after losing to American MLS sides Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy.

Player details

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Squad

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Players included in a Sydney FC squad in the 2007–08 season: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   AUS Clint Bolton
2 DF   AUS Iain Fyfe
3 DF   AUS Nikolas Tsattalios
4 DF   AUS Mark Rudan
5 DF   AUS Ryan Walsh
6 DF   AUS Tony Popović (captain)
7 MF   AUS Robbie Middleby
8 MF   AUS Ruben Zadkovich
9 FW   AUS David Zdrilic
10 MF   AUS Steve Corica
11 FW   AUS Brendon Santalab
12 FW   BRA Patrick da Silva
13 FW   AUS Ben Vidaic
14 FW   AUS Alex Brosque
15 MF   NIR Terry McFlynn
16 DF   AUS Mark Milligan
17 DF   AUS Jacob Timpano
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 FW   AUS Adam Casey
19 MF   USA Michael Enfield
20 GK   AUS Ivan Necevski
21 MF   AUS Adam Biddle
22 MF   BRA Juninho
23 MF   AUS Ufuk Talay
24 FW   AUS Robbie Cattanach
25 MF   AUS Matthew Jurman
25 DF   AUS Cameron Watson
25 FW   AUS Daniel Severino
26 MF   AUS Brendan Renaud
27 MF   AUS Shannon Cole
28 MF   AUS Chris Nunes
28 FW   ENG Michael Bridges
29 MF   AUS Mark Robertson
30 GK   AUS Matthew Nash
40 GK   FRA Michael Herbet

Transfers

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With Branko Culina installed at the helm, he sought to reconstruct the Sydney squad which had been plagued by injuries and financial constraints the previous year. Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Noel Spencer left for other A-League sides at the end of the Asian Champions League, but defender Nikolas Tsattalios was rewarded with a longer term contract. New signings from foreign leagues were unveiled in American Michael Enfield, Brendon Santalab and World Cup Socceroo Tony Popović. Popović's expected role in the club was further reinforced by being handed the captaincy for the A-League season.[2] The club also fulfilled their youth player quota, signing Joey striker Ben Vidaic and winger Adam Biddle.

The club also sought to find a new marquee player as they had been unable to land a household-name since the departure of Dwight Yorke at the start of the previous season. The club unsuccessfully courted a number of high-profile internationals including Philip Cocu, Robbie Fowler,[3] Hakan Şükür,[4] Christian Vieri,[5] Jay-Jay Okocha[6] and John Aloisi.[7] On 3 August 2007 Sydney announced, (two days after media reports broke the story[8]) that Brazilian international Juninho Paulista will be their marquee player on a one-year deal. This came the same time as David Carney agreed to move to English side Sheffield United following speculation of his departure following the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. Sydney finalised their squad by signing a second Brazilian in striker Patrick da Silva.

With the season kicking off, new reserve goalkeeper Ivan Necevski suffered an injury in training expected to keep him out of action for up to two months. APIA Leichhardt custodian Matthew Nash impressed in his preseason trial to earn a short-term contract as cover. As first round matches were underway with Nash on the bench, Sydney agreed terms with veteran John Filan to join the club, having recently returned home after retiring at Wigan.[9] The short-term agreement fell through less than a week later, Filan citing outside issues.

Player From League Fee Date
  Michael Enfield Los Angeles Galaxy   Major League Soccer Free 7 April 2007[10]
  Brendon Santalab Újpest FC   Borsodi Liga Free 22 June 2007[11]
  Ivan Necevski Blacktown City Demons   NSW Premier League Free 22 June 2007[12]
  Nikolas Tsattalios Sydney FC (promoted from short-term deal)   A-League 2 July 2007[13]
  Tony Popović Al-Arabi   Qatari League Free 11 July 2007[14]
  Ben Vidaic Sydney United   NSW Premier League Free 31 July 2007[15]
  Juninho Paulista Flamengo (free agent)   Brazilian Série A 3 August 2007[16]
  Adam Biddle Blacktown City Demons   NSW Premier League Free 6 August 2007[17]
  Patrick da Silva Nacional Atlético Clube (SP)   Campeonato Paulista Série A2 Free 18 August 2007[18]
  Brendan Renaud Blacktown City Demons   NSW Premier League Free 12 December 2007[19]
Player To League Fee Date
  Nikolai Topor-Stanley Perth Glory   A-League 24 May 2007 .[20][21]
  Justin Pasfield Sydney United (released)   NSW Premier League 24 May 2007[22]
  Noel Spencer Newcastle United Jets   A-League 24 May 2007[23]
  Luka Glavas Heidelberg United (released)   Victorian Premier League 24 May 2007[24]
  Dean Bouzanis Liverpool F.C. (loan terminated – delisted)   Premier League June 2007[25]
  David Carney Sheffield United   Premier League A$125,000 4 August 2007[26][27]
  Mark Rudan Avispa Fukuoka   J. League Div 2 A$100,000 17 December 2007[28][29]
  Brendan Renaud Retired 23 February 2008

Short-term signings

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Player From Start date End date Reason
  Matthew Nash   APIA Leichhardt 23 August 2007 10 October 2007 Injury cover for Ivan Necevski[30]
21 December 2007 24 December 2007 Injury cover for Clint Bolton[31]
  Michael Herbet   Waverley Old Boys 6 September 2007 12 September 2007 Cover for Clint Bolton while on international duty[32]
  Matthew Jurman   AIS 6 September 2007 12 September 2007 Cover for Mark Milligan/Ruben Zadkovich while on international duty[32]
  Robbie Cattanach   Manly United FC 6 September 2007 12 September 2007 Cover for Alex Brosque while on international duty[32]
  Michael Bridges   Hull City (loan) 17 October 2007 21 January 2008 Injury cover for Michael Enfield[33][34]
  Mark Robertson   FC Sopron 13 December 2007 24 February 2008 Injury cover for Adam Casey[35]
  Ryan Walsh   Blacktown City Demons 20 February 2008 24 February 2008 Injury cover for Robbie Middleby at Pan-Pacific Championship

Pre-season

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AFC Champions League

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As 2005–06 A-League Champions, Sydney qualified for the 2007 AFC Champions League as one of the two teams representing Australia along with 2005–06 League Premiers, Adelaide United. Group matches were played from March to May 2007, during the A-League off-season. Sydney finished second in their group after two wins, three draws and one loss, a point behind Urawa Reds who progressed to the next stage of competition.

Squad preparation

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For the new season, Sydney have established an agreement with Macquarie University to use the Sport and Aquatic Centre as a training base[36] and also establishing an off-field relationship offering educational, corporate and research linkages.[37][38] As part of preparations, the club staged a training camp on the Sunshine Coast with a match against a team of local players in the lead up to their opening Pre-season Cup match.[39] Sydney will also play a series of friendly matches against NSW Premier League and State League sides, to engage with the Sydney football community.[40] These friendlies and Pre-season Cup matches also provided experience for trialling players Ben Vidaic, Cameron Watson, Daniel Severino, Robbie Cattanach, Shannon Cole, Chris Nunes, former short-term Sydney player Tolgay Özbey and goalkeepers Vendram Janjetovic and Matthew Nash.

Friendly matches

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11 July 2007 Sunshine Coast Select XI 1–2 Sydney FC Sunshine Coast
Tyson Holmes   Report Ufuk Talay    Stadium: Maroochydore Regional Football Complex
18 July 2007 Sydney University SFC 0–3 Sydney FC Sydney
Report David Zdrilic   25'
Marko Rudan   44'
Ben Vidaic   80'
Stadium: Valentine Sports Park
8 August 2007 Manly United 2–3 Sydney FC Sydney
Andrew Mailer   20'
Brad Groves   77'
Report Adam Biddle   15'
Michael Enfield   40'
Ufuk Talay   75'
Stadium: Cromer Park
17 August 2007 Penrith Nepean United 2–1 Sydney FC Sydney
Mitchell Long   44'
Ben Gough   approx. 75' (pen.)
Report Mark Milligan   27' Stadium: CUA Stadium
Attendance: 5,000
27 November 2007 Hyundai Club Challenge Sydney FC   5–3   Los Angeles Galaxy Sydney
Brosque   5', 25'
Zadkovich   29'
Middleby   53'
Fyfe   87'
Report Beckham   45'
Buddle   49'
Donovan   90'
Stadium: Telstra Stadium
Attendance: 80,295
Referee: Mark Shield

2007 A-League Pre-season Cup

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The Pre-season Cup competition consists of two groups of four teams, each team to play each other once. All teams then progress to a playoff stage with opponents based on group position, followed by finals series to determine the cup winner. Sydney finished the group stage bottom of Group B behind Central Coast Mariners, Queensland Roar and Wellington Phoenix. After a loss and a win in the final placings matches, they were ranked seventh.

Group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Central Coast Mariners 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 3 10
2 Queensland Roar 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 1 6
3 Wellington Phoenix 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 2 5
4 Sydney FC 3 0 1 2 0 6 −6 0 1
Source: [citation needed]
14 July 2007 1 Queensland Roar 0–0 Sydney FC Sunshine Coast
19:00 AEST Report Stadium: Maroochydore Regional Football Complex
Attendance: 4,892
Referee: Chris Beath
22 July 2007 2 Wellington Phoenix 3–0 Sydney FC Wellington
14:00 NZST Shane Smeltz   13', 89'
Marko Rudan   14' (o.g.)
Report Stadium: Westpac Stadium
Attendance: 6,039
Referee: Peter O'Leary
29 July 2007 3 Sydney FC 0–3 Central Coast Mariners Canberra
15:00 AEST Report Matthew Osman   36'
Adam Kwasnik   44'
Andre Gumprecht   51'
Stadium: Canberra Stadium
Attendance: 5,735
Referee: Ben Williams

Playoffs

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4 August 2007 Sydney FC 2–3 Newcastle Jets Sydney
19:30 AEST Ruben Zadkovich   79' Report Joel Griffiths   5', 76' Stadium: Parramatta Stadium
Attendance: 2,611
Referee: Peter Green
11 August 2007 Seventh place play-off Melbourne Victory 0–1 Sydney FC Melbourne
19:30 AEST Report Alex Brosque   34' Stadium: Olympic Park
Attendance: 3,400
Referee: Simon Przydacz

2007–08 A-League

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On 5 August, David Carney was transferred for A$125,000 to English Championship side, Sheffield United. The former Sydney player signed a three-year deal with the club which has been reported to earn him around A$1.25 million a year.[41]

New players including former Socceroos regular Tony Popovic and former LA Galaxy Attacking Midfielder, Michael Enfield have signed with Sydney for the upcoming season. On 3 August 2007 Brazilian international Juninho Paulista, formerly of Celtic and Middlesbrough, signed with Sydney FC as their marquee player.[42] Sydney have also announced the signings of youth players Ben Vidaic and Adam Biddle.

Former Socceroos Tony Popovic has been named the new skipper alongside current Socceroos Mark Milligan as vice-captain for the coming 2007–08 season.[43]

On 15 October 2007 Michael Bridges was signed on a loan with Sydney FC, until the end of the 2007–08 season of the Hyundai A-League as a replacement for long-term casualty Michael Enfield, who has been ruled out for several months after sustaining a serious knee injury.

On 22 October 2007, it was announced that Branko Culina would be sacked from the club following disappointing results. It was announced on 23 October, that former Adelaide United coach John Kosmina will take the role as the new head coach of Sydney FC.[1]

Kosmina got the side of to a flying start under his tenure, his first match in charge, a clash with then table-topping rivals Central Coast, a thrilling 3–2 victory in front of a crowd of nearly 18,000 at the SFS, a sign of bigger things to come for the Blues. This was followed by an impressive 1–0 away victory over Newcastle Jets; with former England junior Michael Bridges recording his first goal for Sydney FC. An entertaining 0–0 draw at the Telstra Dome, with rivals Melbourne, followed, with Sydney FC still undefeated under Kosmina.

Sydney FC suffered their first loss under John Kosmina on 15 December losing 4–2 to bottom side Perth Glory. Sydney goals were scored by Steve Corica and Michael Bridges.

On 22 December, a crucial match against the Central Coast Mariners resulted in a 5–4 victory in favour of Sydney. The match, held at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, was described by critics as the best game ever to come from the A-League.[44] The crucial win moved Sydney FC up by 3 points to 4th place on the ladder, overtaking Adelaide United. The win was especially savoured after Sydney were down 2–0 after 15 minutes. The controversial sending-off of Mariners goalkeeper Danny Vukovic in the 16th minute turned the match in favour of Sydney, who scored their 5th goal via an Ufuk Taly penalty with the final kick of the match in stoppage time.

On Friday 28 December 2007, Sydney FC came from behind for the second time in two weeks to defeat a 10-man Adelaide United 3–1 and keep its unbeaten away record intact in front of a record crowd of 25,039 in Adelaide. This result forced Adelaide down to 5th on the ladder. With 3rd place Newcastle Jets unable to secure a victory over Wellington Phoenix in Round 18, Sydney leap-frogged the Jets into 3rd place, with only 3 points behind the tied leaders.

A week later Sydney travelled across the Tasman to face Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium. Sydney came out of this match once again victorious winning 2–0 with goals from Northern Ireland superstar Terry McFlynn and current leading goalscorer for Sydney, Alex Brosque. This kept them in 3rd position on the A-League ladder and in good contention for a finals berth. This win also ensured that the Phoenix would not reach the finals.

As of 30 December 2007 rumours suggesting that Sydney had signed Simon Colosimo from the Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets striker Mark Bridge for the 2008/09 Season. Although these rumours have been proved true, no statements have officially been released as neither player wanted to cause trouble at their present clubs.

On Sunday 13 January 2008 Sydney flew up to Brisbane to play the Queensland Roar at Suncorp Stadium. The game finished 0–0, with both sides taking a point. Sydney only needed a draw to secure their place for a 3rd consecutive finals appearance. The draw means that the top 4 teams (Sydney, Queensland Roar, Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets) are all on 31 points each, although Queensland are on top due to goal difference. Both teams had excellent chances to open the scoring for their club, but good keeping and failure to capitalise on good opportunities meant that many goals went begging. In the end the 32,000 strong crowd at Suncorp Stadium went home feeling disappointed that they didn't get their money's worth for this State of Origin Match.

The final game of the regular season saw Sydney's largest crowd of the season, it drew a large crowd of 33,458 people. Sydney needed to win by at least 2 goals, and they got off to a flying start, with Steve Corica scoring in the 3rd minute. For the rest of the half Melbourne looked shellshocked, and never really recovered from to shock early goal. But they hit back 25 seconds after the break, with Sydney's minds still back in the dressing room, Melbourne midfielder Nick Ward flew down the right wing and took a shot, which ended up rebounding into Sydney defender Mark Milligan, ending up as an own goal. With 15 minutes left in the game Alex Brosque scored, making the score 2–1. But 5 Minutes later Danny Allsopp scored for Melbourne, leaving the final score 2–2. Sydney failed to claim the minor premiership which ended up going to the Central Coast Mariners with their 2–0 victory over the Wellington Phoenix at Gosford. Sydney will now play Queensland Roar in the Semi-Final which is to be held at the Sydney Football Stadium.

On Friday 26 January Sydney played their first leg home final against the Queensland Roar in front of a crowd of 23,450 at the Sydney Football Stadium. The match which was supposed to be played up at Queensland's home ground Suncorp Stadium but it was moved to Sydney because of a concert by the '80s band The Police. Recent matches against the Roar, had all been mostly uneventful affairs, including a 0–0 draw a couple of weeks beforehand, and it was the same again. Both sides had few chances during the 1st half, but Queensland's Brazilian import Reinaldo missed a golden opportunity when he air-swinged a cross in the opening 10 minutes. Sydney's best chance came in the 2nd half when Alex Brosque made a break, got around defender Andrew Packer and only had to slot the ball past the keeper but ended up booting the ball over the crossbar, and into the disappointed 'cove' supporters. Late in the 2nd half Sydney suffered a blow when midfielder Robbie Middleby was fouled heavily by Roar defender Sasa Ognenovski and injured his hamstring. Middleby is now expected to miss the next leg up in Brisbane, and possibly the Grand Final. Sydney had to chance to get a double late in the game when Brendon Santalab and Patrick missed golden opportunities.

Sydney and Queensland will now play the second leg of the minor semi-final at Suncorp Stadium on 8 February 2008. Two weeks later Sydney were up in Brisbane to face off in the second leg of the preliminary final. They had suffered a knock-back the day before they flew up with Marquee player Juninho ruled out with a knee injury that he picked up in training. Ruben Zadkovich was announced as his replacement. Sydney started the match well but with many poor decisions by referee Mark Shield including the sending off of Midfielder Robbie Middleby for a tackle, which did not even deserve a yellow. Queensland scored in the 14th minute through their Brazilian import Reinaldo and Sydney never looked like coming back after that. Referee Shield made another poor call when Sydney captain Tony Popović allegedly shoved Roar striker Tahj Minniecon in the penalty box, and Sasa Ognenovski converted the penalty past keeper Clint Bolton. Many Sydney fans were disgusted at the poor display shown by referee Mark Shield, as most games refereed under him have turned out to be fair challenges, and as a result the small Sydney group that had travelled across the border booed him off.

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Central Coast Mariners 21 10 4 7 30 25 +5 34 Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series[a]
2 Newcastle Jets (C) 21 9 7 5 25 21 +4 34
3 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 28 24 +4 32 Qualification for 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship and Finals series
4 Queensland Roar 21 8 7 6 25 21 +4 31 Qualification for Finals series
5 Melbourne Victory 21 6 9 6 29 29 0 27
6 Adelaide United 21 6 8 7 31 29 +2 26
7 Perth Glory 21 4 8 9 27 34 −7 20
8 Wellington Phoenix[b] 21 5 5 11 25 37 −12 20
Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage.
    Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
  2. ^ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Matches

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24 August 2007 1 Sydney FC 0–1 Central Coast Mariners Sydney
20:00 AEST Report
Summary
Petrovski   7' Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 18,457
Referee: Peter Green
1 September 2007 2 Sydney FC 2–2 Adelaide United Sydney
17:00 AEST Talay  13'
Brosque   74'
Report
Summary
Alagich   9'
Burns   76'
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 14,233
Referee: Mark Shield
9 September 2007 3 Perth Glory 0–0 Sydney FC Perth
15:00 AWST Report
Summary
Stadium: Members Equity Stadium
Attendance: 7,907
Referee: Craig Zetter
14 September 2007 4 Sydney FC 1–2 Wellington Phoenix Sydney
20:00 AEST Casey   6' Report
Summary
Felipè   8'
Daniel   29' (pen.)
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 11,491
Referee: Matthew Breeze
22 September 2007 5 Queensland Roar 0–1 Sydney FC Brisbane
19:00 AEST Report
Summary
Patrick   69' Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 16,582
Referee: Mark Shield
29 September 2007 6 Sydney FC 1–0 Newcastle Jets Sydney
19:00 AEST Brosque   36' Report
Summary
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 13,755
Referee: Craig Zetter
6 October 2007 7 Sydney FC 0–1 Melbourne Victory Sydney
19:00 AEST Report
Summary
Allsopp   82' Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 18,436
Referee: Mark Shield
12 October 2007 8 Perth Glory 3–3 Sydney FC Perth
20:00 AWST Harnwell   53'
Robinson   59'
Prentice   69'
Report
Summary
Brosque   40', 90+3'
Patrick   72'
Stadium: Members Equity Stadium
Attendance: 6,876
Referee: Matthew Breeze
20 October 2007 9 Sydney FC 0–1 Adelaide United Sydney
19:00 AEST Report
Summary
Pantelis   53' Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 12,922
Referee: Matthew Breeze
28 October 2007 10 Sydney FC 3–2 Central Coast Mariners Sydney
15:00 AEST Brosque   16', 26'
Popovic   32'
Report
Summary
Hutchinson   27', 56' Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 17,652
Referee: Mark Shield
3 November 2007 11 Newcastle Jets 0–1 Sydney FC Newcastle
19:00 AEDT Report
Summary
Bridges   69' Stadium: EnergyAustralia Stadium
Attendance: 16,433
Referee: Matthew Breeze
10 November 2007 12 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Sydney FC Melbourne
19:00 AEDT Report
Summary
Stadium: Telstra Dome
Attendance: 31,884
Referee: Mark Shield
17 November 2007 13 Wellington Phoenix 1–1 Sydney FC Wellington
19:00 NZST R.Aloisi   29' Report
Summary
Talay   90+3' (pen.) Stadium: Westpac Stadium
Attendance: 8,062
Referee: Peter Green
25 November 2007 14 Sydney FC 0–0 Queensland Roar Sydney
19:00 AEDT Report
Summary
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 16,569
Referee: Matthew Breeze
7 December 2007 16 Sydney FC 1–0 Newcastle Jets Sydney
20:00 AEDT Corica   90+3' Report
Summary
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 10,732
Referee: Matthew Breeze
15 December 2007 17 Sydney FC 2–4 Perth Glory Sydney
19:00 AEDT Corica   50'
Bridges   90'
Report
Summary
Celeski   34', 35', 77' (pen.)
Bertos   49'
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 12,402
Referee: Michael Hester
22 December 2007 15 Central Coast Mariners 4–5 Sydney FC Gosford
19:00 AEDT Jedinak   3'
J.Aloisi   16'
Owens   63' (pen.)
Kwasnik   86'
Report
Summary
Fyfe   33'
McFlynn   50'
Biddle   71'
Santalab   76'
Talay   90+5' (pen.)
Stadium: Bluetongue Stadium
Attendance: 17,514
Referee: Matthew Breeze
Note: Match postponed due to heavy rain affecting pitch conditions.
28 December 2007 18 Adelaide United 1–3 Sydney FC Adelaide
19:30 ACST Sarkies   20' Report
Summary
Santalab   44'
Corica   54'
Middleby   66'
Stadium: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 25,039
Referee: Matthew Breeze
4 January 2008 19 Wellington Phoenix 0–2 Sydney FC Wellington
19:30 NZST Report
Summary
McFlynn   79'
Brosque   83'
Stadium: Westpac Stadium
Attendance: 14,288
Referee: Ben Williams
13 January 2008 20 Queensland Roar 0–0 Sydney FC Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10 Report
Summary
Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 31,933
Referee: Mark Shield
20 January 2008 21 Sydney FC 2–2 Melbourne Victory Sydney
17:00 UTC+11 Corica   4'
Brosque   62'
Report
Summary
Milligan   46' (o.g.)
Allsopp   76'
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 33,458
Referee: Peter O'Leary

Semi-finals

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25 January 2008 First Leg Sydney FC 0–0 Queensland Roar Sydney
20:00 UTC+11 Report
Summary
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 23,450
Referee: Mark Shield
8 February 2008 Second Leg Queensland Roar 2–0
(2–0 agg.)
Sydney FC Brisbane
20:07 AEST
Report
Summary
Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 36,221
Referee: Mark Shield

2008 Pan-Pacific Championship

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Sydney represented Australia in the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship held in Hawaii.[45] They placed fourth overall after losing both matches, first to MLS champions Houston Dynamo and then Los Angeles Galaxy in the third place playoff.

20 February 2008 Semi-final Houston Dynamo   3–0   Sydney FC Honolulu, United States
De Rosario   28'
Holden   29'
Wondolowski   43'
Report Stadium: Aloha Stadium
Attendance: 15,128
Referee: Alex Prus (United States)
23 February 2008 Third place play-off Los Angeles Galaxy   2–1   Sydney FC Honolulu, United States
Allen   3'
Tudela   45'
Report Renaud   43' Stadium: Aloha Stadium
Attendance: 23,087
Referee: Brian Hall (United States)

Home attendance

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# Opponent Round Attendance Result
1 Central Coast Mariners 1 18,457 L 1–0
2 Adelaide United 2 14,233 D 2–2
3 Wellington Phoenix 4 11,491 L 1–2
4 Newcastle United Jets 6 13,755 W 1–0
5 Melbourne Victory 7 18,436 L 0–1
6 Adelaide United 9 12,922 L 0–1
7 Central Coast Mariners 10 17,652 W 3–2
8 Queensland Roar 14 16,659 D 0–0
9 Los Angeles Galaxy Exhibition 80,295 W 5–3
10 Newcastle United Jets 16 10,732 W 1–0
11 Perth Glory 17 12,402 L 2–4
12 Melbourne Victory 21 33,458 D 2–2
13 Queensland Roar Semi-final 23,450 D 0–0

A-League Regular Season Total: 180,197

A-League Regular Season Average: 16,382

Season Total: 283,942

Team kit

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For the third A-League season, all clubs released new playing strip supplied by sponsor Reebok. Sydney FC retained the established colours in a new design, a sky blue home shirt with navy blue and orange secondary colours, and a white away shirt with sky blue trim.[46]

Sydney also signed new sponsorships with Sydney-based electronics retailer Bing Lee and electronic brand JVC. The home strip will feature Bing Lee as the main shirt sponsor with JVC on the shorts, while the away shirt will feature JVC prominently and Bing Lee on the shorts. A second shirt sponsorship was secured with HBA Health Insurance, that will appear on the back of the shirt below the player number.

 
 
 
 
 
 
2007–08 home colours
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007–08 away colours
 
 
 
 
 
2007–08 goalkeeper

Awards

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  • Sydney FC Players Player Award: Alex Brosque
  • SMH Members Player of the Year Award: Steve Corica
  • Chairman Award: John Kosmina
  • Forward of the Year: Alex Brosque
  • Midfielder of the Year: Steve Corica
  • Defender of the Year: Tony Popovic
  • Young Player of the Year Award: Adam Biddle
  • Golden Boot: Alex Brosque
  • Fans Goal of the Year Award: Brendon Santalab (Goal v Adelaide United Round 18)

[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Club and Culina part by mutual consent". sydneyfc.com. 22 October 2007. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  2. ^ "Popovic appointed new club captain". sydneyfc.com. 2 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  3. ^ "Fowler turns Sydney down". Smithies, T. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  4. ^ "Sydney's Şükür punch plan". Smithies,T. & Davutovic,D. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  5. ^ "Vieri to Sydney FC... maybe". 20 May 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  6. ^ "Okocha in Sydney FC talks". BBC Sport. 14 May 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  7. ^ "Sydney FC chases Socceroo hero Aloisi". The Age. Australia. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  8. ^ "Juninho is Sydney Marquee, 1 August 2007". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  9. ^ "Oh what a Filan: Sydney get their hands on veteran keeper". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  10. ^ Sydney FC signs American attacker on two-year deal.[permanent dead link] 7 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  11. ^ Sydney FC sign striker. Archived 14 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine 22 June 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  12. ^ Shot-stopping Sydneysider joins squad Archived 14 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine 25 June 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
  13. ^ Cockerill, Michael (14 February 2007). "Culina granted audition as Sydney coach". Sydney Morning Herald. Melbourne. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
  14. ^ Socceroos World Cup hero signs deal Archived 14 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine 11 July 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
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