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HAL v2 Kickoff

¤ 21 August 2006: Sydney FC’s launch for season two is held, with Mark Rudan being announced as club captain, and Dwight Yorke team captain.[SFC]
¤ 27 August 2006: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners FC, Aussie Stadium, 5:00pm (A-League – Rd 1)
A rematch of the 2005-06 Grand Final, ending with the same scoreline thanks to an Iain Fyfe strike. Sydney were kept in the match by an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Clint Bolton, in particular two excellent reflex saves.[A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 1 (Fyfe 51′) Central Coast Mariners 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan, 10 Steve Corica (6 Ufuk Talay 90′), 11 Sasho Petrovski (9 David Zdrilic 66′), 12 David Carney, 14 Alex Brosque (7 Robbie Middleby 75′), 16 Mark Milligan, 19 Dwight Yorke (c), 21 Nikolai Topor-Stanley
Central Coast Mariners: 20 Danny Vukovic (gk), 2 Wayne O’Sullivan, 4 Noel Spencer (c), 6 Andre Gumprecht (17 Matthew Osman 56′), 8 Jamie McMaster, 11 Damein Brown (10 Tom Pondeljak 72′), 13 Tony Vidmar, 14 Vuko Tomasevic, 15 Andrew Clark, 18 Alex Wilkinson (3 Paul O’Grady 82′), 19 Adam Kwasnik
Cautions: Gumprecht 16′, Clark 90+1′

¤ 28 August 2006: Sydney FC is fined $89,000 and penalised one competition point for breaches of the Player Contracting Regulations in season 2005-06. However, the fine is reduced to $44,000 and the points penalty suspended “in light of the club’s management being co-operative and there being no attempt to conceal the breaches.” Sydney CEO Tim Parker explained that the breaches were in relation to the additional service payments, saying that due to Sydney’s OCC, CWC and A-League finals commitments, the players were unable to complete the additional services.[A-L][Aus]
¤ 31 August 2006: Dwight Yorke signs with English Championship club Sunderland AFC for a reported £200,000 ($A500,000) transfer fee. The move followed intense speculation that Yorke was set to leave, having been told late in the previous season that he was free to go, and believing that the club did not want to extend his contract beyond the season.[BBC][SMH]
¤ 02 September 2006: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory FC, Telstra Dome, 7:00pm (A-League – Rd 2)
A drama-filled match in front of just under 40,000 spectators sees Sydney go down 0-2 early before fighting back but losing 2-3. Captain Mark Rudan is sent off for kicking out at a theatrical Alessandro, who had earlier won a penalty after making the most of little (or no) contact with Clint Bolton. Robbie Middleby has his collarbone broken in a collision with Adrian Leijer, whilst Fred escapes immediate penalty for an elbow to Mark Milligan’s throat.[A-L][A-L]
Melbourne Victory 3 (Allsopp 8′, 51′, Muscat 11′ pen) def. Sydney FC 2 (Fyfe 18′, Vargas 83′ og)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 6 Ufuk Talay, 7 Robbie Middleby (12 David Carney 11′), 9 David Zdrilic, 10 Steve Corica, 13 Jeremy Brockie (11 Sasho Petrovski 64′), 16 Mark Milligan, 21 Nikolai Topor-Stanley
Melbourne Victory: 1 Michael Theoklitos (gk), 2 Kevin Muscat (c), 3 Daniel Piorkowski, 8 Fred (19 Claudinho 64′), 9 Danny Allsopp, 10 Archie Thompson (6 Steve Pantelidis 90′), 12 Rodrigo Vargas, 15 Adrian Leijer, 16 Simon Storey, 17 Grant Brebner, 18 Alessandro (14 Adrian Caceres 73′)
Cautions: Bolton 9′, Rudan 12′, Fyfe 73′
Sent off: Rudan 13′

¤ 05 September 2006: Matthew Bingley returns to Sydney FC, as a short-term replacement for the injured Robbie Middleby. Bingley had been playing in the Newcastle Premier League with Hamilton Olympic since being released by Sydney at the end of the first season.[SFC]
¤ 06 September 2006: Sydney’s injury list grows to six, with David Carney set to undergo shoulder surgery.[SFC]
¤ 07 September 2006: Former Newcastle United NSL player Joel Theissen is signed as a short-term injury replacement for David Carney, while the injury crisis is eased slightly with the early return of Ruben Zadkovich from knee surgery.[TWG]
¤ 10 September 2006: Sydney FC vs Perth Glory FC, Members Equity Stadium, 3:00pm (A-League – Rd 3)
Sydney should have won this match, but Steve Corica’s 82nd minute ‘goal’ was incorrectly disallowed for offside. Perth had cancelled out Sasho Petrovski’s goal through Jamie Coyne, who equalised when Clint Bolton slipped coming off his line to claim a corner.[A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 1 (Petrovski 38′) drew Perth Glory 1 (Coyne 70′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe (8 Ruben Zadkovich 78′), 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 6 Ufuk Talay, 9 David Zdrilic, 10 Steve Corica (c), 11 Sasho Petrovski (13 Jeremy Brockie 87′), 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan, 21 Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 22 Matthew Bingley
Perth Glory: 20 Aleks Vrteski (gk), 3 David Tarka, 4 Simon Colosimo, 5 Jamie Harnwell (c), 6 Jeremy Christie (

16 Adrian Webster 69′), 11 Stan Lazaridis (9 Luka Glavas 78′), 12 Leo Bertos, 13 Ante Kovacevic, 14 Jamie Coyne, 17 Stuart Young, 19 Naum Sekulovski (7 Mimi Saric 83′)
Cautions: Corica 44′, Fyfe 72′, Colosimo 74′, Milligan 74′, Brockie 88′
¤ 13 September 2006: Italian Benito Carbone arrives in Sydney for a possible stint as a guest player with Sydney FC.[SFC]
¤ 16 September 2006: The Daily Telegraph reports that Sydney FC will be investigated a second time by the FFA for possible breaches of the salary cap. The news comes just weeks after Sydney received a $44,000 fine and suspended points penalty, with this investigation apparently centred around discrepancies between a player’s (believed to be David Zdrilic) contract and that filed with the FFA. Sydney FC claim, however, that written legal advice from the FFA at the time validated Sydney’s action.[FS]
¤ 17 September 2006: Sydney FC vs Newcastle United Jets FC, Aussie Stadium, 3:00pm (A-League – Rd 4)
Sydney extend their unbeaten home league run to 13 games, but failed to make the most of a two-goal lead. New import Milton Rodriguez stole the show for the Jets, scoring both of their goals. Steve Corica gets his second red card against Newcastle, this time for dissent towards referee Matthew Breeze. Alvin Ceccoli shares a heated exchange with Terry Butcher whilst still on the field, which sees him dropped for the following match.[A-L][SFC][TWG]
Sydney FC 2 (Corica 33′ pen, Zdrilic 38′) drew Newcastle United Jets 2 (Rodriguez 45+1′, 62′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli (22 Matthew Bingley 82′), 4 Mark Rudan (c), 9 David Zdrilic, 10 Steve Corica, 11 Sasho Petrovski (8 Ruben Zadkovich 82′), 14 Alex Brosque, 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan (6 Ufuk Talay 86′), 21 Nikolai Topor-Stanley
Newcastle United Jets: 20 Ben Kennedy (gk), 3 Jade North, 6 Andrew Durante, 8 Matt Thompson, 9 Vaughan Coveny (5 Milton Rodriguez 21′), 10 Nick Carle, 12 Paul Okon (c), 15 Stuart Musialik (13 Adam D’Apuzzo 88′), 18 Joel Griffiths, 19 Mark Bridge, 24 Paul Kohler
Cautions: Rudan 62′, Petrovski 79′
Sent off: Corica 68′

¤ 20 September 2006: Steve Corica cops a two-match ban from the FFA Disciplanary Committee for foul and abusive language towards Matthew Breeze in Sydney’s match against Newcastle. A further week’s penalty is suspended, and will be invoked if Corica receives a yellow or red card for dissent for the remainder of the season.[A-L]
¤ 21 September 2006: Sydney FC vs New Zealand Knights FC, North Harbour Stadium, 8:00pm (A-League – Rd 5)
Sydney get their second win of the season in less-than-convincing style, playing possibly their worst ever match. Mark Rudan’s volley from a long throw-in was the only goal of the game.[A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 1 (Rudan 58′) def. New Zealand Knights 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 8 Ruben Zadkovich (6 Ufuk Talay 83′), 9 David Zdrilic, 13 Jeremy Brockie, 14 Alex Brosque, 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan, 21 Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 22 Matthew Bingley
New Zealand Knights: 20 Michael Turnbull (gk), 2 Darren Bazeley (c), 3 Gregory Duruz, 4 Che Bunce, 6 Neil Emblen, 7 Richard Johnson, 8 Scot Gemmill, 9 Dani Rodrigues, 14 Malik Buari, 16 Noah Hickey (15 Adam Casey 71′), 19 Sime Kovacevic
Cautions: Bunce 9′, Zdrilic 62′, McFlynn 65′, Bazeley 90+2′

¤ 27 September 2006: Walter Bugno resigns from his position as chairman of Sydney FC, citing his need to devote more time towards his work as CEO of the casino division of Tabcorp. Director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Edmund Capon, AM, OBE is appointed in his place.[SFC]
¤ 28 September 2006: Sydney FC announce the signing of Benito Carbone on a four-game guest contract. Carbone, who has been training with the club for two weeks, will make his debut in Sydney’s upcoming match against Adelaide United.[SFC]
¤ 02 October 2006: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United FC, Hindmarsh Stadium, 4:30pm (A-League – Rd 6)
Benito Carbone stars by setting up two goals and scoring one of his own in a huge turnaround from the previous week for Sydney. Carbone’s goal was Sydney FC’s 100th in their 50th competitive fixture.[A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 4 (Zadkovich 36′, Dodd 57′ og, Petrovski 80′, Carbone 85′) def. Adelaide United 1 (Burns 54′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 8 Ruben Zadkovich, 9 David Zdrilic (11 Sasho Petrovski 71′), 14 Alex Brosque, 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan, 22 Matthew Bingley, 23 Benito Carbone
Adelaide United: 20 Robert Bajic (gk), 4 Angelo Costanzo, 5 Michael Valkanis, 6 Ross Aloisi (c), 8 Carl Veart, 12 Greg Owens, 13 Travis Dodd (9 Mathew Kemp 81′), 14 Aaron Goulding, 15 Nathan Burns, 16 Bobby Petta, 18 Robert Cornthwaite (21 Jason Spagnuolo 69′)
Cautions: Owens 59′, Petta 66′, Carbone 67′, Costanzo 87′

¤ 08 October 2006: Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar FC, Aussie Stadium, 3:00pm (A-League – Rd 7)
With Alex Brosque and Mark Milligan away on Socceroo duty, an early Spase Dilevski free kick puts Queensland into the lead, but is equalised by Alvin Ceccoli’s stunning volley just on half time. Sydney are unable to find a

winner after the break, the draw leaving them in third position on the ladder, nine points behind leaders Melbourne.[A-L][A-L]
Sydney FC 1 (Ceccoli 45+1′) drew Queensland Roar 1 (Dilevski 15′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Alvin Ceccoli, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 8 Ruben Zadkovich (13 Jeremy Brockie 77′), 9 David Zdrilic (11 Sasho Petrovski 70′), 10 Steve Corica, 15 Terry McFlynn, 21 Nikolai Topor-Stanley (6 Ufuk Talay 59′), 22 Matthew Bingley, 23 Benito Carbone
Queensland Roar: 1 Tom Willis (gk), 2 Andrew Packer, 5 Josh McCloughan (c), 8 Massimo Murdocca, 9 Simon Lynch, 10 Ante Milicic (18 Dario Vidosic 59′), 11 Reinaldo (6 Stuart McLaren 76′), 13 Spase Dilevski (7 Marcus Wedau 67′), 15 Matt McKay, 16 Seo Hyuk-Su, 19 Sasa Ognenovski
Cautions: Carbone 25′, Reinaldo 25′, McCloughan 30′, Milicic 44′, Rudan 84′

¤ 11 October 2006: Following the recent resignation of Walter Bugno as chairman, Sydney FC announce that former SOCOG and ARU administrator George Perry will replace Tim Parker as Chief Executive Officer of the club.[TWG]