¤ 26 June 2007: Founding shareholder Peter Turnbull sells his 13 percent stake in Sydney FC to businessman Scott Ellis, of the DTAS group. Ellis becomes the second largest shareholder, qualifying for a seat on the board.[DT]
¤ 06 July 2007: Football Federation Australia announce that Sydney FC will play a friendly match against David Beckham’s side, the LA Galaxy in November. The match will be broadcast live on Channel Ten.[A-L]
¤ 11 July 2007: Former Australian national team defender Tony Popovic (Al Arabi, 61 caps) signs a two-year contract with Sydney FC after spending ten years overseas.[SFC]
¤ 11 July 2007: Sydney FC vs Sunshine Coast Select, Maroochydore Regional Football Complex, 7:00pm (Friendly)
Sydney FC’s first friendly of the new season, in preparation for their opening Pre-Season Cup match against Queensland Roar. All of the goals come before half-time, with Ufuk Talay putting Sydney 2-0 up before the home side took one back shortly before the break.[SFC]
Sydney FC 2 (Talay 20′, 35′ pen) def. Sunshine Coast Select 1 (Tyson Holmes)
Sydney FC: Clint Bolton (gk), Robbie Middleby, Mark Rudan, Iain Fyfe, Adam Casey, Terry McFlynn, Ufuk Talay, Brendon Santalab, Steve Corica, Alex Brosque, David Zdrilic
Subs: Unknown
[Milligan, Carney on Socceroo duty, Popovic not in squad]
¤ 14 July 2007: Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar FC, Maroochydore Regional Football Complex, 7:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
The first match of the new season for Sydney FC brings a third consecutive competitive 0-0 draw, and a fourth consecutive competitive clean sheet for goalkeeper Clint Bolton. Sydney FC are missing several players through injury or Socceroo duty, whilst defender Jacob Timpano makes his return from injury.[SFC]
Sydney FC 0 drew Queensland Roar 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 3 Nikolas Tsattalios (17 Jacob Timpano 65′), 4 Mark Rudan (c), 7 Robbie Middleby, 9 David Zdrilic, 10 Steve Corica, 11 Brendon Santalab (24 Ben Vidaic 83′), 15 Terry McFlynn, 18 Adam Casey, 23 Ufuk Talay
Queensland Roar: 1 Liam Reddy (gk), 5 Josh McCloughan, 8 Massimo Murdocca, 10 Ante Milicic (9 Simon Lynch 73′), 11 Reinaldo, 14 Ben Griffin, 15 Matt McKay, 16 Seo Hyuk-Su, 17 Mitch Nichols (12 Tahj Minniecon 54′), 18 Danny Tiatto (c; 19 Sasa Ognenovski 73′), 21 Chris Grossman
Cautions: Talay 13′, Tiatto 43′, McFlynn 66′
¤ 18 July 2007: Health insurer HBA launch a three-year partnership “supporting coaching clinics, equipment grants and encouraging children to become active through participation in sport”.[SFC]
¤ 18 July 2007: Sydney FC vs Sydney University, Valentine Sports Park, 7:00pm (Friendly)
Sydney FC give a chance to a large number of young trialists, winning the game 3-0 through a David Zdrilic header and goals to Mark Rudan and Ben Vidaic.[SFC]
Sydney FC 3 (Zdrilic 30′, Rudan 45+’, Vidaic 81′) def. Sydney University 0
Sydney FC: Clint Bolton (gk), Adam Casey, Mark Rudan, Iain Fyfe, Nikolas Tsattalios, Terry McFlynn, Ufuk Talay, Michael Enfield, Steve Corica, Alex Brosque, David Zdrilic
Subs (incomplete): Ben Vidaic, Jacob Timpano
[Milligan, Carney on Socceroo duty, Popovic not in squad]
¤ 20 July 2007: Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler confirms he will not join Sydney FC as marquee player for the upcoming season after flying to Sydney in the previous week. Sydney have also been linked to Phillip Cocu, John Aloisi, Jay-Jay Okocha and Hakan Sukur as potential marquees, with Aloisi the only one not yet to reject the possibility.[TWG][TWG][TWG][TWG]
¤ 22 July 2007: Sydney FC vs Wellington Phoenix FC, Westpac Stadium, 2:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group stage)
Sydney FC hand new club Wellington Phoenix their first competitive goal and win, with Clint Bolton conceding three after going four matches unbeaten. Captain Mark Rudan scored Sydney FC’s fourth competitive own goal in the match, deflecting a Vaughan Coveny cross into his own net.[SFC]
Wellington Phoenix 3 (Smeltz 13′, 89′, Rudan 14′ og) def. Sydney FC 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe, 4 Mark Rudan (c), 7 Robbie Middleby, 9 David Zdrilic, 10 Steve Corica (24 Ben Vidaic 69′), 14 Alex Brosque, 15 Terry McFlynn, 18 Adam Casey, 23 Ufuk Talay, 25 Cameron Watson (3 Nikolas Tsattalios 68′)
Wellington Phoenix: 20 Glen Moss (gk), 2 Jeremy Christie, 3 Tony Lochhead, 4 Cleberson (Felipe 90′), 5 Karl Dodd, 7 Ross Aloisi (c), 8 Vaughan Coveny, 9 Shane Smeltz, 10 Michael Ferrante (22 Royce Brownlie 75′), 11 Daniel (Greg Draper 90′), 13 Steven Old
Cautions: Ferrante 1′, Aloisi 64′, Cleberson 77′, Talay 84′
¤ 29 July 2007: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners FC, Canberra Stadium, 3:00pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Group Stage)
Missing David Carney, Steve Corica, Iain Fyfe, Mark Milligan
, Jacob Timpano and Ruben Zadkovich, Sydney FC are overrun by a dominant Mariners side. This is the first Sydney FC match Fyfe has not been available for since the first A-League semi-final against Adelaide in season one. Tony Popovic makes his debut for Sydney, coming on as a substitute for the second half. The result leaves Sydney in last place in Group B on one point.[SFC]
Central Coast Mariners 3 (Osman 36′, Kwasnik 44′, Gumprecht 52′) def. Sydney FC 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 4 Mark Rudan (c), 7 Robbie Middleby, 9 David Zdrilic, 11 Brendon Santalab (6 Tony Popovic 46′), 14 Alex Brosque, 15 Terry McFlynn, 18 Adam Casey (3 Nikolas Tsattalios 38′), 19 Michael Enfield, 23 Ufuk Talay, 25 Daniel Severino (24 Ben Vidaic 66′)
Central Coast Mariners; 1 Matthew Trott (gk), 6 Andre Gumprecht, 7 John Hutchinson, 9 Nik Mrdja, 11 Damien Brown (13 Tony Vidmar 81′), 16 Nigel Boogaard, 17 Matthew Osman, 18 Alex Wilkinson (c), 19 Adam Kwasnik (5 Bradley Porter 74′), 22 Sasho Petrovski (10 Tom Pondeljak 69′), 23 Mile Jedinak
Cautions: Bolton 51′, Jedinak 55′, Tsattalios 63′, Popovic 65′, Brosque 68′, Boogaard 90′
¤ 30 July 2007: David Carney, after an excellent Asian Cup, flies out to England for talks with Championship club Sheffield United.[TWG]
¤ 31 July 2007: Sydney FC sign Young Socceroos striker Ben Vidaic (Sydney United) for two seasons, who has appeared in all three of Sydney’s 2007 Pre-Season Cup matches.[SFC]
¤ 02 August 2007: Mark Milligan returns to Sydney FC after having flown to Europe without the club’s permission to trial with French side Metz.[TWG]
¤ 02 August 2007: Sydney FC sign their third under-20 player for the 2007-08 season, with midfielder Adam Biddle (Blacktown City Demons) joining the club for two years. He will officially join with Sydney FC following his NSWPL Grand Final with Blacktown City.[SFC]
¤ 02 August 2007: Sydney FC announce that veteran defender Tony Popovic will take over from Mark Rudan as club captain for the upcoming A-League season.[SFC]
¤ 03 August 2007: 2002 FIFA World Cup winner Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior, better known as Juninho Paulista (Flamengo, 50 caps), is announced as Sydney FC’s marquee player for the 2007-08 A-League season.[SFC]
¤ 04 August 2007: Sydney FC vs Newcastle United Jets Fc, Parramatta Stadium, 7:30pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – Playoff)
Having gone five consecutive matches without scoring, Sydney FC leave it until the 79th minute and 0-3 behind before breaking their drought through Ruben Zadkovich. The late fightback in front of Sydney FC’s second-lowest crowd ever (although it is officially a Newcastle home game) was not enough, and leaves them with a play-off against Melbourne to avoid last place in the Pre-Season Cup.[SFC]
Newcastle United Jets 3 (Griffiths 5′, 76′, Tunbridge 56′) def. Sydney FC 2 (Zadkovich 79′, Talay 83′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 2 Iain Fyfe (3 Nikolas Tsattalios 67′), 4 Mark Rudan, 6 Tony Popovic (c), 7 Robbie Middleby, 9 David Zdrilic, 11 Brendon Santalab (8 Ruben Zadkovich 67′), 14 Alex Brosque, 15 Terry McFlynn, 19 Michael Enfield, 23 Ufuk Talay
Newcastle United Jets: 1 Ante Covic (gk), 3 Jade North (c), 4 Steve Eagleton, 6 Andrew Durante, 8 Matt Thompson (7 Jorge Drovandi 8′ (15 Scott Tunbridge 53′)), 9 Joel Griffiths, 11 Tarek Elrich, 13 Adam D’Apuzzo, 14 Jobe Wheelhouse, 17 Troy Hearfield (12 Paul Kohler 89′), 18 Noel Spencer
Cautions: D’Apuzzo 9′, Popovic 21′, Wheelhouse 29′, Santalab 47′, Eagleton 82′
¤ 04 August 2007: Sheffield United confirm the signing of David Carney on a £50,000 ($A119,309) transfer from Sydney FC.[TWG]
¤ 07 August 2007: Sydney FC reveal their jerseys for the upcoming season, including a major sponsorship deal with electronics companies Bing Lee and JVC. Bing Lee will appear on the home jerseys with JVC on the shorts, and vice-versa for away games.[SFC]
¤ 08 August 2007: Sydney FC vs Manly United FC, Cromer Park, 7:30pm (Friendly)
Sydney FC return to the site of their first ever match, winning in front of a crowd of around 1,500. Ufuk Talay played a part in all three of Sydney’s goals.[SFC]
Sydney FC 3 (Biddle ~7′, Enfield ~30′, Talay ~65′) def. Manly United 2 (Andrew Mailer 12′, Bradley Groves ~70′)
Sydney FC: Clint Bolton (gk; Matthew Nash 46′), Mark Rudan (Robbie Cattanach 46′), Tony Popovic (Chris Nunes 46′), Ruben Zadkovich, David Zdrilic, Alex Brosque, Terry McFlynn, Mark Milligan (Shannon Cole 46′), Michael Enfield, Adam Biddle, Ufuk Talay
¤ 09 August 2007: Sydney FC announce a partnership with Macquarie University, which will become the club’s new training venue.[SFC]
¤ 11 August 2007: Sydney FC vs Mel
bourne Victory FC, Olympic Park, 7:30pm (A-League Pre-Season Cup – 7th place playoff)
Sydney FC take their first win of the season, and their first ever in Melbourne with a goal to Alex Brosque. Melbourne dictated much of the match in wet conditions, but could not equalise.[SFC]
Sydney FC 1 (Brosque 34′) def. Melbourne Victory 0
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk), 4 Mark Rudan, 6 Tony Popovic (c), 8 Ruben Zadkovich, 9 David Zdrilic (3 Nikolas Tsattalios 90+1′), 14 Alex Brosque, 15 Terry McFlynn, 16 Mark Milligan, 19 Michael Enfield, 23 Ufuk Talay (27 Shannon Cole 46′), 25 Adam Biddle
Melbourne Victory: 1 Michael Theoklitos (gk), 2 Kevin Muscat (c), 3 Daniel Piorkowski, 6 Steve Pantelidis, 8 Grant Brebner, 9 Danny Allsopp, 10 Archie Thompson (7 Mathew Kemp 84′), 11 Joseph Keenan, 12 Rodrigo Vargas, 16 Carlos Hernandez (14 Adrian Caceres 65′), 18 Leigh Broxham (13 Kaz Patafta 46′)
Cautions: Brosque 47′, Biddle 58′, Cole 79′, McFlynn 87′
¤ 17 August 2007: Sydney FC vs Penrith Nepean United, Credit Union Australia Stadium, 7:30pm (Friendly)
New marquee signing Juninho makes his Sydney FC debut in front of a crowd of around 5,000, playing the first half of Sydney’s final warm-up match before the new season. Branko Culina changed almost the entire team at the break, with the score at 1-1.[SFC]
Penrith Nepean United 2 (Mitchell Long 41′, Ben Gough 57′ pen) def. Sydney FC 1 (Milligan 27′)
Sydney FC: 1 Clint Bolton (gk; Matthew Nash 79′), 2 Iain Fyfe (3 Nikolas Tsattalios 46′), 4 Mark Rudan (17 Jacob Timpano 46′), 6 Tony Popovic (c; 7 Shane Webb 46′), 10 Steve Corica (8 Tolgay Ozbey 46′), 14 Alex Brosque (9 David Zdrilic 46′), 15 Terry McFlynn (20 Chris Nunez 46′), 16 Mark Milligan (12 Shannon Cole 46′), 21 Adam Biddle (11 Brendon Santalab 46′), 22 Juninho (19 Michael Enfield 46′), 23 Ufuk Talay (13 Robbie Cattanach 46′)
¤ 18 August 2007: Sydney FC complete their squad for 2007-08 with the signing of Brazilian striker Patrick (Nacional) for one year. He is described by Branko Culina as being “quick on the ground, strong in the air and skilful on the ball”.[SFC]