Sydney FC will face APIA Leichhardt on Wednesday night in the Australia Cup Round of 16 and before that match-up, we take a dive into the history of APIA and who they are.
APIA Leichhardt are based in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney’s Inner West. They usually play their football out of Lambert Park, however for this cup match, will be playing at Leichhardt Oval.
The club was founded in 1954 with a heavy Italian, English and Scottish influence and competed in the local Canterbury Football District. After playing in the local competition for more than 20 years, they were awarded a licence to play in the National Soccer League in 1977.
The National Soccer League was the top division of football in Australia prior to the formation of the A-League in 2005.
In 2017 with APIA competing in the National Premier League, they finished first but went onto lose the Grand Final on penalties to Manly United. They, as of this weekend, are the winners of the 2023 NPL NSW, having beaten Rockdale to the title.
In the Australia Cup, they have managed to cause two major upsets, beating Melbourne Victory in 2018 by three goals to two, and also manoeuvring their way past Western Sydney Wanderers in 2021 after a wonder goal from Tynan Diaz. They will be looking for another A-League scalp when Sydney FC come to town on the 30th of August.
Former Sydney FC goalkeeper Ivan Necevski now applies his trade at Lambert Park with APIA and has been instrumental to their title charge, earning 10 clean sheets over the 30 game season.
One to watch will be Jack Stewart who has found the net 19 times this season for APIA in the NPL and he also scored two in their Round of 32 clash with Goulburn Valley Suns in Victoria. Jason Romero also scored in the Round of 32 and they will be hungry to net against the Sky Blues.
Tickets are on sale now for this highly anticipated clash between two iconic Sydney teams. Grab them here.
Match Details
APIA Leichhardt v Sydney FC
Australia Cup Round of 16
Wednesday 30th August 2023
Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt, NSW
Kick Off: 7:30pm AEST
Gates Open: 6:00pm AEST
Broadcast Live: 10Play
Tickets: Click Here
