This Sunday when the Sky Blues run onto the pitch for the last time this season the final whistle will be blown on the Sydney FC careers of a number of the side’s stars, including three players who’ve been there since the club’s beginning.
This Sunday when the Sky Blues run onto the pitch for the last time this season the final whistle will be blown on the Sydney FC careers of a number of the side-s stars, including three players who-ve been there since the club-s beginning.
Iain Fyfe, Robbie Middleby and Jacob Timpano have accrued over 180 Hyundai A-League appearances between them, and played a big part in helping Sydney FC claim the championship in the league-s inaugural season.
“It’s been great,” said Timpano. “I’ve been here from day one and was fortunate to be part of the team that won the first ever A-League title and that will always be a highlight for me. I will take a lot away from the club.”
From year one of the Hyundai A-League Sydney has developed a strong tradition of recruiting high quality footballers into the Sky Blue jersey, and the club-s most capped player, Fyfe admits it-s an environment that-s been great for his own game.
“I have developed a lot at this club,” he said. “You try and learn as much as you can from guys like Poppa (Tony Popovic) and Steve Corica who have thirty or forty (international) caps. Then when you throw in the likes of Dwight Yorke, Benito Carbone and Juninho, you just have to try and pick their brains and learn in training as you go.”
“For me personally it-s disappointing that I haven-t been able to spend more time on the park but it-s been great playing and training alongside the top class guys that have been here at Sydney over the first four years of the A-League,” added Timpano. “As a young footballer you can only benefit from the kind of experience that players of that calibre bring to a club.”
Although the departing stars take with them plenty of experience of their own, the trio is confident the future is bright for Sydney FC, with some of the nation’s brightest young talents currently rising through the ranks.
“The boys that have come in have taken their opportunity and done very well,” said Timpano. “They obviously need to stay consistent and back up what they have done in the first year, but with Steve O’Connor as the youth coach hopefully they can go on and spend a few years with the club and get Sydney back to where it belongs.”
“The positive thing is that they’re getting experience which is really good from the club’s point of view,” echoed Middleby.
While they won-t all be taking the field at the SFS this weekend, the departing players are looking forward to farewelling the SFS faithful with a final-round win over Newcastle.
“I don’t want to be on the end of a losing side,” said Fyfe. “It’s important to leave Sydney FC on a winning note.”
“You want to win every game,” added Middleby. “It hasn’t been the greatest year, so it’s important to finish on a high not just for us players but the club and the supporters as a whole.”
Sydney FC’s season ending clash with the Newcastle Jets kicks off at 5pm on Sunday afternoon, at the Sydney Football Stadium.
