The Sydney FC Academy begin their National Premier League NSW season this weekend with a home match on Sunday against Mt Druitt Town Rangers.
Ahead of another highly anticipated season, we broke down some of the key talking points.
The Staff and Squad
This season, Head Coach Jimmy van Weeren will take the side once more after an impressive showing last season. Alongside him, will be assistant coach Howard Fondyke with Matt Sim taking charge of the U20’s again following his successful title charge at the end of the 2022 campaign.
Speaking ahead of the season, Head Coach Jimmy van Weeran was looking forward to the challenge in front of him and his side.
“We have promoted many of the players from our U18 and U20 squads into the NPL this year and it brings us a new look team but we will continue to focus on scoring goals and playing exciting and entertaining football,” van Weeren said.
“We can’t wait to see another talented group of players compete against the heavyweights of the NPL Men’s competition and we are excited to see what these young men can produce and hopefully they reach their full potential.”
The NPL side have seen key players step up to the Isuzu UTE A-League squad, providing the opportunity for a number of younger Academy players to progress through the ranks. This season, Oscar Priestman will take the captain’s arm-band and attempt to lead his team to more silverware.
Also back into the side is the goal-machine Luka Smyth, wearing the number nine jersey and hoping to be a menace to defenders once again.
A number of the players in this year’s team gained vital experience against Celtic during the Sydney Super Cup in October and they will be looking forward to the cut and thrust of competitive football again.
Home Matches
This season, the Academy will be playing their home games at the state-of-the-art Valentine Sports Park, which is closer to the Centre of Excellence at Macquarie Park and offers modern facilities.
With fields both grass and artificial fields available, this is a fantastic new home for the Sky Blue Academy.
What to Expect
Last season, the Sydney FC Academy played some of the best football in the league. Their style of play is highly regarded across the competition, and provides great entertainment with the side netting 53 times. The best tally in the league by 10, with Marconi Stallions and Blacktown City next best on 43. The game plan won’t change, nor will the attitude of the Sydney FC players as they look to continue to play an attacking style of football.
This season, the NPL NSW Men’s competition has been expanded to contain 16 teams with the likes of the Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners Academy adding to the competitive nature of the competition. Former Sydney FC Isuzu UTE A-League player Adrian Vlastelica has also returned to his former club Sydney United 58 as he captains the side once more. With the Bulls Academy also in the mix, expect some more thrilling action.
The NPL NSW Men’s is filled with storylines and we recommend that you get along to as many matches as possible to see the next crop of Sydney FC stars and a brilliant brand of football.
You can follow every result and fixture of the Sydney FC Academy by clicking here.
Otherwise, catch every minute of every game live on NPL.TV which is completely free of charge.
Match Details
Sydney FC Academy v Mt Druitt Town Rangers
NPL NSW Men’s Round One
Sunday 5th February 2023
Valentine Sports Park (Field 2), Glenwood
3:00pm Kick Off
Broadcast Live: NPL.TV
