Sydney FC’s Steve Corica will become the longest serving Head Coach in Sky Blues history after signing a contract extension, taking him up to the end of the Isuzu Ute A-League 2023-24 season.
Corica has completed four seasons at the helm and guided the club to the Grand Final in his first three seasons as a Head Coach, winning two Championships and one Premiership in the process.
He has also led the club to AFC Champions League qualification in three of the past four campaigns.
Sydney FC Chairman Scott Barlow said: “Despite a very disappointing season that fell well short of our expectations, there is no one that has achieved more than Steve in his first four years as an A-League Head Coach.
“Steve has guided us to two Championships, a Premiership and three A-League Grand Finals in a row, and we have every confidence that he and his coaching staff will rebuild and return us to where we expect to be.
“Steve and his team have a lot to do over the off-season as we look to evolve our playing style and make a number of key player signings to rebuild our squad.
“Next season is the most important in our club’s history as we return home to our new stadium at Moore Park.
“Stability in leadership has been central to our success and to becoming Australia’s most successful football club.”
The 49-year old Head Coach will move into his 18th and 19th consecutive years with the club.
“I’ve been at Sydney FC since the club’s inception and it will be an extremely proud moment to become the club’s longest serving Head Coach,” he said.
“In the first three years of my coaching at Sydney FC we’ve been in the top two, won trophies and made the Grand Final every year; but obviously this year has been very disappointing.
“We understand it’s not good enough to miss out on Finals, so there’s a lot of improvement we need to start making now for next season to get back into contention.
“Recruitment will be key to our success as we freshen up the squad.
“We’ll need a new striker, a new number ten and I want to strengthen us defensively.
“There’ll be around six to eight new players to bring in, and we will have a number of excellent young players coming into the squad from the Academy, who have performed well in the NPL.
“We’ll also be looking at changes to the playing style to give the boys a new approach to the season and keep them fresh.”
Corica will enter his fifth season as Sky Blues boss next season, surpassing the four season record of Socceroos Head Coach Graham Arnold.
The former midfielder also has one of the best A-League coaching records in history with a win percentage record of 51.33%, placing him second behind Graham Arnold (54.98%) for coaches with 100 A-League games or more.
In 113 A-League games he has won over half with 58 victories, 24 draws and 31 defeats.
