Get to know Oakleigh Cannons

Sydney FC have been drawn against Victorian NPL outfit Oakleigh Cannons in the Australia Cup Round of 32.

Get to know this club a little better who are in their 52nd year of existence.

History

The club were founded in December 1972 and were originally known as South Oakleigh Soccer Club before changing to Oakleigh Soccer Club in the next few years.

After establishing themselves in the Victorian Provisional League, multiple trophies and promotions earned them a move up to the Victorian State League (now known as the Victorian NPL) for the first time in 1987.

They remained in and around the top Victorian division throughout the 90s and early 2000’s and rebranded to Oakleigh Cannons during that time. They won their first Premiership in 2006 when they finished 12 points clear at the top of the Victorian top division.

After many years of going close in the league Oakleigh weren’t able to clinch the Championship, stumbling on many occasions in the Finals series, however they found success in the FFA Cup during the 2015 campaign. They went all the way through to the quarter final of the competition where they fell in extra time to Hume City.

In 2022, they finally broke their finals hoodoo and beat South Melbourne 5-0 in the decider to claim their first Championship.

During their 2022 Australia Cup run they made history by bringing on 13-year-old Ymer Abili in their Semi Final loss to Macarthur FC. During a goalkeeper crisis, the teenager was called up to the bench and as a thank you from Head Coach Chris Taylor, he was thrown on with five minutes left. Ymer made history during that moment, becoming the youngest player to ever play in the Australia Cup.

Stadium

Cannons play their football out of Jack Edwards Reserve in Melbourne,

This field is located in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh and can hold 4,000 people, however their record attendance came in the 2022 Australia Cup clash with Macarthur which was reported at 5,200.

It has one main stand which seats approximately 500 people with standing room round the rest of the pitch.

Current Season

Currently, the Cannons are sitting third in the Victorian NPL on 37 points after 18 matches. They are sitting seven points behind ladder leaders South Melbourne and in their most recent match they lost to Dandenong Thunder 3-1.

They are in the Semi Finals of the Victorian Cup (Dockerty Cup) and will take on Fitzroy City in mid July as they aim for a place in the final.

Alex Salmon is their top scorer having found the net 11 times from the 17 matches he has played. He is currently sitting 2nd behind Harrison Sawyer from South Melbourne who is leading the way with 13 goals.

Past Meeting

These two have met once before in the Australia Cup in the 2022 edition. Joe Lolley made his debut for Steve Corica’s side after arriving from Nottingham Forest in England but it wasn’t enough for him to inspire his side to victory.

It was a cold night when these two last met

It was a tough start for Sydney who named a strong starting eleven but found themselves one goal down after six minutes. They rallied hard but found themselves two behind in the 30th minute and knew a big second half was required.

Adrian Segecic pulled one goal back with 15 minutes to go but it wasn’t enough for the Sky Blues who were eliminated at the hands of an NPL club in the Cup for the very first time.

This was the only previous meeting between the two teams.