Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners will face off this weekend for the first time this Isuzu UTE A-League campaign, but did you know that 31 players have featured in matches for Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners?
Andrew Redmayne and Anthony Caceres will return to their former home ground this weekend.
Players such as John Aloisi, Liam Reddy, Danny Vukovic and Alex Wilkinson have played for both sides, and we go through all 32 players and explain their impact and where they are now.
John Aloisi
John Aloisi broke many records during his 20-year playing career, and this included stints in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A. Aloisi also became an icon in Australian football history when his penalty against Uruguay qualified Australia for their first-ever World Cup since 1974, in 2006. In 2007, he played for the Mariners, scoring seven goals in 15 appearances, including one in Sydney FC’s 5-4 victory against Central Coast. Aloisi also steered Central Coast to the 2007/2008 Grand Final, where they lost against the Newcastle Jets. The season after, the now Western United coach moved to Sydney FC, where he played for two seasons, recording 12 goals, including a famous one on Valentines Day against Melbourne Victory.
Mustafa Amini
Mustafa Amini played 45 times for the Central Coast from 2010-2012, in the Asian Champions League and the Mariners’ 2011 Grand Final loss to Brisbane Roar. He then moved to Europe, where he played with sides such as Borussia Dortmund and Danish team Randers FC. After a ten-year European stint, Amini returned to Australia, where he signed with Sydney FC and played his first match at the beginning of 2022. He featured 24 times for the Sky Blues, playing until the end of the 2021/2022 season, where he participated in the Asian Champions League. In 2022, he signed with Perth Glory, where he currently plays as a central-attacking midfielder.
Zac Anderson
Zac Anderson played 83 times as a defender for the Central Coast Mariners from 2012 to 2015, where he featured in the A-League, FFA Cup and Asian Champions League. He only scored two goals in his A-League career, and one came for Central Coast against Melbourne Victory in 2015. In 2016, Anderson moved to Sydney FC, where the defender played nine games. In his final match against Shandong Luneng Taishan in the AFC Champions League, he received a red card after he held back one of their strikers despite the player being offside. After playing at Sydney FC, he moved to the UAE to play for Emirates Club before moving around clubs across Malaysia and Singapore and then retiring in 2021.
Mitch Austin
Mitch Austin scored five goals in 24 appearances for Central Coast in the 2015/2016 season. Austin then moved to Melbourne Victory and the Jets before coming to Sydney to play for the Sky Blues. He only appeared four times in the 2018/2019 season before he moved to Scotland to play for Patrick Thistle, where he retired.
Michael Beauchamp
Former Socerroo, Michael Beauchamp, played initially for Central Coast from 2005 to 2006, where he won the Preseason Cup Final with the side. After returning from European endeavours and Melbourne City, he moved to Sydney FC, where he played in the 2011/2012 season, scoring one goal, against the Newcastle Jets. Beauchamp retired from professional football in late 2016 when he joined the Marconi Stallions.
Pedj Bojić
Central Coast legend Pedj Bojic played 140 times for the Mariners, where he featured in 2 A-League grand finals, and won the 2013 final against Western Sydney. After the end of the 2013 season, he moved to Sydney FC, where he played 23 times before being released in January 2015.
Trent Buhagiar
Trent Buhagiar started his professional career at the Central Coast Mariners, where the striker played in 50 matches from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, he transferred to the Sky Blues, where he played 74 games and scored 21 goals, including one against the Mariners in 2021. After the 2021/2022 season, he moved to the Newcastle Jets, where he currently is the second top goalscorer of the side this season, with four goals and three assists.
Anthony Caceres
Anthony Caceres currently plays his football with the Sky Blues, where he has played 164 times for Sydney FC and scored 13 goals, with four of them coming against his former side, Central Coast, where he played from 2013-2015. Whilst playing there, he played in the Asian Champions League and A-League Finals.
Alvin Ceccoli
Alvin Ceccoli played in the Club World Cup and won the 2005/2006 A-League with the Sky Blues, across 61 appearances where he played at left-back. In 2008, he transferred to the Mariners, where he played six games, including their 2008 A-League Grand Final loss to Newcastle Jets. He then retired after that game. Ceccoli is one of the early fan favourites of the Sky Blues.
Jacques Faty
Senegalese defender Jacques Faty started his A-League career in 2015 after coming from French sides Rennes and Marseille before stints in Asia, and in his second game for Sydney FC, he picked up a red card after fighting with a Perth Glory player. In 2016, he scored the opening goal for the Sky Blues against the Wanderers people before picking up a red card a couple of months later in the Big Blue. He then moved to Central Coast for the 2016/2017 season, where he retired after playing eight times.
Fábio Ferreira
Portuguese midfielder Fábio Ferreira played 58 times for the Mariners, scoring 15 goals, including a double against Sydney FC in 2015. In the January window in the 2017/2018, he moved to the Sky Blues, where he played five times and never got to play against his former side. After retiring from professional football with Perth in 2019, he played with Sydney Olympic, where he faced Sydney FC in the 2021 FFA Cup. The Sky Blues won the match 4-2.
Antony Golec
Antony Golec played for seven Australian sides in his professional career, and he made the second most appearances for the Central Coast. In his 32 appearances, the defender played from 2017-2018 and never played an A-League Finals game. He played for the Sky Blues from 2008 to 2010. His last A-League game was for Macarthur FC, where he played against Melbourne City in the 2020/2021 A-League finals.
Tom Heward-Belle
Tom Heward-Belle played only three times with the Central Coast Mariners, where he debuted against the Sky Blues in a 4-1 loss. After returning from university studies, he signed with Sydney FC. In his third game, he conceded a red card against Aaron Mooy’s Shanghai SIPG in the Asian Champions League after a lazy goalkeeping mistake. This prompted the famous Rhyan Grant in goals scene which is synonomous with Sydney FC fans. Heward-Belle continued to serve as the Sky Blues goalkeeper until the end of the 2021/2022 season when he transferred to Western United, where he faced Sydney FC on the previous matchday in a 2-2 draw.
Andrew Hoole
After transferring from the Newcastle Jets, Andrew Hoole played the 2015-2016 season with the Sky Blues, featuring in all of Sydney FC’s Asian Champions League games. After returning to the Jets after the 2016 season, he joined the Mariners at the start of the 2017 season. Hoole also played as a right winger and central midfielder compared to his right-back days at Sydney FC, which saw him clock in eight goals, including one against Sydney FC. He played with the Central Coast in 2019, where he retired from professional football.
Bernie Ibini-Isei
Bernie Ibini-Isei played most of his football career at the Mariners and Sydney FC, playing in three grand finals across his career, winning the 2013 rendition against the Western Sydney Wanderers for Central Coast. Ibini started his A-League career 2010 with Central Coast, scoring 21 goals in 96 appearances until the 2013/2014 season. Ibini then kicked off the 2014/2015 season with the Sky Blues, scoring a crucial equaliser against the Wanderers in 2014 and scoring the winning goal against Melbourne Victory in their 2017 Australia Day clash. Ibini scored once against his former side in his four-year career with Sydney FC before he moved to the Newcastle Jets. The striker, who had floated around clubs in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia, joined the Singaporean club Lion City Sailors before they released him in August 2023. He is the brother of Sydney FC Women’s captain, Princess Ibini.
Anthony Kalik
Anthony Kalik made 21 appearances for Central Coast and Sydney FC, playing for the Mariners in the 2014/2015 season and the Sky Blues in the 2017/2018 season. The attacking midfielder played in the A-League, FFA Cup and Asian Champions League, and the person he played alongside the most was Anthony Caceres at the Mariners. The 26-year-old now plays football for Croatian side Hajduk Split, where they are coming first on the HNL ladder.
Mitchell Mallia
Mitchell Mallia made only one appearance for the Mariners, but he did make 17 with Sydney FC from 2011-2013. His most notable Sky-Blue moment was when he scored the winning goal against Adelaide in 2012. He controlled a long forward pass, took it wide and buried it in the far corner to the delight of the small pocket of travelling fans. After coming out from retirement, Mitchell Mallia now plays football for NPL side Blacktown City.
Trent McClenahan
Trent McClenahan made his A-League debut with Perth Glory in 2011 but joined Central Coast for their Asian Champions League campaign in 2012. The defender then transferred to Sydney FC for the 2012/2013 season, where he managed to secure a clean sheet against his former club in December of 2012. At the season’s conclusion, McClenahan went to Thailand before returning to Australia to retire at Rockdale Ilinden Football Club.
Matthew Nash
Matthew Nash’s singular game with the Sky Blues saw him secure a clean sheet against Perth Glory in 2007. He moved around clubs in Australia and found himself at the Mariners for the 2014/2015 season, where he played two matches. He then became the head goalkeeper coach for the Mariners in 2015 and moved back to Sydney to be the head goalkeeper coach of the Sky Blues, a position which he still holds today.
Ivan Necevski
Ivan Neceveki was Sydney FC’s goalkeeper from 2007 to 2014, securing ten clean sheets in the 47 appearances he made at the club. His final game for the Sky Blues came against Tottenham Hotspur, where Sydney FC lost 1-0. Necevski moved to the Mariners in 2016 after returning to the Sky Blues, as he was not receiving minutes with the arrival of Vedran Janjetović. Necevski appeared eight times for Central Coast, conceding five goals against the Sky Blues in two matches. In 2017, he moved to the Newcastle Jets, where he retired.
Justin Pasfield
Justin Pasfield featured in Sydney FC’s preseason cup campaign in 2006 but he was released after the 2006/2007 season, where he joined Sydney United. In 2011, he moved from the North Queensland Fury to the Mariners, earning four clean sheets in 14 appearances. He retired at the end of the 2011/2012 season.
Sasho Petrovski
Sasho Petrovski started his Sydney FC career by winning the 2005 Oceania Champions League. He continued to play with the Sky Blues until the conclusion of the 2006/2007 season, where he scored 26 goals in 61 appearances, including two hat tricks against Soubou FC and Central Coast Mariners. In 2007, he moved to the Mariners, where he slotted 16 goals, and left at the conclusion of the 2009 season. After joining the Newcastle Jets, the striker moved to the NPL side South Coast Wolves, where he retired from professional football.
Blake Powell
Blake Powell scored on his A-League debut for Sydney FC in their 2-3 loss to the Newcastle Jets in the Sky Blues opening match of the 2012/2013 season. The attacking midfielder then went on to play 36 more matches for Sydney FC, scoring twice more. Fast forward to 2016, and after playing in the 2015/2016 season with the Phoenix, Powell transferred to the Mariners, where he scored seven goals, including a penalty against the Sky Blues in 2018. He then moved to the Philippines, where he retired.
Liam Reddy
Liam Reddy made over 350 appearances in the A-League from 2005 until 2023, where he was the number-one goalkeeper for seven Australian clubs. He played with the Sky Blues from 2010-2012, securing six clean sheets for the club. At the beginning of the 2013/2014 season, Reddy moved to the Mariners, where he featured 63 times until 2015, clocking in 27 clean sheets. In 2019, he won the Premiership with Perth Glory. He was the goalkeeper for the Glory in Sydney FC’s 2019 Championship victory against Perth. In 2023, he was mutually released from the club, retiring from professional football.
Andrew Redmayne
Sydney FC’s current number-one keeper, Andrew Redmayne, has played over 250 games in the A-League and 211 with the Sky Blues. He has gone on to gain caps for the Socceroos, most notably in their 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches, where he starred in the penalty shootout which saw Australia progress to the World Cup after beating out Peru. Redmayne started his professional career with the Mariners, where he featured three times in the 2008/2009 season. After stints with various Australian clubs, he moved to Sydney FC in 2017, where he has since secured 51 clean sheets, becoming a core squad member. He will level Terry McFlynn’s appearance record this weekend against his former club.
Daniel De Silva
After returning from the Netherlands side Roda JC and being named in the initial 2015 Australian Asian Cup squad, Daniel De Silva joined the Mariners, where he played 22 matches, scoring three goals. But after the season, he was loaned to Sydney FC, where he appeared as a frequent substitute, scoring three goals and playing in the FFA Cup and Asian Champions League. But, at the end of the 2019 season, he moved back to Central Coast. Currently, he plays with another New South Wales side, Macarthur FC, where the 26-year-old has scored four goals, most recently in the AFC Cup against Shan United but stuggles with injuries
Matt Simon
Central Coast fans would remember Matt Simon, who featured 238 times for their side from 2007-2015 before returning from 2018-2022. As the Mariner’s 7-time Golden Boot winner and the highest scorer for the club with 66 goals, Matt Simon is one to remember for Mariners supporters. The striker also played for the Socceroos in 2011. However, he did have a very successful stint with Sydney FC from 2015-2018, where he appeared 66 times for the Sky Blues, scoring ten goals and being part of the 2016/2017 Championship-winning team that saw the Sky Blues defeat the Victory at Allianz Stadium. In his first game after being released from the Mariners, Matt Simon scored a double for Sydney in the 82nd and 88th minute, which saw the Sky Blues defeat Central Coast 3-1. After a returning to the Mariners in 2018, Simon scored twice against Sydney FC until he retired in 2022, following his omission from the 2021/2022 squad. He is now a coach at the Yellow and Navy.
Noel Spencer
Noel Spencer appeared 55 times for Central Coast from 2005-2007, where he was part of the Mariners 2005 Preseason Cup Final win and 2006 A-League Grand Final loss to the Sky Blues. The central midfield’s most notable goal came against Perth when he scored in the top right corner from 30 yards out on the opening day of the A-League season back in 2005. Spencer then moved to Sydney FC where he played one match in the Asian Champions League. He retired from football in 2012 after playing for the Dapto Dandaloo Fury.
Mickaël Tavares
Senegalese defensive midfielder Mickaël Tavares played 14 seasons with European clubs from 2003 to 2015, with sides such as Slavia Prague and Middlesborough. In the January transfer window of 2015, Graham Arnold welcomed him into Sydney FC, where he played 38 times for the Sky Blues, scoring once, this against the Central Coast Mariners, who he transferred to in 2016. He played nine times and reunited with his cousin Jacques Faty at the Mariners. At the end of the 2016/2017 season, he moved to US Sénart-Moissy, where Bayern star Kingsley Coman once played.
Danny Vukovic
Vukovic featured 172 times with the Central Coast Mariners from 2005 to 2010. After joining other Australian sides after the 2009/2010 season, in 2016, Vukovic became a Sky Blue, where he won the Premiership and then broke his Grand Final curse by saving a penalty from Marco Rojas in the 2016/2017 A-League Grand Final shoutout, to set up the Sky Blues to lift the A-League Championship. Last season he returned to the Mariners and currently wears the captains armband.
Alex Wilkinson
Alex Wilkinson made over 400 appearances in the A-League, 206 for the Mariners and 221 for the Sky Blues, winning 12 trophies with these two clubs and playing for the Socceroos 16 times, including the 2015 Asian Cup win and the 2014 Brazil World Cup. After starting at the Mariners in the inaugural season, he won the Premiership twice and captained the side from 2007-2012, taking them to two A-League Grand Finals. After returning from the Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Melbourne City, the defender became part of Graham Arnold’s side until the conclusion of the 2023 season. Wilkinson became one of Sydney FC’s greatest, becoming their player of the season in 2021, winning three A-League Premierships, one Australia Cup, and three A-League Championships with the side. Wilkinson is now an Assistant Coach at the Sky Blues under Ufuk Talay.
Match Details:
Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC
Isuzu UTE A-League Round 16
Saturday 10th February, 2024
Industree Group Stadium, Gosford, NSW
Kick Off: 7:45pm AEDT
Gates Open: 4:00pm AEDT
Broadcast Live: Paramount+ and 10BOLD
Tickets: Click Here