The Sky Blues kick-off their 2010/11 campaign with a preseason friendly against Manly United at Cromer Park on Tuesday night.
Hyundai A-League 2010 Champions Sydney FC will dust off the famous Sky Blue tomorrow night for their first preseason match of the 2010/11 campaign when they take on New South Wales State League side Manly United with the match marking the beginning of a historic year for the club.
The match at Cromer Park is the first of a big time preseason for Vitezslav Lavicka-s men, one that includes a showdown with Tim Cahill-s Everton, a four-team tournament against Blackburn Rovers, AEK Athens and Glasgow Rangers as well as two other matches against State League teams in July.
Sydney FC-s defence of its A-League title begins in less than seven weeks with a showdown against Melbourne Victory at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday 7 August. The club will also be participating in the 2011 AFC Champions League.
The defending champions match against Manly, which kicks-off at 7pm, will also be the first time a number of the Sky Blues off season signings will take to the pitch for the club.
Marquee attacking midfielder Nicky Carle, 21-year-old Scott Jamieson and goalkeeper Liam Reddy may all make their Sydney FC debuts.
“We have been training well. The players- fitness is much better than this time last season. We will use this game to start our long road ahead,” Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka said.
“We will see how the game goes and how much everyone plays. We also have a number of players like Kofi Danning, Rhyan Grant, Stuart Musialik and Matt Jurman who cannot play because of injury.
“We will try some things and play fair and play hard. We are very eager to start.”
As well as using a number of the club-s National Youth League players, the Sky Blues line-up will include Nathan Sherlock, Hirofuni Moriyasu and Sean Toth who are currently trialing with the club.
While there will be a host of new faces, the Sky Blues will be lead by fan favourites Terry McFlynn, Alex Brosque, Mark Bridge and Stephan Keller.
NYL players Luke Austin, Dimitri Petratos and David Gullo are also in line for first team action.
Sydney FC team: Liam Reddy (gk), Ivan Necevski (gk), Luke Austin, Stephan Keller, Antony Golec, Sung-Hwan Byun, Terry McFlynn, Shannon Cole, Brendan Gan, Dimitri Petratos, Mark Bridge, Alex Brosque, Nathan Sherlock, Hayden Foxe, Scott Jamieson, David Gullo, Hirofuni Moriyasu, Nicky Carle, Sean Toth.
Sydney FC v Manly United
Tuesday 15 June, 7pm
Cromer Park, Manly
101 South Creek Road, Dee Why
Ticketing information:
Adults $10.00
Concession $5.00
Children U16 free
