Two-time Hyundai A-League Champions Sydney FC will play five Saturday night and six Sunday afternoon matches in the 2011/12 season following the announcement of the official draw today.
Two-time Hyundai A-League Champions Sydney FC will play five Saturday night and six Sunday afternoon matches in the 2011/12 season following the announcement of the official draw today.
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After an away fixture against arch rivals Melbourne Victory to welcome in season seven of the A-League, Vitezslav Lavicka-s side-s first home game is against defending champions Brisbane Roar on Saturday 15 October at the Sydney Football Stadium (7:45pm kick-off).
On top of the Saturday night and Sunday afternoon fixtures, Sydney FC will host two exciting home matches during the Christmas holiday period at the SFS – first on Thursday 22 December (7:30pm kick-off) against Marcos Flores- Adelaide United followed by a clash against the Melbourne Heart on Thursday 29 December (7:30pm).
The Sky Blues will also play one match at a regional venue this season – on Wednesday 7 December against the Perth Glory – with the exact location to soon be announced by Football Federation Australia (FFA).
In a further boost for Sydneysiders, Sydney FC will again host Ange Postecoglou-s Brisbane Roar at the SFS – on Sunday 4 December with a twilight kick-off at 5pm.
“We are very happy with the draw,” interim CEO Stefan Kamasz said. “We have a good mix of night and afternoon matches which helps cater for all of the Sydney demographics and we have several games at home during the Christmas break.”
“We have added a number of excellent players to our squad for next season and are close to adding a few more so we are heading in the right direction as the season nears.
“We are excited by the challenge of playing Brisbane, the defending champions, twice out of our first four home games and I know our coaching staff and players have expressed those sentiments too.
“We think the move to an October start date is the right move for the A-League. There are plenty of local derby matches and fixtures where strong rivals face each other throughout the opening rounds too so as a League we can have a strong start to the season and build really good momentum from there.”
Season 2011/12 will be played over 27 rounds with each team hosting 13 home games spread over a 25-week period and in an exciting new innovation week 14 will see the first ever Hyundai A-League marathon where all five games will be played straight after the other.
The Sky Blues will be tested right from the get go with four of their first five matches against opponents who made the finals last year – Melbourne Victory (away), Brisbane Roar (home), Adelaide United (away), Melbourne Heart (away) and Gold Coast United (home).
Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka said his team is excited by the fixtures the draw has thrown up especially the initial home games for his club.
“The draw looks very good for everyone. We have a tough looking start to the season. We play four of our first five games against teams that made the finals last year but that-s a good thing for us. We see that as a big challenge and one that we will step up to,” Lavicka said.
“We will be really refreshed for the new season, we-ve added some very good players recently too so we are building along nicely.
“I would like to tell our supporters we will be ready for this season. We have a fresh start now and we will do you very proud and together we can make the Sydney Football Stadium one of the loudest and toughest places to come and play this season.”
Sydney FC will soon announce its membership packages for the 2011/12 Hyundai A-League season.
