Sydney Festival of Football

Last updated

Sydney Festival of Football
Festival of football.jpg
Tournament details
Host countryAustralia
Dates25–31 July
Teams4 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Flag of Greece.svg AEK Athens (1st title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played6
Goals scored17 (2.83 per match)
Attendance38,873 (6,479 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex Brosque
(3 goals)

The Sydney Festival of Football was an association football friendly tournament competition hosted by A-League club Sydney FC in 2010, held in Sydney and funded by the Events NSW department of the New South Wales Government.

Contents

It was intended to be an annual event, with Sydney FC contracted as the Australian side for 3 years, but poor attendance from Sydney FC fans caused the event to make a loss and plans for future tournaments were scrapped. The event has not been held since and no plans have been made to revive the competition.

The first and only tournament to take place so far occurred from 25–31 July 2010, contested by English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, Rangers from the Scottish Premier League and AEK Athens from the Greek Super League, who eventually won the tournament. [1]

History

The idea of an international club tournament hosted by Sydney FC was first brought up soon after the 2009–10 A-League season in which Sydney FC took out the Premiership & Championship. Sydney had been keen to participate once more in the Pan-Pacific Championship however due to unknown reasons the 2010 edition was not played. At the time it was revealed that they would be playing Everton, however rumours floated around a pre-season tournament between Sydney FC, Blackburn Rovers, Rangers and Argentinian giants Boca Juniors. [2] [3] However this fell through when it was announced that Boca Juniors would only be playing Melbourne Victory [4] and Wellington Phoenix [5] on their tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Soon afterwards it was rumoured that Greek Super League club AEK Athens would be going to Australia to play a friendly in either Sydney or Melbourne, due to their large Greek communities. It was announced on 4 June 2010, that the tournament would be held between 25–31 July. [6] [7] The announcement was made by New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally, Sydney FC CEO Edwin Lugt, as well as Sydney FC players Terry McFlynn and Liam Reddy with manager Vitezslav Lavicka. [1]

Results

YearVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place4th place
2010 SFS, Sydney Flag of Greece.svg AEK Athens Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers FC Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sydney FC

Teams

The teams who accepted the invitations are:

Venue

All the games were played at the Sydney Football Stadium a 45,000 seat multi-use venue, home ground of hosts Sydney FC, as well as several National Rugby League teams. The ground has seen host to many internationals including Socceroos games, as well as being one of the stadiums used for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Point system

To create exciting attacking football, there is a new way of gaining points for the tournament. The standard rules which applied for the tournament being (3 points = Win, 1 Point = Draw, 0 points = Loss), however 1 point would be awarded for each goal during the tournament. So even if a team loses, they would still gain points. For example:

Sydney FC would receive the standard 3 points for the win plus 2 points for scoring 2 goals, meaning Sydney FC would receive 5 points in total. AEK Would receive just the 1 point for the goal.

Ladder

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts AEK BLA RAN SYD
1 Flag of Greece.svg AEK Athens 330084+4172–11–0
2 Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers 31024517
3 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers 311122062–1
4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sydney FC 301247353–51–20–0

Events

Match Day One

Sydney FC V AEK Athens

On an overcast day over 14,153 showed up to the Football Stadium to watch local team Sydney FC take on Greek Super League giants AEK Athens. The match started out an arm wrestle, with both sides taking their time to adjust to the tempo of the match. However the deadlock would be broken on 30 minutes when Brazilian striker Leonardo scored to give AEK the lead, however Sydney would strike back minutes later when Pantelis Kafes hand balled in the box, and Sydney striker Alex Brosque put the ball calmly down the middle to level the scores at 1–1. AEK would take the lead soon after in the 37th minute when Ismael Blanco scored a header from a corner to put the Greeks up 2–1. A mistake early on in the second half by AEK goalkeeper Giannis Arabatzis allowed Brosque to grab his second, and level Sydney back up at 2–2. However the game would be blown open with 3 goals by Ignacio Scocco, Nikos Liberopoulos, and Pantelis Kafes, with goals in the 60th, 74th, and 77th minutes respectively. Sydney would strike late in the game via Senegalese triallist Ibrahima Thiam in the 88th when he headed from close range to finish the scoring at 5–3. [8]

Rangers V Blackburn Rovers

The second match of Match Day One would see Scottish Champions Rangers take on Blackburn Rovers who boasted 2 Socceroos players in Brett Emerton and Vince Grella. The match started off quietly however as Blackburn had landed in Australia only 24 hours previously showed plenty of tiredness and weakness, and conceded in the 11th minute through USA international Maurice Edu. Blackburn would go 2–0 down soon before half time when Kenny Miller took advantage of sloppy defence and fired in from close range in the 44th. Blackburn came out stronger in the second half however, they conceded a penalty in the 61st. A rush of blood from Kenny Miller however saw him fire the ball into the crossbar and out, but 3-minute's later Rangers themselves would concede a penalty down the other end of the park when David Dunn was brought down inside the box thanks to a late tackle. He made no mistake in converting his own penalty, giving Blackburn some hope halfway through the 2nd half 2–1 down. However, despite both sides pressing the issue the score remained the same, finishing 2–1 at full time. [9]

Match Day Two

AEK Athens V Blackburn Rovers

On a wet, damp cold Wednesday evening and a crown of 9,483, AEK faced off against Blackburn, AEK hoping to secure the points which would most likely see them take out the first ever Sydney Festival of Football. The match started out evenly, both sides struggling to adjust to the muddy and slipper conditions, however it would be AEK Athens who adjusted the quickest, killing off Blackburn with a stunning double blow in 5 minutes, as Australian midfielder Nathan Burns set up Argentinian striker Ignacio Scocco brilliantly after flying past his man down the wing and sending in a cross, easily put away by Scocco to send AEK up 1–0. As the conditions got worse, the match was nearly interrupted when several flood lights in the Sydney Football Stadium went out, however the game continued, and minutes later Burns set up his second assist allowing Nikos Liberopoulos his second of the tournament. The game would be stuck in a stalemate until the last 10 minutes when Blackburn got their second wind, and ultimately their consolation goal through Phil Jones. The match finished 2–1, with AEK Athens all but sealing the championship, extending their lead to 13 points, 7 in front of Rangers. [10]

Sydney FC V Rangers

If the earlier match was played in miserable wet conditions, the Sydney FC – Rangers match was played in atrocious conditions. The heavy rain had held off until now, despite it raining all day, and the entire 90 minutes was played out in near monsoonal conditions. Both teams struggled on a pitch which had had 3 games played on it without repair, and the rain made it worse. Both sides had minimal chances, however Sydney FC had the first real chance when Mark Bridge managed to get past his man on the edge of the 18-yard box after 20 minutes, however his shot was fired straight at the keeper. The best chance of the second half also went to Sydney with Senegalese triallist Ibrahima Iyane Thiam, who had scored in the match against AEK Athens, when he lifted a curling ball which looked to be going in, only to be denied by the fingertips of the goalkeeper. There was a scare in the second half for Sydney FC when Swiss defender Stephan Keller limped off with what looked to be a hamstring injury, a major worry for manager Vitezslav Lavicka with 10 days until the kickoff of the A-League. Despite both teams trying to make the most of the awful pitch, neither team could find the net and it remained 0–0, with both sides getting a point. [11]

Match Day Three

AEK Athens V Rangers

Nathan Burns scored the only goal as AEK Athens won the first Sydney Festival of Football on the final day of the tournament.

Despite turning in a good performance in a very physical game, Rangers succumbed to a 72nd-minute goal from AEK's Australian substitute Burns.

Sydney FC V Blackburn Rovers

A-League Champions Sydney played out an entertaining 2–1 loss to English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers in the final game of the Sydney Festival of Football in which the Sydney-based team took to the pitch wearing black arm-bands, remembering the grandfather of defender Byun Sung-Hwan and grandmother of striker Mark Bridge, who both died during the week beginning 26 July 2010.

Sydney local Brett Emerton opened the scoring for Rovers in the 37th minute after gathering a Steven Nzonzi flick-on from a Gael Givet long ball. The Qantas Socceroos international experience showed as he chested the ball down calmly to turn and finish past goalkeeper Reddy.

In the 67th minute Blackburn substitutes Junior Hoilett and Keith Andrews combined well to find Pedersen who finished from close range to make it 2–0 to Blackburn.

The Sky Blues were to grab a consolation goal though as another fine attacking move saw Gan play a delicate ball through to Brosque who took a touch and finessed his shot past Bunn into the bottom right hand corner of the goal in the 81st minute. [12]

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce commented after the match that he would like to come back and compete in the 2011 Sydney Festival of Football. However this tournament would not go ahead.

Games

Sydney FC Flag of Australia (converted).svg 3–5 Flag of Greece.svg AEK Athens
Brosque Soccerball shade.svg33' (pen.), 48'
Iyane Thiam Soccerball shade.svg89'
Report Leonardo Soccerball shade.svg30'
Blanco Soccerball shade.svg37'
Liberopoulos Soccerball shade.svg60'
Scocco Soccerball shade.svg74'
Kafes Soccerball shade.svg77'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 14,153
Referee: Ben Williams
Rangers Flag of Scotland.svg 2–1 Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers
Edu Soccerball shade.svg11'
Miller Soccerball shade.svg44'
Report Dunn Soccerball shade.svg64' (pen.)
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 14,153
Referee: Peter Green
AEK Athens Flag of Greece.svg 2–1 Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers
Scocco Soccerball shade.svg20'
Liberopoulos Soccerball shade.svg24'
Report Jones Soccerball shade.svg82'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 9,483
Referee: Peter Green
Sydney FC Flag of Australia (converted).svg 0–0 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers
Report
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 9,483
Referee: Matthew Breeze
AEK Athens Flag of Greece.svg 1–0 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers
Burns Soccerball shade.svg78' Report
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 15,237
Referee: Matthew Breeze
Sydney FC Flag of Australia (converted).svg 1–2 Flag of England.svg Blackburn Rovers
Brosque Soccerball shade.svg81' Report Emerton Soccerball shade.svg37'
Pedersen Soccerball shade.svg67'
Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 15,237
Referee: Ben Williams

Scorers

NameClubGoals
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex Brosque Sydney FC 3
Flag of Argentina.svg Ignacio Scocco AEK Athens 2
Flag of Greece.svg Nikos Liberopoulos AEK Athens 2
Flag of Argentina.svg Ismael Blanco AEK Athens 1
Flag of Brazil.svg Leonardo AEK Athens 1
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nathan Burns AEK Athens 1
Flag of Greece.svg Pantelis Kafes AEK Athens 1
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brett Emerton Blackburn Rovers 1
Flag of England.svg David Dunn Blackburn Rovers 1
Flag of England.svg Phil Jones Blackburn Rovers 1
Flag of Norway.svg Morten Gamst Pedersen Blackburn Rovers 1
Flag of Scotland.svg Kenny Miller Rangers 1
Flag of the United States.svg Maurice Edu Rangers 1
Flag of Senegal.svg Ibrahima Iyane Thiam Sydney FC 1
Sydney Festival of Football
2010 Winners
Flag of Greece.svg
AEK Athens
First Title

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Emerton</span> Australian association football player

Brett Michael Emerton is an Australian former professional footballer who played for Sydney Olympic, Sydney FC, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Blackburn Rovers and the Australia national team. Able to play as a wide midfielder or defender, Emerton was known for his "speed, ball control and creativity."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotirios Kyrgiakos</span> Greek footballer

Sotirios Kyrgiakos is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

The 1884 FA Cup final was a football match between Blackburn Rovers and Queen's Park contested on 29 March 1884 at the Kennington Oval. It was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, it was the 13th Cup final. It was the first time that a Scottish team reached the final of the tournament, with Queen's Park knocking out the previous holders of the trophy en route.

The 2006 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup was a series in the Australian A-League football competition held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the main season. The opening round was 15 July 2006. The competition featured a group stage, with three regular rounds and a bonus round, followed by a two-week finals playoff. The bonus group round matched up teams against opponents from the other group, and also offered the incentive of "bonus points" based on goals scored.

The 2008–09 season was the 85th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 50th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 14 August 2008 and finished on 31 May 2009.

The 2009–2010 season was Sydney FC's fifth consecutive season in the A-League since its inception. It was an historic year for the club taking out the domestic double by winning the premier's plate and the championship during the season.

The 2009–10 season was Blackburn Rovers' 122nd season as a professional football club. The 2009–10 season was Blackburn Rovers' 16th season in the Premier League, and their 9th consecutive season in the top division of English football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 AFC Asian Cup</span> International football competition

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was won by Australia after defeating South Korea 2–1 in extra time in the final, thereby earning the right to participate in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, which was hosted by Russia. The win was Australia's first Asian title since their move from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006. It was also the first time a men's team has become champions of two confederations, following Australia's four OFC Nations Cup titles: 1980, 1996, 2000 and 2004; right after the Australian women's team won the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup.

Sydney FC in an Australian soccer club that has participated in many international tournaments and friendlies from 2005 to the present season. Indeed, its first competitive fixture was to qualify for the Oceania Champions League. Despite their short history, Sydney FC have participated in four different international competitions, the most by any A-League club. They have competed at the Asian Champions League five times and at the Oceania Champions League. Sydney FC alongside Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers are the only teams to have represented the A-League in the FIFA Club World Cup. Sydney FC are the only team to have represented the A-League in the Pan-Pacific Championship during the 2008 competition.

The 2010–11 season was the 87th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 52nd consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Europa League. The season began on 19 August 2010 and finished on 25 May 2011.

The 2011–12 season was the 88th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 53rd consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Europa League. The season began on 18 August 2011 and finished on 20 May 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Singapore League Cup</span> Football tournament season

The 2012 Singapore League Cup was held between 26 July to 11 August 2012. Traditionally held as a knockout competition, the 2012 edition saw a new format where four groups of three teams battled it out for a place in the semi-finals. In addition, the four teams that finished third in their respective groups played in a separate Plate Competition consisting of two semi-finals and a final.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English football club based in White City, London. The club was founded in 1882 and has competed in the English football league system since 1920. They have taken part in UEFA-sanctioned cup competition twice. They reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 1976–77 season, and the second round of the same competition in 1984–85.

The 2014–15 A-League was the 38th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 10th season of the A-League since its establishment in 2004. Brisbane Roar were both the defending A-League Premiers and Champions. The regular season commenced on 10 October 2014 and concluded on 26 April 2015. The 2015 Grand Final took place on 17 May 2015. The season was suspended from 9–24 January in order to avoid a clash with the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, which was hosted by Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 FFA Cup final</span> Football match

The 2016 FFA Cup Final was the 3rd final of the FFA Cup, the premier soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. The match was held on 30 November 2016 at AAMI Park. Melbourne Victory were the defending champions, but were defeated 2–0 by Melbourne City in the semi-finals. The other team to qualify for the Final was Sydney FC, who defeated Canberra Olympic 3–0 in their respective semi-final.

The 2019 National Premier Leagues was the seventh season of the Australian National Premier Leagues football competition. The league competition was played by eight separate state and territory member federations. The divisions are ACT, NSW, Northern NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. The winners of each respective divisional league competed in a finals series tournament at season end, culminating in a Grand Final.

The 2020 A-League Grand Final was the fifteenth A-League Grand Final, the championship-deciding match of the Australian A-League and the culmination of the 2019–20 season. The match was originally scheduled to be played in May 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was played on 30 August 2020 between Sydney FC and Melbourne City at Bankwest Stadium in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, New South Wales.

The 2021 W-League grand final was the final match of the 2020–21 W-League season to decide the champions of women's soccer in Australia for the season.

The 2022 Malaysia M3 League was the 2nd season of Malaysia M3 League, the third-tier football league in Malaysia, since its establishment in 2019. This is the first time the league had a fully completed season since 2019, after the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to restrictions.

The 1964–65 season was the 41st season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the sixth consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup. The season began on 9 September 1964 and finished on 2 July 1965.

References

  1. 1 2 Sydney FC to face Blackburn, Rangers and AEK
  2. Hassett, Sebastian (10 May 2010). "Boca, Rangers line up for Sydney FC". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  3. Smithies, Tom (10 May 2010). "Sydney FC's international extravaganza". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  4. "Victory to play Boca Juniors". The Sydney Morning Herald . AAP. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  5. "Phoenix to play pre-season in Hamilton". The New Zealand Herald . NZPA. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  6. "Sydney FC to face three European teams". The Sydney Morning Herald . AAP. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  7. Sydney FC To Host AEK, Rangers And Blackburn Rovers In July
  8. "AEK Hit Five Past Sydney". FourFourTwo Australia. 25 July 2010. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  9. "Rangers down Blackburn 2–1". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 July 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  10. "AEK Too Good For Blackburn". FourFourTwo Australia. 28 June 2010. Archived from the original on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  11. "Neck And Neck in Champions Clash". FourFourTwo Australia. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  12. "Rovers down Sydney FC 2–1". Sydney FC, James Mahon & Thomas Evans. 31 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.