Paul Reid (footballer, born 1979)
Paul James Reid is an Australian international footballer who plays as a player coach midfielder for Rockdale City Suns in the NSW Premier League. Reid played for Wollongong Wolves during championship winning seasons before moving to England where he played for six years with Bradford City and Brighton & Hove Albion before returning to Australia. Reid has made two appearances for the Australian national team. Born in Sydney, Reid started his youth career at Marconi Stallions alongside Socceroos, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton in the same U-13 team and was noted for his talents. Reid went on to begin his senior football career in Australia for Wollongong Wolves in 1998, he became a cult hero during his time at the Wollongong Wolves after scoring the last minute equaliser in the 2000 grand final against Perth Glory. The Wolves went on to win the game 7–6 on penalties. In 2002, Reid moved to England and joined Bradford City, but only stayed for one season before joining Brighton & Hove Albion in 2003.
Reid had played in the right-back position in defence for the Seagulls, but the player has stated his preferred position is in the centre of midfield. Near the start of the 2006–07 season, Reid suffered a serious knee injury which saw him sidelined for nearly a year, but the player did return for the start of the 2007–08 pre-season. On 6 May 2008, it was confirmed that Reid, along with experienced trio Kerry Mayo, Gary Hart and Guy Butters were to be released from the club. On 11 July 2008, Reid began training with Hereford United in a bid to win a new contract, he was expected to sign with Perth Glory for the 2008–09 A-League season, but instead signed with Adelaide United on a two-year deal. He won a call up to the national-team squad in October 2008 along with Adelaide United team mates Scott Jamieson, Robert Cornthwaite and Eugene Galeković. Despite playing in a deep midfield role Reid has created a number of assists from both open play and set pieces, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on 18 January 2009.
Reid signed a short-term end of season contract with Melbourne Heart as injury cover during the 2012 January transfer window. On 9 March, Reid agreed with a short-term contract with INSEE Police United, he arrived in Thailand on 11 March. In early 2011, Reid had asked former club Adelaide United for a release to join hometown club Sydney FC for their 2011 Asian Champions League campaign, resulting in a bitter fallout between himself and manager Rini Coolen who would not release him until season's end. In September 2012, it was announced that Reid was on trial with Sydney FC, taking part in two of their pre-season matches against A-League opposition before signing a 1-year deal to join the Sky Blues beginning on 1 October 2012. However, as a result of Sydney FC failing to qualify for the A-League finals, along with teammates Nathan Sherlock, Krunoslav Lovrek, Trent McClenahan, Adam Griffiths and Jarrod Kyle were released by Sydney FC at the conclusion of the 2012-13 A-League season. After being released as a player from Sydney FC, Reid signed for Rockdale City Suns in the NSW Premier League.
However, he still works for Sydney FC as a Community Football Officer. Reid made his senior international debut for the Socceroos on 28 January 2009 in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match versus Indonesia. Following Branko Culina departure from the managers position at Rockdale, following a poor start to the 2015 NPL, Reid was announced as Rockdale City Suns new coach, a position which he would combine with playing duty when required. Reid led Rockdale to the Round of 16 of the 2015 FFA Cup against A-League club Melbourne Victory at Jubilee Oval. Despite a valiant comeback, Melbourne would go on to win the overall competition. Wollongong Wolves NSL Championship: 1999–2000, 2000–01 Oceania Club Championship: 2000–01 Adelaide United profile OzFootball profile Paul Reid at Soccerbase
Parramatta Stadium
Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League and the Western Sydney Wanderers of the A-League. Cumberland Oval was the local name for the cricket, motor sports and rugby venue that had existed prior to Parramatta Stadium being built, with the area having been used for recreational activities since 1788, the founding year of the British colony in New South Wales; the stadium hosted numerous other sporting and cultural events since its opening in 1986. Michael Jackson performed there during his Bad World Tour on 20–21 November 1987, Paul McCartney concluded the Australian leg of The New World Tour with two shows there on 22–23 March 1993. In 2015 the NSW Government announced that the stadium would be demolished and replaced, to that end, Parramatta Stadium was demolished in February 2017, with the new Western Sydney Stadium being built in the same location.
Cumberland Oval was the main sporting venue for the Parramatta District from the mid 19th Century until 1982. It was a venue for horse-racing and athletics for rugby union from 1879 and rugby league from 1909. Motorsports racing started in 1930 with motorcycles speedcars in 1936. Among the famous names who used the oval in their respective sports were English cricketer W. G. Grace, Australia's triple Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham who raced in midget cars at the Cumberland Speedway in the 1940s; the first stand at Cumberland Oval was built in 1850 and others followed at various times up to the final stand was built in 1936. Players from the local cricket club erected a two-rail fence around the oval during the 1860s but a solid planked safety barrier was needed for motor cycle racing, although this did not stop several deaths occurring as a result of crashes; the dirt track was 18 feet in width until expanded to 30 feet for the speedcars. The boundary fence and track remained in place after all speedway racing ended in 1959.
Some of the early touring English cricket teams played at Cumberland Oval at a time when Parramatta was "way out in the country". The cricket club evolved as Central Cumberland for the initial Sydney Grade Competition in 1893/94; when the nearby King's School moved to North Parramatta during the early 1970s it resulted in the turf pitches being removed and the cricket club moving to the adjacent oval, the school's main sports ground. The club now known as the Parramatta District Cricket Club still has Old Kings Oval as its main ground; the Parramatta Rugby Union club now plays at Granville Rugby Park. Cumberland Oval was is use for rugby league by the Parramatta Iona and Endeavours clubs and the Western Districts representative side; when the Parramatta District Rugby League Club was admitted into the NSWRL Premiership in 1947 Cumberland Oval became the club's home ground. The first match was played against Newtown on 12 April 1947, before a crowd of 6,000; the largest crowd to watch a rugby league match at Cumberland Oval was 22,470 when the Eels took on the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 26 April 1971.
Cumberland Oval remained the home ground of the Parramatta Eels until 1981, playing their last match there against Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in August in front of their seasons highest home attendance of 18,449 before going on to win their maiden NSWRL Premiership by defeating Newtown 20-11 in the Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. After losing the 1976 Grand Final 13-10 to Manly, the 1977 Grand Final replay 22-0 to St George, 1981 was the first premiership success for the Eels; as the Parramatta Eels secured their first-ever Premiership, defeating the Newtown Jets in the 1981 Grand Final, wildly jubilant scenes erupted in Parramatta, the Leagues club overflowed with Eels fans celebrating with thousands rallying at nearby Cumberland Oval and, in a frenzy of vandalism, burned the Oval's grandstand to the ground. For a while some junior rugby league matches were played on the unfenced oval before the site was redeveloped. In November 1984 the construction company Civil & Civic won the contract to design and build a new stadium.
In November 1985 the stadium was complete, with a rectangular playing area several meters below the Cumberland Oval surface. On 5 March 1986 the Parramatta Stadium was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. On 16 March the first NSWRL Premiership match was played at the ground with 26,870 in attendance. Parramatta's Steve Sharp scored the ground's first try in the Eels' 36 – 6 victory over the St. George Dragons; the only try for the Dragons came when centre Michael O'Connor fielded an infield kick from Eels front rower Paul Mares and raced 91 metres to score with a flying Eric Grothe only just failing to stop him as he came across in cover. On 20 May 1990, the 1989–90 National Soccer League Grand Final between western Sydney based clubs Sydney Olympic and the Marconi Stallions was played at the venue. Olympic win the match 2–0 in what was the highest soccer attendance at Parramatta Stadium stands at 26,353. On 19 June 1992, the Parramatta Eels versus Great Britain Lions game on the Lions 1992 tour of Australasia attracted a crowd of 18,220, the largest non-Test match crowd of the Lions tour, with Parramatta winning 22–16.
Prior to the match and Great Britain winger's Lee Oudenryn and Martin Offiah regarded at the time as the fastest player in rugby league, faced off in a Tooheys Blue Label challenge race over 100m. Oudenryn caused what many believed to be a huge upset by defeating O
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region, it encompasses the cities of Wollongong and the town of Kiama. The Illawarra region is characterised by three distinct districts: the north-central district, a contiguous urban sprawl centred on Lake Illawarra; the region consists of a coastal plain, narrow in the north and wider in the south, bounded by the Tasman Sea on the east and the mountainous impassable Illawarra escarpment to the west. In the middle of the region is Lake Illawarra, a shallow lake formed when sediment built up at the entrance to a bay; the district extends from the southern hills of the Royal National Park in the north to the Shoalhaven River in the south, contains the city of Wollongong, the third-largest urban area in New South Wales. North of Wollongong the plain narrows to a small strip of land between the escarpment. At Coalcliff and Stanwell Park small valleys are formed allowing further settlement.
To the south it widens, becomes hillier before reaching Stockyard Mountain, a long divide between the main plain and the Jamberoo Valley, which stretches until it reaches Kiama. South of Kiama is Saddleback Mountain and south of that the Shoalhaven plains and the outcrop of Coolangatta Mountain; the main industries in the area have traditionally been coal mining and steel making. Australia's largest steel-works, BlueScope, operates at Port Kembla; the area around Port Kembla and Wollongong, was once known for its industrial jobs, but since the 1990s commerce has played an increasing role in the city, overtaking industry in many areas. The Illawarra region is linked to Sydney by a motorway and electric railway. At Albion Park Rail the Illawarra Regional Airport serves the region; the word "illawarra" is derived from the Aboriginal Tharawal word "allowrie," sometimes spelled as "elouera" or "eloura." According to A. W. Reed, the word is variously translated as "pleasant place near the sea" or "high place near the sea."
The prefix of "illa" is known to mean "white clay. George Bass and Matthew Flinders were the first Europeans to visit the area, with Flinders recording that it'was called "Allowrie" by the natives'. For the period around 1806, the region was called "Five Islands". In 1817 Governor Macquarie, referring to region, wrote:'part of the coast known by the name of the Five Islands, but called by the natives "Illawarra". For the purposes of Australian federal elections for the House of Representatives, the Illawarra region is contained within the electoral Divisions of Cunningham and Gilmore. For the purposes of New South Wales elections for the NSW Legislative Assembly, the Illawarra region is contained within the electoral Districts of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama. For the purposes of local government administration, the Illawarra region is contained within the cities of Wollongong and the Municipality of Kiama; the City of Wollongong forms the northernmost boundary, ranging from Helensburgh to Lake Illawarra, with northernmost coastal suburb Helensburgh and southernmost suburbs including Windang and Haywards Bay.
The City of Shellharbour is south of Wollongong City, ranges from Albion Park Rail in the north, west to Macquarie Pass near the escarpment, south to Dunmore near the Minnamurra River, bordered on the east by ocean stretching from Lake Illawarra, Barrack Point and Shellharbour. The Municipality of Kiama is south of Shellharbour City, ranges from the Minnamurra River, west to Bald Hill, south to about 4 kilometres south of Gerroa. Illawarra cattle were bred in Illawarra and are now Australia's 3rd largest breed in population, they are large dark red cows sometimes with white patches. They produce large amounts of high butter fat and high protein milk and are suited to the Australian climate. Coal mining has been a key part to the Illawarra's economy for over 200 years; the Illawarra Steelers Rugby league Football Club played in the NSWRL rugby league competition the NRL, from 1982 to 1998, forms one half of the St George Illawarra Dragons joint venture, who play four of their twelve home games at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.
The Illawarra Steelers still field teams in the lower rugby league divisions. Many famous footballers, such as Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Mick Cronin, Rod Wishart, Paul McGregor, Craig Fitzgibbon, Luke Bailey, Steve Roach, Garry Jack, Warren Ryan, the Stewart brothers Brett and Glenn, have come from the Illawarra region; the Illawarra Hawks have represented the region since the foundation year of the NBL, 1979. They won the NBL championship in 2001 defeating the Townsville Crocs 2-1 in the best of 3 finals, they finished as runners-up in 2005 and 2010 seasons. The Wollongong Wolves participated in the now defunct NSL, winning back to back premierships in 2000 and 2001; the Wolves were not selected for the NSL's replacement, the A-League, an
South Melbourne FC
South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. Founded in 1959 as South Melbourne Hellas, with a basis in the Greek community, South Melbourne were once considered the most successful soccer club in Australia; the club has won four national championships, a string of Victorian State League titles, represented Oceania in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship. Along with the Marconi Stallions, they were one of two clubs to compete in every season of the National Soccer League; the club was chosen by the IFFHS as the Oceania team of the 20th century. South Melbourne was formed in 1959 with the amalgamation of three struggling Melbourne soccer clubs—South Melbourne United, the oldest of the three clubs with a history dating back to the early 1900s—the Greek-backed Yarra Park Aias, Hellenic. Theo Marmaras, initiator of the merger proposal and president of Hellenic, became the first president of the new club.
In recognition of the large Greek Australian support base of Hellenic and Yarra Park, which were the best-supported of the three clubs, the new club was named South Melbourne Hellas, the name by which it was to be known for the majority of its 50 years. The first emblem reflected the colour scheme of the Greek national flag; the first uniform consisted of jersey of white with a red'V' around the collar, the was that of South Melbourne United, as well as blue shorts and blue and white hooped socks. On they would adopt predominantly blue and white strips, with various designs throughout the seasons, with the most common being a predominantly royal blue strip. South Melbourne won the Victorian First Division championship of 1960, the club's inaugural year of competition; the club was promoted to the Victorian State League First Division the following year, where it finished fifth in its first year. With a number of astute signings—Scottish journeyman Tommy Anderson, Ernie Ackerley, Leo Damianakos, Jim Pyrgolios and Andreas Roussis of Panathinaikos and Apollon Athens—the club won the division championship in 1962, 1964, 1965.
In 1965, South Melbourne secured the services of 35-year-old former AEK Athens F. C. star Kostas Nestoridis as player-coach. The result was a significant increase in crowd attendances and a fourth league title in 1966. Eager to repeat its success, the club recruited a number of Greek and local footballers, but they failed to make any impact. By 1969, the import experiment was considered a failure and most of the Greek players returned to their homeland. In 1970, the club focused its attention on recruiting local soccer players, it soon signed two players that would become South Melbourne's greatest players, Steve Walker and striker Jim Armstrong. South Melbourne missed out on the title by a point in the 1971 season, edged out by Footscray JUST, but with Armstrong scoring goals aplenty, South Melbourne went on to win the championship in 1972; the season saw coach Bill Curran consolidate the first team's strength by signing midfielder Peter Bourne and promoting skilled youngsters Giovanni Batticiotto, Fethon Ileris and Bill Hasapis.
The club continued its successful run with the 1974 title, second place in 1975, with star recruits Jimmy Mackay, Peter Ollerton and Duncan Cummings, capped off its final year in the Victorian State League by winning the 1976 championship. South Melbourne joined Mooroolbark, Heidelberg United, Footscray JUST as Melbourne's participants in the newly formed National Soccer League in 1977. A mass exodus of its best players, saw the team slump to 11th place in its inaugural year, but a recruiting drive by coach Dave Maclaren gave the club a respectable third in 1978, it wasn't to last. South Melbourne finished at the bottom of the league table in 1979; the recruitment of Alan Davidson, George Campbell, Steve Blair, Branko Buljevic, Alun Evans, Charlie Egan, helped South Melbourne climb the NSL ladder in the early part of the decade, with South becoming runners up in the NSL in 1981, their best NSL placing at the time. They won the Ampol Cup in 1982; some solid player signings such as gave the club some respectability, but a combination of committee problems and a string of coaches, never allowed the team to settle and gain consistency.
South Melbourne finished first on the league ladder in 1984, but in a newly restructured NSL competition, it had to win the finals series to win the title. The club powered past local rivals Heidelberg United in the Southern Division play-offs, edged out Sydney Olympic in the Grand Final to win the 1984 national championship. After the departure of George Campbell to rivals Preston Makedonia in 1983/84, Branko Buljevic to Footscray Just in 1985 and others, South Melbourne could not repeat the success of the previous year. Despite finishing in first place, it was knocked out of the finals series by local rivals Brunswick Juventus and Preston. A major overhaul by coach Brian Garvey saw a number of new signings being made, including youngsters Paul Trimboli, David Healy, Kimon Taliadoros and Harry Micheil; the young team put in some memorable performances as the decade came to a close, finishing in the top half of the league table, but failed to win another championship. The club appointed Ferenc Puskás as coach for the 1989/90 season, helping South win the NSL Cup tournament for that season, as well backing up their 1988 Dockerty Cup win with victory in the 1989 tournament.
On 28 November 1981, South Melbourne Hellas and Melb
Perth Glory FC
Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Founded in 1995, Perth Glory is one of three A-League clubs to survive from the now defunct National Soccer League. Glory entered the A-League competition for the inaugural 2005–06 season, eight years after the club's formation in 1995. Perth won their first silverware in the A-League era; the club plays at Perth Oval known as HBF Park for sponsorship purposes, with a seated capacity of 20,500. A youth team competes in the Y-League, a women's team competes in the W-League. Both the youth and women's team play at various locations across Perth, most played at Dorrien Gardens. Perth first showed interest in joining the National Soccer League prior to its inaugural year in 1977. However, a series of logistical problems and financial concerns meant that the league was not keen to include a Western Australian side.
While the state representative side continued to perform well in national and international cup competitions, WA continued to be unrepresented at a senior club level until 1994. In 1994, a group of businessmen led by Joe Claudio formed the Perth Kangaroos IFC; the club competed in the 1994 Singapore Premier League along with the Darwin Cubs. At the time, there were visions of establishing an Asia-Pacific Super League which could become a sporting and financial empire in the east, it turned out to be something of a farce. The Kangaroos finished the league season undefeated and won the Singapore league title. However, with dwindling support and resources, the experiment proved to be a financial disaster and Perth Kangaroos IFC soon folded. In 1995, another consortium led by Nick Tana made a bid for entry into the National Soccer League. Perth Glory was subsequently licensed to join the 1996–97 NSL season and on 1 December 1995 the club was launched. From a unheralded start, the club would develop beyond all expectations and help commercially re-establish Association football in a state where Australian rules football dominates the media and Rugby league was commercially about to fail.
Former Adelaide City player and Perth Kangaroos coach Gary Marocchi was appointed coach for the first two seasons and won many fans with his bold, attacking style. Believed to be nothing more than a token participant, Perth surprised many by only just missing the cut for the finals; the exciting style of "you score three, we score four" drew fans – including many British expatriates. Players like NSL-title-winning sweeper Vinko Buljubašić, Perth-based striker Bobby Despotovski and young local star Vas Kalogeracos were brought into the team and achieved cult status. New Zealand international Gavin Wilkinson was signed while local midfielder Gareth Naven was appointed captain. In their first match in the NSL, Perth Glory lost to Sydney Olympic 4–1, with veteran Scot Alan MacKenzie scoring the first goal for Glory and Doug Ithier winning the first Man-of-the-Match award. Large crowds and good results soon followed with an exciting win over defending champions the Melbourne Knights thrilling a huge crowd.
Glory needed only a point in their final match of the season but were defeated by the Knights and fell just short of making the finals. Glory midfielder Paul Strudwick was sent off during the match in controversial circumstances while trouble in the crowd marred the match. In the 1997–98 season, despite again narrowly missing the top six and signing more high-profile players like Ernie Tapai, Danny Hay and Nigerians Samson Siasia and Peter Anosike it was a disappointing season for the Glory. Fan support was further consolidated in the era of Bernd Stange; the former East German national coach became a media star after replacing Gary Marocchi, sacked and took the team into the competition playoffs. The success of the team created record attendances along with record exposure in the local media. During Stange's reign, Glory competed in its first-ever NSL Grand Final in 1999–2000 after having won the League championship. In his first season, Stange had taken Glory to their first finals series the previous season and had fallen in the preliminary final against Sydney United.
With new signings John Markovski and Con Boutsianis fitting straight into the side, local player Jamie Harnwell started to develop into a key defender and made the step to replace the injured Vinko Buljubašić. A horror form slump at the height of summer denied the Glory a top two place but massive crowds still attended their two home finals at the WACA Ground against Adelaide City and Marconi Stallions; the following year, Glory recruited young players Ivan Ergić, Jason Petković and Olyroo Kasey Wehrmann. The 1999/2000 grand final is remembered. Earlier in the Championship Playoff series, Perth had narrowly beaten the Wollongong Wolves in a two-legged Major Semi Final – needing a dramatic 80th-minute penalty and goal in extra time to advance. In the grand final, Perth again faced the Wolves and led 3–0 at half time against a miserable Wolves outfit. Yet, the Wolves rallied superbly and Perth experienced a series of defensive blunders to be pegged back to 3–3 at full-time. Perth subsequently lost on penalties, but this defining moment galvanised the team and would be a motivating force for years to come.
James Afkos, a young defender and son of Glory co-owner Paul Afkos saw his penalty saved, which gav
Away colours
Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would otherwise wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours; this change prevents confusion for officials and spectators. In most sports, it is the visiting or road team that must change – second-choice kits are known as away kits or change kits in British English, road uniforms in American English; some sports leagues mandate that away teams must always wear an alternative kit, while others state that the two teams' colours should not match. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit. In most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice even in a home game. At some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy; some teams have produced third-choice kits, or old-fashioned throwback uniforms.
In North American sports, road teams wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. "Color vs. color" games are a rarity, having been discouraged in the era of black-and-white television. All road uniforms are white in gridiron football and the National Hockey League, while in baseball, visitors wear grey. In the National Basketball Association and NCAA basketball, home uniforms are white or yellow, visiting teams wear the darker colour. Most teams choose to wear their colour jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s. A "white vs. color" game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, "until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, it was the norm." Long after the advent of colour television, the use of white jerseys has remained in every game. The NFL's current rules require that a team's home jerseys must be "either white or official team color" throughout the season, "and visiting clubs must wear the opposite".
If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the NFL Commissioner must judge on whether their uniforms are "of sufficient contrast" with those of their opponents. The road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks' "Wolf Grey" alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for every home game of the 1955 season; the only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, when the Eagles and Giants chose to wear white. In 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams wore white for their home games according to Tim Brulia's research; the St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, as well as the Dallas Cowboys; until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their coloured jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was introduced by general manager Tex Schramm, who wanted fans to see a variety of opponents' jersey colours at home games.
The Cowboys still wear white at home today. White has been worn at home by the Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, several other NFL teams. Teams in cities with hot climates choose white jerseys at home during the first half of the season, because light colours absorb and retain less heat in sunlight – as such, the Dolphins, who stay white year-round, will use their coloured jerseys for home night games; every current NFL team except the Seattle Seahawks has worn white at home at some time in its history. During the successful Joe Gibbs era, the Washington Redskins chose to wear white at home in the 1980s and 1990s, including the 1982 NFC Championship Game against Dallas. Since 2001 the Redskins have chosen to wear white jerseys and burgundy jerseys equally in their home games, but they still wear white against the Cowboys; when Gibbs returned from 2004 to 2007, they wore white at home exclusively. In 2007, they wore a white throwback jersey; the Dallas Cowboys' blue jersey has been popularly viewed to be "jinxed" because of defeats at Super Bowl V in 1971, in the 1968 divisional playoffs at Cleveland, Don Meredith's final game as a Cowboys player.
Dallas's only victory in a conference championship or Super Bowl wearing the blue jerseys was in the 1978 NFC Championship game at the Los Angeles Rams. Super Bowl rules changed to allow the designated home team to pick their choice of jersey. White was chosen by the Cowboys, the Redskins, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots; the latter three teams wear colours at home, but Pittsburgh had worn white in three road playoff wins, while Denver cited its previous Super Bowl success in white jerseys, while being 0–4 when wearing orange in Super Bowls. Teams playing against Dallas at home wear their white jerseys to try to invoke the "curse", as when the Philadelphia Eagles hosted the Cowboys in the 1980 NFC Championship Game. Teams including the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants followed suit in the 1980s, the Carolina Panthers did so from 1995 until 2006, including two playoff games; the Hous
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club known as Sydney FC, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia; the club has won three A-League Championships, three Premierships, one FFA Cup and won the Oceanian Champions League prior to Australia moving into the Asian Football Confederation. Prior to the 2018-19 A-League Season, the club's home ground was Allianz Stadium, a 45,500 seat rectangular multi-use venue in the suburb of Moore Park. With that stadium scheduled for demolition & rebuilding, the club will be playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Leichhardt Oval and Jubilee Oval for the next two seasons. Despite the club's migration, The SCG Trust agreed to renew Sydney FC's lease at Moore Park for a further 10 years on the 17 May 2017; as the only A-League team in the city for the first seven years of its existence, the club's fans hail from all across the Sydney Metropolitan Area.
Since its establishment, Sydney FC has had a reputation for signing high-profile players. In doing so, they have received the nickname'Bling FC' from pundits alike. Notable players who have represented the club include Dwight Yorke, Juninho Paulista, John Aloisi, Brett Emerton, Lucas Neill, Marc Janko, Filip Hološko, Miloš Ninković, Alessandro Del Piero; the first steps towards the foundation of Sydney FC taken in April 2004 when Soccer New South Wales announced its intention to bid for a licence in the new A-League competition. The bid was lodged with the Australian Soccer Association on 19 July, challenged only by a consortium headed by Nick Politis, known as the "Sydney Blues", for Sydney's place in the'one team per city' competition. A public row broke out between the two bidders after reports that the ASA were set to vote in favour of Sydney FC, causing Politis to withdraw his support for a team, leaving Sydney FC as the only candidate remaining. Sydney FC was launched as a member of the new 8-team A-League on 1 November 2004, with a 25% stake in the club held by Soccer NSW, the remainder owned.
Walter Bugno was announced as the inaugural chairman of the club. On 11 December 2004, Soccer NSW announced that it would pull out of its involvement with Sydney FC amid concerns over part owner Frank Lowy's autocratic style in establishing the club and lack of consultation with Soccer NSW on key Sydney FC issues; these included the choice of the Sydney Football Stadium over Parramatta Stadium as the team's home ground, the erosion of Soccer NSW's initial 100 per cent involvement to just 25 per cent. By February 2005, Sydney FC had filled 16 of its allowed 20 squad positions—attracting Socceroos Alvin Ceccoli, Clint Bolton, Steve Corica and David Zdrilic as well as youth internationals Justin Pasfield, Mark Milligan, Wade Oostendorp, Iain Fyfe and Jacob Timpano. German Pierre Littbarski was signed as Head Coach, to be assisted by former Norwich City player Ian Crook. Sydney FC played its first match against Manly United FC on 25 March 2005, winning 6–1. Shortly after, Sydney FC set off on a tour to the United Arab Emirates to play matches against local teams FC Hatta, Al Ain FC and Al Jazira, winning all three.
Whilst in Dubai, Sydney FC announced that it had agreed to terms with former Manchester United player Dwight Yorke as the club's "marquee player"– one paid outside of the $1.5million salary cap— for two seasons. Sydney FC's first competitive match was against Queensland Roar at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford as part of an Australian qualifying tournament to enter the 2005 Oceania Club Championship. After winning the match 3–0, Sydney went on to defeat Perth Glory and the Central Coast Mariners to qualify for the Oceania Club Championship, to be held in Tahiti. Despite an early scare against New Zealand club Auckland City FC, Sydney FC won all of its matches in the competition and qualified for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship in Japan; the start of the 2005 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup marked Sydney FC's first match at Allianz Stadium, as well as Dwight Yorke's first appearance for the club. Yorke scored the first goal of Sydney FC's 3–1 win which stretched its unbeaten run to 9 competitive matches.
Upon reaching the semi-finals, Sydney's unbeaten run ended at 11 with Perth Glory midfielder Nick Ward scoring in injury time to inflict the new club's first loss. Sydney FC's first season was a success. Finishing second on the ladder behind Adelaide United they went on to defeat Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the 2006 A-League Grand Final with Steve Corica scoring in the second half of the game. However, the club's success wouldn't last long, with German manager Pierre Littbarski leaving the club due to being forced to accept a lower pay cheque and inaugural marquee player Dwight Yorke being signed by Premier League club Sunderland. Former English international Terry Butcher was signed as Sydney FC's new coach for 2006–07; however it was regarded as an overall failure, with Sydney playing poor football despite the signing of Alex Brosque and Benito Carbone as a Guest player. Sydney had 3 points deducted during the season, after it was found that they had breached the Salary cap, involving player David Zdrillic.
Despite the off field problems, Sydney managed to scrape into the finals series, however they lost in the semi-final to Newcastle Jets. Although Butcher lead the club into the finals, Sydney fans were unhappy with his tactics. In the end Butcher and Sydney FC went their separate ways at the end of the season. Sydney FC would go on to sign Branko Čulina for its 2007 Asian Champions League campaign, where they finished second in the group, one point behind ultimate champions and J-League heavyweights Urawa
Luke Wilkshire
Yuzo Tashiro
Egor Dolgopolov
Manny Mavridis (20s) 
Alfredo Estevez (12s) 
Vlado Srbinoski (11s)
Chris Halios-Lewis (10s) 
Neil Mann (Youth) 
