The Sydney Derby is a local derby contested between two of the Australian A-League Men's Sydney-based clubs, Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers. Contested for the first time on 20 October 2012, historical, cultural and sporting factors have resulted in the derby being considered one of Australian sport's biggest club games, and one of the biggest rivalries in the A-League Men.References to support the importance of the Derby: Crowd sentiment at derby matches has been said by Alessandro Del Piero to produce atmosphere and emotions similar to those in Europe, while Wanderers player Mateo Poljak stated that the sixth Sydney Derby had an atmosphere that was the best he had experienced as a player.
Origins
The competitive nature of the Sydney Derby is largely based upon the historical, cultural and geographical divide between Sydney's West (home to Western Sydney Wanderers), and east (home to Sydney FC).References to support the origins of the rivalry: The cultural makeup of the two clubs fits into this wider divide. As Sydney FC began their life in Moore Park they took on the "Bling FC" moniker, with the ownership intent on building Sydney FC into the "glamour club" of the A-League Men.
The rivalry between the two clubs also stems from the A-League Men's establishment. Prior to the 2012 introduction of Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League Men, the only club to be based in the city was Sydney FC as part of The FA's 'one-city, one-team' policy for the newly established league. This deal gave Sydney FC a five-year city exclusivity, allowing the club grow throughout the region without competition. Sydney FC was not entirely embraced by the region, as the club's original intention to play at Parramatta Stadium was later changed by FA chairman Frank Lowy. Lowy's decision for the club to play out of the Sydney Football Stadium left some fans in Sydney's west feeling alienated from the club. Sydney FC's perceived exclusion of the western region mirrored the pre-existing cultural and social divide of the city.
In 2008, The FA sought to introduce the new western Sydney-based Sydney Rovers into the A-League Men. This later proved unsuccessful with the club dissolving due to technical and financial reasons. During the time period prior to the disbanding of Sydney Rovers, two matches hosted by Sydney FC were played at Parramatta Stadium. In the first, a pocket of supporters came out bearing banners in support of the new western Sydney team with the Sydney FC active support group The Cove responding by chanting against the support for the new club.
On 4 April 2012, the collapse of Gold Coast United brought about the rushed creation of Western Sydney Wanderers.References to support section about Gold Coast United: The FA's decision for the club to be community oriented proved successful with the local Western Sydney community soon backing the club, a club they had long called for, one that would represent the Western Sydney region.FOOTBALL COMES HOME: The Early Days of Western Sydney Wanderers FC
Support
Both Wanderers' and Sydney's fan bases are multi-ethnic, due to the racial diversity in Sydney. The Western Sydney region especially is the most multicultural and culturally diverse region in Australia. Active support is a major part of both club's identity, and both clubs bolster active supporters groups that are considered come of the best in the A-League. Sydney FC's active support refer to themselves as "The Cove" – a reference to the original name given to the colonial settlement of Sydney – Sydney Cove. Wanderers supporters display themselves as the "RBB (Red and Black Bloc)" a reference to their historic club colours (red and black).
Sydney FC fans sprawl from across the Sydney CBD, from Hawkesbury to the Shire, and the Inner West. The fans and club have a strong relationship, strengthened by good relations with Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust – the owners of Sydney Football Stadium. The club has played games across Sydney throughout several competitions, including Leichhardt Oval in the Inner West, Cromer Park in North Sydney, and several W-League games in Sutherland Shire.
Competitive matches The two clubs first met in the 2012–13 A-League season, on 20 October 2012. The match, hosted by Western Sydney Wanderers at Parramatta Stadium, was considered to be the most anticipated match of the season. The first ever derby was expected to sell out; the city rivalry alone would 'sell itself'. Western Sydney Wanderers manager Tony Popovic spoke about how the match was "special for the players and coaching staff" and that he considered that the rivalry between the two clubs was already building and would one day be the "biggest rivalry in our game". Alessandro Del Piero scored the only goal of the game, for Sydney FC. After winning a penalty, he was forced to re-take a successful first penalty due to his team encroaching in the penalty area, his second attempt was saved by Ante Covic but Del Piero pounced on the rebound and shot over the head of Covic.
The second Derby took place at the Sydney Football Stadium in front of 26,176 supporters and saw the Wanderers win their first Derby. With Del Piero on the bench due to an injury cloud, the Wanderers began the stronger, and Youssouf Hersi scored the first ever Wanderers goal in a Sydney Derby, after latching onto a knock-down from Joey Gibbs. The Wanderers doubled their lead with 13 minutes to play, as Wanderers captain and ex-Sydney FC player Michael Beauchamp attacked a low drive across the goal-mouth from Shinji Ono, his side-foot shot beating the Sydney FC goalkeeper.
The third Sydney Derby saw Western Sydney Wanderers with the chance to win the A-League Men premiership in their first ever year. A win would see them lift the trophy at Parramatta Stadium against their rivals. In the 34th minute Nikolai Topor-Stanley produced a calamitous error to gift Del Piero the ball, and the Italian striker opened the scoring. The match also included an astonishing 8 yellow cards and 2 straight red cards. Brett Emerton the Sydney FC captain saw the first straight red card for a lunging feet-first challenge on Shannon Cole. Cole then equalised for the Wanderers in the 69th minute. The second red card of the night went to Iacopo La Rocca as the Wanderers searched for a title-winning goal, when held back by a Sydney FC player La Rocca lashed out with his elbow. The Wanderers were unable to win the match and the Premiership on the night, securing their Premiership a week later in Newcastle.
The fourth derby match was played in front of a sold-out crowd of over 40,000 people. After attending the match at Sydney Football Stadium, rugby league journalist Phil Rothfield commented that the match had "proved the round-ball game has not just arrived but is bigger than rugby union and closing in on AFL and NRL." The Wanderers were dominant on the pitch and in the stands, scoring two goals that could easily have been more, while Sydney FC lacked penetration with their attack missing talisman Del Piero.
The fifth took place at Parramatta Stadium, again with a sold-out crowd and once again an ex-Sydney FC player scored for the Wanderers. The Wanderers dominated the match, striking the crossbar and posts on several occasions, including a long-range chip from Hersi that nearly caught Sydney FC keeper Vedran Janjetovic off his line, with the rebound falling to Tomi Juric who smashed his shot into the stands. Brendon Santalab scored the only goal of the match in the 86th minute. After only 5 matches the rivalry has been reported as being "one of the fiercest in Australia", and the Wanderers as having begun a pattern of one-sided dominance, having now won 3 out of the 5 matches, with 1 draw and 1 victory for Sydney FC.
The sixth derby, the final regular season derby for the 2013–14 A-League season took place at the Sydney Football Stadium. The match attracted a sold-out crowd of 40,285. This was 13,003 higher than the 27,282 who attended the National Rugby League's first match of the season between South Sydney & the Sydney Roosters. The crowd witnessed Sydney FC win their first home derby match. After a staid first half with limited highlights, the second half exploded into life as Shinji Ono pounced on a knock down from Brendon Santalab to open the scoring. The Wanderers had the chance to go two goals ahead after Richard Garcia gave away a penalty, but ex-Sydney FC player Mark Bridge had his penalty shot saved by Vedran Janjetovic. Sydney FC then equalised after Ante Covic sliced a clearing punch into the face of Matthew Jurman and saw the ball rebounded into goal. A calamitous error from another ex-Sydney FC player, Michael Beauchamp, saw him gift the ball to Richard Garcia, who tapped past Ante Covic into an open net. Ali Abbas scored a penalty during injury time to make the score 3–1. The game also featured an allegation that Wanderers player Brendon Santalab culturally abused Abbas, who took extreme offence and charged around the pitch, having to be restrained by his teammates. In a post-game interview Abbas said, "We are not here to attack religion or culture, we are here to play football".
The seventh Sydney derby was played in round two of the 2014–15 A-League season and took place in front of another sold-out crowd of 41,213 fans at the Sydney Football Stadium, the highest crowd for any sporting event held at the ground in 2014. Despite Sydney FC having much of the early possession, the first goal was scored by former Sydney FC player Mark Bridge in the 19th minute. 5 minutes later Sydney FC keeper Janjetovic attempted to clear the ball but instead he somehow palmed the ball into his own net and sent the wanderers 2–0 up. Seconds before halftime Corey Gameiro scored a goal for Sydney FC to get the score back to 2–1. After half time Sydney FC created several chances however their second goal came from an own goal scored by Wanderers midfielder Romeo Castelen. With the score level at 2–2 tempers between the two side began to flare. Wanderer Vítor Saba was red carded after a dangerous tackle on Terry Antonis. Now down to ten men, the Wanderers fell behind when Sydney FC captain Alex Brosque scored with just over ten minutes remaining, with what would prove to be the winning goal. A pitch invasion ensued as over a hundred Sydney FC fans ran from The Cove onto the field to celebrate with Brosque, a scene which sportswriter Phil Rothfield described as being "as special as it gets."