The ‘Bling FC’ tag given to Sydney FC in its inaugural season sat as comfortably with Iain Fyfe as did a nose ring and nipple pierce.
The laidback defender from suburban Adelaide was more David Jones than Sergio Tacchini.
He was more at home reading about himself in Australian Soccer Weekly than the gossip pages of Sydney’s tabloids.
One of only six foundation members left at FC, Fyfe now looks back on those times with great amusement.
“With Dwight Yorke and Pierre Littbarski, they came with a bit of a reputation,” Fyfe explained.
“We got labelled with that (the Bling FC title) because we had the big coach and the big marquee player.”
“It was funny because most of the boys weren’t like that. We’re not really that flashy at all.”
“I was looking around the change room the other day and there were only about six of us left, so it’s a totally different look and a different vibe to when it all started.”
“Those big-name guys have left and that tag of being the bling club has gone, which I think is a good thing.”
Coach John Kosmina would have it no other way.
The Sydney coach considers wearing a watch over-dressing and is much more a schooner-at-the-local type than the darkened nightclubs Sydney players were known to frequent in the Yorke days.
“Kossie doesn’t like earrings or things like that. Even if the boys have silly haircuts or it gets too long, Kossie takes the mickey out of them and tells them to get a haircut,” Fyfe laughed.
The only constant at Sydney over the four years has been ambition.
FC act big and think big.
Last year’s failure to reach the play-offs for the first time was simply unpalatable and won’t be tolerated in 2008/09.
John Aloisi, Simon Colosimo and Mark Bridge have been brought in to cover the cracks.
“The club holds expectations as do the players. We have had a chat about it and know we really have to win the thing this year, not only the championship but the league also,” Fyfe declared.
“We’ve set our bar pretty high but with the changes we’ve made and the personnel that’s come in, we think we can achieve that.”
“It looks exciting. The players who have stepped in are real quality players.”
“We know we have under-achieved and towards the end of last year we got it back and didn’t miss the finals by too much.”
As for Fyfe, he might hail from Adelaide but there is only one city and one club for him.
“Football is strange. You never know where you’re going to be,” he said.
“But I’m very happy at Sydney FC and I only want to go in one direction. If something comes up overseas that’s really the only ambition I would have after Sydney FC.”
“But within Australia there is only one team I want to play for.”
Bling, or no bling.
