Ufuk Talay will stay on as head coach of Sydney FC after signing a new one-year contract extension which will now see him remain at the club until the end of the 2025-26 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
Fast approaching the end of his current deal which was due to expire next month, the club and Talay have agreed to put pen-to-paper on fresh terms as they bid to bounce back from a disappointing end to the season which saw them miss out on playing finals football.
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“We pride ourselves on having a pro-active, attacking, dynamic, football philosophy, that all our coaches adhere to, while integrating our youth pathways,” said Sydney FC Chief Executive Officer, Mark Aubrey.
“Following a disappointing season it is very easy to simply deflect everything onto the Head Coach but this is just one piece of our holistic football strategy to which we will make appropriate changes; and post our Men’s football review, the Sydney FC Board believe Ufuk remains the coach who has the ability to fulfill that strategy,”
“Last season was disappointing by our high standards, but this is a long-term strategy and we are making inroads.
He continued: “In Ufuk we have a coach who has shown his ability to implement an attacking brand of football while bringing through young talent like Adrian Segecic, Hayden Matthews, Jake Girdwood-Reich and Wataru Kamijo.
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“Youth development and professional pathways have always been important to Sydney FC but with recent changes to the A-League they are becoming more important than ever.
“However, winning trophies is a must for Sydney FC. That remains our ultimate goal, and we must get back to that.
“There are valuable learnings and improvements to make, but we remain determined that we are on the right path.”
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Having been appointed in late 2023, Talay guided Sydney FC to the Isuzu UTE A-League semi-finals in the 2023-24 season however a disappointing end to the this campaign saw the Sky Blues miss out on playing finals football altogether.
Furthermore, Talay’s side were knocked out in the Australia Cup Round of 32 by NPL Victoria side Oakleigh Cannons and then suffered a heartbreaking loss to Singaporean side Lion City Sailors in the ACL Two semi-finals at the business end of the season.
However despite those disappointments the 49-year-old believes his side will be better equipped to challenge on all fronts next season once they begin to reshape the current squad.
“We are working on next season already and believe with some strengthening and changes we will see the success everyone at this club wants to deliver,” said Talay.
“We came close to making history in Asia and achieving something special last season and while it ultimately was disappointing, we were not too far away.
“I think there were still plenty of positives to build on, particularly our ability to score goals and entertain, as well as the emergence of our younger players.
“We do need to take learnings from last season and will work better to balance our recruitment with our younger players.
“We are trying to develop our own and provide opportunities for our Academy graduates; and at the same time, still vie to win trophies.
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“It all starts again in July, when we will prepare for the Wrexham game before aiming to have the squad ready firing on all cylinders for the Australia Cup.”
Sydney FC’s pre-season preparations will begin in mid-July with the squad building towards the 2025 Australia Cup Round of 32 while the take on Wrexham AFC at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday July 15.
