The Bill Brackenbury Cup is the highest tier of men’s football in the Football Canterbury district, with the ninth season kicking-off tonight.
Inter Lions dominated the opening years of the competition, winning the double in the first six seasons, but the last three years have seen three different champions.
Hurlstone Park Wanderers are the defending champions, having won the league premiership and the grand final in 2022 – but plenty of clubs have strengthened and will be looking to ensure a new winner is crowned in August.
There are six teams in the competition this season with a full three rounds of competition followed by a finals series.
Enfield Rovers
2021 Champions and 2022 runners-up, Enfield FC have had some player movement over the off-season but it is yet to be revealed if it will make them a stronger or weaker outfit.
The mood around the club is positive and that the new signings will take the club on an upwards projection. Results in pre-season were mixed, but the positive results have come more recently meaning the team is putting things together at the right time.
Having lost seven players from last year’s grand final squad, Enfield have filled the gaps with some well-known players of quality.
Cory Sharma lit up the competition a few season ago with Strathfield FC and is returning to Football Canterbury’s top tier competition with Enfield. He’ll be joined by Alessandro Marci who is joining from Dulwich Hill who played in FNSW League One.
Nathan Scicchitano and John Paul Calcaro join from APIA Leichardt JFC, Pedro Linck joins from Brazil, plus Ruan Henderson and Rick Romeo also re-join the club.
LFC Sports
LFC Sports come into this competition as extremely unknown. A new coach and a new squad mean that neither the opposition, nor themselves, really know where they stack-up against the other teams in the league.
Signings such as former NPL players Michael Yarnold and Aymen Hadid give some pedigree to the side which Kurt Saturdagg from Germany will also add some European substance to the squad.
Strathfield FC
Strathfield FC return to the Bill Brackenbury Cup for the first time since 2021 and come to the league with a relatively young squad.
With their young team come some inexperience so the club will be using 2023 as a platform for their players to learn: the aim of gaining experience further reinforced by the club entering both the State Cup and the Cottam Cup this season.
The team itself has been together since they were eight-years-old so there is no question about their chemistry: the only questions marks are how quickly they can adjust to the demands of Bill Brackenbury Cup competition.
Other Teams
APIA Leichhardt JFC, Balmain DFC, Hurlstone Park Wanderers, and Marrickville are all competing in the Bill Brackenbury Cup but did not submit information for this article.
Image credit: Photographed with Love
