What an amazing 48 hours it has been for the A-League and the Australian sporting landscape. The imminent arrival of Italian and former Juventus football superstar Alessandro Del Piero has sent the Twitter-sphere into complete overdrive.
Del Piero, landed by Sydney FC, is undoubtedly the biggest name to ever grace our shores. This is a truly game changing moment.
So who can we credit this grand achievement to? Who is the man in the trenches, behind the scenes in the board rooms?
Who is the man responsible? All credit can be directed to perhaps Australia’s most influential man in football, Lou Sticca, player agent and founder of Tribal Sports Management.
Lou Sticca is also by no means a one name wonder. His continued involvement with Australian football has made him arguably the most influential of any man since the A-League’s inception.
It was Lou Sticca who landed the crucial signing of Dwight Yorke in Season One of the A-League for Sydney FC.
‘All Night Dwight’ was a raging success, making an impact on the field, as well as off it, with his prominence on the Sydney nightclub circuit.
The former Manchester United man was the first of many that Sticca has attracted to our shores.
It certainly didn’t stop there, with bigger names and games to come for the A-League.
With his Italian connections he would bring Benito Carbone to Sydney FC in 2006 for a guest stint, after previously attracting Japanese international Kazuyoshi “Kazu” Miura to the Harbour City for a month-long period in the A-League’s inaugural season.
These were once again small success stories the league could build on.
Lou Sticca was also the man responsible for Becks-mania down under, when he successfully lured the LA Galaxy in 2007 for a friendly against Sydney FC.
He was able to bring football’s biggest celebrity and star to our country on several occasions, and boy did it deliver.
Channel 10 broadcast the game to hundreds of thousands nation-wide and over 80,000 people turned up to Stadium Australia in the heart of Sydney.
This was our first taste of the media attention that our beautiful game could generate.
In 2010 Lou Sticca would once again lure David Beckham to Australia.
A friendly against the Newcastle Jets provided a sell-out crowd in the Hunter Valley. This was soon followed up with a friendly against the Wellington Phoenix at the Cake Tin.
Sticca is the man we have to credit for bringing David Beckham to two countries in the Tasman.
While Harry Kewell only spent one season in the A-League, it was Sticca and Tribal Sports who delivered us his stint last season in Melbourne.
This at the time was the biggest signing for the sport.
While many will argue that the Kewell experiment was ultimately a failure, the man certainly build a large amount of publicity for the sport.
Crowds and viewer numbers soared and media discussion was generally positive.
Over 35,000 witnessed another visit by the LA Galaxy at Etihad Stadium when the Melbourne Victory played a friendly against them last season.
The Kewell v Beckham match-up ultimately never occurred on-field, but the fact the two these stars were both in our country playing football speaks volumes.
He is also the man responsible for the A-League friendlies against Celtic and Everton, with Tim Cahill playing for the Toffees against the Melbourne Heart in 2010 and Scott McDonald for Celtic against the Brisbane Roar in 2009.
Lou Sticca has certainly come a long way since his days fashioning the Carlton Soccer Club, he has built up an empire which has influenced the local game in ways we could never imagine.
Talking the talk is something rarely accomplished, but for Sticca, he has achieved this. His global network of contacts and ability to conjure up crucial deals has left the game in great shape.
The man must be admired for his ability to deliver such high calibre moments and players to the fans. While money is certainly a factor, his passion for the game and his strike rate are second to none.
Lou Sticca delivering Alessandro Del Piero to Sydney has given Australian football its golden child, for this he is now the golden man.
Not to end there, his close ties with Fabio Grosso could deliver yet another Italian to the A-League, so here’s hoping for a double coup.
Lou Sticca, bring on the big names.
Antler Bar
Guest
Lou Sticca and his company Tribal Sports Management did not bring out Everton in 2010.
Stefanov
Roar Pro
DONE DEAL!
Jonny
Guest
Messi talk about Del Piero as a great champion ...... Messi estimate Del Piero .... go on youtube to watch the interview .... Look at Wikipedia and then you tell me: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Del_Piero..... Del Piero is a champion
steve
Guest
Nathan who? Travis who? Seriously, I've not heard of any of them. True, I don't follow whichever codes they come from, but I would have thought I'd have heard their names - there's so much coverage of the egg ball sports that it's impossible not to hear names occasionally. But don't recognise those names. Sorry. Del Piero. Now there's a name I recognise. Looking forward to seeing him play.
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
Great stuff,what a wonderful addition to our league.
Titus
Guest
Agree.....though I do feel a lot more confident now..........though hoping there is nothing in your report of him going to Fulham.
Stefanov
Roar Pro
Lou has done it, it seems. All reports saying deal is done. Credit to Mr.Sticca and the Sydney F.C. board.
MV Dave
Guest
Feel like being a little hesitant to celebrate this time but it does sound wonderful...great news and what a coup for FFC and HAL...AMAZING!
Bondy.
Guest
Great news Fussball, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/alessandro-del-piero-joins-sydney-fc-in-a-league-coup/story-fn63e0vj-1226465008476.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Alessandro Del Piero will be unveiled as the newest signing for Sydney FC tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. AEST. Welcome to the HAL, Ale and ... Grazie amico mio!
TC
Guest
As people know, I am a keen reader of La Gazzetta dello Sport, and I thought I would give a very quick update on what the Italian soccer press is saying about the Del Piero situation: Del Piero-Sydney: si tratta Il fratello: "Ipotesi percorribile" Milano, 03 settembre 2012 Emissari del club australiano dal tardo pomeriggio a Torino per parlare con il fratello manager di Ale, Stefano: "L'ipotesi Sydney resta aperta, ne parleremo ancora, ci sono ancora aspetti da approfondire" L'a.d. del Sidney: "Sono fiducioso". "Fiducioso per la firma? Sì - ha sorriso Pignata, dopo l'incontro, durato quasi quattro ore - ma anche affamato". Pignata is saying in that last sentence that he remains confident of Del Piero signing. They all met and discussed it for four hours, and at the end of it, Pignata was quite hungry. TC
Punter
Guest
Well said Gumpy!!!!
gumpy
Guest
Thanks mods.
Camshaft
Guest
Welcome to moderation, Camshaft. Stick to your own sport, not trolling others. Thanks. Roar Mods.
gumpy
Guest
Because of the Del Piero post being locked, I will re-post this here: "AFL fans, just accept that in this century, Australian Rules Football will NOT have things all their own way in their traditional heartlands like they did in the past. If the code is to survive, it is in my unbridled opinion, going to have to stop playing the parochialism/xenophobia card in protecting their interests. I suspect you would be aware of the story that ran in the Herald Sun on August 22nd (page 3), the story about a junior footy club under threat from the Essendon ‘Soccer’ Club’s plans for expansion. The group of children was pictured standing defiantly in the middle of the oval, and the kid in the centre said ‘I love my footy’. This kid’s surname was Filipovic, with the inference being that even though he is of migrant stock, because he plays ‘The Aussie Game’ he is ‘One of Us’, as opposed to those unassimilated ‘dagoes’ ie. the average Aussie born-and-bred A-League player or Socceroo not of Anglo or Indigenous stock. I know you people aren’t Andrew Demetriou and his cronies, but as you are devotees of his game and in all likelihood have never taken any ethical issues with the media tactics the AFL’s media partners use to ‘protect their product’, if you have any shred of integrity as you say you do, then be ashamed at the xenophobia your game does and has historically bred towards anyone of ethnic stock who does not prefer the Victorian-born code. Your game, unless it pulls the silver spoon out of its rear, is doomed to die eventually. With that in mind, show some respect to your market competitors because ALL of them are played outside this country at a *legitimate* level. Yours isn’t, and never will be."
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
It doesn't matter if fans of other codes don't know who he is.If you go to Melbourne or Adelaide or Perth and say the name Nathan Hindmarsh most people will give you a blank stare.If you go to QLD or Sydney and say the name Travis Cloke alot of people wouldn't know who he is,and it doesn't really matter either.Del Peiro will get thousands of soccer fans who may have not gone to an A-League to give it a go and thats the most important thing.
Bondy.
Guest
2 years is along contract in football,if it does come off ,but its safe to be on the safe side and predict gloom.This story has really lit your fuse and you know its massive,thats why you went into hysterics didn't you. Jealous little child.
TC
Guest
We have "Del pierro" here, up above we have "Del Pietro". On the ABC news we have: "De Perry-oh". Let's get the name right people. This is a big news story and Australian sports fans will be in awe of this guy. Let's at least make sure they learn his name correctly. TC
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ Beamz "Noone in australia apart from footy fanatics know who del whatever is" And, when it comes to football issues, as an AUS football fan, I don't give a stuff about the ignoramuses, who are NOT footy fanatics, within AUS society. PS: He's reportedly being paid $2m per season & some reports suggest he'll be contracted for 2 seasons.
heart of sydney
Guest
What you have written is "Del pierro not that we will known in these parts! Please." What on earth does this mean?