Two Brisbane Roar players today made a special appearance at the Inala PCYC’s Multicultural Day – ahead of a busy week that includes Wednesday’s draw for the Westfield FFA Cup 2015 Round of 32.
Defender Jerome Polenz, celebrating his switch from No.2 to No.6 jersey, and Luke Pavlou, one of four Youth team players promoted to the first-team training squad last week, posed for photos and signed autographs for the dozens of local children who attended the event.
The Roar squad resumes training this week, for the first time under new Head Coach John Aloisi, as preparations begin for the 17 July clash with Liverpool FC at Suncorp Stadium.
A week after former Roar captain Craig Moore returned to the club as Football Operations Manager, Aloisi this week also announced two new appointments to his coaching team – both former Roar players.
Karl Dodd is the club’s new high performance manager.
Dodd, 34, has this season coached Western Pride FC in the PlayStation4 National Premier Leagues Queensland. He was a defender for the Roar in the inaugural season of the Hyundai A-League and also played overseas in Scotland, Romania, New Zealand, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Roar’s Under-18 Queensland Academy of Sport coach Josh McCloughlin will also assist Aloisi with first-team training.
McCloughlin, 39, a central defender, joined the Roar in 2005 and played 85 games (five goals) over four seasons. He will continue to coach the club’s QAS/NPLQ Under-18 side.
Aloisi is yet to appoint his senior assistant coach.
After being knocked out 2-0 in the Round of 16 of the Westfield FFA Cup last season by eventual winners, Adelaide United, the Roar will have a close eye on tomorrow’s Round of 32 draw.
Queensland teams joining the Roar in tomorrow’s televised draw include Brisbane Strikers FC, Far North Queensland FC Heat, Lions FC and Palm Beach SC.
The Roar’s Aloisi and defender Shane Stefanutto will join representatives from the other local clubs in watching the draw on a big screen at the Lions FC clubhouse, Pine Road, Richlands, on Wednesday afternoon.
The draw process will see the competing clubs separated into three pots – Pot A for the four Hyundai A-League 2015 semi-finalists (Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC, Adelaide United and Melbourne City FC); Pot B for the remaining six Hyundai A-League clubs; and, Pot C for the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Champions (South Australia’s MetroStars) and 21 Member Federation clubs.
The first phase of the draw will see six balls drawn alternatively out of Pot B – which includes the Roar – with the first ball of the pair receiving home team status resulting in three fixtures involving a Hyundai A-League club facing another Hyundai A-League club.
The second phase sees 18 balls drawn alternatively out of Pot C with the first ball of the pair receiving home team status resulting in nine Member Federation club v Member Federation club matches.
The third and final phase of the draw sees the remaining balls drawn alternatively from Pot C and Pot A resulting in four Member Federation club v Hyundai A-League club matches, where the Member Federation club will be automatically designated as the home team.
The draw will be televised live and exclusive on Fox Sports News (Channel 500) as well as being streamed online at www.foxsports.com.au and www.theffacup.com.au.
Dates, venues and kick-off times for the 16 matches will be announced on Friday, 3 July.
Here’s your guide to the Westfield #FFACup contestants ahead of tomorrow’s Round of 32 Draw http://t.co/L5nZHR66EV pic.twitter.com/yDeJH12fo8
— Westfield FFA Cup (@FFACup) June 30, 2015
