Just a heads up that this will be our last Daily Briefing for the year - more on that at the end of today’s briefing. It’ll be a rematch of last years FFA Cup Final with Adelaide to face Sydney FC after Sydney got over their cross town rivals Western Sydney Wanderers 3 nil last night in the second semi final. We had to wait until the second half to see any goals with Bahagiar breaking the deadlock in the 49th minute. De Jong scored a cracker of a free kick in the 64th minute and Le Fondre wrapped things up from the spot in the 75th minute. Heading overseas and Mat Ryan's Brighton recorded their first Premier League win since August 19 as they overcame West Ham United 1-0. And an under-strength Matildas have suffered a 2-0 defeat against 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup hosts France in an international in Saint Etienne. Missing rested headline names such as Sam Kerr, Alanna Kennedy, Lydia Williams and Emily van Egmond, the Matildas rode their luck at times to avoid a hefty defeat. Australia went into the match having suffered just one loss in the last eight outings, but their rejigged backline was under constant pressure with France dominating possession. As mentioned at the top of the briefing, this will wrap up this season’s coverage - Jake and I are going to take a few months off from both our weekly show and the daily briefing. Thanks for listening, be sure to keep up to date on Facebook and Instagram and we look forward to ramping things back up early next year.

TPO Rankings Daily Briefing

See you next year!

The first of the FFA Cup Semi Finals took place on Friday night, and it was Adelaide United who progressed to the Final for the third time, defeating Bentleigh Greens 2-0. Adelaide looked in control for most of the game, with Goals to Ben Halloran and Jordan Elsey propelling the Reds to their comfortable win. Head Coach Marco Kurz now findes himself in his second Cup final in as many seasons with Adelaide. Former A-League boss Archie Fraser has put his hand up to help Football Federation Australia reinvent itself in the post-Steven Lowy era. Fraser quit the governing body after just 12 months in the job back in 2011, disillusioned with the direction taken by the FFA board and with a belief that his “hands were tied behind his back”. He’s been an avid observer of the game’s administrative misfortunes ever since, and a staunch critic of the Lowy-led regime. Hibernian player, Martin Boyle, is set to "pledge his allegiance" to Australia when he is tipped to be named in Graham Arnold's Socceroos training camp squad in the UAE next month. "Red tape" means the 25-year-old Aberdeen born Boyle will be unable to play in the match against Kuwait while the paperwork to determine his eligibility to play for Australia - due to the Australian birth of his father - is dealt with. Keisuke Honda has netted his first goal in Melbourne Victory colours. The Japanese star fired home a first half penalty during Victory’s 3-1 behind-closed-doors friendly defeat to Wellington Phoenix earlier today. While Honda’s debut strike for Victory will take the headlines from the Wellington clash, the New Zealanders will undoubtedly be buoyed by a fine performance against the reigning Hyundai A-League Champions. A strong, defensive showing from Mark Rudan's men was highlighted by a hat-trick from Phoenix star Roy Krishna, who struck a first-half penalty and put away two second-half efforts to seal a confidence boosting friendly win.

FFA Cup Semi Final 1

The Western Sydney Wanderers have signed Rashid Mahazi for the 2018/19 A-League season. Mahazi joins the Wanderers from Victorian NPL club Moreland Zebras. The defensive midfielder has had a wealth of experience in the A-League, having played in over 90 matches for Melbourne Victory, winning both the Championship and Premiership in 2014/15 as well as the FFA Cup in 2015. Dimi Petratos will be a Newcastle Jet until at least the end of the A-League 2021/22 season. An upgraded and extended contract was locked in today by the 25-year-old, who won a bunch of individual accolades last season and starred in the Novocastrians' remarkable 2017/18 campaign. Promising Sydney FC defender Ben Warland has been ruled out of action for up to three months with a foot fracture. Recruited from Adelaide United in the middle of last season, Warland is considered an important member of the Sky Blues' defensive rotation but they could now be without the 22-year-old until early 2019.

A-League Signings and FFA Cup Tonight

Harry Kewell's Notts County earned consecutive League Two victories for the first time this season after the Magpies cruised past former club Crawley Town 3-1 at Meadow Lane. With Notts now in the midst of a four-match unbeaten run, it appears Kewell has turned the corner at the club. And with it being a slow news day, I’m going to give you an update of the TPO Rankings based on the FFA Cup and NPL Championship results. With Bentleigh Greens defeating Heidleberg United in the FFA Cup last week, Bentleigh move up to 9th on the TPO Rankings, and are now the highest ranked NPL club in Australia. Heidelberg United remain in 11th. APIA’s loss to Adelaide United means that they drop down to 10th, and Adelaide have moved ahead of Melbourne City and are now the 3rd best club in the country. And after Campbelltown were crowned 2018 NPL Champions with their defeat of Lions FC, they move up to 14th in the rankings ahead of Central Coast Mariners. Lions FC, on the other hand, drop one place to 18

Kewell's Notts County win again

Today’s news is dominated by FFAs governance of Australian Football, but first a little bit of signing news. Jason Hoffman and Nigel Boogaard who were instrumental in the Jets’ charge to the 2017-18 grand final and have both signed on for another two seasons. And now on to the main news that has dominated headlines in the last day or so. In true TPO Rankings Daily Briefing style - we’ll do our best to keep it short. Australian football will travel a new road when Steven Lowy stands down as FFA chairman and a new board and Congress come into being. The Football Federation Australia extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday has the potential to re-cast the sport in Australia. Here's what the changes will mean...

Big Changes For Australian Football

Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak has announced his retirement from international football effective immediately. After 79 caps, 20 goals, three FIFA World Cup appearances and an Asian Cup triumph, Jedinak has decided to call time on his international career. Jedinak made his international debut in 2008 a friendly against Singapore. In 2014 he was appointed captain by then-coach Ange Postecoglou ahead of the World Cup in Brazil. Football fans have used the hashtag #ThanksMile to congratulate outgoing captain Mile Jedinak on his storied Socceroos career. Australia will play at the under-17 FIFA World Cup in Peru next year after qualifying for the first time since 2015. The Joeys defeated Indonesia 3-2 in a thrilling match in front of a hostile pro-Indonesia crowd in Kuala Lumpur to progress to the semi-finals of the AFC under-16 championships.

#ThanksMile

Congratulations to Campbelltown City who are the 2018 NPL Champions after beating QLD NPL Champions Lions in the Grand Final yesterday. Campbelltown scored in the 5th and 32nd minute to lead 2 nil at half time. Lions got one back early in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as Campbelltown held on to win 2-1. Not only are they crowned champions, but they have also won themselves a place in next years FFA Cup round of 32. A peace agreement has been reached that could end Australian football's long-running governance saga. Barring a last-minute intervention by FFA chairman Steven Lowy, the agreement on changes to the FFA Constitution could be ratified this week. FFA members say the fresh agreement reaches a consensus position on the future governance of the sport in Australia.

Campbelltown are NPL Champions!

Socceroos star Mathew Leckie had a season debut to remember as Hertha Berlin defeated defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday The surprise win was Hertha's first over the Bavarian giants in nine years and came courtesy of first-half goals to Vedad Ibisevic and Ondrej Duda. Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak had a more difficult time of things with Aston Villa, settling for a 1-1 draw away to a Bailey Wright-less Bristol City in the Championship. Sydney FC has, once again, thrown down the gauntlet to its W-League rivals ahead of the 2018/19 W-League season, announcing the arrival of a trio of American stars ahead of the upcoming campaign. Following on from publicizing the capture of a number of Matildas standouts earlier in the month, Sydney on Friday afternoon announced that NWSL stars Sofia Huerta, Danielle Colaprico and Aubrey Bledsoe would all be making their way harbourside in 2018/19.

Leckie debuts for Hertha Berlin

Former Celta Vigo midfielder Alex Lopez has signed for Brisbane Roar, subject to completing a medical. Most recently on the books of Sporting Gijon, the 30-year-old joins John Aloisi's side after a long and successful career in Spain. Lopez spent a significant portion of his career at La Liga side Celta Vigo but recently enjoyed loan stints at second-tier side Real Valladolid and English Championship outfit Sheffield Wednesday. With Australian football governance’s D-Day imminent, the Football Federation Australia (FFA) Board on Friday evening once again outlined its position, releasing an information statement sent to member federations to the public. Australia are through to the quarter-finals of the AFC Under-16 Championship after defeating Afghanistan 4-0 in the final match of Group D in Malaysia. The Joeys will face Indonesia in the last eight on Monday night. Should they win that match they will not only be through to the semi-finals but also qualify for the U17 FIFA World Cup.

Brisbane Roar sign Alex Lopez

We start with some overseas Socceroos news as Mustafa Amini scored a double for AGF Aarhus in a Danish Cup tie. Amini also turned provider for the next goal and AGF eventually strolled to a 5-1 win. Trent Sainsbury scored his first ever goal for PSV Eindhoven as they beat Excelsior Maassluis 4-0 away from home in the Dutch Cup. Sainsbury netted from a set piece in the 44th minute. The match was also significant for Aziz Behich, who made his debut for PSV and played 90 minutes, receiving a yellow card in the 34th minute. Milos Degenek played 90 minutes for Red Star Belgrade in a 3-0 win over Napredak, with the Serbian champions now having not lost a match since March. And Adam Federici conceded three goals in Stoke City's 3-2 defeat away to Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup. Panthers Stadium will host the FFA Cup semi-final derby between defending champions Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers on October 6.

Overseas Socceroos News

The last two FFA Cup Quarter Finals were played tonight. In the first, APIA Leichhardt hosted Adelaide United, with many believing the hosts could cause another Cupset, after they knocked out Melbourne Victory in the previous round. After a scoreless first half, APIA started to get on top, before a Craig Goodwin screamer gave Adelaide the lead. From there only one team looked like winning, and a second Adelaide goal from Boland secured the A-League side a 2-0 win. The other game was an all VIC NPL affair, with Bentleigh Greens hosting recently-crowned Champions, Heidelberg United. The game was a tight one, with a late goal proving the difference - Bentleigh moving onto the Semi-Finals with a 1-0 win courtesy of an 86th minute winner. Speaking of the Semi-Finals, the draw was conducted right after the two games concluded. The two Semi Finals will be Bentleigh Greens vs Adelaide United, & Western Sydney Wanderers vs Sydney FC.

FFA Cup QF Wrap

Former Roar and Mariners attacker Peter Skapetis Signed with NPL Victoria side Dandenong Thunder. Signing with the Brisbane Roar ahead of the 2017-18 season, Skapetis made 14 appearances for the Roar before making a midseason move to the Central Coast Mariners. He went on to make a further five A-League appearances in Gosford, scoring in the Mariners Round 19 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers before his contract expired at the end of the season. Bentleigh Greens coach John Anastasiadis says he is pleased Adelaide United counterpart Marco Kurz shone the spotlight on the quality of National Premier League grounds. Kurz branded the quality of NPL surfaces generally as “sh*t”, and said they had made it difficult for the Reds to recruit players plying their trade in the local NPL SA competition.

Skapetis Signs with Dandenong Thunder & FFA Cup Tonight

The prospect of music during corners, goal kicks and substitutions at A-League matches appears dead in the water after clubs distanced themselves from the radical measures. All but two Australian clubs have categorically ruled out the controversial in-game entertainment. The two on the fence, Adelaide United and Central Coast, also say they're unlikely to adopt the divisive party-starters. Hibernian winger Martin Boyle is primed to make his international debut for Australia, after accepting an approach from Graham Arnold to join his squad for next month’s friendly against Kuwait. Boyle, who can operate on either flank and has two goals in six league appearances this season, was on the cusp of a Scotland call-up before injury intervened at the end of last season. But now Arnold has pounced to try and lock Boyle down ahead of January’s AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Music during A-League games is dead in the water!

Heidelberg are Victorian NPL champions after they defeated Avondale 2-1 in the grand final yesterday. 2 unanswered first half goals gave them the lead heading into the sheds. Avondale surged in the second half and got one back in the 78th minute, but it wasn’t enough. Congratulations to Heidelberg. Green Gully will remain in the Victorian NPL next season after an unbelievable comeback win against Moreland City. City scored in the 89th minute to go 2 nil up but Green Gully scored 2 goals in injury time to send the game into extra time. A 117th minute goal won the game for Green Gully and a spot in the NPL next season. We’ll finish with the Illawarra Premier League Grand Final where Bulli FC have broken a 32 year grand final hoodoo with a 3-2 win over Wollongong United. Bulli took a 2 nil lead and it looked to be going to extra time after Wollongong brought it back to 2 all. With only a minute left on the clock, Bulli scored to win 3-2.

Big wins yesterday to Heidelberg, Green Gully and Bulli FC

Retired Socceroo Harry Kewell will become the first footballer inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF) in 22 years, joining Peter Wilson, Ray Baartz, John Warren, Joe Marston and Alfred Quill. In the NPL Championship Semi Final, a 93rd minute penalty proved the difference as South Australia’s Campbelltown City defeated Sydney Olympic to set up a Grand Final next weekend against Lions FC. In the Illawarra District League Grand Final, Coniston has finished off a great year which already included the Premiership and promotion to next years Premier League, with a 3-0 win, adding the Championship to their trophy cabinet. And in the Victorian NPL2 Grand Final, Dandenong City has beaten Altona Magic 3-1, despite playing most of the game with 10 men.

Kewell first Socceroo into the Hall of Fame in 22 years!

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TPO Rankings Daily Briefing

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