How Yorke's bling helped bring 2006 title

May 5, 2017 - 2:56 AM Folded in a drawer at the homes of Steve Corica and Terry McFlynn are identical t-shirts given to them by Dwight Yorke and Pierre Littbarski.

They've resided there, quietly cherished, ever since Sydney FC won the inaugural A-League championship 11 years ago - the most recent grand final hosted by the club at Allianz Stadium.

That historic 1-0 triumph over Central Coast in 2006 was inspired by a memorable speech the night before, sealed with a gift from the soon-to-depart star skipper-marquee and World Cup-winning coach.

Holed up in a Narrabeen hotel, the high-profile pair sensed player jitters and decided to ease the tension via personal tales of big-stage finals.

Yorke recalled his key role in treble-winning Manchester United's 1999 Champions League trophy.

Littbarski, his part in West Germany's 1990 World Cup victory.

"It was important," Yorke tells AAP, "that we showed our leadership qualities to these guys, who maybe had not had the opportunity to play at the level like myself and Pierre.

"Pierre is obviously a World Cup-winner and one of the best of his generation.

"And of course my time at Man United, in terms of playing in the Premier League and being the face of the A-League that year.

"Our ultimate aim was to win the A-League, and we had to show everybody through our experience that this is what it takes to be a champion."

Afterwards, each squad member received a memento - a t-shirt signed by both above two personalised prints.

Littbarski's was a simple ode to German efficiency; Yorke's a fitting reflection of the man who put the bling in `Bling FC'.

"Underneath Pierre's name there was a picture of a stopwatch - he was a stickler for time and discipline," McFlynn recalls.

"Under Yorkey's name he had a big diamond-encrusted watch."

It did the job the next day at a packed-out Sydney Football Stadium, where Sydney won the first-ever finale billed as a guts-versus-glamour battle, a contest between Anthony LaPaglia's Hollywood-funded big guns and Lawrie McKinna's little club that could.

Not immediately though. Despite their respective tags, the Mariners were on the front foot early.

"Central Coast actually had a lot of chances in the first 20 minutes ... " title-winning scorer Corica starts to recollect before then Mariners defender Andrew Clark interjects.

"Bulls***, we bashed the hell out of you the whole first half," says Clark, now head of the Sky Blues' strength and conditioning alongside assistant coach Corica and football manager McFlynn.

Even back then the clubs were fierce rivals, and Central Coast's fairytale run from outsiders to grand-final combatants had captured the heart and minds of a NSW region known more for its rugby league support.

But by the time the big day rolled around the Mariners squad was mentally exhausted from a week of fanfare following their upset away preliminary-final win over premiers Adelaide.

More gruelling for Clark was that he marked Yorke.

And it wasn't until joining Sydney nearly a decade later that he fully understood what had sparked the Joe Marston Medallist to lift so spectacularly in the second half.

"At halftime Pierre virtually said to the team, 'right, let's forget that and start again and Yorkey, you need to pick up and get this game going'.

"In the second half, he was another level - almost unstoppable.

"You would try to kick him as hard as you could and he'd just bounce off you and the ball would still be at his feet."

Clark will never forget the way Yorke swindled him and Mariners captain Noel Spencer just after the hour mark, dragging them wide before cutting back for Corica to sidefoot home past a young Danny Vukovic.

Corica admits it wasn't either team's best game "but as football goes, if you don't take your chances you lose - we took the one chance we got".

From McFlynn's perspective, there was another less-sung hero that day.

Goalkeeper Clint Bolton kept Sydney in the game early on and protected the slim lead with some crucial late saves.

"The lasting thing for me was right near the death when the Mariners were throwing everything at us," McFlynn says.

"They slammed a ball in the box and Bootsa just climbed above everyone and grabbed it.

"That was it, we knew it was our day.

"It was interesting actually because the Swans won the grand final the same year (2005) when Leo Barry took that mark - it was very similar."

McFlynn, Corica, Clark and Vukovic aren't the only ones now involved in Sydney's current record-breaking premiership set-up.

Also playing for the Sky Blues was a 21-year-old David Carney, plucked from a trial as one of the team's final signings alongside Northern Irish import McFlynn.

Alex Wilkinson backboned the Mariners' defence while goalkeeping coach John Crawley mentored Vukovic from the dugout, just as he will on Sunday when the veteran gloveman and Wilkinson line up for their fourth grand final.

Graham Arnold was part of the game's Fox Sports panel, long before he'd coach the Mariners to a maiden title and find himself on the cusp of delivering Sydney's first in seven years.

Is it strange they've all ended up together all these years later?

The collective answer is no; winners attract.

"When people gravitate together who have won things and been involved in big games, that's their expectation," says Clark.

"They're not hopeful, that's what they expect.

"This has happened at Sydney now and that's what breeds that winning mentality."

Source: AAP