With Newington’s football program flourishing, tomorrow the College’s First X1 takes to the field at Sydney FC’s home, Sky Park, in an effort to win the prestigious Sydney FC Cup for the third year in a row.  

With the final to be held at Allianz Stadium, Newington’s best players will battle it out against 16 other independent school sides in the two-day tournament founded by the popular A-League club. Newington joined in 2023, winning the tournament in its debut year and in 2024. 

‘I think it comes down to the culture that we have here across the whole program. It is something that has stood out to me as I moved from the younger years and into the senior space,’

Also, this Friday, a selection of the Newington U15/16 squad travels to Japan for an eight day tour of Shizuoka and Tokyo, which will see them take on some of Japan’s most promising school sides including Nichidai Michima and Gyosyu FC. 

And next term, as winter sport well and truly gets under way, Newington U15 will also once again compete in the Bill Turner Cup, which will feature approximately 850 school teams from NSW, ACT, Victoria and Queensland. Last year, Newington made it to the quarter finals before losing out to Killarney Heights High 2-1. Killarney went on to win the prestigious tournament, now in its 46^th year. 

According to Mr Drew Taylor, Director of Football, ensuring Newington football teams compete on the national and international playing field, as well as continuing to compete in traditional GPS and CIS tournaments, is beginning to pay dividends. 

‘Newington has always been very strong in football, but I think where we are really adding value today in terms of results and player development is through opening more of these important tournaments up to our players,’ says Mr Taylor, formerly Head of Talented Player Development at Football NSW who joined the college three years ago. 

‘This strategy is important to the long-term success of football at Newington, which historically has been so strong at football within the GPS and CIS competitions with an 80 per cent winning rate on any given Saturday. 

‘Competing on a wider playing field provides us with a more realistic picture of the other talent out there, and helps keep our Newington players grounded and striving to improve because there is a higher level of challenge.’  

With approximately 600 students signed up to play for Newington at the senior campus, and a further 200 across our two Prep schools, football continues to be the College’s most popular winter sport. 

‘Just as on the global stage, football is increasing in popularity at Newington with player numbers up 15 per cent from last year,’ says Mr Taylor. 

‘This is in part to do with our location and our multicultural diversity as a school but also hopefully due to a thorough program and all the opportunities being embraced.’ 

Captain of Football Zach W, who first pulled on a pair of footy boots at age four for Concord Junior Football Club and started playing for Newington in Year 7, believes community support and keeping the fun factor in football has been integral to its growth and success at Newington.  

‘I think it comes down to the culture that we have here across the whole program. It is something that has stood out to me as I moved from the younger years and into the senior space,’ says Zach who is currently in Year 12.   

‘No matter the age group or team, everyone has a real passion to play for and represent Newington as best as we can.’ 

Mr Taylor agrees Newington is fortunate to have an active and engaged community. Led by The Newington College Football Association (NCFA), which was formed under the umbrella of Stanmore Parents and Friends Association, the NFCA is a parent group committed to promoting football at Newington. It supports the College program for all age groups from the 1^st XI to the Under 13s and hosts many fundraising events and other occasions such as the annual end of season football dinner and presentation evening.  

‘We have an outstanding support base led by the president Michael Lukkis,’ says Mr Taylor. 

‘Michael’s youngest son finished Year 12 at Newington in 2024 but Michael loves football and the Newington community so much he has stayed on this year as president,’ says Mr Taylor. 

‘To date, moving our football program into new areas has helped us achieve some fantastic results in both the Sydney FC Cup and the Bill Turner Cup. We also do a tour to Adelaide in July with our First XI players again against the best schools in the country. It’s all about providing opportunities and experiences to our players at a higher level as we test and support them to become better players.’ 

You can discover more about what’s possible with Newington’s sporting programs here on our website .