APIA Leichhardt have welcomed the new signing of U.S. born striker Jason Romero after the 26-year-old agreed to terms for the 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season.

Romero had a solid 2021 season playing with St George City as the ace marksman racked up an incredible 19 goals in 16 matches and was leading the Football NSW League 1 Men’s Golden Boot charts until Covid put a halt to all football activities.

Joining Romero at Lambert Park will be three exciting young guns with two former Macarthur FC players Yianni Nicolaou and Walter Scott joining the ranks as has ex-Newcastle Jets midfielder Jack Armson.

The club has yet to finalise its squad stating that two more players will be added to the player roster prior to the season kicking off next year.

The club has retained several of its seasoned campaigners while Hassan Jalloh who had an injury riddled 2021 season, will be chomping at the seams when he finally gets his opportunity to show his worth after sitting out on the sidelines for the year.

One of the APIA’s experienced campaigners, defender Themba Muata-Marlow was philosophical in his comments with his teammates looking forward to an uninterrupted 2022 season.

“I think it’s been a really unusual and difficult two seasons for everyone in the league with all these Covid disruptions which can affect form and momentum, so I’m sure everyone is hoping that what we have seen this year and last year is the last of all that and we can just go back to normal and carry out an uninterrupted season from here on,” Muata-Marlow stated to Football NSW.

“We’ve kept most of the core guys that have brought our club so much success in recent years so as always we expect a good level of standard from ourselves going into the season, and now with some new blood mixed in, we really want to push as far as we can for this next campaign.

“The league is as competitive as I’ve seen it for a while and every team has some real quality players but ultimately with the players and experience we have in our squad, aiming for anything less than winning something would be underselling ourselves I feel.”

The former A-League defender mentioned that he was excited to see Romero do his thing with the proud Inner-West club and earmarked him as one to watch out for in 2022.

“Our most notable pick up would be a new striker who I’ve seen possess massive amounts of quality and versatility being Jason Romero.

“He had a killer season this year before it’s cancellation and was on track for the golden boot bringing in interest from professional clubs as well.

“Also, the fact that he can not only score but create will be a really good asset for us moving forward along with him just being a great guy who I’m already friends with, I know he’ll fit right in with our dressing room and enjoy the new challenge.”

APIA Leichhardt 2022: Ivan Necevski, Paul Galimi, Josh Symons, Nick Azzone, Corey Biczo, Jason Romero, Franco Parisi, Hassan Jalloh, David D’Apuzzo, Jack Armson, Themba Muata-Marlow, Sean Symons, Adrian Ucchino, Michael Kouta, Walter Scott, Luke Turnbull, Yianni Nicolaou.

A midseason change of scenery for winger Peter Kekeris has bore early fruit as the high-flying youngster eyes a late season charge for APIA Leichhardt FC as Cup football looms.

Transitioning from one club to the other can be a difficult prospect in the life of a footballer. Surroundings, coaches and teammates take time getting used, it’s a normal part of the process.

However for APIA Leichhardt FC’s Peter Kekeris, this transition from Sydney Olympic amidst the middle of a campaign has seemed to affect him like water off a duck’s back.

With 8 appearances to his name already at Lambert Park and a host of goals and assists, Kekeris has started life very well at his new home and the youngster, aged 22 says he couldn’t be happier.

“It’s been a good start. It was great to grab the match winning assist in my first game.

“From there it’s been good to get more game time and make more of a contribution with goals, assists and just doing my part for the team.”

For a player with experience at A-League outfit the Central Coast Mariners, the quality of Kekeris’ play has been a welcomed addition for an APIA side who are right in the hunt for finals football this season.

“When I arrived we went on a good run of performances, collecting vital points.

“Then just prior to lockdown we had some tough results not go our way but it’s still all to play for.

“However, we’ve qualified for the FFA Cup and are in with a great chance in the Waratah Cup so there’s some exciting fixtures ahead of us.”

For a young footballer like Kekeris, opportunities like those in the FFA Cup are worth their weight in gold.

Being able to butt heads with the best of the best within Australian football, in front of a national audience, is more than enough to stoke the flames of aspiring footballers in this country.

For Kekeris, he says it’s competition he can’t wait to give his all in.

“For NPL players, the cup is so important.

“It gives us a chance to showcase what we can do and potentially earn ourselves a professional contract.

“We’ve drawn Cooma Tigers first up. They’ll be a tough side no doubt, but we are confident we can get the job done and hopefully draw an A-League side and if that opportunity arises, we’ll show no fear.”

For Kekeris, he said the timing of lockdown was a shame but a time he is using to stay fit and enjoy time with his family.

Representing a club with a rich history like APIA comes with it, its own weight of expectation.

Nonetheless, Kekeris knows that both himself and the side will be itching at the bit once the season recommences.

“We can’t wait to get back out there.

“We’ve set the bar high. We want to go as far as we can in the FFA cup, win the Waratah Cup and gain a spot in the finals.

“We know that it won’t be easy but we are a side with the talent capable of bringing more success to the club.”

-By Joseph Esposito

At just 22, Mathieu Cordier has won an NYL Championship with the Western Sydney Wanderers, tasted A-League football with three appearances for the Red & Black and represented his country in the Australian U20s squad.

While his experience, especially at his age, is quite impressive, the humble youngster is enjoying a new challenge in the NPL NSW Men’s competition in 2021.

“It’s been a pretty, pretty exciting season,” he explained.

“There have been lots of big games and with APIA specifically we’ve had like a good Cup run, tough games in that, and we’re already looking forward to this back end of the season where the games are coming very thick and fast… it’s an exciting time.

“I’ve been playing a few positions, you know, my normal position, and then I’ve been playing higher up as well on the wing, which I’ve really enjoyed.

“We just play and play like a really fun style, which I’ve been enjoying creating lots of chances and yeah, definitely, definitely been enjoying it wherever I’ve been playing.”

As for the lockdown break, Cordier explained that the communication between the close-knit APIA team is as strong as usual.

“If we’re not seeing each other as regularly as we normally would, it doesn’t kind of feel that way because we’re always speaking to each other.

“There’s always something going on that we’re talking about, so it doesn’t feel like we’ve just been like, cut off and we’re not like a team anymore.

“We’re still interacting and communicating, and I think it’s good to keep it that way.”

Having been in professional football environments for the past few years, Cordier praised APIA for doing as much as they can to have a professional environment in the semi-professional competition.

“There’s a couple of differences, but it’s pretty similar.”

“Training, it’s competitive, which is really good… it’s not that much lighter.

“At APIA I think they’re doing as much as they possibly can.

“We’ve got our own S&C [Strength & Conditioning] this year and we’ve got like our GPS tracking, which we’ve got for the end of the season.

“There’s obviously going to be a few differences because the A-League is a professional league, but as the NPL is semi-professional, but I think at the end of the day, the main difference will come down to like the players’ attitudes and the coaches’ attitudes, and we try and make sure that those are a high standard.”

With ambitious goals for the remainder of the season, APIA will be hitting the ground running when football resumes.

“We’ve been pretty clear we want to make we want to make it into the top three by the end of the NPL season and then go as far as we possibly can when the Waratah Cup goes as far as we can the FAA Cup when that is possible.

“For me personally, I was just really excited to get a consistent run of games because the last few years, it’s been pretty on and off for me.

Trying to make sure that I’m performing well, every game, focusing on all aspects of my game, making sure that I’m improving every week.”

-By Madeline Riley