When St George FC finally step back under the national spotlight on Wednesday night, Hussein Akil knows his side have the chance to write another glorious chapter in the club's proud history.
St George take on NPL 1 club Sydney United 58 in the FFA Cup round of 32 at the Ilinden Sports Centre, the first time the club have ever qualified for the national round of the competition.
Theirs is a classic underdog story. St George, who won the NPL 2 last year, are languishing in 11th place in the second-tier competition this season and were held to a 1-1 draw by local rivals St George City FA at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Sunday.
They will take on the NPL 1 giants who are on track to reach the finals this season. The pair also met in the Waratah Cup semi-finals last month, with United scoring a last-gasp 3-2 victory.
St George are one of the proudest and most historic club's in Australian football history. Founded by Hungarian migrants in 1957, St George went on to win their only national title in 1983.
Frank Arok, Rale Rasic, Johnny Warren, Jim Fraser, Les Murray, David Zdrilic, Robbie Slater and Scott Ollerenshaw are just some of the names associated with this great club. And St George captain Akil told the Leader his teammates were keen to etch their names into club folklore on Wednesday night.
"Everyone who knows football knows about St George and their history in the NSL," he said.
"A lot of players were part of Socceroos squads. You had people like Johnny Warren who were not only great players but great ambassadors for the club who brought honour to the club.
"Playing for a club with such history and having the chance to put them back on the national stage is something the boys will cherish for the rest of their lives. They have done something that people who have supported this club for so many years are so eager to be part of again.
"I know how I feel myself as captain and one of the oldest boys in the squad and we know how much it means to be part of."
St George have shown the unpredictable nature of cup football already this season and will take confidence going into the clash.
St George downed NPL 1 giants APIA Leichhardt, who eliminated then A-League champions Melbourne Victory in the national round of the competition last season, 1-0 in the sixth preliminary round at Caringbah on the way to the national stage.
It was sweet revenge for Saints, who suffered defeat to the Tigers in the preliminary rounds last season.
Saints then beat NPL 3 side Dulwich Hill 4-0 in the seventh preliminary round to advance to the national competition for the first time.
St George have also beaten Southern Districts Raiders and West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook on their road to the national rounds.
Akil said St George would take plenty from their win over APIA and close Waratah Cup defeat.
"It's an amazing feeling. The boys are very excited for the game. The idea of being in a national competition has really given the boys a lot of motivation and hunger to succeed. It's obviously a historical thing for the club as well to have made it for the first time so we're feeling very honoured," he said.
"No one expects an NPL 2 club to go this far. At the start of the year I was making some jokes to the boys saying 'let's go guys, maybe we'll get Melbourne Victory'. Everyone laughed at me, saying 'relax Mr Captain'. Now we're here and I think the boys do have a lot of belief that we can go on and maybe play an A-League team.
"The APIA result was massive. I truly believe that win and the way we played took us to another level. In the league we're not doing too well but after that game our performances skyrocketed.
"Then the Waratah Cup semi-final, we only conceded [the winner] in the last minute so I think the boys definitely have it in their minds that we can do this. We took plenty out of those two games.
"We know we're going to have a lot of support from the community and people interested in wanting St George to do well. We're hoping for a big crowd and to succeed in front of them and do everyone proud."
