Scott, let's say there's a family who could join your club or wait a season and join Sydney Rovers. What's your pitch to them?

I think we like to do our talking in our results - particularly if you look at the last 12 months. And we're confident there's a really positive momentum around the club and people are buying into that. As for western Sydney, I don't know. I haven't heard much about them in the last few months. I know they set themselves some pretty ambitious targets. Don't know if they're meeting those. It'll be interesting to see how they go.

Do you welcome competition?

Absolutely. As long as the western Sydney team is well-funded, well-managed, professionally run, I think it'll be a positive addition to the league. If it's not, it won't be.

How do you view the last 12 months at your club?

As you know, the new ownership structure came in at the beginning of last season. The focus of our strategy in our first year was to improve our on-field performance by bringing in a new coach and new support staff around the football department. And we were happy with how that went.

The second phase of our strategy is to turn that on-field success into more commercial success in terms of crowd numbers, memberships numbers, sponsorship income, those sorts of areas. We're working very hard in those areas and simultaneously working hard in the football department to build the right squad for the season and seasons ahead.

What's the overall vision for the club going forward? Is it right in saying your long-term goal is to become a continental super-power?

Absolutely. Our medium-term goal is always to be the dominant club in Australia but over time to  become one of a handful of leading football brands in Asia-Pacific and to one day win the Asian Champions League. That's where we see ourselves and we've got some work to do to get there but competing in the Asian Champions League next March is an important step.

So I'm very satisfied with how the club is travelling. Edwin Lugt, our CEO, is doing a terrific job in taking the strategy and moulding the strategy and making it his and really implementing it. We're definitely heading in the right direction.

Did you believe that things would turn around this quickly given the club really was struggling in most areas?

Yeah, it was [struggling]. But we were quietly optimistic that we could achieve what we did. We knew we had a good squad and we knew had a good coach in Vitya. It all came together but we're not where we want to be yet. We still have huge amounts to achieve on the commercial side.

Such as?

Well, we had some growth in our home crowds last season and are confident that will continue to grow this season. And on the membership side, we're very optimistic we'll achieve more members than in previous seasons. Corporate hospitality and sponsorship are another key area for us. We've recruited some managers within the club who are specialists in those areas and are doing a lot of work to secure those corporate partnerships. If we can get that side of the business right and continue to deliver on the field then we'll be in good shape.

So, is 20,000 an achievable target as a home crowd average next season?

I don't want to state a number of what our averages will be. We've got some internal targets but we'll keep that to ourselves but I'm confident our crowds will continue to grow. And of course there's our "Junior Blues" initiative which is a free bronze membership to every registered football player 12 years or under who plays for an association we've got a partnership with. We're confident it's a really important strategy that will help us grow our crowds. And help us start communicating with young footballers and get them passionate about the club and to buy into Sydney FC

And just on coach Vitezslav Lavicka? When will you start talking contract extensions?

Vitya's very important. He's a great coach but he's also a great person. He's the type of character who automatically gets everyone's respect with his quiet approach - but he knows exactly what he wants and he gets it. He's an important part of what we're building at the club and we're hopeful he will continue to be with us beyond this coming season.

When will you start contract extension talk?

We've had a very initial conversation with Vitya but we won't be making any decisions and he won't be making any decisions till much later in the season. So, we'll wait till then.