Melbourne City would like to send a big thank you everyone who attended the Club’s annual Family Day on Sunday.
The day was a resounding success for all involved and saw approximately 4500 City fans gather together on an enjoyable day at the City Football Academy, Melbourne.
Fans were delighted to see their A-League heroes in action during a pre-season friendly against Auckland City, which kicked off the day at 10am.
Despite some strong resistance from the visitors, two cracking strikes from Nicolas Colazo and Tim Cahill got Family Day off to the perfect start as John van’t Schip’s side ran out 2-0 winners in an exciting contest.
After the match, the Family Day festivities were in full swing as fans were invited to partake in a host of exciting activities.
The MatchWorks Photo Booth saw a constant stream of traffic as fans posed for photos with their A-League and W-League heroes, as well as leaving their messages of support for the upcoming season at our special video booth.
Our community clinics and small sided games saw the next generation of City stars showcase their skills, while our excited young fans had a blast on the bouncing castles, had their faces painted in City colours and posed for photos with their favourite mascots.
Appetites were satisfied by the delicious food cooked at the DON Smallgoods Kranski BBQ, while fans also had the chance to test themselves from the penalty spot at our ‘Beat the Butcher’ contest.
Competitions were a plenty as Dreamstreet Lending gave fans an opportunity to win a brand new Nissan and have their City membership paid for three seasons, while there were brand new 2016/17 Nike Home Jersey’s to be won thanks to Etihad Airways.
Congratulations to Xavier Cippollone who was the lucky winner of the City in the Community draw at Family Day. Xavier’s older cousin Cara Matsa was the initial winner of the contest, but in a lovely Family Day gesture, decided to hand Xavier the opportunity of a lifetime. Xavier has won a place to be a player Mascot at the Derby on 19 December and tickets for his parents to come along and watch his exciting experience.
The day then moved on to the Nissan ‘Best Seats in the House’ Stage as the A-League squad were presented with their jerseys for the season, with Bruno Fornaroli and John van’t Schip addressing the fans about the exciting season ahead.
W-League star Steph Catley and Head Coach Joe Montemurro were also on stage to speak to fans ahead of the upcoming season, while contracted players Olivia Ellis, Melina Ayres, Tyla-Jay Vlajnic and new signing Teigen Allen were also present.
The City family were also treated to an exclusive announcement, with Catley and Fornaroli unveiled as the Club captains for the upcoming W-League and A-League seasons.
It was autograph City for the latter part of the day as fans formed a queue all the way to AAMI Park to mingle with their A-League heroes at our Hostplus Signing marquee, while others were engaged in fierce FIFA 16 contests at the Nissan Interactive Stage.
With the overall success of Family Day, the Club would like to thank everyone involved in making the day a great event.
We look forward to seeing you at AAMI Park this season!
