Brisbane Roar’s Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s squad numbers have been confirmed as the squad begins to take shape ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Ruben Zadkovich is overseeing his first transfer window at the helm in Brisbane as he shapes his squad for an exciting season ahead and has brought in seven new faces so far.
Adding further steel to the defence are Ben Warland (4), Marcus Ferkranus (5), Hosine Bility (15) and Harry Van Der Saag (17).
Further up the park Lebanese international midfielder, Walid Shour who will wear number 8 has joined the club after impressing for his nation in World Cup qualifiers against the Socceroos
He will link up with the likes of Jay O’Shea, Joe Caletti and Florin Berenguer in the engine room with the Frenchman taking the number 10 jersey for the upcoming campaign.
In attack, Ben Halloran is back for a second stint in Brisbane and will wear the number 27 alongside Adam Zimarino (43) who links up with Ruben Zadkovich following a solid stint under the Roar boss in Perth.
Roar currently have 23 players contracted ahead of the 2024/25 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
Zadkovich, who’s side will play their first competitive match of the new campaign when they face Perth Glory in the Australia Cup Play Off in Darwin on Tuesday said he was excited by the potential of his current squad.
“It’s certainly not just about the eleven, we need a group of 22-23, plus our academy. There’s so much work to be done in our club but there are so many positive people involved that makes the process really enjoyable,” Zadkovich said.
“We obviously want to be an entertaining, on the ball type team and that’s pretty clear in terms of even last year.
“My process is to get the ball down quick and try and have as much of it as we can and play a fluid style of football so that has a lot of intricacies, there’s a lot of principles in our model and the way we play that take time to implement but it’s nice now to have that time and I’m really looking forward to creating a really positive team.
“I’m really big on bringing not only good players but good people to the club and I want them to be a little bit spicy, I want them to have that point of difference, I want to accept people for their differences and try and create a team where there’s that diversity in characters and we certainly have that but it will take time.
“There’s a lot of hard work to be done for it to come together but I’m very excited about what it looks like.”
The 2024/25 Isuzu UTE A-League Men season will begin on the weekend of 18-20 October with the draw expected the be released in the coming weeks.
With Auckland FC joining in season 2024/25, the Isuzu UTE A-League Men will expand to a 13-team competition and a 29-round regular season.
The 20th anniversary of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men will see each club play 24 home and away fixtures, plus two additional third match up fixtures (Unite Round and one other), plus three byes.
As per the 2023/24 season, the top six sides will qualify for the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025 Finals Series which will start on the weekend of 9-11 May, with the Grand Final to be played on the weekend of 30 May – 1 June.
2024/25 Brisbane Roar Isuzu UTE A-League Squad
Goalkeepers: 1. Macklin FREKE, 29. Matt ACTON
Defenders: 2. Scott NEVILLE, 3. Corey BROWN, 4. Ben WARLAND, 5. Marcus FERKRANUS, 15. Hosine BILITY, 17. Harry VAN DER SAAG, 19. Jack HINGERT, 21. Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 44. Ryan LETHLEAN
Midfielders: 6. Joe CALETTI, 8. Walid SHOUR, 10. Florin BERENGUER, 13. Henry HORE (On loan at Gwangon FC until January 1, 2025), 23. Keegan JELACIC, 26. Jay O’Shea, 30. Quinn MACNICOL, 35. Louis ZABALA
Forwards: 14. Rylan BROWNLIE, 16. Thomas WADDINGHAM, 22. Alex PARSONS, 27. Ben HALLORAN, 43. Adam ZIMARINO