All White Kosta Barbarouses has written himself into the record books by becoming the first player to ever earn three Hyundai A-League Premiership titles with three different clubs.

Barbarouses and his Sydney FC team mates are now 11 points clear of the second-placed Wellington Phoenix and cannot be caught, making it a hat-trick of minor premiership titles for the 30-year-old.

He has previously achieved the honour with both Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory but the emphatic nature of this season’s win is a first.

“It’s the biggest margin in terms of games to spare that I’ve won a Premiership,” he says.

“With Brisbane and Victory it was a lot closer and came down to the last two games or so. It’s been a long wait with everything that’s gone on, we would have liked to have wrapped it up earlier but we’re very happy.”

Having been there before, Barbarouses knows exactly what’s required to finish top of the table and believes Sydney are well deserving of the honour. 

“It takes a lot of character to win a Premiership, everyone is gunning for it during the year and it often shows the best-performing team as the table very rarely lies,” he says. 

“It’s been a pleasure to come in every Monday after a win or a draw on the weekend, it’s very rarely been a loss. That feels really good and is a testament to what they’ve achieved here before,” he adds.

“I said when I got here that I wanted to help build on the success of the club and I think the players that have come in this year have done a good job of keeping the high standards the club has set.”

Defending champions Sydney have now secured a berth in the semi-finals and are aiming to claim a record fifth title. 

“It’s taken a big effort to get here but there’s still a lot to play for,” Barbarouses says.

On the international stage, Barbarouses has played in 47 full internationals for the All Whites and scored four goals. 

Article added: Tuesday 28 July 2020