Girdwood-Reich nets Israeli’s jersey
The Sydney Super Cup 2022 first match between Sydney FC and Glasgow Celtic FC at Sydney’s new Allianz Stadium was expected to be an uneventful one-sided affair with a win for the Scottish side on the cards.
Jake with Abada’s jersey
However, on the Sydney FC substitutes bench, the expectation of the fulfilment of a lifetime dream was at the forefront of Sydney FC’s Jewish 18-year-old Jake Girdwood-Reich’s mind.
After over a decade of training and games for his clubs and representative teams to have achieved his professional football place in the Sydney FC A-League men’s team, he came on in the 69th minute in the central/defensive midfield role mixing it with some players he had only seen on a small screen. Playing Glasgow Celtic FC, given Jake’s Scottish heritage on his father’s side of the family, gave him an immense feeling of pride even though he is a dedicated Australian Arsenal and Glasgow Rangers FC supporter.
Given the intensity of this Glasgow sporting rivalry, it is well known that in Scotland, most Glasgow Rangers supporters spend as much time following Glasgow Celtic games as they do their own team, hoping that their traditional Glasgow rival will be lower down the Scottish Premier Football League table at the end of the season.
By the 69th minute, Sydney FC was leading 2-1, and Jake had to run the midfield providing as much cover defence for the defensive line to hold on for the win.
Jake told J-Wire: “I just wanted to get on and play and help hold the Sydney FC defence together to get the win. I was focused on being my best and doing my job for the team to disrupt the midfield and hold the defensive perimeter together. I really didn’t think at all about these players being Glasgow Celtic. I was elated and overjoyed the win came our way.”
One determined thought in his mind before the game was that he was going to swap player tops with one of Celtic’s stars. He had one player in particular in mind, Liel Abada, the Israeli international star forward. Of course, Liel knew very little about Jake, let alone that they share a Jewish heritage. Jake is a descendant of Jewish holocaust survivors who migrated to Australia after World War II and his middle name celebrates his grandfather Mendel’s incredible life of surviving and thriving against all odds.
Late in the game, with Jake playing well, the crowd was starting to sense a Sydney FC win even though Celtic continued their offensive onslaught.
The Celtic supporters, many of whom had travelled long distances from around Australia, Scotland and elsewhere, had gone silent, anticipating that the unthinkable was going to happen as Jake and his Sydney FC teammates defended their 2-1 goal advantage.
With minutes to go to full time, a high ball challenge in front of the goal resulted in the game being stopped because of a head clash between Jake and Celtic’s Stephen Welsh.
Both dropped to the ground, Jake on all fours and Stephen lying on his back. Both players had their heads bandaged and left the field. Unlike Welsh, Jake ran back on and finished the game.
After the final whistle and some team celebration, Jake received Liel Abada’s jersey.
After the game, Jake had six stitches inserted in his head wound.
He said: “I felt really good getting Abada’s jersey. It was tremendous. He is a great player, and I will value it as a memento to trigger great memories of the game.”
Jake headed home with his prized Leil Abada jersey and his original blood-covered one. Lifelong mementos of a night of dreams come true including a treasured win with his Sydney FC teammates against Glasgow Celtic FC.
