Brett Emerton and Vince Grella played with Matt Derbyshire at Blackburn Rovers over a decade ago in the English Premier League,and the bond they formed helped bring the Englishman to the A-League.
They've made a dream start to life in the A-League but coach Ante Milicic is refusing to get carried away with how far the Bulls can go in their inaugural season.
The Bulls and Wanderers traded blows for more than 70 engrossing minutes on Wednesday night before the deadlock was broken by a deflected free kick from star recruit Benat Etxebarria.
Carl Robinson's controversial exit from Newcastle and his work in the transfer market since joining Western Sydney have set tongues wagging.
This year's competition will be split into two"conferences"for at least the first month. Here's a team-by-team guide for the NSW-based sides.
There doesn't seem to be a visible groundswell of support for Macarthur FC. But that doesn't mean it's not there.
The planned matches at Bankwest Stadium have been postponed from Sunday to Wednesday,with the A-League's first match to be played in Geelong on Monday.
With 83 cases now associated with the cluster in Avalon,and 15 new positives announced on Monday,the next few days will dictate the level of disruption for both competitions.
Former Athletic Bilbao teammates Beñat Extaberria and Markel Susaeta are out of hotel quarantine and ready to take the A-League by storm.
Macarthur FC have assembled what looks like,on paper,one of the league's best squads - and skipper Mark Milligan can see the foundations for instant success.
The A-League's newest club will meet their nearest rivals in the first game of the new season on December 27.