Arsenal’s pre-season tour is fast approaching, and with the first stop on that tour being Sydney, today we’re looking at the links between Arsenal and Sydney FC you may not know about.

ArsenalInSydney.com recently did an article on these connections between the two clubs, which we’ll take you through now:

The former head coach of Sydney FC is actually also the only Australian to play for the Gunners so far. John Kosmina signed for Arsenal after their last tour of Australia, a full 40 years ago, but only made four appearances before returning back home.

Sydney FC’s current assistant coach, Steve Corica, used to play under Paul Merson’s management at Walsall.

Sydney midfielder Milos Ninkovic has played against the Gunners before, in a 1-1 draw with Dynamo Kiev in the 2008 Champions League.

He also played against Mertesacker and Özil in the 2010 World Cup, for Serbia, who were both in the same group as Australia.

Sydney’s Alex Wilkinson has also faced Arsenal players in international competition, playing against Alexis Sanchez and Chile, as well as Santi Cazorla and Spain in the 2014 World Cup.

Another of their midfielders, David Carney, played against Arsenal for Sheffield United in the League Cup in 2007, a game which the Gunners won 3-0.

Captain of the Sky Blues, Alex Brosque, was in the same team as Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg when the Swede spent time at Shimzu S-Pulse in Japan.

Petr Cech played Sydney FC just a couple of years ago on a tour with Chelsea, in the very same stadium that Arsenal will play in on 13th July.

Finally, the Sydney FC goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne is a big Arsenal fan, and has recently been to visit the Emirates for a stadium tour.

So that’s all the connections between Arsenal and Sydney FC so far, until next week when we make a few more!