The rise of UNSW FC
Two promotions in three seasons, it’s been a remarkable rise for Men’s outfit UNSW FC who are set to feature in NPL Men’s NSW football for the first time in 2026.
Leading the way from the dugout is head coach Gabe Knowles who has been at the club since 2017.
We caught up with him and Claudio Fabiano after a memorable campaign to speak about the journey they’ve been on.
“I joined the U20s in 2017 and first grade had just finished second last in the old State League,” said Knowles.
“We had a great year with the 20’s winning the league that year and took it into first grade the year after and started to consolidate ourselves as one of the stronger clubs in that league.
“The mantra has always been “no stone unturned” and doing everything possible to be prepared, coupled with the overarching aim to just help the players be the best they can be on and off the pitch, that’s probably played a big part in helping us to be better each season.”
Central to their success has been a club culture which came about early in his time at the club Knowles recalled.
“The club culture is to the players credit, initially it started with Luke (Burke), Claudio (Fabiano) and I connecting a long time ago about them joining the club. They’re both local and UNSW alumni so the attachment already existed for them, from there as leaders they set a great tone and example for the rest that followed,” Knowles ended.
Club skipper Claudio Fabiano further echoed his coaches sentiments.
“We built this culture along with our coaching staff over the last five years. I know the coaches look for a player’s personality ahead of ability, and we have a change room that want to work hard for each other, but also love celebrating the wins together and grabbing a meal after the training or a drink out after a game.”
Which brings us to this season in which they achieved promotion by taking the premiership with a round 30 win over Northern Tigers at the Village Green. Despite perhaps going under the radar for large parts of it to the outside, there was a belief that the club could get the title in the side.
“It was our goal as soon as we came up,” said Knowles.
“In the back half of last season when we settled in the league, we weren’t far off championship pace so we knew then we were capable at that point.”
While Fabiano was able to single out a particular fixture which played an important role.
“When we met at the start of preseason we clearly set our goal as first place. However, we were a bit deflated with injuries and results were mixed at the start of the season. But a big result was SD Raiders away on a Tuesday night catchup match. If they beat us that night, they would move 11 points clear of us, and so we spoke in the dressing room and said today was our season on the line.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing though having to overcome a significant amount of injuries throughout the season.
“We had an extraordinary amount of injuries and players lost this year, eight season enders in total. It started with Malf (Alex Malfara) and his horrific knee injury in our first pre season match. There were another two ACLs with Lachie (Hughes) and Joe (White) while Gabi (Lopez) had to return to Spain on short notice which was really tough for the group both football wise and personally as he was a big part of the team,” said Knowles.
Indeed Knowles credits his sides resilience as a key part of their success overall.
“I said to the players after that last game that the key was our resilience, we had a lot thrown at us and ultimately we managed that well and didn’t use any of it as an excuse. Obviously having a clear vision of how we wanted to operate and play from day one helps, even if we don’t always do that perfectly we know where we want to be and can always have that reference point.”
“Look we’ll be humble and understanding that we’re coming into a tough league with some really top sides, but we’ll work hard and continue to play our football. We’ll have to evolve a touch and add some extra quality in key areas there’s no doubt about that.”
By Justin Smith
