Terry McFlynn will announce his departure from Sydney FC on Monday – and possibly his retirement from the game altogether. In the thick of the finals race, it might not be the biggest story of the the day but it will be the most symbolic. There are still 30 players left from the inaugural season of the A-League but only one has been with the same club for every week of every year.

McFlynn leaves as a Sky Blues legend, in some ways the only candidate in a field of one. That he has managed to ride the roller-coaster that has been Sydney FC and cling on for nine seasons puts him out on his own as a survivor. But it's more than that. It always has been.

Sky Blues legend: Terry McFlynn is on his way out of Sydney FC. Credit:Anthony Johnson

For McFlynn, this is the club that rescued his football career from oblivion and changed his life beyond recognition. He arrived in Australia on the eve of the first season to follow the woman who would become his wife but to also see if he could do better than the giddy heights of English non-league football with Margate and Morecambe. In every sense, for McFlynn, Sydney – the city and the club – was a case of love at first sight.

For those that wonder whether the Sky Blues have a culture, or can develop one, there is no need to look any further than the Northern Irishman who became an Australian and has not regretted it for a single moment since. The club will farewell him as a player at the end of the season but they would be mad to let him go altogether. Sydney FC need icons and it will be a long time before they find a better one. Maybe they never will.