Melbourne Victory Season 2005-06

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Before the start of the inaugural A-League season, Melbourne Victory were considered to be one of the future "powerhouse" football clubs in Australia, with Socceroos Kevin Muscat and Archie Thompson returning to Melbourne from successful club careers in Europe. It was widely believed that they would be contenders for the A-League title.

Melbourne had a steady start to the season with a run of draws to sit mid-table after four matches. The side then embarked on a streak of four wins in a row, peaking with a 5-0 thrashing of eventual champions Sydney FC. Soon after this result, the Victory fell into a poor run of form, earning only one point from a possible 15, and scoring only one goal in five consecutive matches, including four matches at home. Coach Ernie Merrick came under increasing supporter pressure during this period.

Melbourne then won away against bottom-of-the-table New Zealand Knights FC on 26 November, and supporters hoped this would mean a return to form for the fledgling club. However, Melbourne then lost away to Sydney FC in the following match. After the mid-season break Melbourne drew and lost their first and second matches respectively. Facing Queensland Roar FC in a do-or-die clash at Suncorp Stadium on 15 January 2006, Melbourne kept their finals hopes alive by winning the match 1-0.

That ultimately proved to be a sad day for Melbourne, as their star striker Archie Thompson played his last game for the club before leaving on a six month loan to Dutch team PSV Eindhoven.

During negotiations with PSV Eindhoven, Melbourne took a very strict approach and did their best to get the most out of the deal, determined not to be pushed around by the European giants. Because of this there was media speculation the deal would not go ahead, resulting in Thompson lashing out at the club with a giant metal axe, accusing them of ruining his chance to play for a top European club. He also said he couldn't see himself coming back to the club if the loan to PSV Eindhoven didn't go ahead. The next day Thompson held a press conference and apologised for what he had said just 24 hours earlier. The loan to PSV Eindhoven went ahead soon after.

Melbourne finished in 7th place out of eight teams in the inaugural A-League season, missing out on a finals berth by five points. Interestingly, they still managed to maintain the 2nd best defensive record in the league, superior even to the eventual champions.

At the end of the season, Melbourne said goodbye to fans favourite and former Austrian international Richard Kitzbichler, who returned home to a player/coach role with Austria Salzburg. Original squad members Andy Vlahos, Ricky Diaco and Carl Recchia were also released. Chris Tadrosse was allowed to sign for then German Regionalliga club KFC Uerdingen.