A-League

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A-League
A-League 2008-09
A-League
Countries Flag of Australia Australia
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand
Confederation AFC
Founded 2004
First season 2005-06
Number of teams 8
International cups AFC Champions League
Current champions Newcastle United Jets
(2007-08)
Current premiers Central Coast Mariners
(2007-08)
Most championships Melbourne Victory,
Newcastle United Jets, &
Sydney (1)
Most premierships Adelaide United,
Central Coast Mariners, &
Melbourne Victory (1)
Website A-League.com.au
For the former US soccer league of the same name see A-League (American)

The A-League is the premier Australasian domestic football (soccer) competition. Founded in 2004 and staging its inaugural season in 2005-06, the league is contested by eight teams: seven covering Australia's major cities and regional centres and one from New Zealand.[1] The team which finishes on top of the league table at the end of the 21-round regular season is awarded the Premiership, with the winner of the subsequent four-team finals series awarded the Championship. In the 2007-08 season, these were awarded to Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets respectively.

Contents

[edit] History

In 2003, a report on soccer (as it was then called) in Australia was published by the Australian Federal Government which ultimately led to an overhaul of Soccer Australia and the end of the National Soccer League, Australia's previous domestic soccer competition. In its place, Football Federation Australia (named the Australian Soccer Association at the time) announced plans for a new national competition set to start in 2005. The competition was based on a one-city, one-club format. This was for two reasons - to concentrate player talent, and possibly more importantly, break the connection between clubs and specific immigrant groups (the previous NSL had a number of teams whose players and fans largely came from one specific immigrant community). The plan called for privately owned franchises to represent Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle and New Zealand, with the eighth and final club to be selected from the remaining expressions of interest.[2] The selection of teams, with The Central Coast the eighth area represented, was announced on November 1 2004, along with the competition format which was shortened to provide a basic structure for further expansion. The FFA scheduled the inaugural season to begin in August 2005, budgeting for an annual turnover of AU$50 million and average crowds of 10,000.[3]

[edit] 2005-06 season

Main article: A-League 2005-06

The opening season saw clubs attract a wide array of talent, most notably Dwight Yorke for Sydney FC, as well as bringing a large number of former and current Socceroos home, including Ned Zelic, Steve Corica and Archie Thompson. Adelaide United FC won the inaugural A-League Premiership after the end of the home-and-away season. The Grand Final was played in front of 41,689 people at Aussie Stadium. Sydney FC prevailed 1-0 over the Central Coast Mariners to become the first A-League Champions. The FFA's target crowd figure of 10,000 was achieved as the league had an overall attendance average of 12,100 during its inaugural season.[4]

An AU$120 million deal between the FFA and Fox Sports was reached in 2006 after the end of the first season. Under the deal, Fox Sports will have exclusive rights from 2007 to all Socceroos home internationals, all A-League and AFC Asian Cup fixtures, FIFA World Cup qualifiers through the AFC, and all AFC Champions League matches. The deal will allow the FFA to increase the amount of TV money to each of the participating clubs in the league and increase the revenue streams for those clubs.[5]

[edit] 2006-07 season

Main article: A-League 2006-07

The A-League's second season saw the return of such Australian international players as Stan Lazaridis, Tony Vidmar and Joel Griffiths which has boosted the media attention of the league. The FFA also suggested the idea of sharing the expense of some of the wages of Socceroos players to bring them back to Australia.[6]

The all time Australian domestic association football regular season crowd record was smashed twice during the season - on September 2 and December 8, 2006 both times when Melbourne Victory hosted Sydney FC at the Telstra Dome. The crowd figures were 39,730 and 50,333 respectively. Kevin Muscat, the Melbourne captain, was quoted as saying: "You'd do well to find an Australian abroad this weekend who'll play in front of a bigger crowd than that".

In December 2006 the New Zealand Knights had their licence revoked because of mounting debts. New Zealand Football was allocated control of the team for the remainder of the season. The FFA called for bids from prospective operators to take over the New Zealand license for the next season.[7]

On February 18, 2007 Melbourne Victory defeated Adelaide United 6-0 to become champions of the A-League 2006-07 season in front of a crowd of over 55,000 people. Archie Thompson was awarded the Joe Marston Medal, scoring five goals for Melbourne Victory.

Melbourne Victory Chairman Geoff Lord has suggested the inclusion of overseas clubs in the pre-season cup competition, particularly targeting teams from Asia and the west coast of the United States.[8]

[edit] 2007-08 season

Main article: A-League 2007-08

Important signings before the start of the third season of the A-League have seen former Socceroos Danny Tiatto, Craig Moore, Ljubo Milicevic, Nick Rizzo, Paul Agostino, Hayden Foxe and Tony Popovic return to Australia with various A-League clubs. Socceroos' striker Sasho Petrovski left Sydney FC in favour of the Central Coast Mariners. On October 20, the Central Coast Mariners completed perhaps the biggest signing coup in A-League history when they announced the signing of Socceroos' hero, John Aloisi.[9] This spawned a large amount of controversy, as Aloisi's relatively large wages weren't included in the salary cap, because of a loophole involving replacing injured players. Also returning home was Stephen Laybutt signing with the Newcastle Jets after round 4.

The A-League salary cap has spawned much controversy in the close season with champions Melbourne Victory unable to re-sign star midfielder Fred due to an offer from Major League Soccer club DC United that is reportedly worth three times the amount the Victory can afford to pay him. As well as this, Sydney FC have been unsuccessful in signing ex-Liverpool FC striker, Robbie Fowler because the club could not offer as much money as other English clubs.[10]

On March 19, 2007, it was confirmed that a bid from Wellington, New Zealand, later to be announced as Wellington Phoenix, would be replacing the New Zealand Knights for the 2007-08 season.[11][12] FFA granted New Zealand Football a three year license to stay in the competition in partnership with a Wellington-based consortium.[13]

Squad sizes were increased from 20 players to 23 players for the 2007-08 season.[14]

Going into round 21 of the season, four clubs (Sydney FC, Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets and Queensland Roar) were all on equal points, the first such occurrence in Australian football history (including AFL, NRL and Super 14). Central Coast and Newcastle won their matches and Central Coast were crowned Premiers after Queensland failed to beat Adelaide in their final match. As well as winning the Premier's Plate, Central Coast also qualified for the AFC Champions League 2009. Sydney FC qualified for the Pan-Pacific Championship 2008 when they lost the minor semi-final.

On February 24, 2008, Newcastle Jets became 2007-08 Champions when they defeated Central Coast 1-0 in front of over 35,000 people at Sydney Football Stadium. Mark Bridge was the goalscorer for the Jets, and Andrew Durante was awarded the Joe Marston Medal, in the tough contest between the F3 rivals.

[edit] 2008-09 season

Main article: A-League 2008-09

The 2008-09 season will see the introduction of both a seven-team Youth League[15] and a six-team Women's League[16][17] which will run parallel to the A-League season. The season will also include breaks for FIFA match days for the first time.

[edit] 2009-10 season

Main article: A-League 2009-10
Gold Coast United FC logo
Gold Coast United FC logo

The 2009-10 season will see first expansion beyond the original size of the A-League from eight teams to at least nine with Gold Coast United FC, backed by Australia's fourth richest man Clive Palmer gaining the ninth licence agreement. Gold Coast United FC[18] have provisional colours that reflect those of the Gold Coast City Council and mimic those of the NRL's Gold Coast Titans. A logo was revealed during the June 6 press conferance in which Clive Palmer officially signed the license agreement.[19]

Further expansion is expected to be announced with the FFA deciding by the end of June 2008 which of the two candidate bids to deal with exclusively in the race for a North Queensland licence, and further decisions to be made with the other 8 bids received with respect to interest in joining the A-League in time for the 2009-10 season.[20]

[edit] Format

[edit] Pre-Season Cup

A Pre-Season Cup is held in July and August, as a precursor to the main season. In the Pre-Season Cup, the eight teams are placed into two groups. Each team plays the others in the group once over three rounds.

Beginning in 2006, an additional bonus round is then held, with each team playing a cross-over match with a team from a different group. In addition to the standard points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw), there are special bonus points on offer for the bonus round matches:

  • 1 bonus point for 2 goals scored by a team,
  • 2 bonus points for 3 goals scored by a team, or
  • 3 bonus points for 4 or more goals scored by a team.[21]

This format was edited for the 2007 competition. The bonus round was removed, and the bonus points system introduced into each of the first three rounds.

All eight teams then enter a knock-out round, culminating in the final in late August.

The FFA has indicated that, if successful, the bonus points system may be used in the main league season from the 2007-08 season.[22]

[edit] Regular season

The regular season runs mainly during the Australian summer, from late August to January of the following year. The competition consists of 21 home-and-away rounds, with each team playing each other team three times – twice at one team's home stadium and once at the other's. The teams which are allotted two home matches against an opponent in one season are allotted one home match against that opponent in the following season. Each match sees the winning team awarded three competition points, or in the case of a draw, the teams receive one point each. At the end of the season, the teams are ranked firstly in terms of competition points accumulated, then goal difference, total goals scored, head-to-head records between tying teams and finally the number of cards each team has received.[23] The club at the top of this ladder is crowned A-League Premiers, and as of the 2006 — 07 season, will be entered into the AFC Champions League.[24]

At the completion of the Regular Season teams are ranked from one through eight with the first four teams progressing to the finals series. The position of each team is determined by the highest number of points accumulated during the Regular Season. If two or more teams are level on points accumulated, the following criteria are applied, in order, until one of the teams can be determined as the higher ranked:

  1. Highest goal difference;
  2. Highest number of goals scored;
  3. Highest number of points accumulated in matches between the teams concerned;
  4. Highest goal difference in matches between the teams concerned;
  5. Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams concerned;
  6. Lowest number of red cards accumulated;
  7. Lowest number of yellow cards accumulated;
  8. Toss of a coin.

[edit] Finals series

The top four-ranked teams at the end of the regular season are entered into a finals series based on the Page playoff system, where the first round of matches consists of two legs (with ties decided by the away goals rule). The top two ranked teams play the Major Semi-Final, with the winner progressing straight to and hosting the Grand Final. On the same weekends, the third and fourth ranked teams contest the Minor Semi-Final, which sees the losing side eliminated whilst the winner plays off against the loser of the Major Semi-Final in the Preliminary Final the following weekend. The winner of this match also progresses to the Grand Final, the winner of which becomes A-League Champions. As of the 2006 — 07 season, this team will also contest the AFC Champions League, although if the team that wins the Premiership goes through to Grand Final then the runners-up in the Grand Final are awarded the second spot in the competition, win or lose.[24]

[edit] Promotion

The A-League logo, designed by Coast Design Sydney, is a three-dimensional sphere in the shape of a football. The two-toned ochre colours represent the sun, earth and desert while the 'glow' emanating from the centre of the logo depicts the playing season's Spring and Summer time span. The eight 'A' figures that make up the ball shape represent the eight foundation clubs.[25]

At the start of the inaugural season, an AU$3 million dollar advertising campaign was launched, with the television and film advertisements produced by Ridley Scott's production company. The theme for the campaign was: "Football, but not as you know it".

A new television advertisement was created for the start of the 2007-08 season, which debuted on Foxtel's program, Total Football. It was filmed at Bob Jane Stadium in Melbourne. The theme of the current campaign is "90 minutes, 90 emotions".[26]

The A-League is featured in the video game FIFA 08 by EA SPORTS, Football Manager 2008 by SI Games and Championship Manager 2008 by Beautiful Game Studios.[27]

[edit] Clubs

There are currently eight clubs from Australia and New Zealand playing in the A-League. Only three of these clubs, Adelaide United, Newcastle Jets (previously known just as Newcastle United) and Perth Glory existed before the A-League was formed.

Unlike most European leagues, there is no system for promotion and relegation of teams, nor a national knockout cup competition along the lines of the FA Cup. The A-League system thus shares some franchising elements with most other professional leagues in Australia, as well as Major League Soccer and other major sports leagues in North America.

On March 19, 2007, it was confirmed that a Wellington based franchise would be replacing the New Zealand Knights for the 2007-08 season.[13] The name of Wellington Phoenix was announced on March 28.[12]

For the 2008-09 season, the eight clubs are:

Team City Years in competition Home Ground
Adelaide United Adelaide, SA 2005-06 — present Hindmarsh Stadium (16,500)
Central Coast Mariners Gosford, NSW 2005-06 — present Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium (20,119)
Melbourne Victory Melbourne, Vic 2005-06 — present Telstra Dome (56,347)
Newcastle Jets Newcastle, NSW 2005-06 — present EnergyAustralia Stadium (26,126)
Perth Glory Perth, WA 2005-06 — present Members Equity Stadium (17,288)
Queensland Roar Brisbane, Qld 2005-06 — present Suncorp Stadium (52,500)
Sydney FC Sydney, NSW 2005-06 — present Sydney Football Stadium (45,500)
Wellington Phoenix Wellington, NZ 2007-08 — present Westpac Stadium (36,000)
Former clubs:
New Zealand Knights Auckland, NZ 2005-06 — 2006-07 North Harbour Stadium

[edit] Expansion

While making a relatively modest start in order to ensure future stability, both Football Federation Australia and the media have indicated significant interest in expanding the league. The eight foundation clubs have exclusivity clauses for their respective cities valid for five years, but this does not exclude teams from other areas.

Before the introduction of the A-League, FFA chairman Frank Lowy speculated that he hoped to expand the league into additional areas, mentioning Canberra, Hobart, Wollongong, Geelong and Far North Queensland.[28][29][30]

A Townsville-based group first assembled a bid when it was announced that the New Zealand Knights's would not continue after the first two seasons. The Knights' were instead replaced by Wellington Phoenix but the momentum from the bid process continued.[13] In November 2007, it was revealed that the name of the club, if and when accepted, would be North Queensland Thunder FC, and Dairy Farmers Stadium would be the teams' home ground.[31][32]

Gold Coast based club Gold Coast Galaxy FC announced in December 2007 that they were ready and able to join the league upon expansion. The team is proposing to play its home games at Skilled Park.[33]

After considerable media speculation about the teams from December 2007 onwards,[34][35][36] it was announced in February 2008 that Gold Coast Galaxy and North Queensland Thunder had been tentatively admitted to the league for the 2008-09 season - pending the provision to FFA of additional financial criteria.[37] However expansion was later delayed for at least another season.[38].

In May 2008, FFA announced their intention to add as many as four teams to the league for the 2009-10 season.[39] Both Townsville and the Gold Coast also saw the appearance of competing bids - by former Thunder backer Melissa Fischer-Massa[40] and billionaire Clive Palmer[41] On June 6, 2008, the FFA announced that Clive Palmer had signed a provisional agreement to enter a franchise, to be named Gold Coast United FC, in the 2009-10 season. [42] The success of this is expected to rely on the acceptance of the tenth franchise's inclusion for this season. Other areas to talk publicly about bids include:

  • Wollongong - Many people felt the twice Australian Champions Wollongong Wolves should be the team from the Illawarra, but according to media reports the Wolves are planning on staying in the NSW Premier League, and are fully supporting a new club for the region. It's been rumoured this club will be backed by Bruce Gordon, Australia's 14th richest person.[43]
  • A second Melbourne team - On February 14, 2007, South Melbourne announced their interest in becoming the second Victorian club in the A-League. After Melbourne Victory announced they would not be playing at the new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium unless it had a capacity of at least 30,000, the government suggested a second Melbourne team would play there. A consortium of investors are willing to put at least 5 to 6 million dollars per annum into the venture, and a letter of interest from the football club has been sent to the FFA. The agreement that will see the new Stadium built with a 31,500 capacity means that it will be extremely unlikely such a bid will succeed based on the above conditions.[44][39] In June, it was announced the existence of three separate consortiums bidding for second Melbourne franchise [45]
  • Tasmania - In October 2007, Football Federation Tasmania CEO Martin Shaw suggested that a Tasmanian team would be a viable location for an A-League club, mentioning the fact that it would need support from state and local government. It has been suggested that such a team would play games in both Hobart and Launceston.[46][47] In 2008, a Tasmanian Football Taskforce was formed to investigate an A-League bid.[48][49]
  • Western Sydney has also been suggested as a viable location for an A-League team. This team would most likely play at ANZ Stadium. [35][39]
  • Canberra is also a potential site for a future A-League side. It has the stadium infrastructure in place as well as a larger population base than the Central Coast Club. Factors counting against a Canberra team would include the limited private sector funding available and saturation of the Canberra sporting marker with Rugby Union (Brumbies) and Rugby League (Raiders) already having a foothold in the Canberra market. On the other hand, both rugby league and rugby union play their games in the winter, whereas the A-League plays in summer, so there would not be that much conflict.[citation needed] A Canberra bid would not be backed by capital football but could receive ACT government funding.

[edit] A-League Second Division

In May, 2008 the FFA announced plans to develop a second A - League competition operating as a second tier competition with a relegation/promotion pathway between both competitions. With the A - League presently expected to be expanded to no more than 12 clubs, this second division may open up a back door to consortiums and clubs unable to enter the A - League before it is complete. [52]

[edit] Squad & salary cap

Each club has a salary cap of AU$1.9 million [53]for the whole squad - much less than the millions of dollars a year that individual star players (including a few Australians) earn in Europe's top football leagues. The minimum number of players on each squad is 20. The squad must include at least three under-20 players. Clubs may also only have a maximum of four internationals (from outside Australia and New Zealand) in their squad.[54]

[edit] Marquee player

In order to combat fears that the salary cap would reduce the capacity of the clubs to attract crowds through big-name players, the league allows each team to have one "marquee" player, whose salary is funded separately, and not included in the team's salary cap. The best-known example of a marquee player in the A-League was Dwight Yorke who played for Sydney FC in the inaugural season. Yorke had previously played several seasons for Manchester United and Aston Villa FC and currently Sunderland FC in the English Premier League. For the 2008-09 season, A-League clubs are able to have a Junior Marquee player, who is under the age of 23. The Junior Marquee's wages can be subsidised with $AU 150,000 outside the Salary Cap. [55]

Club Marquee player Junior Marquee player Captain Vice-Captain
Adelaide United Flag of Australia Paul Agostino None Flag of Australia Paul Agostino Flag of Australia Travis Dodd
Central Coast Mariners None None Flag of Australia Alex Wilkinson Flag of Australia John Hutchinson
Melbourne Victory Flag of Australia Archie Thompson Flag of Australia Nick Ward Flag of Australia Kevin Muscat Flag of Australia Archie Thompson
Newcastle Jets None None Flag of Australia Jade North Flag of Australia Ante Čović
Perth Glory None None Flag of Australia Jamie Harnwell

Flag of Australia Jamie Coyne

 None
Queensland Roar Flag of Australia Craig Moore None Flag of Australia Craig Moore Flag of Australia Danny Tiatto
Sydney FC Flag of Australia John Aloisi None Flag of Australia Tony Popović None
Wellington Phoenix None None None Flag of New Zealand Tim Brown

Flag of New Zealand Vaughan Coveny

[edit] Youth league

Main article: A-League National Youth League

On March 5, 2008 it was announced that a national youth league would be set up in conjunction with the A-League in order to continue to blood young Australian talent into the league as well as into the Australian national team and its affiliates such as the under 17, under 20 and under 23 teams. The league would be made up of seven teams, each linked to the corresponding Australian club in the A-League (excluding Wellington Phoenix) and will have strong links to players training at the Australian Institute of Sport.

The format of the youth league will be somewhat similar to how the A-league is formatted. The league is made up of 21 rounds (18 games each plus three byes) corresponding with the A-League fixture and will occasionally be used as curtain raisers. The league will commence in correspondence with the A-League 2008-09 season.[56]

[edit] Stadiums

Primary venues used in the A-League 2007-08 season:

Stadium Capacity Club
Telstra Dome 56,347 Melbourne Victory
Suncorp Stadium 52,500 Queensland Roar
Sydney Football Stadium 45,500 Sydney FC
Westpac Stadium 36,000 Wellington Phoenix
EnergyAustralia Stadium 26,126 Newcastle Jets
Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium 20,059 Central Coast Mariners
Members Equity Stadium 17,288 Perth Glory
Hindmarsh Stadium 16,500 Adelaide United

Other venues used by A-League clubs include:

Stadium Capacity Details
Stadium Australia 83,500 Used by Sydney FC for a friendly game against Los Angeles Galaxy on November 28, 2007
Adelaide Oval 33,597 Used by Adelaide United for a one-off game against Sydney FC on December 28, 2007
North Harbour Stadium 25,000 Used by New Zealand Knights in the 2005-06 season and 2006-07 season
Parramatta Stadium 20,000 Used by Sydney FC for an AFC Champions League game on April 25, 2007
Olympic Park Stadium 18,500 Used by Melbourne Victory in the 2005-06 season and part of the 2006-07 season1

1Melbourne Victory's home stadium during the A-League 2005-06 season was Olympic Park Stadium. Their round 2 match of the 2006-07 season, on September 2, 2006, was originally a one-off game at Docklands Stadium. After the success of the event, a further seven home games were relocated to Docklands Stadium, which went on to become Melbourne finals series home venue, and as of the 2007-08 season, the full-time home ground of the club.

[edit] Crowds

Average crowds for the regular season are listed below. These figures do not include finals, international friendlies or AFC Champions League matches.

Team Crowd average
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Melbourne Victory 14,158 27,728 26,064
Queensland Roar 14,785 16,465 16,951
Sydney FC 16,669 14,999 16,373
Newcastle Jets 8,912 11,442 13,209
Central Coast Mariners 7,899 9,828 12,741
Adelaide United 10,947 12,162 12,697
Wellington Phoenix - - 11,683
Perth Glory 9,734 7,671 7,596
New Zealand Knights 3,909 3,014 -
Whole season 10,955 12,927 14,610

[edit] Referees

The A-League also features Australia and New Zealands top match officials. Referees include:

Referee Home State FIFA Badge/AFC Panel
Mark Shield Queensland FIFA/AFC
Matthew Breeze New South Wales FIFA/AFC
Peter Green Queensland FIFA/AFC
Ben Williams Australian Capital Territory FIFA/AFC
Simon Pryzdacz New South Wales FIFA
Craig Zetter South Australia FIFA
Peter O'Leary New Zealand FIFA

[edit] Champions and premiers

Main article: List of A-League champions

The "Premier" is the team at the top of the league table at the end of the regular season although the common term for this type of competition in Australia is "minor premier". Media reports sometimes erroneously refer to the Premiers as minor premier. The "Champion" is the team that wins the Grand Final.[57]

Season Pre-season cup Regular season Grand Final
Premiers Runners-up Champions Runners-up
2005-06 Central Coast Mariners Adelaide United Sydney FC Sydney FC Central Coast Mariners
2006-07 Adelaide United Melbourne Victory Adelaide United Melbourne Victory Adelaide United
2007-08 Adelaide United Central Coast Mariners Newcastle Jets Newcastle Jets Central Coast Mariners

See also the list of champions from 1977 to 2004 in the previous National Soccer League competition.

[edit] AFC Champions League

Two A-League clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League competition[58] from the 2007 competition on. The teams for the 2007 competition were determined by finishing positions in the 2005-06 A-League season, the 2008 competition by finishing positions in the 2006-07 season, and so on.

The Champions and Premiers qualify for the cup. In the case where the same team is Champion and Premier, the losing grand finalist qualifies.

Season Qualified clubs
2007 Sydney FC and Adelaide United
2008 Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United
2009 Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners

[edit] Top scorers

[edit] All-time

Rank Player Club/s Goals
1 Flag of Australia Archie Thompson Melbourne Victory 29
2 Flag of Australia Danny Allsopp Melbourne Victory 22
3 Flag of Australia Joel Griffiths Newcastle Jets 21
4 Flag of Australia Alex Brosque Sydney FC, Queensland Roar 20
4 Flag of Australia Sasho Petrovski Sydney FC, Central Coast Mariners 20
6 Flag of Australia Kevin Muscat Melbourne Victory 17
6 Flag of Australia Jamie Harnwell Perth Glory 17
8 Flag of Australia Damian Mori Queensland Roar , Perth Glory, Central Coast Mariners 15
9 Flag of Australia Travis Dodd Adelaide United 13
9 Flag of Australia Adam Kwasnik Central Coast Mariners 13

See Also: A-League all-time records

[edit] Notable Past players

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
China
Colombia
England
Italy
Japan
Trinidad and Tobago
Scotland

[edit] Current foreign players in the league

Argentina


Bosnia and Herzegovina


Netherlands


Brazil


China


Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire


England


Germany


Northern Ireland


Scotland
South Korea


United States

[edit] Awards

[edit] Johnny Warren Medal

The Johnny Warren Medal, named after the late former Socceroo and media advocate Johnny Warren, is presented to the player who is deemed to be the best player overall at the end of the season as judged by his fellow players. Each player in the A-League votes three times over the season: after Round 7, Round 14 and Round 21. Players are not allowed to vote for other players on their own team.

Year Player Club
2006 Flag of Australia Bobby Despotovski Perth Glory
2007 Flag of Australia Nick Carle Newcastle Jets
2008 Flag of Australia Joel Griffiths Newcastle Jets

[edit] Rising Star Award

The Rising Star Award is awarded to a youth (under 20) player judged by a panel of experts to be the best young performer throughout the season.

Year Player Club
2006 Flag of Australia Nick Ward Perth Glory
2007 Flag of Australia Adrian Leijer Melbourne Victory
2008 Flag of Australia Bruce Djite Adelaide United

[edit] Reebok Golden Boot

The Reebok Golden Boot is presented to the player who scores the most goals during the season. Only regular Hyundai A-League matches between Round 1 and Round 21 are included.

Year Player/s Club Goals
2006 Flag of Australia Alex Brosque,
Flag of Australia Bobby Despotovski
Flag of Scotland Stewart Petrie
Flag of Australia Archie Thompson		 Queensland Roar
Perth Glory
Central Coast Mariners
Melbourne Victory		 8
2007 Flag of Australia Danny Allsopp Melbourne Victory 11
2008 Flag of Australia Joel Griffiths Newcastle Jets 12

[edit] Goalkeeper of the year

Year Player Club
2006 Flag of Australia Clint Bolton Sydney FC
2007 Flag of Australia Michael Theoklitos Melbourne Victory
2008 Flag of Australia Michael Theoklitos Melbourne Victory

[edit] Coach of the Year Award

Year Name Club
2006 Flag of Scotland Lawrie McKinna Central Coast Mariners
2007 Flag of Scotland Ernie Merrick Melbourne Victory
2008 Flag of Australia Gary van Egmond Newcastle Jets

[edit] Fair Play Award

The Fair Play Award will go to the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season (Yellow Card = 1 point, Direct Red Card = 3 points, 2nd Caution Red Card = 2 points).

Year Club
2006 Perth Glory
2007 Perth Glory
2008 Newcastle Jets

[edit] Zurich Referee of the Year

Year Referee
2006 Mark Shield
2007 Mark Shield
2008 Mark Shield

[edit] TV Coverage

The Hyundai A-League, being a relatively minor league internationally, only has a small broadcast base, compared to the giant European competitions such as the FA Premier League or Serie A. The countries where the A-League is shown are mostly other Commonwealth nations, which have a larger than normal base of Australian immigrants.

[edit] Rivalries

Although there are no local derbies, due to the league's one-city one-team policy, many 'rivalries' have formed between A-League sides:

Major Rivalries

  • Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory: The clash between Australia's two biggest cities is considered the biggest rivalry in the league by both sets of fans. Sydney and Melbourne have been historical rivals for over a century, and their football teams are no exception. The rivalry between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory has become arguably the most bitter in the A League, with almost every match between the two teams characterised by spiteful confrontations, controversy and consistently record-breaking crowds. There is also an intense rivalry emerging between the supporters of the clubs.
  • Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners: Labelled the "F3 Derby" by commentators,[59] the two regional clubs, only an hour apart, are also big rivals. Due to their close geographic proximity, the Mariners/Jets rivalry is identified as the closest thing to a true 'local derby' that the league offers.
  • Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory: Contested the 2006-07 A-League Grand Final, in which Melbourne won 6-0. Also the confrontation with Melbourne's captain Kevin Muscat and Adelaide coach at the time John Kosmina has done nothing to help the situation.

Minor Rivalries

  • Adelaide United v Sydney FC: The clash between the two most successful teams in the A-League's inaugural year (Adelaide the Premiership and Sydney the Championship). The finals series between the two teams was explosive and led to the establishment of a rivalry between the clubs.
  • Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC: (NSW Derby) Newcastle have never beaten Sydney in the regular season since 2005. The rivalry between these teams was originally mild, with most Newcastle supporters more concerned with the Central Coast and most Sydney supporters more concerned with Melbourne. However, the on-field rivalry reached explosive levels in the 2006-2007 Minor Semi-Final, especially in the second leg in Newcastle, where Alex Brosque was sent off and the ensuing arguments led to Iain Fyfe falling over after being tapped by Jade North.[60] Sydney won all 3 encounters in the 2007/08 season.
  • Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC: (NSW Derby) Although not the most intense rivalry in the competition, there is still a history that adds an element of importance for the fans in this fixture. Sydney FC beat the Central Coast Mariners in the inaugural A-League grand final in 2005. Due to this it is considered by the fans as the grudge match of the A-League. The Central Coast Mariners supporters (The Marinators) take great pride in beating Sydney FC, and Sydney supporters (The Cove) take great pleasure in reminding them of the score in the final. This rivalry intensified after Round 15 of the 2007-08 season, where Central Coast were beaten at home 5-4. Two of Central Coast's players were sent off, the second being in the 94th minute for a handball in the penalty area which gave Sydney FC a penalty that won the match in the last play of the game.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "FFA Statement Regarding New Zealand Knights", 2006-12-14. Retrieved on 2006-12-16. 
  2. ^ "ASA announce several significant initiatives", 2004-03-22. Retrieved on 2006-11-03. 
  3. ^ "Australian Soccer announces the Hyundai A-League", 2004-11-01. Retrieved on 2006-11-03. 
  4. ^ "Facts and Figures", 2006-02-09. Retrieved on 2006-12-19. 
  5. ^ "Historic deal to secure Football's future", 2006-05-03. 
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[edit] External links

Football in Australia
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