2008–09 Melbourne Victory season

Melbourne Victory

2008–2009 season
Manager	Ernie Merrick
A-League	1st
Pre-Season Challenge Cup	Champions
Top goalscorer	Daniel Allsopp (13)
Highest home attendance	31,654 vs Sydney FC (26 October 2008)
Lowest home attendance	18,036 vs Perth Glory (4 October 2008)
Average home attendance	24,516
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008-09 Hyundai A-League season was Melbourne Victory's fourth season. They finished top of the table at the end of the regular season and defeated Adelaide United in the Grand Final to take their second A-League title.

Contents 1 Players 1.1 First team squad 1.2 Transfers 2 Matches 2.1 2008 Pre-Season Cup fixtures 2.2 2008-09 Hyundai A-League fixtures 2.3 2008-09 finals series 3 Statistics 3.1 Goals 4 Ladder 4.1 League table 4.2 Finals series 4.3 2008–09 Awards 5 W-League 5.1 2008–09 Westfield W-League fixtures 6 References 7 External links

Players

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Michael Theoklitos 2 MF Kevin Muscat (captain) 3 DF Michael Thwaite (loan) 4 DF Steven Pace 5 DF Sebastian Ryall (youth) 6 DF Steve Pantelidis 7 DF Matthew Kemp 8 MF Grant Brebner 9 FW Danny Allsopp 10 FW Archie Thompson (marquee) 11 FW Ney Fabiano

No. Position Player 12 DF Rodrigo Vargas 13 FW Nathan Elasi (youth) 14 MF Billy Celeski 15 MF Tom Pondeljak 16 MF Carlos Hernández (loan) 17 MF José Luis López 18 MF Leigh Broxham 19 MF Evan Berger 20 GK Mitchell Langerak 21 DF Daniel Vasilevski 22 MF Nick Ward (marquee youth)

Transfers

In

Player	From	League	Fee	Date
Billy Celeski	Perth Glory	A-League	–	February 2008
Tom Pondeljak	Central Coast Mariners	A-League	–	February 2008
Nathan Elasi	Marconi Stallions	New South Wales Premier League	–	February 2008
Steve Mautone*	Retired	None	–	February 2008
Ney Fabiano[1].	Chonburi FC	Thailand Premier League	$13,500 USD	1 July 2008
Michael Thwaite	SK Brann	Norwegian Premier League	Loan	1 July 2008
José Luis López	Deportivo Saprissa	Primera División de Costa Rica	Loan	14 July 2008

* Steve Mautone is the current Melbourne Victory Goalkeeping coach and was named as the third choice goalkeeper for the AFC Champions League

Out

Player	To	League	Fee	Date
Ljubo Milicevic	Released	–	–	February 2008
Steve Mautone	Retired	–	–	June 2008
Adrian Caceres	Central Coast Mariners	A-League	–	July 2008
Daniel Piorkowski	Released	–	–	July 2008
Leandro Love	Vissel Kobe (loan ended)	J.League	–	July 2008
Kaz Patafta[2].	Newcastle Jets	A-League	–	July 2008

Matches

2008 Pre-Season Cup fixtures

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Melbourne Victory	3	2	0	1	3	2	6
Adelaide United	3	1	2	0	2	1	5
Newcastle Jets	3	0	2	1	1	2	2
Perth Glory	3	0	2	1	1	2	2

Group Stage 20 July 2008	Melbourne Victory	1 : 2	Adelaide United	Aurora Stadium, Launceston
13:00 UTC+10	Fabiano  8'	Report	33', 90' Cristiano	Attendance: 4,720 Referee: Ben Williams

Group Stage 26 July 2008	Perth Glory	0 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8		Report	11' M. Thwaite	Attendance: 3,020

Group Stage 2 August 2008	Newcastle Jets	0 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Port Macquarie Regional Stadium, Port Macquarie
14:30 UTC+10		Report	82' T. Pondeljak	Attendance: 3,133

Final 6 August 2008	Wellington Phoenix	0 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+12		(7 – 8 PSO) Report		Attendance: 9,208 Referee: Peter O'Leary

2008-09 Hyundai A-League fixtures

Round 1 16 August 2008	Sydney FC	0 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
		Report		Attendance: 16,227 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 2 24 August 2008	Wellington Phoenix	2 : 4	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	Smeltz  29',  65' (Pen)	Report	Allsopp  16',  35' Ney Fabiano  47' Muscat  68' (Pen)	Attendance: 6,110 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 3 29 August 2008	Melbourne Victory	5 : 0	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Hernández  41' A. Thompson  45+2' Allsopp  61'  64' Brebner  90'			Attendance: 22,589 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 4 12 September 2008	Melbourne Victory	1 : 0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Ney Fabiano  29' Muscat  64'			Attendance: 24,812 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 5 20 September 2008	Central Coast Mariners	2 : 2	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
	Simon  12'  84'	Report Summary	A. Thompson  16'  90+4' Theoklitos  57'	Attendance: 9,009 Referee: Peter Green

Round 6 28 September 2008	Melbourne Victory	0 : 2	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Hernández  48', 58'	Report Summary	Minniecon  83' Zullo  90+4'	Attendance: 22,266 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 7 4 October 2008	Melbourne Victory	4 : 0	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Brebner  25' Allsopp  39'  71' Vargas  46'			Attendance: 18,036 Referee: Srebre Delovski

Round 8 18 October 2008	Newcastle Jets	1 : 0	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
	Jesic  85'		A. Thompson  58'	Attendance: 11,384 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 9 25 October 2008	Melbourne Victory	0 : 2	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
		Summary	Bridge  20' Aloisi  62'	Attendance: 31,654 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 10 31 October 2008	Adelaide United	2 : 3	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
	Travis Dodd  28' (Pen) Cassio  67'	Report Summary	Muscat  55' (Pen) Muscat  81' (Pen) Billy Celeski  84'	Attendance: 13,191 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 11 8 November 2008	Queensland Roar	0 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
		Summary	Thompson  71'	Attendance: 12,022 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 12 21 November 2008	Melbourne Victory	2 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Tom Pondeljak  37' A. Thompson  60'	Report Summary	John Hutchinson  34'	Attendance: 21,455 Referee: Srebre Delovski

Round 13 28 November 2008	Wellington Phoenix	2 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	Brown  21' Smeltz  58'		Allsopp  20'	Attendance: 7,593 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 14 6 December 2008	Perth Glory	3 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
	Dadi  19',  23' Pellegrino  79'	Report Summary	Ney Fabiano  55'	Attendance: 6,621 Referee: Peter Green

Round 15 19 December 2008	Newcastle Jets	4 : 2	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
	M. Thompson  16',  45',  49' Song  60'	Report Summary	Allsopp  66' Ney Fabiano  87'	Attendance: 6,268 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 16 27 December 2008	Melbourne Victory	3 : 2	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Thompson  14' Ward  71' Ney Fabiano  80'	Report Summary	Cole  1' Gan  4'	Attendance: 25,395 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 17 2 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	2 : 1	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Allsopp  55' Vargas  67'	Summary Report	Moore  75'	Attendance: 23,447 Referee: Peter O’Leary

Round 18 6 January 2009[3]	Melbourne Victory	1 : 0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Ward  58'	Report Summary		Attendance: 27,196 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 19 11 January 2009	Perth Glory	3 : 2	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
	Dadi  32',  76' Rukavytsya  36'	Summary	Allsopp  3' Ney Fabiano  48' Kemp  33', 88'	Attendance: 9,381 Referee: Chris Beath

Round 20 16 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	3 : 0	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	Allsopp  68' Hernández  71' A. Thompson  75'	Summary	Heffernan  87'	Attendance: 24,003 Referee: Peter Green

Round 21 23 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	2 : 0	Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
	K. Muscat  40' (pen.) A. Thompson  90'	Report Summary		Attendance: 28,905 Referee: Srebre Delovski

2008-09 finals series

Major Semi Final Leg 1 7 February 2009	Adelaide United	0 : 2	Melbourne Victory,	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+10:30 Adelaide Starting XI 20 GK Eugene Galeković 05 DF Michael Valkanis 46' 07 MF Lucas Pantelis 08 MF Kristian Sarkies 41' 09 FW Paul Agostino 72' 13 FW Travis Dodd (c) 14 DF Scott Jamieson 18 MF Fabian Barbiero 19 DF Saša Ognenovski 24 MF Paul Reid 27 DF Michael Marrone   Substitutes: 30 GK Mark Birighitti 03 MF Alemão 41' 10 FW Cristiano 72' 16 DF Daniel Mullen 46' 28 MF Rostyn Griffiths   Manager: Aurelio Vidmar	S. Ognenovski 5' S. Jamieson 35' Adelaide	(0:1) Report Summary Man of the Match: Carlos Hernández	13' C. Hernández 51' N. Ward 54' K. Muscat  89' D. Allsopp Melbourne	Attendance: 14,119 Referee: Srebre Delovski Melbourne Starting XI 01 GK Michael Theoklitos 02 DF Kevin Muscat (c) 05 DF Sebastian Ryall 07 DF Matthew Kemp 65' 09 FW Danny Allsopp 10 FW Archie Thompson 12 DF Rodrigo Vargas 14 MF Billy Celeski 15 MF Tom Pondeljak 16 MF Carlos Hernández 76' 22 MF Nick Ward 56'   Substitutes: 20 GK Mitchell Langerak 08 MF Grant Brebner 56' 11 MF Ney Fabiano 17 FW José Luis López 76' 19 FW Evan Berger 65'   Manager: Ernie Merrick

Major Semi Final Leg 2 14 February 2009	Melbourne Victory	4 : 0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:30 UTC+11:30 Melbourne Starting XI 01 GK Michael Theoklitos 02 DF Kevin Muscat (c) 05 DF Sebastian Ryall 07 DF Matthew Kemp 09 FW Danny Allsopp 10 FW Archie Thompson 12 DF Rodrigo Vargas 14 MF Billy Celeski 76' 15 MF Tom Pondeljak 16 MF Carlos Hernández 59' 22 MF Nick Ward 79'   Substitutes: 20 GK Mitchell Langerak 08 MF Grant Brebner 59' 11 MF Ney Fabiano 79' 17 FW José Luis López 76' 19 FW Evan Berger   Manager: Ernie Merrick	A. Thompson  10' C. Hernández  24' D. Allsopp  44' T. Pondeljak  48' Nick Ward 51' Melbourne	(3:0) Report Summary Man of the Match: Carlos Hernández	30' S. Ognenovski 53' R. Griffiths  62', 81' Cássio     88' T. Dodd Adelaide	Attendance: 34,736 Referee: Matthew Breeze Adelaide Starting XI 20 GK Eugene Galeković 02 DF Robert Cornthwaite 03 MF Alemão 56' 06 MF Cássio 07 MF Lucas Pantelis 46' 10 FW Cristiano 13 FW Travis Dodd (c) 14 DF Scott Jamieson 16 DF Daniel Mullen 19 DF Saša Ognenovski 24 MF Paul Reid   Substitutes: 30 GK Mark Birighitti 09 FW Paul Agostino 18 MF Fabian Barbiero 56' 27 DF Michael Marrone 28 MF Rostyn Griffiths 46'   Manager: Aurelio Vidmar

Grand Final 28 February 2009	Melbourne Victory	1 : 0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:30 UTC+11 Melbourne Starting XI 01 GK Michael Theoklitos 02 DF Kevin Muscat (c) 05 DF Sebastian Ryall 07 DF Matthew Kemp 09 FW Daniel Allsopp 10 FW Archie Thompson 12 DF Rodrigo Vargas 14 MF Billy Celeski 15 MF Tom Pondeljak 83' 16 MF Carlos Hernández 22 MF Nick Ward 56'   Substitutes: 20 GK Mitchell Langerak 8 MF Grant Brebner 83' 11 FW Ney Fabiano 17 MF José Luis López 89' 19 MF Evan Berger 56' 89'   Manager: Ernie Merrick	T. Pondeljak  60' 61' D. Allsopp  65' Melbourne	(0:0)Report Summary Joe Marston Medal: Tom Pondeljak	10' Cristiano 37' S. Ognenovski 56' S. Jamieson 64' F. Barbiero 81' R. Cornthwaite 90' T. Dodd (c) Adelaide	Attendance: 53,273 Referee: Matthew Breeze Adelaide Starting XI 20 GK Eugene Galeković 02 DF Robert Cornthwaite 07 MF Lucas Pantelis 63' 10 FW Cristiano 13 MF Travis Dodd (c) 14 DF Scott Jamieson 73' 15 MF Jonas Salley 16 DF Daniel Mullen 18 MF Fabian Barbiero 19 DF Saša Ognenovski 24 MF Paul Reid   Substitutes: 30 GK Mark Birighitti 03 FW Alemão 06 MF Cássio 73' 09 FW Paul Agostino 63' 28 MF Rostyn Griffiths   Manager: Aurelio Vidmar

Statistics

Goals

Total	Player		Goals per Round
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	S1	S2	GF
13		Daniel Allsopp		2	2				2						1			1		1	1	1		1	1
9		Archie Thompson			1		2						1	1					1			1	1		1
5		Ney Fabiano		1												1		1	1		1
5		Kevin Muscat		1		1						2											1
4		Carlos Hernández			1																	1		1	1
3		Tom Pondeljak												1											1	1
2		Grant Brebner			1				1
2		Rodrigo Vargas							1											1
2		Nick Ward															1		1
1		Billy Celeski										1

	A goal was scored from a penalty kick
	Two goals were scored from penalty kicks

Ladder

League table

#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Melbourne Victory	21	12	2	7	39	27	+12sm=n	38
2	Adelaide United	21	11	5	5	31	19	+12sm=n	38
3	Queensland Roar	21	10	6	5	36	25	+11sm=n	36
4	Central Coast Mariners	21	7	7	7	35	32	+3sm=n	28
5	Sydney FC	21	7	5	9	33	32	+1sm=n	26
6	Wellington Phoenix	21	7	5	9	23	31	-8sm=n	26
7	Perth Glory	21	6	4	11	31	44	-13sm=n	22
8	Newcastle Jets	21	4	6	11	21	39	-18sm=n	18

Finals series

	Semifinals						Preliminary final					Grand final
			L1	L2
	1	Melbourne Victory	2	4
	2	Adelaide United	0	0									Melbourne Victory	1
								Adelaide United	1				Adelaide United	0
								Queensland Roar	0
	3	Queensland Roar	2	2
	4	Central Coast Mariners	0	1

2008–09 Awards

• Victory Medal
  • Kevin Muscat and Danny Allsopp
• Players' Player of the Year
  • Rodrigo Vargas
• Clubman of the Year
  • Evan Berger
• Golden Boot
  • Danny Allsopp
• Women's Player of the Year
  • Brittany Timko
• Youth Team Player of the Year
  • Matthew Theodore

W-League

2008–09 Westfield W-League fixtures

25 October 2008	Melbourne Victory	2 : 0	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome
16:00 UTC+10	Marlies Oostdam  52' Rebecca Tegg  60'	Report		Referee: Lee Corey

1 November 2008	Sydney FC	2 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Parramatta Stadium
14:00 UTC+10	Nicole Bulger  55' Leena Khamis  82'	Report	Sarah Groenewald  24'	Referee: Jacqui Melksham

8 November 2008	Melbourne Victory	3 : 0	Perth Glory	Bob Jane Stadium
14:00 UTC+10	Kal Tarp  47' (Pen) Carys Hawkins  75' (o.g.) Louisa Bisby  82'	Report		Referee: Kate Jacewicz

15 November 2008	Melbourne Victory	0 : 1	Canberra United	Bob Jane Stadium
19:00 UTC+10		Report	Sasha McDonnell  24'	Referee: Kate Jacewicz

22 November 2008	Queensland Roar	2 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Ballymore Stadium
19:00 UTC+10	Courtney Beutel  33' Tameka Butt  57'	Report		Referee: Lee Corey

29 November 2008	Adelaide United	0 : 3	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium
14:00 UTC+9.5	Selin Kuralay  36' Daniela Digiammarco  64' Selin Kuralay  70'	Report

6 December 2008	Melbourne Victory	1 : 0	Newcastle Jets	Epping Soccer Stadium
19:00 UTC+10	Brittany Timko  82'	Report		Referee: Sara Hodson

13 December 2008	Melbourne Victory	1 : 3	Queensland Roar	Epping Soccer Stadium
14:00 UTC+10	Brittany Timko  26'	Report	Courtney Beutel  10' Alicia Ferguson  23' Tameka Butt  55'	Referee: Kate Jacewicz

20 December 2008	Canberra United	3 : 2	Melbourne Victory	McKellar Park, A.C.T.
18:00 UTC+10	Ellie Brush  35' Kara Mowbray  83' Amy Chapman  93'	Report	Sarah Groenewald  82' Marlies Oostdam  85'	Referee: Lee Corey

28 December 2008	Central Coast Mariners	2 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Parramatta Stadium
16:00 UTC+10	Jenna Kingsley  89' Elizabeth O'Reilly  93'	Report		Referee: Kate Jacewicz

References

External links

• Melbourne – Official Website
• Pictures of Melbourne supporters
• MVFC – Melbourne Victory Videos

Preceded by Central Coast Mariners	A-League Premiers 2008/09	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Sydney FC	A-League Champions 2006/07	Succeeded by Newcastle Jets

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Melbourne Victory Football Club Players · Records & Statistics · W-League History History Home stadiums Olympic Park Stadium (2005-2007) · Etihad Stadium (2006-2011) · AAMI Park (2010-present) League A-League Seasons (7) 2005–06 ·  2006–07 ·  2007–08 ·  2008–09 ·  2009–10 ·  2010–11 ·  2011-12 Championships (2) 2007 · 2009 Premierships (2) 2006-07 · 2008-09 Managers Ernie Merrick (2005-2011) · Mehmet Durakovic (2011-) Captains Kevin Muscat (2005-2011) · Adrian Leijer (2011-) Rivalries Sydney F.C. rivalry ·  Adelaide United rivalry ·  Melbourne derby website: www.melbournevictory.com.au

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