2006–07 Melbourne Victory season

Melbourne Victory
2006–07 season
Manager Ernie Merrick
A-League 1st
Pre-Season Challenge Cup 5th
Top goalscorer Archie Thompson (15)
Highest home attendance 50,333 vs Sydney FC (8 December 2006)
Lowest home attendance 15,563 vs New Zealand Knights (17 December 2006)
Average home attendance 27,728

The Melbourne Victory A-League 2006-07 season was their most successful A-League season. They defeated Adelaide United 6-0 in their first Grand Final, winning the Championship, Premiership and qualifying for the AFC Champions League 2008.

Contents

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)
6 DF Steve Pantelidis
7 FW Michael Ferrante
8 MF Fred
9 FW Daniel Allsopp
10 FW Archie Thompson
11 MF Vince Lia
12 DF Rodrigo Vargas
No. Position Player
13 MF Kristian Sarkies
14 MF Adrian Caceres
15 DF Adrian Leijer
16 DF Simon Storey
17 MF Grant Brebner
18 MF Alessandro
20 GK Eugene Galeković
21 FW James Robinson
22 MF Leigh Broxham

Transfers

In

Player From Country/State & League From Date
Adrian Caceres Perth Glory A-League 13 February 2006
Alessandro Sport Club Internacional Brazil Serie A July 2006
Claudinho Atlético Paranaense Brazil Serie A 24 May 2006
Fred Guarani Brazil Serie B 24 May 2006
Rodrigo Vargas Green Gully Cavaliers VPL July 2006
Grant Brebner Dundee United Scottish Premier League July 2006
James Robinson Richmond SC VPL 23 November 2006

Out

Player To Country/State & League From Date
Chris Tadrosse Released (KFC Uerdingen) Oberliga Nordrhein 24 January 2006
Richard Kitzbichler Released (Red Bull Salzburg) Austrian Bundesliga 31 January 2006
Ricky Diaco Released (Bulleen Zebras) VPL 15 February 2006
Carl Recchia Released (Fawkner-Whittlesea Blues) (Club Disabanded) VPL 15 February 2006
Andy Vlahos Released (Heidelberg United) VPL -
Geoffrey Claeys Melbourne Victory retired A-League 21 November 2006
Claudinho Released 17 December 2006

Matches

Pre-season friendlies

Melbourne started their 2006-07 pre-season with a number of practise matches against Victorian Premier League clubs. These included a laboured 1-0 win over Richmond SC, a 2-2 draw against Bulleen Zebras, a 4-0 victory against Green Gully, a 7-0 victory of Kingston City FC and 3-0 victories over Altona Magic and Oakleigh Cannons.

Victory also won the QNI North Queensland Trophy by beating leading Chinese Super League team Changchun Yatai 6-1 in the final. Michael Ferrante scored twice early on and then-trialist Grant Brebner added a spectacular thirty-yard free-kick to make it 3-0 at half-time, while Danny Allsopp scored three times in the second half to seal the win. The competition featured fellow A-League side Central Coast Mariners (Victory won 4-2 on penalties), the Young Socceroos (Victory lost 5-6 on penalties), and Changchun Yatai (Victory won 3-1 in the first meeting).

Melbourne kicked off their A-League Pre-Season Cup campaign with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Adelaide United at Launceston's Aurora Stadium in front of 6,834 spectators. The second match saw them play out a 1-1 draw away to Perth Glory, with Daniel Allsopp scoring Melbourne's only goal. Back at Olympic Park for the final group match, they were soundly beaten 3-1 by the Central Coast Mariners, ending the club's hopes of progressing to the next round of the competition. A "bonus round" match finished off the group stage, with the Melbourne defeating Newcastle Jets 3-2.

In the first match of a rather meaningless playoff section involving the lower placed teams of the group stage, Victory defeated the Queensland Roar 4-2 on penalties, having been locked at 0-0 after 120 minutes of play. The match was held at Epping Stadium in the outer north of Melbourne. The final match of the pre-season cup saw the Victory defeat Perth Glory 1-0 at Olympic Park in front of 2,215 loyal fans, and finish the competition in 5th place.

2006-07 Hyundai A-League fixtures

2006-07 Finals series

Ladder

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Melbourne Victory 21 14 3 4 41 20 +21 45
Adelaide United 21 10 3 8 32 27 +5 33
Newcastle Jets 21 8 6 7 32 30 +2 30
Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 29 19 +10 29
Queensland Roar 21 8 5 8 25 27 -2 29
Central Coast Mariners 21 6 6 9 22 26 -4 24
Perth Glory 21 5 5 11 24 30 -6 20
New Zealand Knights 21 5 4 12 13 39 -26 19

2006-07 Awards