2005–06 A-League

A-League

Season	2005–06
Champions	Sydney FC
Premiers	Adelaide United
Champions League	Sydney FC Adelaide United
Matches played	84
Goals scored	232 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alex Brosque Bobby Despotovski Archie Thompson Stewart Petrie (8 goals)
Biggest home win	Melbourne Victory 5–0 Sydney FC (16 October 2005)
Biggest away win	Newcastle Jets 0–5 Queensland Roar (26 January 2006)
Highest attendance	25,557
Lowest attendance	1,922
Average attendance	10,955
← 2003-04 NSL 2006–07 →

The 2005–06 A-League was the inaugural season of the Australian A-League football competition. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition, the first match in the A-League was played on 26 August 2005. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.

Of the eight participants, four come from the National Soccer League (1977–2004): Perth Glory (established 1995), New Zealand Knights (1999), Newcastle Jets (2000) and Adelaide United (2003). New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but were significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977–1988 and had competed in the Queensland State League since then as Brisbane Lions.

The first A-League Grand Final took place on 5 March 2006, with Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural champions, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1–0. Adelaide United were the named premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league.

Clubs

Team	City	Home Ground	Capacity
Adelaide United	Adelaide	Hindmarsh Stadium	17,000
Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Bluetongue Stadium	20,119
Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Olympic Park Stadium	18,500
Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Energy Australia Stadium	26,164
New Zealand Knights	Auckland	North Harbour Stadium	25,000
Perth Glory	Perth	Members Equity Stadium	18,156
Queensland Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Sydney FC	Sydney	Aussie Stadium	42,500

Preliminary Competitions

Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season.

Oceania Club Championship Qualification

This three-round competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for the 2005 season of the Oceania Club Championship. It consisted of all Australian A-League clubs (i.e. all clubs except for the New Zealand Knights) and granted Perth Glory – the reigning NSL champions – a bye into the semi-finals.

	Round 1 (7 May)					Semi Finals (11 May)					Finals (15 May)
							Perth Glory	1
							Sydney FC	2
		Sydney FC	3
		Queensland Roar	0
												Sydney FC	1
												Central Coast Mariners	0
		Central Coast Mariners (pso)	0 (4)
		Newcastle Jets	0 (2)
							Central Coast Mariners	4
							Adelaide United	0
		Adelaide United (pso)	0 (4)
		Melbourne Victory	0 (1)

Sydney FC qualified for and subsequently won the 2005 Oceania Club Championship entitling it to a place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship to be played in Tokyo.

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

The inaugural pre-season cup was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Commentators did not give much weight to the competition as a guide for performance during the season proper, as injuries or club strategic policy ruled that many teams did not use their best players and often used experimental tactics.

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Melbourne Victory	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5	2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
2	Perth Glory	3	1	1	1	2	1	+1	4
3	Adelaide United	3	0	3	0	3	3	0	3
4	Newcastle Jets	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	2

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sydney FC	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	7	2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
2	Central Coast Mariners	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
3	Queensland Roar	3	1	1	1	6	3	+3	4
4	New Zealand Knights	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

Finals

	Semi-finals				Final
	12 August
	Melbourne Victory	2
	Central Coast Mariners	3
					21 August
					Central Coast Mariners	3
					Perth Glory	0
	14 August
	Sydney FC	1
	Perth Glory	2

The Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners.

Regular season

The A-League season commenced on 26 August 2005 with two Friday night fixtures. Games each round were held throughout the weekend, though certain rounds also featured Thursday night games. As there was no concurrent cup competition, midweek fixtures were uncommon unless they were held on Australian public holidays. A three-week break was also scheduled in December to coincide with the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Adelaide United	21	13	4	4	33	25	+8	43	2007 AFC Champions League Group stage
2	Sydney FC (C)	21	10	6	5	35	28	+7	36
3	Central Coast Mariners	21	8	8	5	35	28	+7	32	2006 A-League Finals Series
4	Newcastle Jets	21	9	4	8	27	29	−2	31
5	Perth Glory	21	8	5	8	34	29	+5	29
6	Queensland Roar	21	7	7	7	27	22	+5	28
7	Melbourne Victory	21	7	5	9	26	24	+2	26
8	New Zealand Knights	21	1	3	17	15	47	−32	6

Updated to games played on 5 February 2006
Source: theworldgame.sbs.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
¹First place through to fourth place qualify for the 2006 A-League Finals Series.
²First place qualifies for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage.
³Winning the 2006 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
⁴New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the 2007 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.
Rules for classification:1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
# = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points.

Round 1

26 August 2005	Perth Glory	0 – 1	Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
20:00 UTC+8		Report Summary	Spencer  66'	Attendance: 11,113 Referee: Ben Williams

26 August 2005	Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Veart  19'	Attendance: 13,160 Referee: Peter O'Leary

28 August 2005	Queensland Roar	2 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
15:00 UTC+10	Brosque  80' Baird  86'	Report Summary		Attendance: 20,725 Referee: Matthew Breeze

28 August 2005	Sydney FC	1 – 1	Melbourne Victory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Yorke  44'	Report Summary	Thompson  73'	Attendance: 25,208 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 2

2 September 2005	Adelaide United	0 – 0	Queensland Roar	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30		Report Summary		Attendance: 11,029 Referee: Ben Williams

2 September 2005	New Zealand Knights	1 – 3	Sydney FC	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+12	Rose  69'	Report Summary	Rudan  25' Bingley  73' Middleby  90+4'	Attendance: 9,827 Referee: Peter O'Leary

4 September 2005	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
15:00 UTC+10	Petrie  69'	Report Summary	Milicic  25'	Attendance: 5,917 Referee: Mark Shield

4 September 2005	Melbourne Victory	2 – 2	Perth Glory	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler  11' Muscat  85' (pen.)	Report Summary	Caceres  40' Despotovski  56'	Attendance: 17,960 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 3

9 September 2005	Adelaide United	1 – 0	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Brain  1' Alagich  15'	Report Summary		Attendance: 8,785 Referee: Peter O'Leary

10 September 2005	Perth Glory	2 – 1	Queensland Roar	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:35 UTC+8	Despotovski  54', 72'	Report Summary	Moon  76'	Attendance: 8,509 Referee: Simon Przydacz

10 September 2005	Central Coast Mariners	0 – 2	New Zealand Knights	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:35 UTC+10		Report Summary	Yeo  69' Devine  80'	Attendance: 5,261 Referee: Ben Williams

11 September 2005	Newcastle Jets	2 – 1	Sydney FC	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+10	Milicic  6' Johnson  18' Corbo  39', 70'	Report Summary	Yorke  78' Corica  70'	Attendance: 9,127 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 4

16 September 2005	Sydney FC	2 – 3	Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10	Packer  13' Yorke  72'	Report Summary	Petrie  20' (pen.) Gumprecht  35' Spencer  90+1'	Attendance: 15,614 Referee: Peter O'Leary

17 September 2005	Perth Glory	1 – 2	Adelaide United	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:35 UTC+8	Valkanis  20' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Aloisi  32' Qu  65' Beltrame  67'	Attendance: 8,052 Referee: Matthew Breeze

18 September 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 1	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
15:00 UTC+10	Baird  62' McKay  40'	Report Summary	Allsopp  88'	Attendance: 15,444 Referee: Ben Williams

18 September 2005	Newcastle Jets	4 – 0	New Zealand Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+10	Haliti  12' Thompson  26' Musialik  37' Carle  70' (pen.)	Report Summary		Attendance: 7,495 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 5

22 September 2005	New Zealand Knights	0 – 1	Perth Glory	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+12		Report Summary	Harnwell  68'	Attendance: 4,138 Referee: Neil Fox

23 September 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 3	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10	Timpano  50' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Corica  5', 67' McFlynn  68'	Attendance: 23,142 Referee: Matthew Breeze

25 September 2005	Melbourne Victory	1 – 0	Newcastle Jets	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10	Thompson  68'	Report Summary		Attendance: 13,831 Referee: Craig Zetter

25 September 2005	Adelaide United	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
17:00 UTC+9:30	Valkanis  34'	Report Summary	Kwasnik  19'	Attendance: 7,013 Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 6

30 September 2005	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 2	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+10	Heffernan  33'	Report Summary	Thompson  73' Leijer  81'	Attendance: 9,313 Referee: Ben Williams

1 October 2005	Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:35 UTC+10	Carle  31'	Report Summary	Moon  68' McKay  59', 80'	Attendance: 7,436 Referee: Strebre Delovski

1 October 2005	Perth Glory	1 – 2	Sydney FC	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:35 UTC+8	Despotovski  40'	Report Summary	Petrovski  48' Yorke  65'	Attendance: 13,157 Referee: Matthew Breeze

2 October 2005	New Zealand Knights	1 – 2	Adelaide United	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
18:00 UTC+12	Yeo  44',  64'	Report Summary	Dodd  34' Qu  81'	Attendance: 3,558 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 7

7 October 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10	Seo  57'	Report Summary	Spencer  41'	Attendance: 13,195 Referee: Perry Mur

8 October 2005	Newcastle Jets	1 – 5	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:30 UTC+10	Parisi  72'	Report Summary	Mori  33', 62' Harnwell  46' Despotovski  52' Sekulovski  80'	Attendance: 5,868 Referee: James Lewis

9 October 2005	Sydney FC	2 – 1	Adelaide United	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Carney  54' Petrovski  88'	Report Summary	Valkanis  51'	Attendance: 18,276 Referee: Mark Shield

10 October 2005	Melbourne Victory	3 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler  23' Muscat  62' Diaco  64'	Report Summary		Attendance: 11,010 Referee: Peter Green

Round 8

14 October 2005	Adelaide United	2 – 4	Newcastle Jets	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Valkanis  38' Corbo  67' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Kemp  12' (o.g.) Carle  22', 89' Zelic  68'	Attendance: 13,182 Referee: Mark Shield

16 October 2005	Melbourne Victory	5 – 0	Sydney FC	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
13:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler  34' Muscat  53' (pen.), 78' (pen.) Thompson  57', 69'	Report Summary	Talay  58'	Attendance: 18,206 Referee: Matthew Breeze

16 October 2005	Central Coast Mariners	4 – 0	Perth Glory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+10	Petrie  14', 48' Heffernan  85' Spencer  90+3'	Report Summary		Attendance: 6,494 Referee: Ben Williams

16 October 2005	New Zealand Knights	0 – 2	Queensland Roar	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
18:00 UTC+12		Report Summary	Seo  8' Baird  57'	Attendance: 4,182 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 9

21 October 2005	Sydney FC	2 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10	Petrovski  10' Carney  30'	Report Summary		Attendance: 11,836 Referee: Ben Williams

22 October 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 2	Adelaide United	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:30 UTC+10	Brownlie  76'	Report Summary	Fernando  59' Pantelis  89'	Attendance: 15,181 Referee: Peter O'Leary

23 October 2005	Newcastle Jets	1 – 0	Central Coast Mariners	Energy Australia Stadium
17:00 UTC+10	Parisi  88'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,371 Referee: Matthew Breeze

23 October 2005	Perth Glory	2 – 1	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+8	Deane  22' Sekulovski  55'	Report Summary	Thompson  39'	Attendance: 12,312 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 10

28 October 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 – 1	Adelaide United	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Veart  83'	Attendance: 16,201 Referee: Matthew Breeze

29 October 2005	Queensland Roar	0 – 0	Perth Glory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:30 UTC+10		Report Summary		Attendance: 13,685 Referee: Simon Przydacz

29 October 2005	New Zealand Knights	1 – 3	Central Coast Mariners	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+12	Yeo  7' (pen.)	Report Summary	Heffernan  4' Petrie  49', 72' (pen.)	Attendance: 2,583 Referee: Neil Fox

30 October 2005	Sydney FC	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Carney  73'	Report Summary	Milicic  77'	Attendance: 9,132 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 11

4 November 2005	New Zealand Knights	2 – 4	Newcastle Jets	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Brockie  71', 77'	Report Summary	Milicic  18', 28', 56' Thompson  21'	Attendance: 2,561 Referee: Matthew Breeze

4 November 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 – 1	Queensland Roar	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Claeys  86' Muscat  58', 61'	Report Summary	McKay  15'	Attendance: 13,239 Referee: Mark Shield

5 November 2005	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 5	Sydney FC	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson  40'	Report Summary	Yorke  9' (pen.) Talay  14' Petrovski  23', 68', 83'	Attendance: 10,529 Referee: Simon Przydacz

6 November 2005	Adelaide United	2 – 4	Perth Glory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+10:30	Veart  13' (pen.) Rees  53'	Report Summary	Mori  9', 34', 45+1' Despotovski  39' (pen.)	Attendance: 10,868 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 12

11 November 2005	Perth Glory	3 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+8	Ward  69' Sekulovski  25' Despotovski  12'			Attendance: 9,667 Referee: Craig Zetter

11 November 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 – 0	Newcastle Jets	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 12,407 Referee: Simon Przydacz

13 November 2005	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 2	Adelaide United	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
15:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson  12'		Rech  90' Dodd  85'	Attendance: 5,467 Referee: Peter O'Leary

13 November 2005	Sydney FC	1 – 0	Queensland Roar	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Zdrillic  54'			Attendance: 13,030 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 13

18 November 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 – 2	Central Coast Mariners	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11			Heffernan  75' Hutchinson  38'	Attendance: 13,892 Referee: Ben Williams

19 November 2005	Sydney FC	0 – 0	Perth Glory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 16,242 Referee: Matthew Breeze

20 November 2005	Adelaide United	1 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+10.30	Qu  38'			Attendance: 9,676 Referee: Angelo Nardi

20 November 2005	Queensland Roar	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10			Thompson  34'	Attendance: 13,004 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 14

25 November 2005	Central Coast Mariners	2 – 2	Queensland Roar	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Heffernan  89' Osman  56'		Brosque  7', 78' Baird  75'	Attendance: 5,194 Referee: Matthew Breeze

25 November 2005	Perth Glory	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+8			Coveny  47'	Attendance: 7,921 Referee: Simon Przydacz

26 November 2005	New Zealand Knights	2 – 3	Melbourne Victory	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Devine  40' (pen.) Christie  30'		Kitzbichler  43', 73' Muscat  28' (pen.)	Attendance: 1,922 Referee: Peter O'Leary

27 November 2005	Adelaide United	3 – 2	Sydney FC	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+10.30	Rech  4', 84' Veart  14'		Miura  33', 76'	Attendance: 14,068 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 15

1 December 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 1	New Zealand Knights	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Brownlie  28'		Yeo  44'	Attendance: 8,607 Referee: James Lewis

2 December 2005	Newcastle Jets	1 – 2	Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	Johnson  59'		Brain  79' Veart  75'	Attendance: 10,132 Referee: Simon Przydacz

3 December 2005	Sydney FC	2 – 1	Melbourne Victory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11	Carney  81' Corica  24'		Allsopp  88'	Attendance: 17,272 Referee: Matthew Breeze

4 December 2005	Perth Glory	2 – 2	Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
16:00 UTC+8	Ishida  65' Ward  54'		Petrie  12' Hutchinson  8'	Attendance: 7,428 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 16

29 December 2005	Melbourne Victory	2 – 2	Perth Glory	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Allsopp  45' Thompson  23'		Ward  67' Mori  5'	Attendance: 14,754 Referee: Peter O'Leary

30 December 2005	New Zealand Knights	2 – 2	Sydney FC	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Brockie  86' Devine  3'		Yorke  45' (pen.) Carney  6'	Attendance: 4,212 Referee: Peter Green

31 December 2005	Central Coast Mariners	4 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson  71', 82' Brown  30' Gumprecht  3'		Coveny  85' Corbo  56'	Attendance: 11,612 Referee: Mark Shield

1 January 2006	Adelaide United	4 – 2	Queensland Roar	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+10.30	Rech  40', 63' Qu  30' Veart  29'		Baird  83' Brosque  11'	Attendance: 8,426 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 17

5 January 2006	Adelaide United	1 – 0	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10.30	Dodd  14'			Attendance: 13,427 Referee: Mark Shield

6 January 2006	Sydney FC	0 – 0	Newcastle Jets	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 15,211 Referee: Matthew Breeze

7 January 2006	Perth Glory	0 – 2	Queensland Roar	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+8			Baird  80' Reinaldo  10'	Attendance: 11,087 Referee: Peter Green

8 January 2006	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11	Heffernan  90'			Attendance: 7,257 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 18

12 January 2006	Perth Glory	1 – 2	Adelaide United	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+8	Ward  86'		Aloisi  71' Qu  3'	Attendance: 5,033 Referee: Matthew Breeze

13 January 2006	Newcastle Jets	3 – 0	New Zealand Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	Haliti  86', 90' Milicic  19'			Attendance: 6,862 Referee: Perry Mur

14 January 2006	Sydney FC	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11	Carney  61'		Pondeljak  52'	Attendance: 15,977 Referee: Ben Williams

15 January 2006	Queensland Roar	0 – 1	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10			Thompson  56'	Attendance: 12,710 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 19

19 January 2006	New Zealand Knights	1 – 4	Perth Glory	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Emblen  7'		Harnwell  78' Coyne  14' Sekulovski  11', 42'	Attendance: 3,024 Referee: Neil Fox

20 January 2006	Adelaide United	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10.30	Veart  50' (pen.)		Kwasnik  54'	Attendance: 13,008 Referee: Mark Shield

21 January 2006	Queensland Roar	2 – 1	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Brosque  60', 70'		Petrovski  85'	Attendance: 13,302 Referee: Simon Przydacz

22 January 2006	Newcastle Jets	1 – 0	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Coveny  36'			Attendance: 9,073 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 20

26 January 2006	Newcastle Jets	0 – 5	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11			Murdocca  90' McKay  83' Brosque  52' Richter  44' Reinaldo  10'	Attendance: 10,271 Referee: Peter O'Leary

27 January 2006	Central Coast Mariners	3 – 1	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Heffernan  88' Spencer  28', 62'		Ferrante  13'	Attendance: 11,945 Referee: Simon Przydacz

28 January 2006	New Zealand Knights	1 – 1	Adelaide United	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Zhang  71'		Brain  21'	Attendance: 3,079 Referee: Perry Mur

29 January 2006	Perth Glory	1 – 2	Sydney FC	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
16:00 UTC+8	Despotovski  53'		Zadkovich  23' Rudan  14'	Attendance: 12,796 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 21

3 February 2006	Sydney FC	2 – 1	Adelaide United	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11	Ceccoli  71' Yorke  48' (pen.)		Qu  90'	Attendance: 25,557 Referee: Mark Shield

4 February 2006	Melbourne Victory	2 – 1	New Zealand Knights	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+11	Muscat  21' (pen.) Byrnes  2'		Brockie  90'	Attendance: 10,078 Referee: Angelo Nardi

4 February 2006	Queensland Roar	2 – 2	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Baird  60' Brosque  3'		O'Sullivan  81' Petrie  33'	Attendance: 13,641 Referee: Ben Williams

5 February 2006	Newcastle Jets	1 – 3	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Coveny  34'		Mori  71' Picken  58' (o.g.) Ward  9'	Attendance: 9,232 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Finals series

After the home and away season, the finals series began, with the top four teams. The finals series used a modified Page playoff system, with the difference that each first round game would be played over two legs. The winner of the finals series, Sydney FC was crowned as the A-League champion. Adelaide United, as the holder of the top position on the league ladder, were named the 2005–06 premiers.

Standard cup rules – such as the away goals rule (two-leg ties only), extra time and penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn games.

	Semi Finals						Preliminary Final					Grand Final
			L1	L2
		February 10 & 17
	1	Adelaide United	2	1									5 March
	2	Sydney FC	2	2				26 February				2	Sydney FC	1
							1	Adelaide United	0			3	Central Coast Mariners	0
		February 12 & 19					3	Central Coast Mariners	1
	3	Central Coast Mariners	1	1
	4	Newcastle Jets	0	1

Minor Semi-Final Leg 1 10 February 2006	Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11			Osman  76'	Attendance: 10,236 Referee: Ben Williams

Major Semi-Final Leg 1 12 February 2006	Adelaide United	2 – 2	Sydney FC	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
17:00 UTC+10.30	Rech  34' Dodd  31'		Petrovski  39' Corica  9'	Attendance: 15,104 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Minor Semi-Final Leg 2 17 February 2006	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Heffernan  79'		Thompson  28'	Attendance: 17,429 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Major Semi-Final Leg 2 19 February 2006	Sydney FC	2 – 1	Adelaide United	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Rudan  76' Petrovski  29'		Qu  60'	Attendance: 30,377 Referee: Mark Shield

Preliminary Final 26 February 2006	Adelaide United	0 – 1	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
17:00 UTC+10.30			Pondeljak  7'	Attendance: 11,405 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Grand Final 5 March 2006	Sydney FC	1 – 0	Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Corica  62'			Attendance: 41,689 Referee: Mark Shield

AFC Champions League

Although Australia became a member of the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, Australian teams were not invited to participate in the 2006 AFC Champions League competition.

The AFC later determined that qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League would be based on the 2005–06 A-League competition, despite that ACL matches will commence after the completion of the A-League 2006–07 season. Adelaide as Premiers and Sydney as Champions represented Australia.

Attendance

Team	Hosted	Average	High	Low	Total
Sydney FC	13	19,648	25,557	9,132	255,421
Queensland Roar	11	14,785	23,142	8,607	162,636
Melbourne Victory	10	14,158	18,026	10,078	141,578
Adelaide United	12	11,332	14,068	7,013	135,982
Perth Glory	11	9,734	13,157	5,033	107,075
Newcastle Jets	12	9,022	13,000	5,868	108,263
Central Coast Mariners	11	8,765	17,429	5,194	96,418
New Zealand Knights	10	3,909	9,900	1,922	39,086
{{ALeague {{{T9}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{ALeague {{{T10}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{ALeague {{{T11}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{ALeague {{{T12}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
League total	90	11,627	25,557	1,922	1,046,459

Highest attendance

• 41,689: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, 5 March 2006 (Grand Final)
• 30,377: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 19 February 2006 (Semi-final L2)
• 25,557: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 3 February 2006 (Round 21)
• 25,208: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, 28 August 2005 (Round 1)
• 23,142: Queensland Roar vs Sydney FC, 23 September 2005 (Round 5)
• 20,725: Queensland Roar vs New Zealand Knights, 28 August 2005 (Round 1)
• 18,276: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 9 October 2005 (Round 7)
• 18,206: Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC, 16 October 2005 (Round 8)
• 17,960: Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory, 4 September 2005 (Round 2)

League records

The following league records are from the regular season only. It does not include records from the finals series.

Awards

Award	Recipient
Johnny Warren Medal (Player's Player of the Year)	Bobby Despotovski (Perth Glory)
Reebok Golden Boot Award (Top Goalscorer)	Four players (see below)
Hyundai Rising Star Award (U-20 Player of the Year)	Nick Ward (footballer) (Perth Glory)
Hyundai A-League Coach of the Year	Lawrie McKinna (Central Coast Mariners)
Zurich Referee of the Year	Mark Shield
Joe Marston Medal (Best player in Grand Final)	Dwight Yorke (Sydney FC)

Leading goalscorers

Total	Player		Team	Goals per Round
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
8		Alex Brosque	Brisbane Roar	1													2		1			2	1	1
		Bobby Despotovski	Perth Glory		1	2			1	1				1	1								1
		Archie Thompson	Melbourne Victory	1				1	1		2	1							1		1
		Stewart Petrie	Central Coast Mariners		1		1				2		2					1						1
7		Carl Veart	Adelaide United	1									1	1			1	1	1			1
		Dean Heffernan	Central Coast Mariners						1		1		1			1	1			1			1
		Dwight Yorke	Sydney FC	1		1	1		1					1					1					1
		Ante Milicic	Newcastle Jets		1	1							1	3							1
		Sasho Petrovski	Sydney FC						1	1		1		3								1
		Damian Mori	Perth Glory							2				3					1					1

Goal assists

Player	Team	Assists
Alex Brosque	Queensland Roar	5 not
David Carney	Sydney FC	6
Nick Carle	Newcastle Jets	6
Qu Shengqing	Adelaide United	6
Tom Pondeljak	Central Coast Mariners	6
Dwight Yorke	Sydney FC	5
Kristian Sarkies	Melbourne Victory	5
Sasho Petrovski	Sydney FC	5
Andre Gumprecht	Central Coast Mariners	4
Carl Veart	Adelaide United	4

Fouls conceded

Player	Team	Fouls Conceded
Stewart Petrie	Central Coast Mariners	60
Ross Aloisi	Adelaide United	50
Andrew Clark	Central Coast Mariners	49
Sasho Petrovski	Sydney FC	49
Steve Pantelidis	Melbourne Victory	47
Terry McFlynn	Sydney FC	42
Noel Spencer	Central Coast Mariners	41
Carl Veart	Adelaide United	40
Richard Johnson	Newcastle Jets	40
Travis Dodd	Adelaide United	39

Disciplinary records

Player	Team	Yellow	2YC	Red
Terry McFlynn	Sydney FC	7	0	0
Matt McKay	Queensland Roar	3	1	1
Kevin Muscat	Melbourne Victory	4	1	0
Ross Aloisi	Adelaide United	6	0	0
Remo Buess	Queensland Roar	6	0	0

Biggest victories

5 goals

	Score		Date	Round
Melbourne Victory	5–0	Sydney FC	16 Oct 2005	8
Queensland Roar	5–0	Newcastle Jets	26 Jan 2006	20

4 goals

	Score		Date	Round
Perth Glory	5–1	Newcastle Jets	8 Oct 2005	7
Sydney FC	5–1	Central Coast Mariners	5 Nov 2005	11
Newcastle Jets	4–0	New Zealand Knights	18 Sep 2005	4
Central Coast Mariners	4–0	Perth Glory	8 Oct 2005	8

Highest aggregate scores

	Score		Date	Round
Perth Glory	5–1	Newcastle Jets	8 Oct 2005	7
Sydney FC	5–1	Central Coast Mariners	5 Nov 2005	11
Newcastle Jets	4–2	Adelaide United	14 Oct 2005	8
Newcastle Jets	4–2	New Zealand Knights	4 Nov 2005	11
Perth Glory	4–2	Adelaide United	6 Nov 2005	11
Adelaide United	4–2	Queensland Roar	1 Jan 2006	16

Honours

• First goal – Carl Veart (Adelaide United vs Newcastle Jets, Round 1)

• First hat trick – Ante Milicic (Newcastle Jets vs New Zealand Knights, Round 11)

• First red card – Richie Alagich (Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory, Round 3)

See also

• 2005–06 Adelaide United FC season
• 2005–06 Central Coast Mariners FC season
• 2005–06 Melbourne Victory FC season
• 2005–06 Newcastle Jets FC season
• 2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season
• 2005–06 Perth Glory FC season
• 2005–06 Queensland Roar FC season
• 2005–06 Sydney FC season

External links

• A-League official website, including fixtures

A-League seasons 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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