2007–08 Melbourne Victory FC season

Melbourne Victory

2007–08 season
Manager	Ernie Merrick
A-League	5th
Pre-Season Challenge Cup	8th
AFC Champions League	Group Stage (2nd)
Top goalscorer	League: Daniel Allsopp (7) All: Daniel Allsopp (9)
Highest home attendance	31,884 vs Sydney FC (10 November 2007)
Lowest home attendance	14,558 vs Chonburi FC (21 May 2008)
Average home league attendance	24,439
Home colours Away colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

Season Summary

Looking to capitalise on their successful 2006–07 campaign, Melbourne made some strong off-season signings including Costa Rican international Carlos Hernández to cover the hole left by the departure of Fred to MLS club D.C. United.^[1] Again with the league's largest crowds and a record membership of over 20,000,^[2] Melbourne were undefeated after 7 rounds but the season slipped away with some poor home performances and a mounting injury list. A late season rally gave Melbourne a hope of making the finals up to the second last round but they finished 5th, 4 points out of the finals.

Players

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as 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 Daniel Piorkowski 5 DF Ljubo Milicevic 6 DF Steve Pantelidis 7 DF Matthew Kemp 8 MF Grant Brebner 9 FW Daniel Allsopp 10 FW Archie Thompson 11 DF Joe Keenan 12 DF Rodrigo Vargas

No. Position Player 13 MF Kaz Patafta 14 MF Adrian Caceres 15 FW Leandro Love 16 MF Carlos Hernández 17 MF Daniel Vasilevski 18 MF Leigh Broxham 19 MF Evan Berger 20 GK Eugene Galekovic 21 DF Sebastian Ryall 30 GK Mitchell Langerak

Transfers

In

Player	From	League	Date
Mitchell Langerak	AIS	VPL	23 February 2007
Ljubo Milicevic	BSC Young Boys	Swiss Super League	20 February 2007
Joe Keenan	Willem II	Eredivisie	30 March 2007
Matthew Kemp	Adelaide United	A-League	11 April 2007
Evan Berger	Marconi Stallions	NSWPL	29 May 2007
Carlos Hernández	LD Alajuelense	Primera División de Costa Rica	12 June 2007
Kaz Patafta	Benfica	Portuguese Liga	20 June 2007
Leandro Love	Vissel Kobe	J-League	25 July 2007
Sebastian Ryall	AIS	VPL	28 August 2007
Steven Pace	Preston Lions	VPL	30 October 2007
Nick Ward	Queens Park Rangers	Football League Championship	5 December 2007

Out

Player	To	League	Date
Michael Ferrante	Wellington Phoenix	A-League	1 March 2007
Mark Byrnes	released	-	1 March 2007
Fred	D.C. United	MLS	30 March 2007
James Robinson	Perth Glory	A-League	17 March 2007
Vince Lia	Wellington Phoenix	A-League	21 March 2007
Simon Storey	Partick Thistle F.C.	Scottish First Division	21 March 2007
Kristian Sarkies	Adelaide United	A-League	30 March 2007
Adrian Leijer	Fulham F.C.	Premier League	4 August 2007
Eugene Galekovic	Adelaide United	A-League	30 October 2007

Matches

Pre-season matches

30 May 2007	Melbourne Victory	1 : 4	Juventus	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 43,357

6 June 2007	Richmond Eagles	0 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Kevin Bartlett Reserve, Melbourne

13 June 2007	Oakleigh Cannons	2 : 3	Melbourne Victory	Jack Edwards Reserve, Melbourne

20 June 2007	South Melbourne	1 : 5	Melbourne Victory	Bob Jane Stadium, Melbourne

4 July 2007	China PR	1 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Hong Kong

7 July 2007	Tianjin Teda	1 : 1	Melbourne Victory	TEDA Football Stadium, Tianjin
		(5 - 6 pen.)

• The match against China was played over three 30 minute periods.

2007 Pre-Season Cup

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	BP
Adelaide United	8	3	1	2	0	6	3	3
Perth Glory	8	3	2	1	0	4	2	1
Newcastle Jets	3	3	1	0	2	2	5	0
Melbourne Victory	1	3	0	1	2	2	4	0

Group Stage 15 July 2007	Melbourne Victory	1 : 1	Adelaide United	Aurora Stadium, Launceston
				Attendance: 8,061

Group Stage 22 July 2007	Melbourne Victory	0 : 1	Newcastle Jets	Skilled Stadium, Geelong
				Attendance: 8,500

Group Stage 28 July 2007	Perth Glory	2 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Darwin Football Stadium, Darwin
				Attendance: 2,700

Play-offs 4 August 2007	Melbourne Victory	1 : 2	Wellington Phoenix	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
				Attendance: 4,100

Seventh Place Play-off 11 August 2007	Melbourne Victory	0 : 1	Sydney FC	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
				Attendance: 3,400

2007-08 Hyundai A-League fixtures

Round 1 25 August 2007	Wellington Phoenix	2 : 2	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
16:00 UTC+12	Daniel  79' Smeltz  84'		Muscat  19' (pen) Allsopp  60'	Attendance: 14,421 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 2 1 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	0 : 0	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10				Attendance: 31,545 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 3 7 September 2007	Adelaide United	1 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Dodd  83' (pen)		Vargas  80'	Attendance: 13,231 Referee: Peter Green

Round 4 16 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	0 : 0	Central Coast Mariners	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10			Vidmar  90+2'	Attendance: 27,351 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 5 21 September 2007	Newcastle Jets	2 : 2	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10	A Griffiths  5' Musialik  21'		Thompson  65' Caceres  83'	Attendance: 11,179 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 6 28 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	2 : 0	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10	Muscat  68' (pen) Thompson  85'			Attendance: 25,622 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 7 6 October 2007	Sydney FC	0 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10	Corica  25'		Allsopp  82'	Attendance: 18,436 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 8 12 October 2007	Adelaide United	4 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Milicevic  14' (o.g.) Dodd  15',  54' Pantelis  90+2'		Thompson  45+2'	Attendance: 13,372 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 9 21 October 2007	Melbourne Victory	2 : 1	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
16:30 UTC+10	Hernandez  24' Thompson  34'		Harnwell  42'	Attendance: 25,598 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 10 26 October 2007	Melbourne Victory	0 : 2	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10	Pantelidis  66'		A. Griffiths  8' J. Griffiths  88'	Attendance: 27,123 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 11 4 November 2007	Central Coast Mariners	2 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11	Petrovski  83',  73', 90' Pondeljak  88'		Keenan  22' Hernández  77' Vargas  90'	Attendance: 11,354 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 12 10 November 2007	Melbourne Victory	0 : 0	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 31,884 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 13 16 November 2007	Queensland Roar	1 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Kruse  10'			Attendance: 17,207 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 14 24 November 2007	Melbourne Victory	1 : 1	Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	Muscat  34', 35' Allsopp  43'		Lia  58'	Attendance: 20,938 Referee: Peter Green

Round 15 2 December 2007	Perth Glory	3 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+9	Harnwell  18' Rukavytsya  27'  46'		Caceres  38'	Attendance: 8,030 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 16 8 December 2007	Melbourne Victory	2 : 2	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	Muscat  71' (pen) Alagich  90+2' (o.g.)		Agostino  18'  50'	Attendance: 22,466 Referee: Peter Green

Round 17 16 December 2007	Melbourne Victory	1 : 3	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+11	Hernández  11'		Denni  41' J. Griffiths  54'  76'	Attendance: 22,626 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 18 31 December 2007	Central Coast Mariners	2 : 5	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Jedinak  32' J.Aloisi  63'		Caceres  4' Allsopp  23'  61' Thompson  36' Muscat  43' (pen)	Attendance: 18,686 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 19 5 January 2008	Queensland Roar	1 : 2	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Marcinho  73'		Allsopp  56' Thompson  63'	Attendance: 21,475 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 20 11 January 2008	Melbourne Victory	3 : 0	Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Hernández  31' Ward  35' Patafta  88'			Attendance: 25,489 Referee: Peter Green

Round 21 20 January 2008	Sydney FC	2 : 2	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Corica  4' Brosque  62'	(Report) (Summary)	Milligan  46' (o.g.) Allsopp  76'	Attendance: 33,458 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Central Coast Mariners	21	10	4	7	30	25	+5	34	2009 AFC Champions League Group stage
2	Newcastle Jets (C)	21	9	7	5	25	21	+4	34
3	Sydney FC	21	8	8	5	28	24	+4	32	2008 Pan-Pacific Championship
4	Queensland Roar	21	8	7	6	25	21	+4	31	2008 A-League Finals Series
5	Melbourne Victory	21	6	9	6	29	29	0	27
6	Adelaide United	21	6	8	7	31	29	+2	26
7	Perth Glory	21	4	8	9	27	34	−7	20
8	Wellington Phoenix	21	5	5	11	25	37	−12	20

Updated to games played on 20 January 2008
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 2008 A-League Finals Series.
²First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage.
³Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
⁴Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the 2009 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

2008 AFC Champions League

Warm-up matches

14 February 2008	Whittlesea Zebras	1 : 3	Melbourne Victory	Epping Stadium, Melbourne

26 February 2008	Melbourne Victory	2 : 1	Adelaide United	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne

4 March 2008	Adelaide United	1 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide

Matches

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Gamba Osaka	6	4	2	0	14	8	6	14
Melbourne Victory	6	2	1	3	10	11	-1	7
Chunnam Dragons	6	1	3	2	8	10	-2	6
Chonburi FC	6	1	2	3	7	10	-3	5

12 March 2008	Melbourne Victory	2 : 0	Chunnam Dragons	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 23,356

19 March 2008	Chonburi FC	3 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok
				Attendance: 10,000

9 April 2008	Melbourne Victory	3 : 4	Gamba Osaka	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 23,857

23 April 2008	Gamba Osaka	2 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita
				Attendance: 8,132

7 May 2008	Chunnam Dragons	1 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Gwang-Yang Stadium, Gwangyang
				Attendance: 3,000

21 May 2008	Melbourne Victory	3 : 1	Chonburi FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 9,558

References

Soccer in Australia Football Federation Australia National teams Men's Men's U-23 Men's U-20 Men's U-17 Men's Beach Men's Paralympic Women's Women's U-20 Women's U-17 Current competitions A-League Youth League W-League National Premier Leagues FFA Cup FFA State Institute Challenge Defunct competitions National Soccer League NSL Cup National Youth League (1984–2004) Women's National Soccer League Australia Cup Lists Clubs Venues (stadiums by capacity) Champions Other League system Professional Footballers Australia Football Hall of Fame Women's soccer in Australia

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Melbourne Victory FC Men Women Youth Club History Players Records Seasons Grounds Olympic Park Stadium (2005–2007) Etihad Stadium (2006–present) AAMI Park (2010–present) Seasons (10) 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Managers Ernie Merrick (2005–2011) Mehmet Durakovic (2011–2012) Jim Magilton (2012) Ange Postecoglou (2012–13) Kevin Muscat (2013–) Captains Kevin Muscat (2005–2011) Adrian Leijer (2011–2013) Mark Milligan (2013–) Rivalries Melbourne Derby The Big Blue