2009–10 A-League

A-League
Season 2009–10
Champions Sydney FC (2nd title)
Premiers Sydney FC (1st title)
AFC Champions League Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory
Matches played 135
Goals scored 348 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer Shane Smeltz
(19 goals)
Best goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic
Biggest home win Wellington Phoenix 6–0 Gold Coast United
(25 October 2009)
Biggest away win Melbourne Victory 0–4 Central Coast Mariners
(7 November 2009)
North Queensland Fury 1–5 Central Coast Mariners
(21 November 2009)
Highest scoring Melbourne Victory 6–2 Perth Glory
(16 January 2010)
(8 goals)
Highest attendance 30,668
Lowest attendance 2,616
Average attendance 9,796

The 2009–10 A-League was the 33rd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fifth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. The season marked the addition of two new teams from Queensland. Gold Coast United FC and the North Queensland Fury FC made their A-League debuts at the start of the season.[1] Because of this, Queensland Roar were renamed to Brisbane Roar, as they were no longer the only A-League club from Queensland. With the inception of the two new clubs, many club transfers took place both within Australia and New Zealand, and around the world.

The length of the regular season was longer than in previous years, with 27 rounds rather than 21, plus finals. The season began on 6 August, with Melbourne hosting the Central Coast at home.[2] As well as these major changes to the league, the Pre-Season Challenge Cup was no longer held as part of the 2009–10 season due to a busier regular season schedule,[3] and clubs attracting higher profile pre-season friendlies. The Premiership and Championship double was completed by Sydney FC with victory over Melbourne in the final match of the regular season and on penalties in the Championship Grand Final.

Clubs

Team City Home Ground Capacity
Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000
Brisbane Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500
Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119
Gold Coast United Gold Coast Skilled Park 27,400
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Etihad Stadium 56,347
Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164
North Queensland Fury Townsville Dairy Farmers Stadium 26,500
Perth Glory Perth ME Bank Stadium 20,500
Sydney FC Sydney Sydney Football Stadium 45,500
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Westpac Stadium 36,000

Transfers

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Table Incoming manager Date of appointment Table
Sydney FC Australia John Kosmina Sacked 31 January 2009[4] 5th (08–09) Czech Republic Vítězslav Lavička 4 February 2009[5] Pre-season
Newcastle Jets Australia Gary van Egmond Resigned 27 June 2009[6] 8th (08–09) Australia Branko Čulina 30 June 2009 Pre-Season
Brisbane Roar Australia Frank Farina Sacked 14 October 2009[7] 6th (09–10) Australia Ange Postecoglou 16 October 2009[8] Round 10

Foreign players

Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-Visa Foreign
Adelaide United Brazil Alemão Brazil Cássio Brazil Cristiano Ghana Lloyd Owusu South Korea Shin In-seob Argentina Marcos Flores3
Brisbane Roar Belgium Pieter Collen Brazil Henrique Brazil Reinaldo Costa Rica Steven Bryce Indonesia Sergio van Dijk None
Central Coast Mariners England Nicky Travis Scotland Chris Doig Wales Jonathan Brown Wales Matt Crowell None Jamaica Wolry Wolfe4
Malta John Hutchinson2
Gold Coast United Brazil Jefferson Brazil Robson Ivory Coast Adama Traoré Netherlands Bas van den Brink Scotland Charlie Miller Brazil Anderson3
Melbourne Victory Costa Rica Marvin Angulo Costa Rica Carlos Hernández Thailand Surat Sukha None None New Zealand Glen Moss2
Scotland Grant Brebner1
Newcastle Jets England Michael Bridges Italy Marcello Fiorentini South Korea Song Jin-hyung None None Iraq Ali Abbas3
North Queensland Fury England Robbie Fowler England James Robinson Japan Kojiro Kaimoto New Zealand Jeremy Brockie Scotland Scott Wilson England Terry Cooke3
Netherlands Antilles Dyron Daal3
Perth Glory England Andy Todd Netherlands Victor Sikora Serbia Branko Jelić Scotland Steven McGarry None None
Sydney FC Slovakia Karol Kisel South Korea Byun Sung-hwan Switzerland Stephan Keller None None Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn1
Wellington Phoenix Barbados Paul Ifill Brazil Daniel Brazil Diego Walsh China Jiang Chen England Chris Greenacre Ivory Coast Eugène Dadi4
Malta Manny Muscat2

The following do not fill a Visa position:
1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian Residency (and New Zealand Residency, in the case of Wellington Phoenix);
2Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team;
3Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players;
4Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games)

Regular season

Pos
 Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Sydney FC (C) 27 15 3 9 35 23+12 48 2011 AFC Champions League Group stage
2 Melbourne Victory 27 14 5 8 47 32+15 47
3 Gold Coast United 27 13 5 9 39 35+4 44 2010 A-League Finals Series
4 Wellington Phoenix 27 10 10 7 37 29+8 40
5 Perth Glory 27 11 6 10 40 34+6 39
6 Newcastle Jets 27 10 4 13 33 45−12 34
7 North Queensland Fury 27 8 8 11 29 46−17 32
8 Central Coast Mariners 27 7 9 11 32 29+3 30
9 Brisbane Roar 27 8 6 13 32 42−10 30
10 Adelaide United 27 7 8 12 24 33−9 29

Source: the-AFC.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
1First place through to sixth place qualify for the 2010 A-League Finals Series.
2First place qualifies for the 2011 AFC Champions League Group stage.
3Winning the 2010 A-League Grand Final automatically earns qualification for the 2011 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless first place are champions.
4Second place qualifies for the 2011 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off, unless they qualify for the 2010 A-League Grand Final alongside first place or become A-League Champions, subsequently third place then qualify for the 2011 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off.

Home and away season

The 2009–10 A-League season was played over 27 rounds, followed by a finals series.[2]

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Round 25

Round 26

Round 27

Finals series

  Semi Finals Week 1 Semi Finals Week 2 Preliminary Final Grand Final
    A – 18 February       D – 7 March               G – 20 March  
  1  Sydney FC  1 —  Sydney FC  2    Melbourne Victory  1 (2)
  2  Melbourne Victory  2 —  Melbourne Victory (a.e.t.)  2              Sydney FC (p.s.o)  1 (4)
                    F – 13 March          
    B – 20 February                Sydney FC  4        
  3  Gold Coast United  0 (5)              Wellington Phoenix  2        
  6  Newcastle Jets (p.s.o)  0 (6)     E – 7 March                  
             Wellington Phoenix (a.e.t.)  3                
    C – 21 February        Newcastle Jets  1                
  4  Wellington Phoenix (p.s.o)  1 (4)                        
  5  Perth Glory  1 (2)                        

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 New Zealand Shane SmeltzGold Coast United 19
2 Indonesia Sergio van DijkBrisbane Roar 13
3 Costa Rica Carlos HernándezMelbourne Victory 12
Barbados Paul IfillWellington Phoenix
5 Australia Archie ThompsonMelbourne Victory 10
6 Australia John AloisiSydney FC 9
England Robbie FowlerNorth Queensland Fury
8 Australia Daniel McBreenPerth Glory 8
9 New Zealand Tim BrownWellington Phoenix 7
Australia Steve CoricaSydney FC
Australia Matt ThompsonNewcastle Jets

Attendance

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.

Team Hosted Average High Low Total
Melbourne Victory1420,75030,66815,168290,503
Sydney FC1412,98725,4078,359181,816
Adelaide United1410,76515,0388,244150,705
Perth Glory139,20512,8227,217119,670
Wellington Phoenix138,96519,2584,115116,549
Brisbane Roar148,65019,9025,801121,099
Central Coast Mariners137,43011,1375,19396,588
North Queensland Fury136,7238,8974,15687,396
Newcastle Jets136,3589,8924,32982,656
Gold Coast United145,39210,0242,61675,493
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League total 135 9,796 30,668 2,616 1,322,475

Top 10 Attendances

Attendance Round Date Home Score Away Venue Weekday Time of Day
44,560 Grand Final 20 March 2010 Melbourne Victory 1–1 Sydney FC Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening
32,792 Finals
Wk 2 		7 March 2010 Wellington Phoenix 3–1 Newcastle Jets Westpac Stadium Sunday Afternoon
30,668 10 9 October 2009 Melbourne Victory 0–3 Sydney FC Etihad Stadium Friday Night
27,344 20 19 December 2009 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Sydney FC Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening
25,407 27 14 February 2010 Sydney FC 2–0 Melbourne Victory Sydney Football Stadium Sunday Evening
24,278 Finals
Wk 1 		21 February 2010 Wellington Phoenix 1–1 Perth Glory Westpac Stadium Sunday Evening
23,818 Final
Wk 2 		7 March 2010 Sydney FC 2–2 Melbourne Victory Sydney Football Stadium Sunday Evening
22,726 26 5 February 2010 Melbourne Victory 2–0 North Queensland Fury Etihad Stadium Friday Night
21,182 12 24 October 2009 Melbourne Victory 3–1 Adelaide United Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening
20,537 16 28 November 2009 Melbourne Victory 4–0 Gold Coast United Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening

Discipline

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. It was awarded to Premiers Sydney FC who scraped in by just 1 point from rivals Melbourne Victory.

1 point Yellow Card
2 points Second Caution Red Card
3 points Direct Red Card
Team Points
Sydney FC 38 0 1 41
Melbourne Victory 40 1 1 45
North Queensland Fury 41 2 0 45
Adelaide United 43 1 1 48
Central Coast Mariners 42 2 0 46
Newcastle Jets 43 1 0 45
Perth Glory 50 1 0 52
Gold Coast United 48 1 2 56
Wellington Phoenix 54 0 1 57
Brisbane Roar 54 2 1 61
Melbourne Heart 0 0 0 0
Sydney Rovers 0 0 0 0
Totals 453 11 7

* The Newcastle Jets' Tarek Elrich received a direct red card in their round 7 fixture against Sydney FC. However, this was successfully appealed by the club and expunged from Elrich and the team's records.[13]
* Adelaide United's Iain Fyfe received a direct red card in their round 19 fixture against Perth Glory. However, this was overruled by the match review panel and expunged from Fyfe and the team's records.[14]

NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award

The NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award will be awarded to the finest U/21 player talent throughout the Hyundai A-League 2009–10 competition. One nominee is announced per month and all nominees will qualify to be named the NAB Footballer of the Year at the conclusion of the season.

Month Player Club
August Australia Kofi Danning Sydney FC
September Australia Leigh Broxham Melbourne Victory
October Australia Tommy Oar Brisbane Roar
November Australia Rostyn Griffiths North Queensland Fury
December Australia Ben Kantarovski Newcastle Jets
January Australia Mathew Leckie Adelaide United

At the end of season awards night, it was announced that Brisbane Roar's Tommy Oar was the winner of NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award.[15]

See also

Team season articles

References

  1. ↑ "Gold Coast And Townsville Set For A-League". FourFourTwo. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Hyundai A-League 2009/10 Season Draw" (PDF). (2.33 MB) Football Federation Australia, 20 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  3. ↑ Hassett, Sebastian (20 April 2009). "Clubs ditch Pre-Season Cup". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  4. ↑ Coach John Kosmina dumped by A-League club Sydney FC
  5. ↑ Czech mate: Sydney FC confirm Lavicka appointment
  6. ↑ http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/106588,branko-is-new-jets-boss.aspx
  7. ↑ Brisbane Sack Farina
  8. ↑ Ange Is The Man For Roar
  9. ↑ Match re-scheduled due to World Cup qualifying fixture for New Zealand
  10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKFPKHlR09E
  11. ↑ Originally to be played on 30 January but rescheduled due to heavy rain.
  12. ↑ Originally to be played on 6 February but rescheduled due to drenched pitch caused by heavy rain.
  13. ↑ "Elrich red overturned". Football Federation Australia. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  14. ↑ "Outcome of independent Match Review Panel – Round 19". Football Federation Australia. 20 January 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  15. ↑ "NAB Young Footballer of the Year". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
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