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A-League Men

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 203.25.1.208 (talk) at 04:07, 7 November 2011 (→‎Squad and salary cap). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see A-League Men (disambiguation).

A-League Men
File:A-League logo.png
Founded2004
Country Australia
 New Zealand
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)FFA Cup
International cup(s)AFC Champions League
Current championsTemplate:ALeague BR
(2010–11)
Current premiersTemplate:ALeague BR
Most championshipsTemplate:ALeague SFC
Template:ALeague MV (2 each)
Most premiershipsTemplate:ALeague MV (2)
TV partnersFox Sports
Websitewww.a-league.com.au
Current: 2011–12 A-League

The A-League is the top Australasian professional football (soccer) league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia (FFA), it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company Australia and Qantas, and is therefore officially known as the Hyundai A-League.

The league is contested by ten teams: nine located across Australia and one from New Zealand.[1] Related leagues include a National Youth League and the Women's Westfield W-League.

Format

Pre-Season Cup

Main article: A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup

Prior to the 2009–10 season, a pre-season competition was held in August, as a precursor to the main season. In the Pre-Season Cup, the teams were evenly placed into two groups. Each team played the others in the group once over three rounds.

Beginning in 2006, an additional bonus round was then held, with each team playing a cross-over match with a team from a different group. In addition to the standard points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw), there were special bonus points on offer for the bonus round matches:

  • 1 bonus point for 2 goals scored by a team,
  • 2 bonus points for 3 goals scored by a team, or
  • 3 bonus points for 4 or more goals scored by a team.
  • 4 bonus points for scoring 5 goals by a player.

This format was edited for the 2007 competition. The bonus round was removed, and the bonus points system introduced into each of the first three rounds. All eight teams then entered a knock-out round, culminating in the final in late August.

The Pre-Season Cup was removed from 2009-10's A-League schedule in order to give the clubs more control over their own pre-season training.[2]

Regular season

The regular season runs mainly during the Australian summer, from early October to February of the following year. The competition consists of 30 home-and-away rounds, with each team playing each other team three times – twice at one team's home stadium and once at the other's. The teams which are allotted two home matches against an opponent in one season are allotted one home match against that opponent in the following season. Each match sees the winning team awarded three competition points, or in the case of a draw, the teams receive one point each. At the end of the season, the teams are ranked firstly in terms of competition points accumulated, then goal difference, total goals scored, head-to-head records between tying teams and finally the number of cards each team has received.[3] The club at the top of this ladder is crowned A-League Premiers, and as of the 2006–07 season, will be entered into the AFC Champions League.[4]

At the completion of the regular season teams are ranked from one through to ten with the top six teams progressing to the finals series. The position of each team is determined by the highest number of points accumulated during the Regular Season. If two or more teams are level on points accumulated, the following criteria are applied, in order, until one of the teams can be determined as the higher ranked:

  1. Highest goal difference;
  2. Highest number of goals scored;
  3. Highest number of points accumulated in matches between the teams concerned;
  4. Highest goal difference in matches between the teams concerned;
  5. Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams concerned;
  6. Lowest number of red cards accumulated;
  7. Lowest number of yellow cards accumulated;
  8. Toss of a coin.

Finals series

The top-six-ranked teams at the end of the regular season are entered into a finals series,[5] where the top two ranked teams in the regular season compete over two legs (with ties decided by the away goals rule, including extra time), the winner progressing straight to and hosting the Grand Final.

On the same weekend, the third and sixth-ranked teams play against each other; the same for the fourth and fifth-ranked teams. The winner of each of these matches plays against each other, the winner of which goes ahead to play in a Preliminary Final against the loser of the two-legged match between the top two teams. The winner of this match progresses to the Grand Final. As of the 2006–07 season, this team will also contest the AFC Champions League, although if the team that wins the Premiership goes through to the Grand Final then the other Grand Final competitor will be awarded the second spot in the competition, win or lose.[4] In previous seasons the finals series had four teams, which was extended to accommodate for the increased number of clubs in the competition.

FFA Cup

Main article: FFA Cup

Details and format of the FFA Cup have been declared finalised and it will be a knock-out style cup. The FFA Cup has been announced to launch in March 2012 to January 2013 [6] during the 2012-13 A-League season with games to be played midweek and the final to be held on Australia Day. All football clubs will be available to enter the cup and smaller teams will have to survive earlier knockout rounds before mixing with A-League clubs in the last-32 stage.

The winner of the cup is expected to gain qualification to the AFC Champions League. It is hoped that the cup will help engage local football fans in the community, subsequently boosting interest in the A-League.

Promotion

The A-League logo, designed by Coast Design Sydney, is a three-dimensional sphere. The two-toned ochre colours represent the sun, earth and desert while the 'glow' emanating from the centre of the logo depicts the playing season's Spring and Summer time span. The eight 'A' figures that make up the ball shape represent the eight foundation clubs.[7]

At the start of the inaugural season, an A$3 million dollar advertising campaign was launched, with the television and film advertisements produced by Ridley Scott's production company. The theme for the campaign was: "Football, but not as you know it".

A new television advertisement was created for the start of the 2007–08 season, which debuted on Foxtel's program, Total Football. It was filmed at Bob Jane Stadium in Melbourne. The theme of the current campaign is "90 minutes, 90 emotions".[8] This promotional campaign continued into the 2008–09 season, along with music track "My People" from Australian act The Presets.

The A-League has been featured in the FIFA series by EA SPORTS since the 2008 edition of the game, as well as the Football Manager series by SI Games and the Championship Manager series by Beautiful Game Studios.[9]

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 a Fox reality show, Football Superstar, offered as a prize, to the winner, a contract with an A-League club. The clubs that have participated so far are Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar

Current Clubs


There are currently nine clubs from Australia and one New Zealand playing in the A-League. Only four of these clubs, Template:ALeague AU, Brisbane Roar (as Queensland Roar), Newcastle Jets, and Template:ALeague PG, existed before the A-League was formed.

Unlike most European leagues, there is no system for promotion and relegation of teams nor a national knockout cup competition along the lines of the FA Cup. The A-League system thus shares some franchising elements with most other professional leagues in Australia, as well as Major League Soccer and other major American based sports leagues.

Wellington Phoenix replaced the Template:ALeague NZK at the start of the 2007–08 season.[10][11]

On March 1, 2011 the FFA officially announced that the licence held by franchise North Queensland Fury had been revoked due to financial reasons.[12]

Team City Stadium Founded Joined Head Coach Captain
Current A-League Clubs
Adelaide United South Australia Adelaide, SA Hindmarsh Stadium 2003 2005 Netherlands Rini Coolen Australia Jon McKain
Brisbane Roar Queensland Brisbane, QLD Suncorp Stadium 1957 2005 Australia Ange Postecoglou Australia Matt Smith
Central Coast Mariners New South Wales Gosford, NSW Bluetongue Stadium 2004 2005 Australia Graham Arnold Australia Alex Wilkinson
Gold Coast United Queensland Gold Coast, QLD Skilled Park 2008 2009 Israel Miron Bleiberg Australia Michael Thwaite
Melbourne Heart Victoria (state) Melbourne, VIC AAMI Park 2008 2010 Netherlands John van 't Schip Brazil Fred
Melbourne Victory Victoria (state) Melbourne, VIC AAMI Park & Etihad Stadium 2004 2005 Australia Mehmet Durakovic Australia Adrian Leijer
Newcastle Jets New South Wales Newcastle, NSW Ausgrid Stadium 2000 2005 Australia Gary van Egmond Australia Jobe Wheelhouse
Perth Glory Western Australia Perth, WA NIB Stadium 1995 2005 Scotland Ian Ferguson Australia Jacob Burns
Sydney FC New South Wales Sydney, NSW Sydney Football Stadium 2004 2005 Czech Republic Vítězslav Lavička Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn
Wellington Phoenix New Zealand Wellington, NZL Westpac Stadium 2007 2007 New Zealand Ricki Herbert Australia Andrew Durante
Team City Stadium Founded Joined Ceased Operations Last Head Coach Last Captain
Defunct Franchises
New Zealand Knights New Zealand Auckland, NZL North Harbour Stadium 1998 2005 2007 New Zealand Ricki Herbert England Darren Bazeley
North Queensland Fury Queensland Townsville, QLD Dairy Farmers Stadium 2008 2009 2011 Czech Republic František Straka Australia Ufuk Talay

Expansion

Main article: Expansion of the A-League

While making a relatively modest start in order to ensure future stability, both Football Federation Australia and the media have indicated significant interest in expanding the league. The eight foundation clubs had exclusivity clauses for their respective cities valid for five years, but this does not exclude teams from other areas. Some have questioned the logic in expanding the league so soon as many clubs are struggling to stay afloat and think by expanding they are only diluting the playing talent even further.

Before the introduction of the A-League, FFA chairman Frank Lowy speculated that he hoped to expand the league into other cities, mentioning Canberra, Hobart, Wollongong, Geelong, Bendigo, Cairns, Ballarat, Albury, Wodonga, Launceston, Christchurch, Auckland, Sunshine Coast and possibly Darwin.[13][14][15][16]

On 29 September 2009 West Sydney were given an A-League license for the 2011–12 season.[17][18] On 2 October, the club was officially named Sydney Rovers FC.[19] This was to be short lived as on the 10 December 2010 it was officially announced that Sydney Rovers FC would not be admitted to the competition and that the league administration would commence the search for a new Western Sydney Franchise.[20] Consortiums from Wollongong, Tasmania and Canberra are seeking to convince the FFA to instead award the 12th licence to their bids.

Squad and salary cap

An A-League squad must have between 20 and 23 players, with a maximum of 5 players from outside Australia (and New Zealand, in the case of Wellington Phoenix).[21] The squad must also include at least three under-20 players[22] and may have one additional player from the Asian Football Confederation[citation needed].

For the 2010-11 season, each club has a salary cap of A$2.35 million (excluding Marquee, guest and replacement players) on top of Additional Services Agreements (ASA's) that can be worth up to A$275,000[21] – much less than the millions of dollars a year that individual star players earn in Europe's top football leagues. The average annual salary for an A-league player excluding Marquee players is A$106,608 and the minimum salary is A$46,215.[21][23]

Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-Visa Foreign
Template:ALeague AU Brazil Cássio Netherlands Andwélé Slory Netherlands Sergio van Dijk Ukraine Yevhen Levchenko Uruguay Francisco Usúcar Portugal Ricardo Da Silva1
Template:ALeague BR Albania Besart Berisha Bahrain Sayed Mohamed Adnan Brazil Henrique Canada Issey Nakajima-Farran Germany Thomas Broich None
Template:ALeague CCM Netherlands Patrick Zwaanswijk New Zealand Michael McGlinchey None None None Malta John Hutchinson2
Template:ALeague GCU Brazil Robson Ivory Coast Adama Traore Netherlands Maceo Rigters Netherlands Paul Beekmans Netherlands Peter Jungschläger New Zealand Glen Moss2
Eritrea Samuel Tesfagabr1
Eritrea Ambesager Yosief1
Croatia Ante Rožić1
Template:ALeague MH Argentina Jonathan Germano Brazil Alex Terra Brazil Fred Brazil Maycon Netherlands Rutger Worm Australia Adrian Madaschi3
Template:ALeague MV Brazil Fabio Costa Rica Carlos Hernández Costa Rica Jean Carlos Solórzano New Zealand Marco Rojas None Scotland Grant Brebner1
Template:ALeague NUJ Brazil Tiago England Michael Bridges England Francis Jeffers South Korea Byun Sung-Hwan New Zealand Jeremy Brockie Iraq Ali Abbas Al-Hilfi1[24]
Template:ALeague PG Republic of Ireland Billy Mehmet Republic of Ireland Liam Miller Netherlands Bas van den Brink Netherlands Victor Sikora Scotland Steven McGarry Brazil Andrezinho3
New Zealand Shane Smeltz2
Template:ALeague SFC Brazil Bruno Cazarine Japan Hirofumi Moriyasu Netherlands Pascal Bosschaart Slovakia Karol Kisel Finland Juho Mäkelä Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn1
Template:ALeague WP Barbados Paul Ifill England Chris Greenacre Spain Dani Sánchez Trinidad and Tobago Tony Warner None Brazil Daniel1
Malta Emmanuel Muscat2
United States Alex Smith3[25]

These players 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;
4Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games).

Marquee player

In order to combat fears that the salary cap would reduce the capacity of the clubs to attract crowds through big-name players, the league allows each team to have one "marquee" player, whose salary is exempt from the salary cap. Arguably the best-known example of a marquee player in the A-League was the prominent former FA Premier League player Dwight Yorke, who played for Sydney FC in the inaugural season.[citation needed] From the 2008–09 season, A-League clubs may have a Junior Marquee player who is under the age of 23. The Junior Marquee's wages can be subsidised with A$150,000 outside the salary cap. On 19 April 2010 the A-League announced that in addition to marquee players and junior marquee, the 2010-11 season would also allow for an Australian marquee player.[26]

Club Australian Marquee International Marquee Junior Marquee player Captain Vice-Captain
Template:ALeague AU Australia Dario Vidošić[27] Netherlands Sergio van Dijk[28] None Australia Jon McKain[29] Australia Eugene Galeković[30]
Template:ALeague BR None None None Australia Matt Smith[31] Australia Shane Stefanutto[32]
Template:ALeague CCM None None Australia Oliver Bozanic[33] Australia Alex Wilkinson[34] Malta John Hutchinson[35]
Template:ALeague GCU None None Australia Tahj Minniecon[36] Australia Michael Thwaite[37] New Zealand Glen Moss
Netherlands Paul Beekmans[38]
Template:ALeague MH Australia Simon Colosimo Brazil Fred[39] None Brazil Fred[40] Australia Matt Thompson[41]
Template:ALeague MV Australia Archie Thompson[42] Australia Harry Kewell[43] None Australia Adrian Leijer[44] Scotland Grant Brebner[citation needed]
Template:ALeague NUJ Australia Jason Culina[45] None None Australia Jobe Wheelhouse[46] Australia Kasey Wehrman[citation needed]
Template:ALeague PG Australia Mile Sterjovski[47] New Zealand Shane Smeltz[48] None Australia Jacob Burns[49] Australia Chris Coyne[citation needed]
Template:ALeague SFC Australia Nick Carle[50] Australia Brett Emerton[51] Australia Terry Antonis[citation needed] Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn[52] Australia Brett Emerton
Slovakia Karol Kisel[53]
Template:ALeague WP None None[54] None Australia Andrew Durante[55] New Zealand Tim Brown[56]

Youth league

Main article: A-League National Youth League

Before the A-League 2008-09 season, a national youth league was set up in conjunction with the A-League in order to continue to blood young Australian talent into the league as well as into the Australian national team and its affiliates such as the under 17, under 20 and under 23 teams. The league's inaugural season was made up of seven teams, each linked to the corresponding Australian club in the A-League (excluding Template:ALeague WP) and had strong links to players training at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). Some changes were implemented for the 2009–10 season, including the addition of the Template:ALeague GCU and a team from the AIS. Wellington Phoenix does not have a team in the youth league.

The original format of the youth league was similar to the previous A-league, made up of 21 rounds (18 games each plus three byes) corresponding with the A-League fixtures and occasionally used as curtain raisers. The new format has 27 rounds, however each team has three byes over the season.

Stadiums

Primary venues used in the A-League:

Template:ALeague BR Template:ALeague SFC Template:ALeague WP Template:ALeague NUJ Template:ALeague MH
Template:ALeague MV
Suncorp Stadium Sydney Football Stadium Westpac Stadium Ausgrid Stadium AAMI Park
Capacity: 52,500 Capacity: 45,500 Capacity: 36,000 Capacity: 33,000 Capacity: 30,050
Template:ALeague GCU Template:ALeague PG Template:ALeague CCM Template:ALeague AU
Skilled Park nib Stadium Bluetongue Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium
Capacity: 27,400 Capacity: 20,500 Capacity: 20,119 Capacity: 17,000

Other venues used by A-League clubs include:

AMI Stadium 38,628 Used by Template:ALeague WP for two A-League matches against Template:ALeague AU on 30 January and 5 December 2010[57]
Adelaide Oval 40,000 Used by Template:ALeague AU for three A-League matches against Template:ALeague SFC on 28 December 2007, 3 January 2009 and 29 December 2010 and for an A-League match against Template:ALeague MV on 11 February 2011
Canberra Stadium 25,011 Used by Template:ALeague CCM for an A-League match against Template:ALeague PG on 4 September 2009 and again for an A-League match against Template:ALeague AU on 31 October 2009
Docklands Stadium 53,359 Used by Template:ALeague MV for eight matches during 2006–07 season,[note 1] then served as team's permanent home venue for three following seasons and in 2010–11 season was used for five matches[note 2]
Dairy Farmers Stadium 26,500 Used by Template:ALeague NQF in the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons
North Harbour Stadium 25,000 Used by Template:ALeague NZK in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons
Parramatta Stadium 21,487 Used by Template:ALeague SFC for an AFC Champions League game on 25 April 2007 and in two A-League matches against Template:ALeague PG on 7 February and 21 November 2010.
Olympic Park Stadium 18,500 Used by Template:ALeague MV in the 2005–06 season and part of the 2006–07 season[note 1]
Arena Manawatu 18,000 Used by Template:ALeague WP for an A-League match against Template:ALeague SFC on 12 December 2009
Port Macquarie Regional Stadium 10,000 Used by Template:ALeague NUJ for an A-League match against Template:ALeague MH on 31 October 2010 (as the emergency replacement venue)

Notes:

  1. ^ a b Olympic Park Stadium was Melbourne Victory's home stadium during the 2005–06 season. Their round 2 match of the 2006–07 season, on 2 September 2006, was originally a one-off game at Docklands Stadium. After the success of the event, a further seven home games were relocated to Docklands Stadium, which went on to become Melbourne finals series' home venue and as of the 2007–08 season, the full-time home ground of the club.
  2. ^ Due to the existing contract with Docklands, the newly built Melbourne Rectangular Stadium was the Victory's home stadium on a limited basis for the 2010–11 season and became the team's permanent home stadium from 2011 onwards.

Crowds

Average crowds for the regular season are listed below. These figures do not include finals, international friendlies or AFC Champions League matches.

Team Crowd average
2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12
Template:ALeague AU 13,684 12,162 12,697 11,712 10,765 11,552 13,404
Template:ALeague BR 14,785 16,465 16,951 12,995 8,652 9,279 12,885
Template:ALeague CCM 7,899 9,828 12,738 10,465 7,426 7,713 8,629
Template:ALeague GCU – – – – 5,392 3,434 3,530
Template:ALeague MH – – – – – 8,312 6,448
Template:ALeague MV 14,158 27,728 26,064 24,516 21,105 15,234 39,830
Template:ALeague NUJ 8,912 11,442 13,177 9,729 6,340 8,429 13,444
Template:ALeague NZK 3,909 3,0141 – – – – –
Template:ALeague NQF – – – – 6,723 4,245 –
Template:ALeague PG 9,734 7,671 7,606 7,942 9,209 8,488 8,876
Template:ALeague SFC 16,669 14,999 16,382 12,380 12,987 7,656 15,789
Template:ALeague WP – –1 11,684 7,193 8,965 7,981 8,506
Whole season 11,281 12,985 14,608 12,181 9,831 8,393 12,989

1New Zealand Knights A-league Licence taken and renewed to new franchise Wellington Phoenix after season 2006-07.

Referees

The A-League also features some of Australia and New Zealand's top match officials.[58] Referees include:

A Panel Referees: B Panel Referees:

Queensland Chris Beath, FIFA
New South Wales Matthew Breeze, FIFA/AFC
New South Wales Strebre Delovski, FIFA
Queensland Peter Green, FIFA/AFC
New Zealand Peter O'Leary, FIFA
New South Wales Gerard Parsons
Australian Capital Territory Ben Williams, FIFA/AFC

New South Wales Kurt Ams
Scotland Chris Boyle
Victoria (state) Kevin Docherty
Queensland Jarred Gillett
Queensland Matthew Gillett
New South Wales Kris Griffiths-Jones
Queensland Allan Milliner
Australia Ryan Shepheard
New Zealand Jamie Cross, FIFA/A-League 4th Official
New Zealand Matthew Conger, A-League 4th Official

A Panel Assistant Referees B Panel Assistant Referees

New South Wales Rodney Allen, FIFA/AFC
Victoria (state) Hakan Anaz, FIFA/AFC
New Zealand Brent Best, FIFA
Victoria (state) Luke Brennan, FIFA
South Australia Paul Cetrangolo
Western Australia Matthew Cheeseman
South Australia Matthew Cream, FIFA/AFC
New South Wales Daniel Dewhurst
New South Wales Scott Edeling
Victoria (state) Shaun Evans
Western Australia Joe Fusari, FIFA
New South Wales Alex Glasgow, FIFA
South Australia Daniel Goodwin
New Zealand Jan Hintz, FIFA
New South Wales Sarah Ho, FIFA
Queensland Brad Hobson, FIFA
New Zealand Glen Lochrie, FIFA
New Zealand Mark Rule, FIFA
Australia Denis Silk, FIFA/AFC
Australian Capital Territory Ben Wilson, FIFA/AFC
New South Wales Murray Wilson

Queensland Ashley Beecham
Queensland Graham Buzzi
Australian Capital Territory Allyson Flynn, FIFA
Australia Ryan Gallagher
Australia Nathan Macdonald
Victoria (state) James Nicolopoulos
Western Australia Michael Nugus
Western Australia Josh Manella
Queensland David Walsh
South Australia Curtis Wordsworth

Champions and premiers

Main article: List of A-League champions

The club that accumulates the most points during the regular season receives the title of Premiers. Media reports sometimes erroneously refer to the Premiers as the minor premiers, a term used in other football codes in Australia. The team that wins the Grand Final receives the title of Champions.[59]

Season Pre-season cup Regular season Grand final
Premiers Points Runners-up Champions Score Runners-up
2005–06
Details 		Template:ALeague CCM Template:ALeague AU 43–36
Ladder 		Template:ALeague SFC Template:ALeague SFC 1–0
Grand Final 		Template:ALeague CCM
2006–07
Details 		Template:ALeague AU Template:ALeague MV 45–33
Ladder 		Template:ALeague AU Template:ALeague MV 6–0
Grand Final 		Template:ALeague AU
2007–08
Details 		Template:ALeague AU Template:ALeague CCM 34–34
GD: 5–4
Ladder 		Template:ALeague NUJ Template:ALeague NUJ 1–0
Grand Final 		Template:ALeague CCM
2008–09
Details 		Template:ALeague MV Template:ALeague MV 38–38
GF: 39–31
Ladder 		Template:ALeague AU Template:ALeague MV 1–0
Grand Final 		Template:ALeague AU
2009–10
Details 		Was not held Template:ALeague SFC 48–47
Ladder 		Template:ALeague MV Template:ALeague SFC 1–1 (a.e.t.)
4–2 (p.s.o)
Grand Final 		Template:ALeague MV
2010–11
Details 		Was not held Template:ALeague BR 65-57
Ladder 		Template:ALeague CCM Template:ALeague BR 2–2 (a.e.t.)
4–2 (p.s.o)
Grand Final 		Template:ALeague CCM

No team has ever successfully defended the Premiership or Championship. See also the list of champions from 1977 to 2004 in the previous National Soccer League competition.

Oceania Club Championship

In 2004–2005 Australia was still a part of the Oceania Football Confederation and Sydney FC won the right to compete in the Oceania Club Championship after defeating the Central Coast Mariners in a qualifying tournament. It has been suggested that the Wellington Phoenix should compete in the OFC Champions League after 2011, as the club will no longer be eligible for AFC Champions League football.

Season Qualified clubs
Team Final Position
2004–05
Details 		Template:ALeague SFC Winners
Details

AFC Champions League

See also: Australian clubs in the AFC Champions League

Two A-League clubs have participated in the AFC Champions League competition each season[60] since the 2007 competition. Theses teams were determined by finishing positions in the 2005–06 A-League season, the 2008 competition by finishing positions in the 2006–07 season, and so on.

The Champions and Premiers qualify for the cup. In the case where the same team is Champion and Premier, the losing grand finalist qualifies. The fact that a whole season passes before clubs compete in the Champions League is controversial[citation needed], as the next season passes before the Champions League begins. For example, Newcastle Jets competed in the 2009 Champions League, even though they finished last in the 2008–09 A-League season.

Season Qualified clubs
Team Final Position Team Final Position
2007
Details 		Template:ALeague SFC Group Stage (2nd)
Details 		Template:ALeague AU Group Stage (3rd)
Details
2008
Details 		Template:ALeague MV Group Stage (2nd)
Details 		Template:ALeague AU Runners-up
Details
2009
Details 		Template:ALeague NUJ Round of 16
Details 		Template:ALeague CCM Group Stage (4th)
Details
2010
Details 		Template:ALeague MV Group Stage (4th)
Details 		Template:ALeague AU Round of 16
Details
2011
Details 		Template:ALeague SFC Group Stage (3rd)
Details 		Template:ALeague MV Group Stage (4th)
Details
2012
Details 		Template:ALeague BR Yet to play
 Template:ALeague CCM Yet to play

All Time A-League Leaders

See also: A-League all-time records

Awards

Johnny Warren Medal

The Johnny Warren Medal, named after the late former Socceroo and media advocate Johnny Warren, is presented to the player who is deemed to be the best player overall at the end of the season as judged by his fellow players. Each player in the A-League votes three times over the season: after Round 7, Round 14 and Round 21. Players are not allowed to vote for players from their own team.

Year Player Club
2005–06 Australia Bobby Despotovski Template:ALeague PG
2006–07 Australia Nick Carle Template:ALeague NUJ
2007–08 Australia Joel Griffiths Template:ALeague NUJ
2008–09 New Zealand Shane Smeltz Template:ALeague WP
2009–10 Costa Rica Carlos Hernández Template:ALeague MV
2010–11 Argentina Marcos Flores Template:ALeague AU

Joe Marston Medal

The Joe Marston Medal is given to the best player in an A-League Grand Final. It is named after Joe Marston, a Socceroo in the 1950s.

Year Player Club
2006 Trinidad and Tobago Dwight Yorke Template:ALeague SFC
2007 Australia Archie Thompson Template:ALeague MV
2008 Australia Andrew Durante Template:ALeague NUJ
2009 Australia Tom Pondeljak Template:ALeague MV
2010 Australia Simon Colosimo Template:ALeague SFC
2011 Australia Matthew Ryan Template:ALeague CCM

NAB Young Footballer

The NAB Young Footballer Award is awarded to a youth (under 20) player judged by a panel of experts to be the best young performer throughout the season.

Year Player Club
2005–06 Australia Nick Ward Template:ALeague PG
2006–07 Australia Adrian Leijer Template:ALeague MV
2007–08 Australia Bruce Djite Template:ALeague AU
2008–09 Australia Scott Jamieson Template:ALeague AU
2009–10 Australia Tommy Oar Template:ALeague BR
2010–11 Australia Matthew Ryan Template:ALeague CCM

Reebok Golden Boot

The Reebok Golden Boot is presented to the player who scores the most goals during the season. Only regular A-League matches between Round 1 and Round 27 (or to Round 21 before season 2009–10) are included.

Year Player/s Club Goals
2005–06 Australia Alex Brosque
Australia Bobby Despotovski
Scotland Stewart Petrie
Australia Archie Thompson 		Template:ALeague QR
Template:ALeague PG
Template:ALeague CCM
Template:ALeague MV 		8
2006–07 Australia Daniel Allsopp Template:ALeague MV 11
2007–08 Australia Joel Griffiths Template:ALeague NUJ 12
2008–09 New Zealand Shane Smeltz Template:ALeague WP 12
2009–10 New Zealand Shane Smeltz Template:ALeague GCU 19
2010–11 Netherlands Sergio van Dijk Template:ALeague AU 16

Goalkeeper of the Year Award

Year Player Club
2005–06 Australia Clint Bolton Template:ALeague SFC
2006–07 Australia Michael Theoklitos Template:ALeague MV
2007–08 Australia Michael Theoklitos Template:ALeague MV
2008–09 Australia Eugene Galeković Template:ALeague AU
2009–10 Australia Eugene Galeković Template:ALeague AU
2010–11 Australia Michael Theoklitos Template:ALeague BR

Manager of the Year Award

Year Name Club
2005–06 Scotland Lawrie McKinna Template:ALeague CCM
2006–07 Scotland Ernie Merrick Template:ALeague MV
2007–08 Australia Gary van Egmond Template:ALeague NUJ
2008–09 Australia Aurelio Vidmar Template:ALeague AU
2009–10 Scotland Ernie Merrick Template:ALeague MV
2010–11 Australia Ange Postecoglou Template:ALeague BR

Fair Play Award

The Fair Play Award goes to the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season (Yellow Card = 1 point, Direct Red Card = 3 points, 2nd Caution Red Card = 2 points).

Year Club
2005–06 Template:ALeague PG
2006–07 Template:ALeague PG
2007–08 Template:ALeague NUJ
2008–09 Template:ALeague QR
2009–10 Template:ALeague SFC
2010–11 Template:ALeague BR

Zurich Referee of the Year

Year Referee
2005–06 Australia Mark Shield
2006–07 Australia Mark Shield
2007–08 Australia Mark Shield
2008–09 Australia Matthew Breeze
2009–10 Australia Strebre Delovski
2010–11 Australia Matthew Breeze

Foreign Player of the Year

Year Player/s Club
2008–09 Scotland Charlie Miller Template:ALeague QR
2009–10 Costa Rica Carlos Hernández Template:ALeague MV
2010–11 Argentina Marcos Flores Template:ALeague AU

Solo Goal of the Year

Year Player/s Club
2009–10 Costa Rica Carlos Hernández Template:ALeague MV
2010–11 Australia Erik Paartalu Template:ALeague BR

TV Coverage

From the start of the inaugural 2005 season, TV coverage has been restricted to the subscription-only Fox Sport channel which obtained exclusive rights until 2012, which means that A-League games, as well as Socceroos matches, cannot be viewed free-to-air. That decision has been the source of much debate among the football community in Australia. On one hand, it is recognised that the injection of funds from the Fox contract assisted the league in its inception years, however, on the other hand the lack of free-to-air viewing prevented the majority of Australians, without pay-TV, from accessing the A-League on TV. The point of debate is whether the combination of Fox cash plus restrictions to free-to-air TV has either helped or hindered the A-League more in those crucial early years.

Rivalries

Although there is only one local derby in the history of the A-league (the two Melbourne-based clubs) many 'rivalries' have formed between A-League sides:

  • Template:ALeague MH v Template:ALeague MV: "Melbourne derby" The two teams first met on 8 October 2010 in a lively game at AAMI Park in front of 25,897 fans. Melbourne Heart came out on top with a 2-1 victory. Although the crowd was dominated by Victory fans, the Heart fans made their presence known. Aziz Behich was sent off after receiving two yellow cards. Even though they have only played three games, the rivalry is one of the most intense and well respected in the A-league, producing noticeable atmosphere and the largest crowds in the league, along with controversy with 11 goals and 2 reds cards in only three games.
  • Template:ALeague SFC v Template:ALeague MV: "The Big Blue" The clash between Australia's two biggest cities is considered one of the biggest rivalries in the league by both sets of fans. Sydney and Melbourne have been historical rivals for over a century, and their football teams are no exception. These contests are often full of spite and controversy on and off the pitch, the most recent example being a clash between Daniel Allsopp and Sydney coach John Kosmina.
  • Template:ALeague BR v Template:ALeague GCU: "The M1" or "South East Queensland Derby". Before their first encounter there were big media reports and controversy in the lead up to their first matchup in round 1 of the 2009–10 season. Hype was also surrounding Gold Coast United coach Miron Bleiberg (Former Queensland Roar Coach) returning to Suncorp Stadium. One of the most famous clashes, 26 December 2009, was hotly contested after former Roar star Charlie Miller left the club to join the Gold Coast.

References

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External links

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