A-League Men: Difference between revisions

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! style=background-color:black colspan=7 | <font color=white>Future A-League Clubs
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Revision as of 12:16, 5 August 2010

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

A-League Men
File:A-League logo.png
Logo Hyundai A-League
Founded2004
First season2005–06
ConfederationAFC(Asia)
Number of teams11
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)Challenge Cup
International cup(s)AFC Champions League
Pan-Pacific Championship
Current champions Template:ALeague SFC
(2009–10)
Current premiers Template:ALeague SFC
Most championships Template:ALeague SFC

 Template:ALeague MV (2 titles each)
Most premierships Template:ALeague MV (2 titles)
TV partnersFox Sports
Websitewww.A-League.com.au
Current: 2010–11 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 collapse of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company Australia, and is therefore officially known as the Hyundai A-League.

The league is contested by eleven teams: ten 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 August to February of the following year. The competition consists of 27 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 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]

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.[6]

At the start of the inaugural season, an AU$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".[7] 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.[8]. Additionally, it is featured in the Pro Evolution Soccer (series) by Konami.

In 2008 and 2009 a Fox reality show, Football Superstar, offered as a prize, to the winner, a contract with an A-League club.

Current clubs


There are currently eleven clubs from Australia and New Zealand playing in the A-League, with a 12th club from Sydney to be introduced for the 2011–12 season. Only four of these clubs, Template:ALeague AU, Brisbane Roar, Newcastle United 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.[9][10]


Team City Stadium Founded Joined Head Coach Captain
Current A-League Clubs
Adelaide South Australia Adelaide, SA Hindmarsh Stadium 2003 2005 Netherlands Rini Coolen Australia Travis Dodd
Brisbane Queensland Brisbane, QLD Suncorp Stadium 1957 2005 Australia Ange Postecoglou Australia Matt McKay
Central Coast New South Wales Gosford, NSW Bluetongue Stadium 2004 2005 Australia Graham Arnold Australia Alex Wilkinson
Gold Coast Queensland Robina, QLD Skilled Park 2008 2009 Israel Miron Bleiberg Australia Jason Culina
Melbourne Heart Victoria (state) Melbourne, VIC AAMI Park 2008 2010 Netherlands John van 't Schip Australia Simon Colosimo
Melbourne Victory Victoria (state) Melbourne, VIC AAMI Park & Etihad Stadium 2004 2005 Scotland Ernie Merrick Australia Kevin Muscat
Newcastle New South Wales Newcastle, NSW EnergyAustralia Stadium 2000 2005 Australia Branko Čulina England Michael Bridges
North Queensland Queensland Townsville, QLD Dairy Farmers Stadium 2008 2009 Czech Republic František Straka Australia Ufuk Talay
Perth Western Australia Perth, WA NIB Stadium 1995 2005 Australia David Mitchell Australia Jacob Burns
Sydney New South Wales Sydney, NSW Sydney Football Stadium 2004 2005 Czech Republic Vítězslav Lavička Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn
Wellington New Zealand Wellington, NZL Westpac Stadium 2007 2008 New Zealand Ricki Herbert Australia Andrew Durante
Future A-League Clubs
Sydney Rovers New South Wales Sydney, NSW TBA 2009 2011 TBA TBA
Team City Stadium Founded Joined Ceased Operations Last Head Coach Last Captain
Defunct Franchises
New Zealand New Zealand Auckland, NZL Mt Smart Stadium 1998 2005 2007 New Zealand Ricki Herbert England Darren Bazeley


Expansion

Main article: Expansion of the A-League

Template:A-League confirmed expansion map

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.

Before the introduction of the A-League, FFA chairman Frank Lowy speculated that he hoped to expand the league into additional areas, mentioning Canberra, Hobart, Wollongong, Geelong , Gippsland, Far North Queensland, Bendigo, Ballarat, North Coast, Albury, Wodonga, Launceston, Christchurch, Auckland, Sunshine Coast and possibly Darwin.[11][12][13][14]

A Townsville-based group first assembled a bid when it was announced that the Template:ALeague NZK would not continue after the first two seasons. The Knights were instead replaced by Template:ALeague WP but the momentum from the bid process continued.[9] In November 2007, it was revealed that the name of the club, if and when accepted, would be North Queensland Thunder FC, and Dairy Farmers Stadium would be the team home ground.[15][16]

Gold Coast based club Gold Coast Galaxy FC announced in December 2007 that they were ready and able to join the league upon expansion. The team proposed to play its home games at Skilled Park.[17]

After considerable media speculation about the teams from December 2007 onwards,[18][19][20] it was announced in February 2008 that Template:ALeague GCG and Template:ALeague NQT had been tentatively admitted to the league for the 2008–09 season – pending the provision to FFA of additional financial criteria.[21] However expansion was later delayed for at least another season.[22]

In May 2008, FFA announced their intention to add as many as four teams to the league for the 2009–10 season.[23] Both Townsville and the Gold Coast also saw the appearance of competing bids – by former Thunder backer Melissa Fischer-Massa[24] and billionaire Clive Palmer[25] On 6 June 2008, the FFA announced that Clive Palmer had signed a provisional agreement to enter a franchise, to be named Gold Coast United Football Club, in the 2009–10 season.[26] The success of this is expected to rely on the acceptance of the tenth franchise's inclusion for this season. It was officially announced on 28 August that Gold Coast United and North Queensland FC will be joining the league for season 5. In September, 2008, FFA awarded a second Melbourne team exclusive negotiating rights to enter the league in 2010–2011.[27] The new Victorian team is set to make its debut in the 2010/11 A-League season, and is tentatively known as Melbourne Heart FC.

On 29 September West Sydney were given an A-League license for the 2011–12 season.[28][29] Furthermore, on 2 October, the club was officially named Sydney Rovers FC.[30]


The decision to award Melbourne and Sydney second franchises at the expense of new areas was controversial, considering both cities already had seen large drops in attendances in recent seasons despite being the two most successful clubs in league. It remains to be seen how the new clubs will garner support from people who have failed to turn out see table topping Melbourne Victory or Sydney FC with famous marquee players.

Squad and salary cap

The minimum number of players on each squad is 20. From the 2010-11 season, each club will have a salary cap of AU$2.35 million [31] on top of Additional Services Agreements (ASA's) that can be worth up to AU$275,000 for a maximum 21 players (Excluding Marquee players) – much less than the millions of dollars a year that individual star players (including some Australians) earn in Europe's top football leagues. Maximum number of players in a squad is capped at 23, and thus, the 22nd and 23rd players are exempt from the salary cap, and therefore can be paid an unlimited salary (see Marquee Player below). The squad must also include at least three under-20 players. Clubs may also only have a maximum of five players from outside Australia and New Zealand in their squad,[32] and may now have one additional player from the Asian Football Confederation.

Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 AFC Visa Non-Visa Foreign1
Template:ALeague AU Argentina Marcos Flores Brazil Cássio Ghana Lloyd Owusu Indonesia Sergio van Dijk None South Korea Inseob Shin None
Template:ALeague BR Brazil Henrique Costa Rica Jean Carlos Solórzano Germany Thomas Broich None None None Brazil Reinaldo
Template:ALeague CCM Argentina Patricio Pérez Netherlands Patrick Zwaanswijk Scotland Chris Doig None None None Malta John Hutchinson
Template:ALeague GCU Brazil Anderson Brazil Robson Ivory Coast Adama Traore England John Curtis Netherlands Bas van den Brink None None
Template:ALeague MH Brazil Alex Netherlands Rutger Worm Netherlands Gerald Sibon None None None None
Template:ALeague MV Costa Rica Marvin Angulo Costa Rica Carlos Hernández None None None Thailand Surat Sukha Scotland Grant Brebner
Template:ALeague NUJ China Zhang Shuo England Michael Bridges Italy Marcello Fiorentini None None Iraq Ali Abbas Al-Hilfi None
Template:ALeague NQF England Mark Hughes Germany André Kilian Netherlands Antilles Dyron Daal Togo Éric Akoto Uganda Eugene Sseppuya None None
Template:ALeague PG England Robbie Fowler England Andy Todd Netherlands Victor Sikora Scotland Steven McGarry Serbia Branko Jelic None None
Template:ALeague SFC Japan Hirofumi Moriyasu Switzerland Stephan Keller None None None South Korea Byun Sung-Hwan Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn
Sydney Rovers None None None None None None None
Template:ALeague WP Argentina Oscar Roberto Cornejo Barbados Paul Ifill Brazil Diego Walsh England Chris Greenacre None None Brazil Daniel
Malta Emmanuel Muscat

1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian or New Zealand Residency; or Australian and New Zealand residents who have chosen to represent another national team. These players do not fill a Visa position.


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, and is quite well-paid. Arguably the best-known example of a marquee player in the A-League was the prominent English 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 $AU 150,000 outside the salary cap. On April 19, 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.[31]

Club Australian Marquee Marquee player Junior Marquee player Captain Vice-Captain
Template:ALeague AU None None None Australia Travis Dodd Australia Lucas Pantelis
Template:ALeague BR None None None Australia Matt McKay Australia Josh McCloughan
Template:ALeague CCM None None Australia Oliver Bozanic Australia Alex Wilkinson Malta John Hutchinson
Template:ALeague GCU Australia Jason Culina None Australia Tahj Minniecon Australia Jason Culina Australia Michael Thwaite
Template:ALeague MH Australia Josip Skoko None None Australia Simon Colosimo Australia Matt Thompson
Template:ALeague MV Australia Archie Thompson None None Australia Kevin Muscat Australia Adrian Leijer
Template:ALeague NUJ None None Australia Adam D'Apuzzo England Michael Bridges Australia Ljubo Miličević
Template:ALeague NQF None None None Australia Ufuk Talay Australia Gareth Edds
Template:ALeague PG Australia Mile Sterjovski England Robbie Fowler Australia Tando Velaphi Australia Jacob Burns Australia Chris Coyne
Template:ALeague SFC Australia Nick Carle None Australia Terry Antonis Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn Australia Hayden Foxe
Sydney Rovers None None None None None
Template:ALeague WP Australia Jade North Barbados Paul Ifill None Australia Andrew Durante New Zealand Tim Brown

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 and Template:ALeague NQF do not have teams 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 MV Template:ALeague BR Template:ALeague SFC Template:ALeague WP Template:ALeague MH
Template:ALeague MV 		Template:ALeague GCU
Etihad Stadium Suncorp Stadium Sydney Football Stadium Westpac Stadium AAMI Park Skilled Park
Capacity: 56,347 Capacity: 52,500 Capacity: 45,500 Capacity: 36,000 Capacity: 30,050 Capacity: 27,400
Template:ALeague NQF Template:ALeague NUJ Template:ALeague PG Template:ALeague CCM Template:ALeague AU Template:ALeague SR
Dairy Farmers Stadium EnergyAustralia Stadium nib Stadium Bluetongue Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium TBA
Capacity: 26,500 Capacity: 26,164 Capacity: 20,500 Capacity: 20,119 Capacity: 17,000 TBA

Other venues used by A-League clubs include:

Stadium Capacity Details
Stadium Australia 83,500 Used by Template:ALeague SFC for a friendly game against Los Angeles Galaxy on 27 November 2007
AMI Stadium 38,628 Used by Template:ALeague WP for an A-League match against Template:ALeague AU on 30 January 2010.
Adelaide Oval 33,597 Used by Template:ALeague AU for two A-League matches against Template:ALeague SFC on 28 December 2007 and 3 January 2009
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.
North Harbour Stadium 25,000 Used by Template:ALeague NZK in the 2005–06 season and 2006–07 season
Parramatta Stadium 21,487 Used by Template:ALeague SFC for an AFC Champions League game on 25 April 2007 and will be used in an A-League match against Template:ALeague PG on 7 February 2010
Olympic Park Stadium 18,500 Used by Template:ALeague MV in the 2005–06 season and part of the 2006–07 season1
Arena Manawatu 18,000 Used by Template:ALeague WP for an A-League match against Template:ALeague SFC on 12 December 2009.

1Melbourne Victory's home stadium during the 2005–06 season was Olympic Park Stadium. 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.

The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium will be the Melbourne Victory's home stadium on a limited basis for the 2010–11 season and the team's permanent home stadium from 2011 onwards. It is also expected that it will be the home stadium for Melbourne Heart from 2010–11 season onwards.

Sydney Rovers are currently under negotiation with many Western Sydney councils over stadium hire. Penrith's CUA Stadium and Parramatta's Parramatta Stadium are the major venues being looked at and officials from Sydney Rovers have given signs the club may share matches between the two venues to broaden the club's target area. No decision as of yet however.

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
Template:ALeague AU 10,947 12,162 12,697 11,712 10,765 –
Template:ALeague BR 14,785 16,465 16,951 12,995 8,650 –
Template:ALeague CCM 7,899 9,828 12,741 10,465 7,430 –
Template:ALeague GCU – – – – 5,392 –
Template:ALeague MH – – – – – –
Template:ALeague MV 14,158 27,728 26,064 24,516 21,105 –
Template:ALeague NUJ 8,912 11,442 13,209 9,729 6,358 –
Template:ALeague NZK 3,909 3,0141 – – – –
Template:ALeague NQF – – – – 6,723 –
Template:ALeague PG 9,734 7,671 7,596 7,942 9,205 –
Template:ALeague SFC 16,669 14,999 16,373 12,375 12,987 –
Sydney Rovers – – – – – –
Template:ALeague WP – –1 11,683 7,193 8,965 –
Whole season 10,955 12,927 14,610 12,180 9,796 –

1New Zealand Knights A-league Licence taken and renewed to new franchise Wellington Phoenix after season 2006-7

Referees

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

Matthew Breeze, New South Wales, FIFA/AFC

Peter Green, Queensland, FIFA/AFC

Ben Williams, Australian Capital Territory, FIFA/AFC

Craig Zetter, South Australia, FIFA

Peter O'Leary, New Zealand, FIFA

Michael Hester, New Zealand, FIFA

Strebre Delovski, New South Wales

Chris Beath, Queensland

Gerard Parsons, Australia

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.[33]

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

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

OFC Champions League

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

Two A-League clubs have participated in the AFC Champions League competition each season[34] 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 Yet to play Template:ALeague MV Yet to play

Top scorers

League and Finals (All-time)

See also: A-League all-time records

Last updated 4 April 2010
Shows Players at current club or last club played for.

Rank Player Current Team Goals
1 Australia Archie Thompson Template:ALeague MV 49
2 New Zealand Shane Smeltz * Template:ALeague GCU 40
3 Australia Daniel Allsopp Template:ALeague MV 36
4 Australia Alex Brosque * Template:ALeague SFC 32
5 Australia Sasho Petrovski * Template:ALeague NUJ 30
6 Australia Joel Griffiths Template:ALeague NUJ 28
=7 Australia Kevin Muscat Template:ALeague MV 26
=7 Australia Mark Bridge * Template:ALeague SFC 26
9 Indonesia Serginho van Dijk * Template:ALeague AU 25
=10 Australia Jamie Harnwell Template:ALeague PG 24
=10 Australia Travis Dodd Template:ALeague AU 24

Bold denotes players still playing in the A-League
(*) denotes players who have played for more than one A-League team


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

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

Rising Star Award

The Rising Star 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

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

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

Coach 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

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

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

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

TV Coverage

The Hyundai A-League, being a relatively minor league internationally, only has a small broadcast base, compared to the giant European competitions such as the FA Premier League or Serie A. The countries where the A-League is shown are mostly other Commonwealth nations.

Rivalries

Although there are no local derbies, many 'rivalries' have formed between A-League sides:

  • 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 AU v Template:ALeague MV: Contested the 2006–07 and 2008–09 A-League Grand Finals, in which Melbourne won 6–0 and 1–0 respectively. The Adelaide vs Melbourne rivalry stems from the traditional rivalry between sporting teams from Victoria and South Australia but was strengthened by incidents in the 2006–07 season, such as the confrontation between Melbourne Victory captain Kevin Muscat and then Adelaide United coach John Kosmina and Robert Bajic's red card for kicking Fred.
  • 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. The most recent of clashes, 26 December 2009, was hotly contested after former Roar star Charlie Miller left the club to join the Gold Coast.

References

  1. ^ "North Qld, Gold Coast to join A-League". ABC News. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  2. ^ Hassett, Sebastian (20 April 2009). "Clubs ditch Pre-Season Cup". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  3. ^ "Hyundai A-League > Rules". A-League.com.au. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
  4. ^ a b "Grand Final rematch to open HAL season". A-League.com.au. 1 May 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
  5. ^ Template:PDFlink Football Federation Australia, 20 April 2009. Retrieved on 28 April 2009.
  6. ^ "Logo signals refreshing new era". 1 November 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2006.
  7. ^ "New A-League ad hits the screens". FourFourTwo. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
  8. ^ "Hyundai A-League To Feature in FIFA 08 Video Game". 20 August 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  9. ^ a b "Kiwis alive as Townsville pulls pin". Fox Sports. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  10. ^ "NZ Phoenix to rise in A League". News.com.au. 28 March 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  11. ^ "ASA announce several significant initiatives". 22 March 2004.
  12. ^ "A-League launch speech by FFA chairman Mr Frank Lowy AC". 13 November 2004.
  13. ^ Osbourne, Paul (10 August 2006). "Chief talks up Townsville". Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ "North Qld unleash Thunder". The World Game. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  16. ^ "Thunder keeps rolling". Townsville Bulletin. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  17. ^ "Two Queensland teams set to score spots in expanded A-League". The Age. 13 December 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  18. ^ "Galaxy, Thunder to join A-League". Fox Sports. 12 February 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
  19. ^ "Gold Coast, Townsville set for A-League". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 December 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  20. ^ "Galaxy set sights on grand final stars". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 February 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
  21. ^ "Thunder, Galaxy get go-ahead". FourFourTwo. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  22. ^ "No A-League Expansion This Season". FourFourTwo. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  23. ^ "Super-sized A-League may get the jump on AFL in western Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  24. ^ Backer steals Thunder from A-League bid – Breaking News – Sport – Breaking News
  25. ^ "A-League expansion assured as tycoon agrees to fund Gold Coast". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  26. ^ Gold Coast's Glitzy A-League Entry – Australian FourFourTwo – The Ultimate football Website
  27. ^ FFA: Second Melbourne Side For 2010 – Australian FourFourTwo – The Ultimate football Website
  28. ^ Fourfourtwo.com FFA Okay West Sydney For 2011
  29. ^ Fourfourtow.com All There Is To Know On The New Sydney Side
  30. ^ Fourfourtwo.com Sydney Rovers...Its Official!
  31. ^ a b "A=League CBA". Australian PFA. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  32. ^ "A-League salary cap to rise". Daily Telegraph. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  33. ^ "Australia's finest designers in trophy challenge". Football Federation Australia. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 29 November 2006.
  34. ^ "Australia received two spots in AFC Champions League". 18 July 2006.
  35. ^ "Fans steamed up for derby – if they get there". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 November 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2006.

External links

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