2006–07 Melbourne Victory FC season

Melbourne Victory
2006–07 season
Manager	Ernie Merrick
A-League	1st
Pre-Season Challenge Cup	5th
Top goalscorer	Archie Thompson (15)
Highest home attendance	56,636 vs Adelaide United (18 February 2007)
Lowest home attendance	15,563 vs New Zealand Knights (17 December 2006)
Average home league attendance	27,928
	← 2005–06 2007–08 →

The Melbourne Victory A-League 2006-07 season was their most successful A-League season. They defeated Adelaide United 6-0 in their first Grand Final, winning the Championship, Premiership and qualifying for the AFC Champions League 2008.

Season summary

Melbourne began the 2006–07 Hyundai A-League season hoping to vastly improve on their 7th place in the inaugural season. Coach Ernie Merrick had made a number of off-season signings to bolster the squad with skill and experience including 3 Brazilians Alessandro, Claudinho, Fred along with Scottish Premier League player Grant Brebner. After a hugely successful Round 2 fixture against Sydney FC at the Telstra Dome (now the Etihad Stadium) in front of a crowd of 39,730,^[1] Melbourne Victory announced that they would move all but one match from Olympic Park to Telstra Dome.^[2] Melbourne became the first team to complete the A-League double in the history of the competition; clinching the premiership against the New Zealand Knights 4–0 at Olympic Park with 4 rounds of the A-League season remaining,^[3] then beating Adelaide United 6–0 in the Grand Final at a sold out Telstra Dome to take the championship.^[4] Melbourne also qualified for the 2008 AFC Champions League as A-League Champions.

Players

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUS	Michael Theoklitos
2	MF	AUS	Kevin Muscat (captain)
3	DF	AUS	Daniel Piorkowski
4	DF	AUS	Mark Byrnes
5	DF	BEL	Geoffrey Claeys
6	DF	AUS	Steve Pantelidis
7	FW	AUS	Michael Ferrante
8	MF	BRA	Fred
9	FW	AUS	Daniel Allsopp
10	FW	AUS	Archie Thompson
11	MF	AUS	Vince Lia
12	DF	AUS	Rodrigo Vargas


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	MF	AUS	Kristian Sarkies
14	MF	AUS	Adrian Caceres
15	DF	AUS	Adrian Leijer
16	DF	AUS	Simon Storey
17	MF	SCO	Grant Brebner
18	MF	BRA	Alessandro
19	FW	BRA	Claudinho
20	GK	AUS	Eugene Galeković
21	FW	ENG	James Robinson
22	MF	AUS	Leigh Broxham
23	MF	AUS	Antun Kovacic
30	GK	AUS	Peter Gavalas

Transfers

In

Player	From	Country/State & League From	Date
Adrian Caceres	Perth Glory	A-League	13 February 2006
Alessandro	Sport Club Internacional	Brazil Serie A	July 2006
Claudinho	Atlético Paranaense	Brazil Serie A	24 May 2006
Fred	Guarani	Brazil Serie B	24 May 2006
Rodrigo Vargas	Green Gully Cavaliers	VPL	July 2006
Grant Brebner	Dundee United	Scottish Premier League	July 2006
James Robinson	Richmond SC	VPL	23 November 2006

Out

Player	To	Country/State & League From	Date
Chris Tadrosse	Released (KFC Uerdingen)	Oberliga Nordrhein	24 January 2006
Richard Kitzbichler	Released (Red Bull Salzburg)	Austrian Bundesliga	31 January 2006
Ricky Diaco	Released (Bulleen Zebras)	VPL	15 February 2006
Carl Recchia	Released (Fawkner-Whittlesea Blues) (Club Disabanded)	VPL	15 February 2006
Andy Vlahos	Released (Heidelberg United)	VPL	-
Geoffrey Claeys	Melbourne Victory retired	A-League	21 November 2006
Claudinho	Released		17 December 2006

Matches

Pre-season friendlies

Melbourne started their 2006-07 pre-season with a number of practise matches against Victorian Premier League clubs. These included a laboured 1-0 win over Richmond SC, a 2-2 draw against Bulleen Zebras, a 4-0 victory against Green Gully, a 7-0 victory of Kingston City FC and 3-0 victories over Altona Magic and Oakleigh Cannons.

Victory also won the QNI North Queensland Trophy by beating leading Chinese Super League team Changchun Yatai 6-1 in the final. Michael Ferrante scored twice early on and then-trialist Grant Brebner added a spectacular thirty-yard free-kick to make it 3-0 at half-time, while Danny Allsopp scored three times in the second half to seal the win. The competition featured fellow A-League side Central Coast Mariners (Victory won 4-2 on penalties), the Young Socceroos (Victory lost 5-6 on penalties), and Changchun Yatai (Victory won 3-1 in the first meeting).

Melbourne kicked off their A-League Pre-Season Cup campaign with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Adelaide United at Launceston's Aurora Stadium in front of 6,834 spectators. The second match saw them play out a 1-1 draw away to Perth Glory, with Daniel Allsopp scoring Melbourne's only goal. Back at Olympic Park for the final group match, they were soundly beaten 3-1 by the Central Coast Mariners, ending the club's hopes of progressing to the next round of the competition. A "bonus round" match finished off the group stage, with the Melbourne defeating Newcastle Jets 3-2.

In the first match of a rather meaningless playoff section involving the lower placed teams of the group stage, Victory defeated the Queensland Roar 4-2 on penalties, having been locked at 0-0 after 120 minutes of play. The match was held at Epping Stadium in the outer north of Melbourne. The final match of the pre-season cup saw the Victory defeat Perth Glory 1-0 at Olympic Park in front of 2,215 loyal fans, and finish the competition in 5th place.

2006-07 Hyundai A-League fixtures

25 August 2006 Round 1	Template:ALeague MV	2 : 0	Template:ALeague AU	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10	Muscat 29' (pen) Claudinho 78'			Attendance: 15,781 Referee: Matthew Breeze

2 September 2006 Round 2	Template:ALeague MV	3 : 2	Template:ALeague SFC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10	Allsopp 8' Muscat 11' (pen) Allsopp 51'		Fyfe 18' Vargas 83' (OG) Rudan 13'	Attendance: 39,730 Referee: Mark Shield

9 September 2006 Round 3	Template:ALeague NZK	0 : 3	Template:ALeague MV	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
19:30 UTC+9:30			Allsopp 9' Thompson 22' Muscat 35'	Attendance: 2,107 Referee: Matthew Breeze

17 September 2006 Round 4	Template:ALeague MV	1 : 0	Template:ALeague CCM	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
15:00 UTC+10	Thompson 51'			Attendance: 17,617 Referee: Angelo Nardi

24 September 2006 Round 5	Template:ALeague PG	1 : 2	Template:ALeague MV	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+10	Tarka 90'		Caceres 55' Muscat 72' (pen)	Attendance: 7,983 Referee: Peter Green

1 October 2006 Round 6	Template:ALeague MV	4 : 1	Template:ALeague QR	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10	Fred 11' Muscat 22' (pen) Muscat 57' (pen) Allsopp 82'		Milicic 16'	Attendance: 25,921 Referee: Simon Przydacz

8 October 2006 Round 7	Template:ALeague NUJ	0 : 2	Template:ALeague MV	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+10			Allsopp 69' Allsopp 89'	Attendance: 4,635 Referee: Peter Green

14 October 2006 Round 8	Template:ALeague MV	0 : 1	Template:ALeague AU	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
13:00 UTC+10			Owens 83'	Attendance: 32,368 Referee: Matthew Breeze

21 October 2006 Round 9	Template:ALeague SFC	1 : 2	Template:ALeague MV	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00UTC+10	Corica 8'		Thompson 50' Thompson 73'	Attendance: 20,881 Referee: Mark Shield

27 October 2006 Round 10	Template:ALeague NZK	0 : 4	Template:ALeague MV	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+10			Fred 5' Thompson 57' Caceres 59' Allsopp 72' Caceres 87'	Attendance: 2,357 Referee: Simon Przydacz

3 November 2006 Round 11	Template:ALeague MV	3 : 3	Template:ALeague CCM	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	Allsopp 5' Thompson 11' Allsopp 86' Vargas 23' Muscat 45'		McMaster 7' Petrie 12' Kwasnik 23' (pen)	Attendance: 28,118 Referee: Peter Green

9 November 2006 Round 12	Template:ALeague MV	1 : 0	Template:ALeague PG	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Brebner 89'			Attendance: 22,890 Referee: Craig Zetter

17 November 2006 Round 13	Template:ALeague QR	0 : 2	Template:ALeague MV	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+11			Parker 18' (OG) Thompson 47'	Attendance: 14,797 Referee: Simon Przydacz

25 November 2006 Round 14	Template:ALeague MV	0 : 1	Template:ALeague NUJ	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+11			Rodriguez 61'	Attendance: 27,753 Referee: Matthew Breeze

1 December 2006 Round 15	Template:ALeague AU	1 : 3	Template:ALeague MV	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:00 UTC+11	Fernando 43' Bajic 13'		Muscat 16' (pen) Allsopp 62' Fred 86' Brebner 21'	Attendance: 16,378 Referee: Mark Shield

8 December 2006 Round 16	Template:ALeague MV	0 : 0	Template:ALeague SFC	Telstra Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 50,333 Referee: Mark Shield

17 December 2006 Round 17	Template:ALeague MV	4 : 0	Template:ALeague NZK	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Allsopp 34' Caceres 39' Allsopp 44' Thompson 45'			Attendance: 15,563 Referee: Angelo Nardi

30 December 2006 Round 18	Template:ALeague CCM	1 : 2	Template:ALeague MV	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
17:00 UTC+11	Kwasnik 53'		Fred 23' Thompson 27'	Attendance: 15,404 Referee: Simon Przydacz

7 January 2007 Round 19	Template:ALeague PG	2 : 2	Template:ALeague MV	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+11	Harnwell 29' Byrnes 43' (OG)		Sarkies 59' Sarkies 76' Ferrante 75'	Attendance: 6,462 Referee: Peter Green

12 January 2007 Round 20	Template:ALeague MV	1 : 2	Template:ALeague QR	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Thompson 80'		Mori 18' Vidosic 90'	Attendance: 28,937 Referee: Mark Shield

19 January 2007 Round 21	Template:ALeague NUJ	4 : 0	Template:ALeague MV	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Bridge 36' Bridge 48' Coveny 51' Griffiths 73'			Attendance: 19,601 Referee: Matthew Breeze

2006–07 Finals series

27 January 2007 Major Semi Final Leg 1	Template:ALeague AU	0 : 0	Template:ALeague MV	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+11				Attendance: 15,575 Referee: Simon Przydacz

3 February 2007 Major Semi Final Leg 2	Template:ALeague MV	2 : 1	Template:ALeague AU	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+11	Allsopp 48' Robinson 90'		Dodd 4'	Attendance: 47,413 Referee: Mark Shield

18 February 2007 Grand Final	Template:ALeague MV	6 : 0	Template:ALeague AU	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
16:00 UTC+11	Thompson 21', 29', 40', 56', 73' Sarkies 90'		Aloisi 34'	Attendance: 55,436 Referee: Mark Shield

Ladder

Template:A-League 2006-07 Position Ladder2

2006–07 awards

Victory Medal
- Kevin Muscat and Danny Allsopp
Players' Player of the Year
- Danny Allsopp
Clubman of the Year
- Fred
Golden Boot
- Archie Thompson

References

^ Watt, Stuart (2 September 2006). "Record crowd sees Victory down 10-man Sydney". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News). Retrieved 30 June 2011.
^ Desira, Peter (21 September 2006). "Victory makes move to Docklands". Fox Sports. Premier Media Group. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
^ "Victory hammer Knights to take minor premiership". ABC News. 17 December 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
^ Paine, Chris (18 February 2007). "Thompson haul guides Victory to A-League crown". ABC News. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

[VictorySydney2006-1] Watt, Stuart (2 September 2006). "Record crowd sees Victory down 10-man Sydney". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News). Retrieved 30 June 2011.

[VictoryDocklandsMove-2] Desira, Peter (21 September 2006). "Victory makes move to Docklands". Fox Sports. Premier Media Group. Retrieved 2 July 2011.

[3] "Victory hammer Knights to take minor premiership". ABC News. 17 December 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

[4] Paine, Chris (18 February 2007). "Thompson haul guides Victory to A-League crown". ABC News. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

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