A-League
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| General Information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Sport | Football (soccer) |
| Motto | 90 minutes, 90 emotions |
| Country |  Australia
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| Current Teams | Adelaide United Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Victory Newcastle Jets Perth Glory Queensland Roar Sydney FC Wellington Phoenix |
| Leading champions and premiers | |
| Champions | Melbourne Victory (1), Sydney FC (1) |
| Premiers | Adelaide United (1), Melbourne Victory (1) |
| 2006-07 Season | |
| Champions | Melbourne Victory |
| Premiers | Melbourne Victory |
The A-League is the premier Australasian domestic football (soccer)
competition. Founded in 2004 and staging its inaugural season in 2005-06, the league is
contested by eight teams: seven covering Australia's major cities and regional centres and one from
An AU$3 million dollar advertising campaign was also 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 campaign has been created for the 07/08 season, which debuted on Foxtel's program, Total Football. It was filmed at Bob Jane Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria. The theme of the current campaign is "90 minutes, 90 emotions".
The A-League will feature in the video game EA SPORTS FIFA 08 and has previously been featured in Football Manager 2007 by SI Games.
History
In 2003, a report on football in Australia was
published by the Australian Federal Government which ultimately led to an
overhaul of Soccer Australia and the end of the National Soccer League, Australia's previous domestic football competition. In its place,
Football Federation Australia (named the Australian Soccer Association at
the time) announced plans for a new national competition set to start in 2005. The competition was based on a one-city, one-club
format. This was for two reasons - to concentrate player talent, and possibly more importantly, break the connection between
clubs and specific immigrant groups (the previous NSL had a number of teams whose players and fans largely came from one specific
immigrant community). The plan called for privately owned clubs to represent Sydney,
Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle and
2005-06 season
The opening season saw clubs attract a wide array of talent, most notably Dwight Yorke for Sydney FC, as well as bringing a large number of former and current Socceroos home, including Ned Zelic, Steve Corica and Archie Thompson. Adelaide United FC won the inaugural A-League Premiership after the end of the home-and-away season. The Grand Final was played in front of 41,689 people at Aussie Stadium. Sydney FC prevailed 1-0 over the Central Coast Mariners to become the first A-League Champions. The FFA's target crowd figure of 10,000 was achieved as the league had an overall attendance average of 12,100 during its inaugural season.[5]
An AU$120 million deal between the FFA and Fox Sports was reached in 2006 after the end of the first season. Under the deal, Fox Sports will have exclusive rights from 2007 to all Socceroos home internationals, all A-League and Asian Cup fixtures, World Cup qualifiers through the AFC, and all AFC Champions League matches. The deal will allow the FFA to increase the amount of TV money to each of the participating clubs in the league and increase the revenue streams for those clubs.[6]
2006-07 season
The creation of the A-League has allowed for many past and present Socceroos players to return and play on home soil. So far the A-League's second season has seen the return of such current Australian international players as Stan Lazaridis, Tony Vidmar and Joel Griffiths which has boosted the media attention of the league. The FFA is also toying with the idea of sharing the expense of some of the wages of Socceroos players to bring them back to Australia.[7]
The all time Australian domestic football (soccer) regular season crowd record was smashed on December 8, 2006 when Melbourne Victory hosted Sydney FC at the Telstra Dome. The crowd was 50,333 beating the previous record of 39,000 - set when the two clubs met at the same venue previously in the season. Kevin Muscat, the Melbourne captain, was quoted as saying: "You'd do well to find an Australian abroad this weekend who'll play in front of a bigger crowd than that".
In December 2006 the New Zealand Knights had their licence revoked because of mounting debts. New Zealand Soccer was allocated control of the team for the remainder of the season. The FFA called for bids from prospective operators to take over the New Zealand license for the next season.[8]
On February 18, 2007 Melbourne Victory defeated Adelaide United 6-0 to become champions of the A-League 2006-07 season in front of a crowd of over 55,000 people. Archie Thompson was awarded the Joe Marston Medal, scoring five goals for Melbourne Victory.
Recently Melbourne Victory Chairman Geoff Lord has suggested the inclusion of overseas clubs in the pre-season cup competition, particularly targeting teams from Asia and the west coast of the United States.[9]
2007-08 season
Important signings before the start of the third season of the A-League have seen former socceroos Danny Tiatto, Craig Moore, Ljubo Milicevic, Nick Rizzo, Paul Agostino, Hayden Foxe and Tony Popovic return to Australia with Queensland Roar, Melbourne Victory,Perth Glory, Adelaide United, and Sydney FC respectively. Socceroos' striker Sasho Petrovski has left Sydney FC in favour of the Central Coast Mariners, where he is expected to form a deadly partnership with fit-again Nik Mrdja. On Saturday, October 20th, the Central Coast Mariners completed perhaps the biggest signing coup in A-League history when they announced the signing of Socceroos' hero, John Aloisi as their first ever marquee player. [10]
The A-League salary cap has spawned much controversy in the close season with champions Melbourne Victory unable to re-sign star midfielder Fred due to an offer from Major League Soccer club D.C. United that is reportedly worth three times the amount the Victory can afford to pay him. As well as this, Sydney FC have been unsuccessful in signing ex-Liverpool FC striker, Robbie Fowler because the club could not offer as much money as other English clubs. [11]
On March 19 2007, it was confirmed that a bid from Wellington, New Zealand, later to be announced as Wellington Phoenix, would be replacing the New Zealand Knights for the 2007-08 season.[12][13] FFA granted New Zealand Football a three year license to stay in the competition in partnership with a Wellington-based consortium. [14]
It is also confirmed that squad sizes will be increased from 20 players to 23 players.[15]
Format
Pre-Season Cup
A Pre-Season Cup is held in July and August, as a precursor to the main season. In the Pre-Season Cup, the eight teams are placed into two groups. Each team plays the others in the group once over three rounds.
Beginning in 2006, an additional bonus round is 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 are 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.[16]
All eight teams then enter a knock-out round, culminating in the final in late August.
The FFA has indicated that, if successful, the bonus points system may be used in the main league season from the 2007-08 season.[17]
Regular season
The regular season runs mainly during the Australian summer, from late August to January of the following year. The competition consists of 21 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.[18] 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.[19]
Finals series
The top four-ranked teams at the end of the regular season are entered into a finals series based on the Page playoff system, where the first round of matches consists of two legs (with ties decided by the away goals rule). The top two ranked teams play the Major Semi-Final, with the winner progressing straight to and hosting the Grand Final. On the same weekends, the third and fourth ranked teams contest the Minor Semi-Final, which sees the losing side eliminated whilst the winner plays off against the loser of the Major Semi-Final in the Preliminary Final the following weekend. The winner of this match also progresses to the Grand Final, the winner of which becomes A-League Champions. 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 Grand Final then the runners-up in the Grand Final are awarded the second spot in the competition, win or lose.[19]
Logo
The A-League logo, designed by Coast Design Sydney, is a three-dimensional sphere in the shape of a football. 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
Clubs
There are currently eight clubs from Australia and New Zealand playing in the A-League. Only three of these clubs, Adelaide United, Newcastle United Jets (previously known just as Newcastle United) and Perth Glory 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 sports leagues in the United States.
On March 19 2007, it was confirmed that a Wellington based franchise would be replacing the New Zealand Knights for the 2007-08 season.[14] The name of Wellington Phoenix was announced on March 28.[13]
For the 2007-08 season, the eight clubs will be:
| Team | City | Years in competition | Home Ground | Avg Crowd 2006-07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Adelaide United |
Adelaide, SA | 2005-06–present | Hindmarsh Stadium | 12,101 |
 Central Coast Mariners |
Gosford, NSW | 2005-06–present | Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium | 9,828 |
 Melbourne Victory |
Melbourne, VIC | 2005-06–present | Telstra Dome | 33,288 |
 Newcastle Jets |
Newcastle, NSW | 2005-06–present | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 11,442 |
 Perth Glory |
Perth, WA | 2005-06–present | Members Equity Stadium | 7,671 |
 Queensland Roar |
Brisbane, QLD | 2005-06–present | Suncorp Stadium | 16,465 |
 Sydney FC |
Sydney, NSW | 2005-06–present | Sydney Football Stadium | 14,999 |
 Wellington Phoenix |
Wellington, |
2007-08 | Westpac Stadium | 12,038 (2007-08) |
| Former clubs: | ||||
 New Zealand Knights |
Auckland, |
2005-06–2006-07 | North Harbour Stadium | 3,016 |
Squad & salary cap
Each club can have a maximum squad of 23 players with a salary cap of AU$1.8 million for the whole squad - much less than the millions of dollars a year that individual star players (including a few Australians) earn in Europe's top football leagues. The minimum number of players on each squad is 20. The squad must include at least three under-20 players. Clubs may also only have a maximum of four internationals (from outside Australia and New Zealand) in their squad.[21]
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 funded separately, and not included in the team's salary cap. The best-known example of a marquee player in the A-League was Dwight Yorke who played for Sydney FC in the inaugural season. Yorke had previously played several seasons for Manchester United and Aston Villa in the English Premier League.
Expansion
While making a relatively modest start in order to ensure future stability, the league is interested in introducing more teams to the competition. The eight foundation clubs have exclusivity clauses for their respective cities valid for five years, but there is room to add more teams. With Australia's performance in the 2006 FIFA World Cup there has been some media speculation that Football Federation Australia may expand the league after the 2007-08 season. This is looking very possible with upcoming changes to the number of Asian Champions League spots available from 2009.
Townsville and Canberra are possibilities, having large populations and modern football stadiums, respectively Dairy Farmers Stadium and Canberra Stadium. Wollongong and the Gold Coast could also be considered, with Wollongong pushing for an upgrade to WIN Stadium while the Gold Coast will have a new 25,000 seat stadium in 2008. Many people felt the twice Australian Champions Wollongong Wolves should be the team from the Illawarra, but according to media reports the Wolves are planning on staying in the NSW Premier League, and are fully supporting a new club for the region. This club will be backed by Bruce Gordon, Australia's 14th richest person.[22]
Before the introduction of the A-League, ASA chairman Frank Lowy speculated that he hoped to expand the league into additional areas, mentioning Canberra, Hobart, Wollongong and Far North Queensland.[23][24] On August 10, John O'Neill was talking up the support football would enjoy in Townsville.[25]
A representative of Capital Football has been quoted as saying "Canberra, Geelong, Wollongong and Townsville were "on the radar" to join the comp for the 2008/09 season."[26]
After pulling out of a bid to replace the defunct New Zealand Knights, Townsville are in pole position to be the first club introduced into the league upon its expansion in the near future. [14]
On the 14th of February 2007, South Melbourne announced their interest in becoming the second Victorian club in the A-League. After Melbourne Victory announced they would not be playing at the redeveloped Olympic Park unless it had a capacity of at least 30,000, the government suggested a second Melbourne team would play there.
A consortium of investors are willing to put at least 5 to 6 million dollars per annum into the venture, and a letter of interest from the football club has been sent to the FFA.[27]
Stadiums
| Stadium | Capacity | A-League Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Telstra Dome* | 56,347 | Melbourne Victory |
| Suncorp Stadium | 52,500 | Queensland Roar |
| Sydney Football Stadium | 45,500 | Sydney FC |
| Westpac Stadium* | 36,000 | Wellington Phoenix |
| EnergyAustralia Stadium | 26,126 | Newcastle Jets |
| Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium | 20,059 | Central Coast Mariners |
| Members Equity Stadium | 17,288 | Perth Glory |
| Hindmarsh Stadium | 16,500 | Adelaide United |
- denotes oval-shaped stadiums
Champions and premiers
The "Premier" is the team at the top of the league table at the end of the regular season although the common term for this type of competition in Australia is "minor premier". Media reports sometimes erroneously refer to the Premiers as minor premier. The "Champion" is the team that wins the Grand Final.[28]
| Season | Pre-season cup | Regular season | Grand Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiers | Runners-up | Champions | Runners-up | ||
| 2005-06 | Central Coast Mariners | Adelaide United | Sydney FC | Sydney FC | Central Coast Mariners |
| 2006-07 | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United |
| 2007-08 | Adelaide United | - | - | - | - |
See also the list of champions from 1977 to 2004 in the previous National Soccer League competition.
AFC Champions League
Two A-League clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League competition [29] from the 2007 competition on. The teams for the 2007 competition were determined by finishing positions in the 2005-6 A-League season, the 2008 competition by finishing positions in the 2006-7 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.
| Season | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sydney FC | Adelaide United |
| 2008 | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United |
Top scorers
All-time
| Rank | Player | Club/s | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Archie Thompson |
Melbourne Victory |
26 |
| 2 |
Sasho Petrovski |
Sydney FC , Central Coast Mariners |
17 |
| = |
Danny Allsopp |
Melbourne Victory |
17 |
| 4 |
Alex Brosque |
Sydney FC , Queensland Roar |
16 |
| 5 |
Kevin Muscat |
Melbourne Victory |
15 |
| = |
Damian Mori |
Queensland Roar , Perth Glory , Central Coast Mariners |
15 |
| 7 |  Fernando Rech |
Adelaide United |
13 |
| = |
Carl Veart |
Adelaide United |
13 |
| 9 |
Travis Dodd |
Adelaide United |
11 |
| = |
Ante Milicic |
Newcastle Jets , Queensland Roar |
11 |
See Also: A-League all-time records
Notable Past players
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Current foreign players in the league
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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 other players on their own team.
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 |
Bobby Despotovski |
Perth Glory |
| 2007 |
Nick Carle |
Newcastle Jets |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 |
Nick Ward |
Perth Glory |
| 2007 |
Adrian Leijer |
Melbourne Victory |
Reebok Golden Boot
The Reebok Golden Boot is presented to the player who scores the most goals during the season. Only regular Hyundai A-League matches between Round 1 and Round 21 are included.
| Year | Player/s | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 |
Alex Brosque,  Bobby Despotovski, 
Stewart Petrie, Archie Thompson |
Queensland Roar, Perth Glory, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory |
8 |
| 2007 |
Danny Allsopp |
Melbourne Victory |
11 |
Coach of the Year Award
| Year | Name | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 |
Lawrie McKinna |
Central Coast Mariners |
| 2007 |
Ernie Merrick |
Melbourne Victory |
Fair Play Award
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 (Yellow Card = 1 point, Direct Red Card = 3 points, 2nd Caution Red Card = 2 points).
| Year | Club |
|---|---|
| 2006 |