2005–06 A-League

A-League
Season 2005–06
Champions Sydney FC (1st title)
Premiers Adelaide United (1st title)
Champions League Sydney FC
Adelaide United
Matches played 84
Goals scored 232 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer Alex Brosque
Bobby Despotovski
Archie Thompson
Stewart Petrie
(8 goals)
Biggest home win Melbourne Victory 5–0 Sydney FC
(16 October 2005)
Biggest away win Newcastle Jets 0–5 Queensland Roar
(26 January 2006)
Highest attendance 25,557
Lowest attendance 1,922
Average attendance 10,955

The 2005–06 A-League was the inaugural season of the Australian A-League football competition. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition, the first match in the A-League was played on 26 August 2005. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.

Of the eight participants, four come from the National Soccer League (1977–2004): Perth Glory (established 1995), New Zealand Knights (1999), Newcastle Jets (2000) and Adelaide United (2003). New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but were significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977–1988 and had competed in the Queensland State League since then as Brisbane Lions.

The first A-League Grand Final took place on 5 March 2006, with Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural champions, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1–0. Adelaide United were the named premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league.

Clubs

Further information: A-League § Clubs
Team City Home Ground Capacity
Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000
Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Olympic Park Stadium 18,500
Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164
New Zealand Knights Auckland North Harbour Stadium 25,000
Perth Glory Perth Members Equity Stadium 18,156
Queensland Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500
Sydney FC Sydney Aussie Stadium 42,500

Preliminary Competitions

Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season.

Oceania Club Championship Qualification

This three-round competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for the 2005 season of the Oceania Club Championship. It consisted of all Australian A-League clubs (i.e. all clubs except for the New Zealand Knights) and granted Perth Glory – the reigning NSL champions – a bye into the semi-finals.

  Round 1
(7 May)		 Semi Finals
(11 May)		 Finals
(15 May)
                           
   
   Perth Glory 1  
     Sydney FC 2  
 Sydney FC 3
   Queensland Roar 0  
     Sydney FC 1
   Central Coast Mariners 0
   Central Coast Mariners (pso) 0 (4)  
 Newcastle Jets 0 (2)  
 Central Coast Mariners 4
     Adelaide United 0  
 Adelaide United (pso) 0 (4)
   Melbourne Victory 0 (1)  

Sydney FC qualified for and subsequently won the 2005 Oceania Club Championship entitling it to a place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship to be played in Tokyo.

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

The inaugural pre-season cup was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Commentators did not give much weight to the competition as a guide for performance during the season proper, as injuries or club strategic policy ruled that many teams did not use their best players and often used experimental tactics.

Group stage

Group A

Pos
 Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Melbourne Victory 3 1 2 0 2 1+1 5 2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
2 Perth Glory 3 1 1 1 2 1+1 4
3 Adelaide United 3 0 3 0 3 30 3
4 Newcastle Jets 3 0 2 1 3 4−1 2

Group B

Pos
 Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Sydney FC 3 2 1 0 5 1+4 7 2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
2 Central Coast Mariners 3 2 0 1 4 3+1 6
3 Queensland Roar 3 1 1 1 6 3+3 4
4 New Zealand Knights 3 0 0 3 1 9−8 0

Finals

Semi-finals Final
12 August
 Melbourne Victory 2  
 Central Coast Mariners 3  
 
21 August
     Central Coast Mariners 3
   Perth Glory 0
14 August
 Sydney FC 1
 Perth Glory 2  

The Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners.

Regular season

The A-League season commenced on 26 August 2005 with two Friday night fixtures. Games each round were held throughout the weekend, though certain rounds also featured Thursday night games. As there was no concurrent cup competition, midweek fixtures were uncommon unless they were held on Australian public holidays. A three-week break was also scheduled in December to coincide with the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo.

League table

Pos
 Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Adelaide United 21 13 4 4 33 25+8 43 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage
2 Sydney FC (C) 21 10 6 5 35 28+7 36
3 Central Coast Mariners 21 8 8 5 35 28+7 32 2006 A-League Finals Series
4 Newcastle Jets 21 9 4 8 27 29−2 31
5 Perth Glory 21 8 5 8 34 29+5 29
6 Queensland Roar 21 7 7 7 27 22+5 28
7 Melbourne Victory 21 7 5 9 26 24+2 26
8 New Zealand Knights 21 1 3 17 15 47−32 6

Updated to games played on 5 February 2006
Source: theworldgame.sbs.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
1First place through to fourth place qualify for the 2006 A-League Finals Series.
2First place qualifies for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage.
3Winning the 2006 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
4New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the 2007 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.
 Rules for classification:1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
# = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Finals series

After the home and away season, the finals series began, with the top four teams. The finals series used a modified Page playoff system, with the difference that each first round game would be played over two legs. The winner of the finals series, Sydney FC was crowned as the A-League champion. Adelaide United, as the holder of the top position on the league ladder, were named the 2005–06 premiers.

Standard cup rules – such as the away goals rule (two-leg ties only), extra time and penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn games.

  Semi Finals Preliminary Final Grand Final
    L1 L2    
    February 10 & 17                        
1  Adelaide United 2 1     5 March
2  Sydney FC 2 2     26 February       2  Sydney FC 1
    1  Adelaide United 0   3  Central Coast Mariners 0
  February 12 & 19   3  Central Coast Mariners 1  
3  Central Coast Mariners 1 1
4  Newcastle Jets 0 1  

AFC Champions League

Although Australia became a member of the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, Australian teams were not invited to participate in the 2006 AFC Champions League competition.

The AFC later determined that qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League would be based on the 2005–06 A-League competition, despite that ACL matches will commence after the completion of the A-League 2006–07 season. Adelaide as Premiers and Sydney as Champions represented Australia.

Attendance

Team Hosted Average High Low Total
Sydney FC1319,64825,5579,132255,421
Queensland Roar1114,78523,1428,607162,636
Melbourne Victory1014,15818,02610,078141,578
Adelaide United1211,33214,0687,013135,982
Perth Glory119,73413,1575,033107,075
Newcastle Jets129,02213,0005,868108,263
Central Coast Mariners118,76517,4295,19496,418
New Zealand Knights103,9099,9001,92239,086
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League total 90 11,627 25,557 1,922 1,046,459

Highest attendance

League records

The following league records are from the regular season only. It does not include records from the finals series.

Awards

AwardRecipient
Johnny Warren Medal (Player's Player of the Year)Bobby Despotovski (Perth Glory)
Reebok Golden Boot Award (Top Goalscorer)Four players (see below)
Hyundai Rising Star Award (U-20 Player of the Year)Nick Ward (footballer) (Perth Glory)
Hyundai A-League Coach of the YearLawrie McKinna (Central Coast Mariners)
Zurich Referee of the YearMark Shield
Joe Marston Medal (Best player in Grand Final)Dwight Yorke (Sydney FC)

Leading goalscorers

Further information: A-League top scorers
Total Player Team Goals per Round
 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
8 Australia Alex Brosque Brisbane Roar 1 2 1 2 1 1
Australia Bobby Despotovski Perth Glory 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
Australia Archie Thompson Melbourne Victory 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
Australia Stewart Petrie Central Coast Mariners 1 1 2 2 1 1
7 Australia Carl Veart Adelaide United 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Australia Dean Heffernan Central Coast Mariners 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Trinidad and Tobago Dwight Yorke Sydney FC 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Australia Ante Milicic Newcastle Jets 1 1 1 3 1
Australia Sasho Petrovski Sydney FC 1 1 1 3 1
Australia Damian Mori Perth Glory 2 3 1 1

Goal assists

PlayerTeamAssists
Alex BrosqueQueensland Roar6
David CarneySydney FC6
Nick CarleNewcastle Jets6
Qu ShengqingAdelaide United6
Tom PondeljakCentral Coast Mariners6
Dwight YorkeSydney FC5
Kristian SarkiesMelbourne Victory5
Sasho PetrovskiSydney FC5
Andre GumprechtCentral Coast Mariners4
Carl VeartAdelaide United4

Fouls conceded

PlayerTeamFouls Conceded
Stewart PetrieCentral Coast Mariners60
Ross AloisiAdelaide United50
Andrew ClarkCentral Coast Mariners49
Sasho PetrovskiSydney FC49
Steve PantelidisMelbourne Victory47
Terry McFlynnSydney FC42
Noel SpencerCentral Coast Mariners41
Carl VeartAdelaide United40
Richard JohnsonNewcastle Jets40
Travis DoddAdelaide United39

Disciplinary records

PlayerTeamYellow2YCRed
Terry McFlynnSydney FC700
Matt McKayQueensland Roar311
Kevin MuscatMelbourne Victory410
Ross AloisiAdelaide United600
Remo BuessQueensland Roar600

Biggest victories

5 goals

Score DateRound
Melbourne Victory5–0Sydney FC16 Oct 20058
Queensland Roar5–0Newcastle Jets26 Jan 200620

4 goals

Score DateRound
Perth Glory5–1Newcastle Jets8 Oct 20057
Sydney FC5–1Central Coast Mariners5 Nov 200511
Newcastle Jets4–0New Zealand Knights18 Sep 20054
Central Coast Mariners4–0Perth Glory8 Oct 20058

Highest aggregate scores

Score DateRound
Perth Glory5–1Newcastle Jets8 Oct 20057
Sydney FC5–1Central Coast Mariners5 Nov 200511
Newcastle Jets4–2Adelaide United14 Oct 20058
Newcastle Jets4–2New Zealand Knights4 Nov 200511
Perth Glory4–2Adelaide United6 Nov 200511
Adelaide United4–2Queensland Roar1 Jan 200616

Honours

See also

External links

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