2008–09 A-League

A-League
Season 2008–09
Dates 15 August 2008 – 28 February 2009
Champions Melbourne Victory (2nd title)
Premiers Melbourne Victory (2nd title)
AFC Champions League Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United
Matches played 84
Goals scored 249 (2.96 per match)
Top goalscorer Shane Smeltz
(12 goals)
Best goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic
Highest attendance 31,564
Lowest attendance 4,433
Average attendance 12,180

The 2008–09 A-League was the 32nd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fourth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Two new clubs, North Queensland Thunder and Gold Coast Galaxy[1][2] had received tentative licences from the FFA but these were revoked for the 2008–09 season on 12 March 2008.[3] Expansion plans are on hold until the 2009–10 season. Based on their 2007–08 performances, the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets competed in the 2009 AFC Champions League for the first time.

Changes to the league included:

  • The introduction of both a youth league and women's league aligned with A-League clubs.[4]
  • An increase in the salary cap to A$1.9 million.[5]
  • The addition of a Junior Marquee player. (A player under the age of 23 who has up to A$150,000 of his salary outside of the cap.[5]
  • Injury replacement players can only match the injured players' salary, or have any excess included within the total Salary Cap.[5]

Clubs

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000
Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Telstra Dome 56,347
Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164
Perth Glory Perth Members Equity Stadium 18,156
Queensland Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500
Sydney FC Sydney Aussie Stadium 42,500
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Westpac Stadium 34,500

Foreign players

Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Non-Visa Foreign
Adelaide United Brazil Alemão Brazil Cássio Brazil Cristiano Brazil Diego Walsh Ivory Coast Jonas Salley1
Central Coast Mariners Germany André Gumprecht Italy Andrea Merenda3
Malta John Hutchinson2
Melbourne Victory Brazil Ney Fabiano Costa Rica Carlos Hernández Costa Rica José Luis López Scotland Grant Brebner1
Newcastle Jets Denmark Jesper Håkansson Ecuador Edmundo Zura South Korea Song Jin-hyung
Perth Glory Argentina Adrian Trinidad Brazil Amaral England James Robinson Ivory Coast Eugène Dadi Netherlands Victor Sikora3
Queensland Roar Brazil Reinaldo Indonesia Sergio van Dijk Scotland Charlie Miller Brazil Henrique3
South Korea Seo Hyuk-su1
Sydney FC Netherlands Bobby Petta Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn United States Michael Enfield
Wellington Phoenix Brazil Daniel Brazil Fred China Gao Leilei England Chris Greenacre Malta Manny Muscat2

The following 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, or National Team Replacement Players;
4Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games)

Pre-season Challenge Cup

All A-League clubs played the pre-season cup competition held in July and August, and were drawn into two groups. Group A consisted of Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory. Group B was Central Coast Mariners, Queensland Roar, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix.

The winner of each group, Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix, met in Wellington on 6 August 2008 for the Pre-Season Cup Final.[6] With the score at 0–0 after 90 minutes, the game went to penalties, Melbourne Victory eventually prevailing 8–7, thus becoming the first team in A-League history to claim all three available trophies, after winning the Premiership and Championship in the 2006–07 season.

Regular season

The 2008–09 A-League season was played over 21 rounds, followed by a finals series.[7]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Melbourne Victory (C) 21 12 2 7 39 27 +12 38 2010 AFC Champions League Group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2 Adelaide United 21 11 5 5 31 19 +12 38
3 Queensland Roar 21 10 6 5 36 25 +11 36 2009 A-League Finals Series[lower-alpha 2]
4 Central Coast Mariners 21 7 7 7 35 32 +3 28
5 Sydney FC 21 7 5 9 33 32 +1 26
6 Wellington Phoenix 21 7 5 9 23 31 −8 26
7 Perth Glory 21 6 4 11 31 44 −13 22
8 Newcastle Jets 21 4 6 11 21 39 −18 18
Source: the-AFC.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. ↑ First place qualifies for the 2010 AFC Champions League Group stage.
    Winning the 2009 A-League Grand Final automatically earns qualification for the 2010 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless first place are champions.
    Second place qualifies for the 2010 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off, unless they qualify for the 2010 A-League Grand Final alongside first place or become A-League Champions, subsequently third place then qualify for the 2010 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off.
  2. ↑ First place through to sixth place qualify for the 2009 A-League Finals Series.

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.

Results

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

  Semi Finals Preliminary Final Grand Final
    L1 L2    
                           
1 Melbourne Victory 2 4    
2 Adelaide United 0 0           1 Melbourne Victory 1
    2 Adelaide United 1   2 Adelaide United 0
    3 Queensland Roar 0  
3 Queensland Roar 2 2
4 Central Coast Mariners 0 1  


Statistics

Leading scorers

Total Player Team Goals per Round
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718192021
12New ZealandShane SmeltzWellington Phoenix121211112
11AustraliaMatt SimonCentral Coast Mariners11212112
11AustraliaDaniel AllsoppMelbourne Victory22211111
11IndonesiaSergio van DijkQueensland Roar11111231
10Ivory CoastEugène DadiPerth Glory1211212
10AustraliaNikita RukavytsyaPerth Glory11121211
8AustraliaArchie ThompsonMelbourne Victory1211111
8BrazilCristianoAdelaide United22121
8ScotlandCharlie MillerQueensland Roar1111111
7AustraliaTravis DoddAdelaide United1111111
7AustraliaJoel GriffithsNewcastle Jets1111111
6AustraliaMile JedinakCentral Coast Mariners11211
6AustraliaSasho PetrovskiCentral Coast Mariners21111
5BrazilNey Fabiano de OliveiraMelbourne Victory11111
5AustraliaKevin MuscatMelbourne Victory1121
5AustraliaAlex BrosqueSydney FC1112
As of the end of the home and away season
A goal was scored from a penalty kick
Two goals were scored from penalty kicks

Awards

Attendance

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.

Team Hosted Average High Low Total
Melbourne Victory1124,51631,56418,036269,671
Queensland Roar1012,99519,1119,118129,947
Sydney FC1012,37518,2518,502123,754
Adelaide United1111,71223,0027,832128,832
Central Coast Mariners1110,46515,5467,865115,110
Newcastle Jets109,72916,0226,26897,294
Perth Glory107,94212,5814,43379,415
Wellington Phoenix117,19310,5165,50079,124
{{{T9}}}00000
{{{T10}}}00000
{{{T11}}}00000
{{{T12}}}00000
League total 84 12,180 31,564 4,433 1,023,147

* Adelaide United played a one off match at the Adelaide Oval against Sydney FC in their Round 18 match. This is why Adelaide United's highest single attendance exceeds the capacity of Hindmarsh Stadium.

Top 10 Attendances

AttendanceRoundDateHomeScoreAwayVenueWeekdayTime of Day
53,273Grand Final28 February 2009Melbourne Victory1–0Adelaide UnitedTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
34,736Major SF (L2)14 February 2009Melbourne Victory4–0Adelaide UnitedTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
31,654Round 925 October 2008Melbourne Victory0–2Sydney FCTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
28,905Round 2123 January 2009Melbourne Victory2–0Wellington PhoenixTelstra DomeFridayNight
27,196Round 156 January 2009Melbourne Victory1–0Adelaide UnitedTelstra DomeTuesdayNight
25,398Round 1727 December 2008Melbourne Victory3–2Sydney FCTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
24,812Round 412 September 2008Melbourne Victory1–0Adelaide UnitedTelstra DomeFridayNight
24,003Round 2016 January 2009Melbourne Victory3–0Central Coast MarinersTelstra DomeFridayNight
23,705Minor SF (L2)13 February 2009Queensland Roar2–1Central Coast MarinersSuncorp StadiumFridayNight
23,447Round 182 January 2009Melbourne Victory2–1Queensland RoarTelstra DomeFridayNight

Fair Play Award

The Fair Play Award was awarded to Queensland Roar, the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season.

1 pointYellow Card
2 pointsSecond Caution Red Card
3 pointsDirect Red Card
TeamPoints
Queensland Roar360036
Adelaide United360036
Melbourne Victory262339
Perth Glory391144
Sydney FC292445
Newcastle Jets371348
Wellington Phoenix452152
Central Coast Mariners440353
Sydney FC0000
Wellington Phoenix0000
Melbourne Heart0000
Sydney Rovers0000
Totals292815

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Galaxy, Thunder to join A-League". Fox Sports. 12 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  2. ↑ "Thunder, Galaxy get go-ahead". FourFourTwo. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  3. ↑ "A-League expansion plans postponed". SBS. 12 March 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  4. ↑ "FFA: A-League WILL Get Bigger". FourFourTwo. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 "New season to start with a bang sea". AU FourFourTwo. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  6. ↑ 2008 Pre-Season Cup Draw, Football Federation Australia, 2 May 2008
  7. ↑ Hyundai A-League 2008/09 Season Draw, Football Federation Australia, 2 May 2008
  8. 1 2 Match re-scheduled due to Adelaide's participation in FIFA Club World Cup
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