2007–08 A-League

A-League
Season 2007–08
Dates 24 August 2007 – 24 February 2008
Champions Newcastle Jets (1st title)
Premiers Central Coast Mariners
(1st title)
AFC Champions League Newcastle Jets,
Central Coast Mariners
Matches played 111
Goals scored 223 (2.01 per match)
Top goalscorer Joel Griffiths
(12 goals)
Best goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos
Biggest home win Central Coast Mariners 3–0 Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix 4–1 Perth Glory
Adelaide United 4–1 Melbourne Victory
Adelaide United 4–1 Wellington Phoenix
Queensland Roar 3–0 Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix 3–0 Perth Glory
Melbourne Victory 3–0 Wellington Phoenix
Central Coast Mariners 3–0 Newcastle Jets
Biggest away win Newcastle Jets 1–4 Perth Glory
Perth Glory 1–4 Queensland Roar
Central Coast Mariners 2–5 Melbourne Victory
Highest scoring Central Coast Mariners 4–5 Sydney FC
Longest winning run 4 games
Newcastle Jets
Longest unbeaten run 6 games
Melbourne Victory
Longest winless run 11 games
Perth Glory
Longest losing run 4 games
Adelaide United
Wellington Phoenix
Highest attendance 33,458
Lowest attendance 6,252
Average attendance 14,610

The 2007–08 A-League was the 31st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the third season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Football Federation Australia hoped to build on the success of the previous two seasons and on the interest generated by Sydney FC and Adelaide United playing in the 2007 AFC Champions League, and the Socceroos competing in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

Based on their A-League 2006-07 season performances Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory competed in the 2008 AFC Champions League, making it two consecutive seasons in the competition for Adelaide United. Based on the 2007–08 season of the A-League, the Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets qualified for the 2009 AFC Champions League, as the competition's Premiers and Champions respectively.

Changes included:

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 Cássio Brazil Diego Walsh Netherlands Bobby Petta Ivory Coast Jonas Salley1
Central Coast Mariners Germany André Gumprecht Malta John Hutchinson2
Melbourne Victory Brazil Leandro Love Costa Rica Carlos Hernández England Joe Keenan Scotland Grant Brebner
Newcastle Jets Argentina Jorge Drovandi Brazil Denni Brazil Mário Jardel South Korea Song Jin-hyung
Perth Glory England James Robinson Ivory Coast Eugène Dadi Liberia Jerry Karpeh1
Queensland Roar Brazil Marcinho Brazil Reinaldo Scotland Simon Lynch South Korea Seo Hyuk-su1
Sydney FC Brazil Juninho Brazil Patrick da Silva Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn United States Michael Enfield England Michael Bridges3
France Michael Herbet3
Wellington Phoenix Brazil Cleberson Brazil Daniel Brazil Felipe Brazil George

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

The pre-season cup competition was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The opening round began on 14 July 2007. The competition featured a group stage, with three regular rounds, followed by a two-week finals playoff.

The pre-season cup was won by Adelaide United at the final on 12 August 2007.

Regular season

The league season took a triple round-robin format over 21 rounds between 24 August 2007 and 20 January 2008 with each team playing the other seven teams three times.[4]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Central Coast Mariners 21 10 4 7 30 25 +5 34 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2 Newcastle Jets (C) 21 9 7 5 25 21 +4 34
3 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 28 24 +4 32 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship
4 Queensland Roar 21 8 7 6 25 21 +4 31 2008 A-League Finals Series[lower-alpha 2]
5 Melbourne Victory 21 6 9 6 29 29 0 27
6 Adelaide United 21 6 8 7 31 29 +2 26
7 Perth Glory 21 4 8 9 27 34 −7 20
8 Wellington Phoenix[lower-alpha 3] 21 5 5 11 25 37 −12 20
Updated to match(es) played on 20 January 2008. Source: theworldgame.sbs.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. ↑ First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage.
    Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
  2. ↑ First place through to fourth place qualify for the 2008 A-League Finals Series.
  3. ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the 2009 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

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    
    27 January & 10 February                        
1 Central Coast Mariners 0 3     24 February
2 Newcastle Jets 2 0     17 February       1 Central Coast Mariners 0
    2 Newcastle Jets (aet) 3   2 Newcastle Jets 1
  25 January & 8 February   4 Queensland Roar 2  
3 Sydney FC 0 0
4 Queensland Roar 0 2  

Semi-finals

Preliminary-final

Grand Final

Season statistics

Leading scorers

Total Player Team Goals per Round
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718192021
12AustraliaJoel GriffithsNewcastle Jets11111112111
9New ZealandShane SmeltzWellington Phoenix11111211
8AustraliaAlex BrosqueSydney FC112211
8AustraliaJamie HarnwellPerth Glory11111111
7AustraliaDaniel AllsoppMelbourne Victory111211
7AustraliaJohn AloisiCentral Coast Mariners211111
6AustraliaSasho PetrovskiCentral Coast Mariners111111
6BrazilReinaldoQueensland Roar11211
6AustraliaArchie ThompsonMelbourne Victory111111
6AustraliaLucas PantelisAdelaide United111111

  Goal scored from penalty kick

Attendance

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

Team Hosted Average High Low Total
Melbourne Victory1026,06431,88420,938260,642
Queensland Roar1116,95131,9338,815186,456
Sydney FC1116,37333,45810,732180,107
Newcastle Jets1113,20916,4338,112145,303
Central Coast Mariners1012,74119,2388,113127,409
Adelaide United1012,69725,03910,256126,966
Wellington Phoenix1011,68318,3458,039116,833
Perth Glory117,5969,6146,25283,557
{{{T9}}}00000
{{{T10}}}00000
{{{T11}}}00000
{{{T12}}}00000
League total 84 14,610 33,458 6,252 1,227,273

* 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.

All attendances over 20,000

AttendanceRoundDateHomeScoreAwayVenueWeekdayTime of Day
36,354Grand Final24 February 2008Central Coast Mariners0–1Newcastle JetsSydney Football StadiumSundayDay
36,221Finals – Week 28 February 2008Queensland Roar2–0Sydney FCSuncorp StadiumFridayNight
33,458Round 2120 January 2008Sydney FC2–2Melbourne VictorySydney Football StadiumSundayDay
31,933Round 2013 January 2008Queensland Roar0–0Sydney FCSuncorp StadiumSundayTwilight
31,884Round 1210 November 2007Melbourne Victory0–0Sydney FCTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
31,545Round 21 September 2007Melbourne Victory0–0Perth GloryTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
27,351Round 416 September 2007Melbourne Victory0–0Central Coast MarinersTelstra DomeSundayAfternoon
27,123Round 1026 October 2007Melbourne Victory0–2Newcastle JetsTelstra DomeFridayNight
25,622Round 628 September 2007Melbourne Victory2–0Queensland RoarTelstra DomeFridayNight
25,598Round 921 October 2007Melbourne Victory2–1Perth GloryTelstra DomeSundayAfternoon
25,489Round 2011 January 2008Melbourne Victory3–0Wellington PhoenixTelstra DomeFridayNight
25,039Round 1828 December 2007Adelaide United1–3Sydney FCAdelaide OvalFridayNight
23,450Finals – Week 125 January 2008Sydney FC0–0Queensland RoarSydney Football StadiumFridayNight
22,960Finals – Week 127 January 2008Newcastle Jets2–0Central Coast MarinersEnergyAustralia StadiumSundayAfternoon
22,626Round 1716 December 2007Melbourne Victory1–3Newcastle JetsTelstra DomeSundayAfternoon
22,466Round 168 December 2007Melbourne Victory2–2Adelaide UnitedTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
21,475Round 195 January 2008Queensland Roar1–2Melbourne VictorySuncorp StadiumSaturdayNight
20,938Round 1424 November 2007Melbourne Victory1–1Wellington PhoenixTelstra DomeSaturdayNight

Disciplinary

The Fair Play Award was awarded to Newcastle Jets, 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
Newcastle Jets440044
Perth Glory341345
Sydney FC421250
Queensland Roar453051
Wellington Phoenix461254
Adelaide United453154
Melbourne Victory431354
Central Coast Mariners443462
Sydney FC0000
Wellington Phoenix0000
Melbourne Heart0000
Sydney Rovers0000
Totals3431315

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kiwis alive as Townsville pulls pin". Fox Sports. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  2. ↑ "The time is right to go into the ref's book". The Age. 31 December 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  3. ↑ "A-League lifts its salary cap to $1.8m". Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  4. ↑ Hyundai A-League 2007–08 Season Draw, A-League, 23 April 2007.
  5. ↑ Match postponed due to heavy rain affecting pitch conditions.
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