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

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 Victory celebrating their A-League Grand Final victory.

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. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Australia GK Michael Theoklitos
2 Australia MF Kevin Muscat (captain)
3 Australia DF Daniel Piorkowski
4 Australia DF Mark Byrnes
5 Belgium DF Geoffrey Claeys
6 Australia DF Steve Pantelidis
7 Australia FW Michael Ferrante
8 Brazil MF Fred
9 Australia FW Daniel Allsopp
10 Australia FW Archie Thompson
11 Australia MF Vince Lia
12 Australia DF Rodrigo Vargas
No. Position Player
13 Australia MF Kristian Sarkies
14 Australia MF Adrian Caceres
15 Australia DF Adrian Leijer
16 Australia DF Simon Storey
17 Scotland MF Grant Brebner
18 Brazil MF Alessandro
19 Brazil FW Claudinho
20 Australia GK Eugene Galeković
21 England FW James Robinson
22 Australia MF Leigh Broxham
23 Australia MF Antun Kovacic
30 Australia GK Peter Gavalas

Transfers

In

Player From Country/State & League From Date
Australia Adrian CaceresPerth GloryAustralia A-League13 February 2006
Brazil AlessandroSport Club InternacionalBrazil Brazil Serie AJuly 2006
Brazil ClaudinhoAtlético ParanaenseBrazil Brazil Serie A24 May 2006
Brazil FredGuaraniBrazil Brazil Serie B24 May 2006
Australia Rodrigo VargasGreen Gully Cavaliers VPLJuly 2006
Scotland Grant BrebnerDundee UnitedScotland Scottish Premier LeagueJuly 2006
England James RobinsonRichmond SC VPL23 November 2006

Out

Player To Country/State & League From Date
Australia Chris TadrosseReleased (KFC Uerdingen)Germany Oberliga Nordrhein24 January 2006
Austria Richard KitzbichlerReleased (Red Bull Salzburg)Austria Austrian Bundesliga31 January 2006
Australia Ricky DiacoReleased (Bulleen Zebras) VPL15 February 2006
Australia Carl RecchiaReleased (Fawkner-Whittlesea Blues) (Club Disabanded) VPL15 February 2006
Australia Andy VlahosReleased (Heidelberg United) VPL-
Belgium Geoffrey ClaeysMelbourne Victory retiredAustralia A-League21 November 2006
Brazil ClaudinhoReleased17 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

2006–07 Finals series

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Melbourne Victory (C) 21 14 3 4 41 20 +21 45 2008 AFC Champions League Group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2 Adelaide United 21 10 3 8 32 27 +5 33
3 Newcastle Jets 21 8 6 7 32 30 +2 30 2007 A-League Finals Series[lower-alpha 2]
4 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 29 19 +10 29[lower-alpha 3]
5 Queensland Roar 21 8 5 8 25 27 −2 29
6 Central Coast Mariners 21 6 6 9 22 26 −4 24
7 Perth Glory 21 5 5 11 24 30 −6 20
8 New Zealand Knights[lower-alpha 4] 21 5 4 12 13 39 −26 19 Disbanded at end of season
Updated to match(es) played on 21 January 2007. 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 2008 AFC Champions League Group stage.
    Winning the 2007 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2008 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 2007 A-League Finals Series.
  3. ↑ Sydney FC were penalised three competition points following round 18 due to salary cap breaches which occurred during the 2005–06 season
  4. ↑ New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the 2008 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

2006–07 awards

References

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