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
	← 2006–07 2008–09 →

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:

The New Zealand Knights, who folded at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season, were replaced by Wellington Phoenix.[1]
An increase of the squad size, from 20 to 23 players, increasing the salary cap from A$1.6 million to A$1.8 million.[2][3]

Clubs

Adelaide United

Central Coast Mariners

Melbourne Victory

Newcastle Jets

Queensland Roar

Perth Glory

Sydney FC

Wellington Phoenix

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 foreigner(s)	Former player(s)
Adelaide United	Cássio	Diego Walsh	Bobby Petta		Jonas Salley¹
Central Coast Mariners	André Gumprecht				John Hutchinson²
Melbourne Victory	Leandro Love	Carlos Hernández	Joe Keenan	Grant Brebner
Newcastle Jets		Denni	Mário Jardel	Song Jin-hyung		Jorge Drovandi
Perth Glory	James Robinson	Eugène Dadi			Jerry Karpeh¹
Queensland Roar	Marcinho	Reinaldo	Simon Lynch		Seo Hyuk-su¹
Sydney FC	Juninho	Patrick da Silva	Terry McFlynn	Michael Enfield		Michael Bridges³ Michael Herbet³
Wellington Phoenix	Cleberson	Daniel	Felipe	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)

Salary cap exemptions and captains

Club	Marquee	Captain	Vice-Captain
Adelaide United	Paul Agostino[4]	Michael Valkanis[5][6]	Travis Dodd[7]
Central Coast Mariners	Tony Vidmar[8]	Alex Wilkinson[9]	None
Melbourne Victory	Archie Thompson[10][11]	Kevin Muscat[12][13]	None
Newcastle Jets	Mário Jardel[14]	Jade North[15]	Ante Covic
Perth Glory	Stan Lazaridis[16]	Simon Colosimo[17]	None
Queensland Roar	Craig Moore[18]	Craig Moore[19]	None
Sydney FC	Juninho[20]	Tony Popovic[21]	None
Wellington Phoenix	Ahmad Elrich[22]	Ross Aloisi[23]	Tim Brown[23][24]

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.[25]

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	Finals Series and 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	Finals Series and 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship
4	Queensland Roar	21	8	7	6	25	21	+4	31	Finals Series
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 2]	21	5	5	11	25	37	−12	20

Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:

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.
Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Round 1

24 August 2007	Sydney FC	0–1	Central Coast Mariners	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Petrovski 7'	Attendance: 18,457 Referee: Peter Green

25 August 2007	Queensland Roar	2–2	Adelaide United	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	McKay 45' Ognenovski 76'	Report Summary	Burns 8' Djité 47'	Attendance: 16,828 Referee: Ben Williams

26 August 2007	Perth Glory	0–0	Newcastle Jets	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8		Report Summary		Attendance: 8,508 Referee: Simon Przydacz

26 August 2007	Wellington Phoenix	2–2	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
16:00 UTC+12	Daniel 79' Smeltz 84'	Report Summary	Muscat 19' (pen.) Allsopp 60'	Attendance: 14,421 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 2

31 August 2007	Central Coast Mariners	3–0	Wellington Phoenix	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+10	Mrdja 9', 35' Kwasnik 13'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,052 Referee: Peter Green

1 September 2007	Sydney FC	2–2	Adelaide United	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Talay 13' Brosque 74'	Report Summary	Alagich 9' Burns 76'	Attendance: 14,233 Referee: Mark Shield

1 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–0	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary		Attendance: 31,545 Referee: Peter O'Leary

2 September 2007	Newcastle Jets	1–1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+10	J. Griffiths 89'	Report Summary	Reinaldo 70'	Attendance: 13,144 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 3

6 September 2007	Queensland Roar	0–1	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Kwasnik 55'	Attendance: 8,815 Referee: Mark Shield

7 September 2007	Adelaide United	1–1	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Dodd 83' (pen.)	Report Summary	Vargas 80'	Attendance: 12,231 Referee: Peter Green

9 September 2007	Wellington Phoenix	0–1	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12		Report Summary	Thompson 77'	Attendance: 11,478 Referee: Peter O'Leary

9 September 2007	Perth Glory	0–0	Sydney FC	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8		Report Summary		Attendance: 7,907 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 4

14 September 2007	Sydney FC	1–2	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10	Casey 6'	Report Summary	Felipè 8' Daniel 29' (pen.)	Attendance: 11,491 Referee: Matthew Breeze

15 September 2007	Newcastle Jets	1–0	Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+10	Bridge 81'	Report Summary		Attendance: 13,627 Referee: Angelo Nardi

16 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–0	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10		Report Summary		Attendance: 27,351 Referee: Mark Shield

16 September 2007	Perth Glory	1–2	Queensland Roar	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+8	Harnwell 14'	Report Summary	McCloughan 21' McKay 84'	Attendance: 7,203 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 5

21 September 2007	Newcastle Jets	2–2	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10	A Griffiths 5' Musialik 21'	Report Summary	Thompson 65' Caceres 83'	Attendance: 11,179 Referee: Matthew Breeze

22 September 2007	Wellington Phoenix	2–2	Adelaide United	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:00 UTC+12	Felipe 65' Smeltz 87'	Report Summary	Diego 70' Djite 78'	Attendance: 12,127 Referee: Ben Williams

22 September 2007	Queensland Roar	0–1	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Patrick 69'	Attendance: 16,582 Referee: Mark Shield

23 September 2007	Central Coast Mariners	1–0	Perth Glory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+10	Petrovski 80'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,274 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 6

28 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	2–0	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10	Muscat 68' (pen.) Thompson 85'	Report Summary		Attendance: 25,622 Referee: Ben Williams

29 September 2007	Sydney FC	1–0	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10	Brosque 36'	Report Summary		Attendance: 13,755 Referee: Craig Zetter

30 September 2007	Adelaide United	2–1	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+9:30	Djite 19', 88'	Report Summary	Petrovski 37'	Attendance: 11,019 Referee: Matthew Breeze

30 September 2007	Wellington Phoenix	4–1	Perth Glory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12	R.Aloisi 14' Smeltz 42' Coveny 55' Lochhead 83'	Report Summary	Celeski 10'	Attendance: 10,127 Referee: Peter Green

Round 7

5 October 2007	Queensland Roar	2–1	Wellington Phoenix	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10	Zullo 4' Kruse 45+1'	Report Summary	Smeltz 90+5'	Attendance: 12,458 Referee: Craig Zetter

6 October 2007	Sydney FC	0–1	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Allsopp 82'	Attendance: 18,436 Referee: Mark Shield

7 October 2007	Central Coast Mariners	1–1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+10	Pondeljak 62'	Report Summary	Bridge 82'	Attendance: 12,622 Referee: Matthew Breeze

7 October 2007	Perth Glory	0–0	Adelaide United	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+8		Report Summary		Attendance: 6,252 Referee: Peter Green

Round 8

12 October 2007	Adelaide United	4–1	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Milicevic 14' (o.g.) Dodd 15', 54' Pantelis 90+2'	Report Summary	Thompson 45+2'	Attendance: 13,372 Referee: Mark Shield

12 October 2007	Perth Glory	3–3	Sydney FC	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
20:00 UTC+8	Harnwell 53' Robinson 59' Prentice 69'	Report Summary	Brosque 40', 90+3' Patrick 72'	Attendance: 6,876 Referee: Matthew Breeze

14 October 2007	Newcastle Jets	2–1	Wellington Phoenix	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
15:00 UTC+10	Holland 17' J. Griffiths 40'	Report Summary	Old 90+4'	Attendance: 11,947 Referee: Ben Williams

14 October 2007	Central Coast Mariners	0–1	Queensland Roar	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	McCloughan 5'	Attendance: 8,113 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 9

19 October 2007	Newcastle Jets	1–1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10	J. Griffiths 49' (pen.)	Report Summary	Kruse 1'	Attendance: 12,326 Referee: Mark Shield

20 October 2007	Sydney FC	0–1	Adelaide United	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Pantelis 53'	Attendance: 12,922 Referee: Matthew Breeze

21 October 2007	Wellington Phoenix	1–2	Central Coast Mariners	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12	Elrich 24'	Report Summary	Heffernan 16' Petrovski 90+1'	Attendance: 10,560 Referee: Peter Green

21 October 2007	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
16:30 UTC+10	Hernandez 24' Thompson 34'	Report Summary	Harnwell 42'	Attendance: 25,598 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 10

26 October 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–2	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	A. Griffiths 8' J. Griffiths 88'	Attendance: 27,123 Referee: Matthew Breeze

27 October 2007	Queensland Roar	3–3	Perth Glory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Marcinho 45+3' Lynch 69' (pen.), 86'	Report Summary	Moore 18' (o.g.) Harnwell 43' Coyne 90+3'	Attendance: 16,715 Referee: Ben Williams

28 October 2007	Sydney FC	3–2	Central Coast Mariners	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
15:00 UTC+10	Brosque 16', 26' Popovic 32'	Report Summary	Hutchinson 27', 56'	Attendance: 17,652 Referee: Mark Shield

28 October 2007	Adelaide United	4–1	Wellington Phoenix	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+9:30	Giraldi 5' Burns 45+4' Pantelis 50' Spagnuolo 75'	Report Summary	Smeltz 3'	Attendance: 11,740 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 11

2 November 2007	Adelaide United	0–1	Queensland Roar	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30		Report Summary	Reinaldo 63'	Attendance: 10,705 Referee: Peter Green

2 November 2007	Perth Glory	0–1	Wellington Phoenix	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
20:00 UTC+9		Report Summary	Daniel 51'	Attendance: 7,105 Referee: Simon Przydacz

3 November 2007	Newcastle Jets	0–1	Sydney FC	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+11		Report Summary	Bridges 69'	Attendance: 16,433 Referee: Matthew Breeze

4 November 2007	Central Coast Mariners	2–1	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11	Petrovski 83' Pondeljak 88'	Report Summary	[ Hernández 77'	Attendance: 11,354 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 12

9 November 2007	Newcastle Jets	1–4	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	J. Griffiths 49'	Report Summary	Durante 25' (o.g.) J. Simpson 51' Rukavytsya 63', 90+1'	Attendance: 8,112 Referee: Peter Green

10 November 2007	Central Coast Mariners	2–0	Adelaide United	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11	J.Aloisi 48' (pen.), 59'	Report Summary		Attendance: 11,680 Referee: Simon Przydacz

10 November 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–0	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11		Report Summary		Attendance: 31,884 Referee: Mark Shield

11 November 2007	Queensland Roar	3–0	Wellington Phoenix	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
17:00 UTC+10	Reinaldo 67' (pen.), 79' Marcinho 83'	Report Summary		Attendance: 13,808 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 13

16 November 2007	Queensland Roar	1–0	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Kruse 10'	Report Summary		Attendance: 17,207 Referee: Ben Williams

17 November 2007	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Sydney FC	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:00 UTC+12	R.Aloisi 29'	Report Summary	Talay 90+3' (pen.)	Attendance: 8,062 Referee: Peter Green

18 November 2007	Adelaide United	1–1	Newcastle Jets	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+10:30	Dodd 76'	Report Summary	J. Griffiths 70'	Attendance: 10,256 Referee: Matthew Breeze

18 November 2007	Perth Glory	0–1	Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+9		Summary	Owens 13'	Attendance: 7,310 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 14

23 November 2007	Adelaide United	1–1	Perth Glory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30	Alagich 41'	Report Summary	Harnwell 68'	Attendance: 10,678 Referee: Peter O'Leary

24 November 2007	Melbourne Victory	1–1	Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	Allsopp 43'	Report Summary	Lia 58'	Attendance: 20,938 Referee: Peter Green

25 November 2007	Newcastle Jets	0–0	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11		Report Summary		Attendance: 14,169 Referee: Mark Shield

25 November 2007	Sydney FC	0–0	Queensland Roar	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11		Report Summary		Attendance: 16,569 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 15

30 November 2007	Wellington Phoenix	1–2	Adelaide United	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+12	Daniel 69' (pen.)	Report Summary	Agostino 9' Pantelis 79'	Attendance: 18,345 Referee: Craig Zetter

30 November 2007	Queensland Roar	0–1	Newcastle Jets	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	J. Griffiths 90+2'	Attendance: 14,193 Referee: Peter Green

22 December 2007[26]	Central Coast Mariners	4–5	Sydney FC	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+11	Jedinak 3' J.Aloisi 16' Owens 63' (pen.) Kwasnik 86'	Report Summary	Fyfe 33' McFlynn 50' Biddle 71' Santalab 76' Talay 90+5' (pen.)	Attendance: 17,514 Referee: Matthew Breeze

2 December 2007	Perth Glory	3–1	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+9	Harnwell 18' Rukavytsya 27', 46'	Report Summary	Caceres 38'	Attendance: 8,030 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 16

7 December 2007	Wellington Phoenix	3–0	Perth Glory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:00 UTC+12	Smeltz 29' (pen.), 72' Felipe 32'	Report Summary		Attendance: 8,039 Referee: Strebre Delovski

7 December 2007	Sydney FC	1–0	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11	Corica 90+3'	Report Summary		Attendance: 10,732 Referee: Matthew Breeze

8 December 2007	Melbourne Victory	2–2	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	Muscat 71' (pen.) Alagich 90+2' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Agostino 18', 50'	Attendance: 22,466 Referee: Peter Green

9 December 2007	Queensland Roar	2–1	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10	Vidmar 21' (o.g.) McKay 28'	Report Summary	J.Aloisi 13'	Attendance: 16,442 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 17

14 December 2007	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Queensland Roar	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+12	Smeltz 24'	Report Summary	Reinaldo 5'	Attendance: 9,384 Referee: Ben Williams

14 December 2007	Adelaide United	1–2	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30	Agostino 70'	Report Summary	J.Aloisi 24' Petrovski 48'	Attendance: 11,123 Referee: Peter Green

15 December 2007	Sydney FC	2–4	Perth Glory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11	Corica 50' Bridges 90'	Report Summary	Celeski 34', 35', 77' (pen.) Bertos 49'	Attendance: 12,402 Referee: Michael Hester

16 December 2007	Melbourne Victory	1–3	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+11	Hernández 11'	Report Summary	Denni 41' J. Griffiths 54', 76'	Attendance: 22,626 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 18

28 December 2007	Adelaide United	1–3	Sydney FC	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30	Sarkies 20'	Report Summary	Santalab 44' Corica 54' Middleby 66'	Attendance: 25,039 Referee: Matthew Breeze

30 December 2007	Newcastle Jets	2–3	Wellington Phoenix	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+11	Bridge 29' (pen.) Tunbridge 81'	Report Summary	Smeltz 16' Ferrante 49' Rees 51'	Attendance: 15,107 Referee: Strebre Delovski

30 December 2007	Perth Glory	1–4	Queensland Roar	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+9	Rizzo 57'	Report Summary	Kruse 34' Reinaldo 42' Minniecon 59' McCloughan 74'	Attendance: 9,614 Referee: Peter Green

31 December 2007	Central Coast Mariners	2–5	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Jedinak 32' J.Aloisi 63'	Report Summary	Caceres 4' Allsopp 23', 61' Thompson 36' Muscat 43' (pen.)	Attendance: 18,686 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 19

4 January 2008	Wellington Phoenix	0–2	Sydney FC	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+12		Report Summary	McFlynn 79' Brosque 83'	Attendance: 14,288 Referee: Ben Williams

4 January 2008	Newcastle Jets	2–1	Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	J. Griffiths 13' Holland 73'	Report Summary	Pantelis 41'	Attendance: 13,047 Referee: Peter Green

5 January 2008	Queensland Roar	1–2	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Marcinho 73'	Report Summary	Allsopp 56' Thompson 63'	Attendance: 21,475 Referee: Matthew Breeze

6 January 2008	Perth Glory	1–1	Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+9	Rukavytsya 69'	Report Summary	Hutchinson 38'	Attendance: 6,727 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 20

11 January 2008	Melbourne Victory	3–0	Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Hernández 31' Ward 35' Patafta 88'	Report Summary		Attendance: 25,489 Referee: Peter Green

12 January 2008	Central Coast Mariners	1–2	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+11	Kwasnik 9'	Report Summary	Holland 6' J. Griffiths 52'	Attendance: 19,238 Referee: Matthew Breeze

13 January 2008	Queensland Roar	0–0	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10		Report Summary		Attendance: 31,933 Referee: Mark Shield

13 January 2008	Perth Glory	3–2	Adelaide United	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+9	Robinson 12' Rukavytsya 45+1' Harnwell 62'	Report Summary	Djité 8' Dodd 59'	Attendance: 8,025 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 21

18 January 2008	Newcastle Jets	2–1	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	J. Griffiths 22' Bridge 64'	Report Summary	Harnwell 45+2'	Attendance: 16,212 Referee: Michael Hester

19 January 2008	Central Coast Mariners	2–0	Wellington Phoenix	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+11	Aloisi 52' Kwasnik 90+4'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,849 Referee: Kevin Docherty

20 January 2008	Sydney FC	2–2	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Corica 4' Brosque 62'	Report Summary	Milligan 46' (o.g.) Allsopp 76'	Attendance: 33,458 Referee: Peter O'Leary

20 January 2008	Adelaide United	2–0	Queensland Roar	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+10:30	Djite 18' Pantelis 45'	Report Summary		Attendance: 10,803 Referee: Strebre Delovski

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

25 January 2008	Sydney FC	0–0	Queensland Roar	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11		Report Summary		Attendance: 23,450 Referee: Mark Shield

27 January 2008	Newcastle Jets	2–0	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
18:00 UTC+11	A. Griffiths 22' J. Griffiths 85' (pen.)	Report Summary		Attendance: 22,960 Referee: Matthew Breeze

8 February 2008	Queensland Roar	2–0	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:07 UTC+10 (Delayed Kickoff)	Reinaldo 13' S. Ognenovski 84' (pen.)	Report Summary		Attendance: 36,221 Referee: Mark Shield

10 February 2008	Central Coast Mariners	3–0 (a.e.t.)	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Kwasnik 37' Petrovski 74', 95'	Summary		Attendance: 19,112 Referee: Ben Williams

Preliminary-final

17 February 2008	Newcastle Jets	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
18:00 UTC+11	Thompson 40' J.Griffiths 104' (pen.) Elrich 111'	Report Summary	Reinaldo 90+2' (pen.), 118' (pen.)	Attendance: 16,021 Referee: Peter Green

Grand Final

24 February 2008	Central Coast Mariners	0–1	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11		Summary	Bridge 64'	Attendance: 36,354 Referee: Mark Shield

Season statistics

Leading scorers

Total	Player		Team	Goals per Round
Total	Player		Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
12		Joel Griffiths	Newcastle Jets		1						1	1	1		1	1		1		2		1	1	1
9		Shane Smeltz	Wellington Phoenix	1				1	1	1			1						2	1	1
8		Alex Brosque	Sydney FC		1				1		2		2									1		1
8		Jamie Harnwell	Perth Glory				1				1	1	1				1	1					1	1
7		Daniel Allsopp	Melbourne Victory	1						1							1				2	1		1
7		John Aloisi	Central Coast Mariners												2			1	1	1	1			1
6		Sasho Petrovski	Central Coast Mariners	1				1	1			1		1						1
6		Reinaldo	Queensland Roar		1									1	2					1	1
6		Archie Thompson	Melbourne Victory					1	1		1	1									1	1
6		Lucas Pantelis	Adelaide United								1	1	1					1				1		1

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 Victory	10	26,064	31,884	20,938	260,642
Queensland Roar	11	16,951	31,933	8,815	186,456
Sydney FC	11	16,373	33,458	10,732	180,107
Newcastle Jets	11	13,209	16,433	8,112	145,303
Central Coast Mariners	10	12,741	19,238	8,113	127,409
Adelaide United	10	12,697	25,039	10,256	126,966
Wellington Phoenix	10	11,683	18,345	8,039	116,833
Perth Glory	11	7,596	9,614	6,252	83,557
{{{T9}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T10}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T11}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T12}}}	0	0	0	0	0
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.

Top 10 attendances

Attendance	Round	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Weekday	Time of Day
36,354	Grand Final	24 February 2008	Central Coast Mariners	0–1	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium	Sunday	Day
36,221	Finals – Week 2	8 February 2008	Queensland Roar	2–0	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium	Friday	Night
33,458	Round 21	20 January 2008	Sydney FC	2–2	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium	Sunday	Day
31,933	Round 20	13 January 2008	Queensland Roar	0–0	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium	Sunday	Twilight
31,884	Round 12	10 November 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–0	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome	Saturday	Night
31,545	Round 2	1 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–0	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome	Saturday	Night
27,351	Round 4	16 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–0	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome	Sunday	Afternoon
27,123	Round 10	26 October 2007	Melbourne Victory	0–2	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome	Friday	Night
25,622	Round 6	28 September 2007	Melbourne Victory	2–0	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome	Friday	Night
25,598	Round 9	21 October 2007	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome	Sunday	Afternoon

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 point		Yellow Card
2 points		Second Caution Red Card
3 points		Direct Red Card

Team				Points
Newcastle Jets	44	0	0	44
Perth Glory	34	1	3	45
Sydney FC	42	1	2	50
Queensland Roar	45	3	0	51
Wellington Phoenix	46	1	2	54
Adelaide United	45	3	1	54
Melbourne Victory	43	1	3	54
Central Coast Mariners	44	3	4	62
Sydney FC	0	0	0	0
Wellington Phoenix	0	0	0	0
Melbourne Heart	0	0	0	0
Sydney Rovers	0	0	0	0
Totals	343	13	15

Awards

The Premiers' Plate was awarded to Central Coast Mariners, who finished on top of the ladder after 21 rounds.
The Championship Trophy was awarded to the Newcastle Jets.
The Johnny Warren Medal was awarded to Joel Griffiths from the Newcastle Jets for the best player in the league.
The Coach of the Year was awarded to Gary van Egmond of the Newcastle Jets.
The Wooden Spoon was awarded to Wellington Phoenix, who finished last on the ladder after 21 rounds.
The Joe Marston Medal was awarded to Andrew Durante of Newcastle Jets.
The Reebok Golden Boot was awarded to Joel Griffiths of Newcastle Jets for scoring twelve goals at the end of the home and away season.
The Rising Star award was awarded to Bruce Djite of Adelaide United.
The Fair Play Award was awarded to the Newcastle Jets for the lowest number of yellow, direct red and 2nd caution red cards accumulated.

References

"Kiwis alive as Townsville pulls pin". Fox Sports. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
"The time is right to go into the ref's book". The Age. 31 December 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
"A-League lifts its salary cap to $1.8m". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
"Agostino Scores on His Debut". FTBL. 17 August 2007. United’s marquee Paul Agostino scored in...
"Injured Adelaide United skipper out for season". Brisbane Times. 10 September 2007.
"Valkanis and Costanzo Stay With Adelaide". FTBL. 12 February 2008. Valkanis, a member of Adelaide United’s inaugural squad back in 2003, was appointed captain prior to the 2007/08 season
"Dodd Gets The Nod As Skipper". FTBL. 31 July 2008. Travis was vice-captain last year
"Vidmar announces retirement". ABC News. 14 February 2008. Vidmar joined the Mariners as a marquee signing in the 2006–07 season
"Captain Wilkinson promoted to Centurion". Central Coast Mariners. Football Federation Australia. 8 February 2011. Wilkinson took the captain-s armband from an injured Noel Spencer late in the second season of the Hyundai A-League
Lynch, Michael (30 April 2016). "Archie Thompson should play on after leaving Melbourne Victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. As Victory's inauguaral marquee signing...
"Archie Thompson, Adrian Leijer sign new deals with Melbourne Victory". The Guardian. 2 May 2014. Victory's first ever signing, and scorer, will join up with new marquee Besart Berisha next season, after agreeing a new deal with the club that takes him inside the salary cap
"Muscat Takes on Coaching Role". FTBL. 29 August 2007. MELBOURNE Victory skipper Kevin Muscat has signed a new two-year contract that sees him taking on a coaching role as well as the captaincy
"Kevin Muscat appointed as new Melbourne Victory coach". The Guardian. 31 October 2013. Phoenix’s Ernie Merrick was the Victory's inaugural coach and Muscat the club's inaugural captain
"Jardel flies in for Jets". The World Game. SBS. 14 August 2007.
"North heading to Korea". Newcastle Jets. 13 December 2008. North is a Newcastle Jets foundation player, having been with the club since the 2005/06 Hyundai A-League season, and was instated as captain last season.
Cockerill, Michael (14 December 2006). "Sydney stars on the radar as Smith goes Glory seeking". The Sydney Morning Herald. One player who will still be at the Glory next season is marquee signing Stan Lazaridis
"Colosimo new Perth skipper". The World Game. SBS. 8 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
Ritson, Jon (24 July 2007). "Moore Signs With Roar". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012.
"Moore has his hands full". A-League. 28 September 2008. Queensland Roar captain Craig Moore might be....
Cockerill, Michael (1 August 2007). "Sydney FC end marquee mess with Juninho swoop". The Sydney Morning Herald.
"Poppa's Yer Ante in Family Affair". FTBL. 19 September 2007. ROAR striker Ante Milicic says there will be no love lost when he faces brother-in-law and Sydney FC captain Tony Popovic this Saturday.
Maddaford, Terry (13 May 2008). "Soccer: Phoenix patient for marquee player". The New Zealand Herald. Of the marquee player – they had Socceroo Ahmad Elrich filling that role for the latter part of last season...
"Aloisi named captain of Phoenix". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2007.
"Durante named Wellington Phoenix skipper". Nine MSN. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Midfielder Brown filled the vice-captain's role with the Phoenix last season, also taking the field with the captain's armband despite a frustrating run of injuries.
Hyundai A-League 2007–08 Season Draw, A-League, 23 April 2007.
Match postponed due to heavy rain affecting pitch conditions.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[table_note_res_GS0.99561827070807-26] 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.

[table_note_WP0.99561827070807-27] Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

[wellingtondecision-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.

[smhsalarycap-3] "A-League lifts its salary cap to $1.8m". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.

[4] "Agostino Scores on His Debut". FTBL. 17 August 2007. United’s marquee Paul Agostino scored in...

[5] "Injured Adelaide United skipper out for season". Brisbane Times. 10 September 2007.

[6] "Valkanis and Costanzo Stay With Adelaide". FTBL. 12 February 2008. Valkanis, a member of Adelaide United’s inaugural squad back in 2003, was appointed captain prior to the 2007/08 season

[7] "Dodd Gets The Nod As Skipper". FTBL. 31 July 2008. Travis was vice-captain last year

[8] "Vidmar announces retirement". ABC News. 14 February 2008. Vidmar joined the Mariners as a marquee signing in the 2006–07 season

[9] "Captain Wilkinson promoted to Centurion". Central Coast Mariners. Football Federation Australia. 8 February 2011. Wilkinson took the captain-s armband from an injured Noel Spencer late in the second season of the Hyundai A-League

[10] Lynch, Michael (30 April 2016). "Archie Thompson should play on after leaving Melbourne Victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. As Victory's inauguaral marquee signing...

[11] "Archie Thompson, Adrian Leijer sign new deals with Melbourne Victory". The Guardian. 2 May 2014. Victory's first ever signing, and scorer, will join up with new marquee Besart Berisha next season, after agreeing a new deal with the club that takes him inside the salary cap

[12] "Muscat Takes on Coaching Role". FTBL. 29 August 2007. MELBOURNE Victory skipper Kevin Muscat has signed a new two-year contract that sees him taking on a coaching role as well as the captaincy

[13] "Kevin Muscat appointed as new Melbourne Victory coach". The Guardian. 31 October 2013. Phoenix’s Ernie Merrick was the Victory's inaugural coach and Muscat the club's inaugural captain

[14] "Jardel flies in for Jets". The World Game. SBS. 14 August 2007.

[15] "North heading to Korea". Newcastle Jets. 13 December 2008. North is a Newcastle Jets foundation player, having been with the club since the 2005/06 Hyundai A-League season, and was instated as captain last season.

[16] Cockerill, Michael (14 December 2006). "Sydney stars on the radar as Smith goes Glory seeking". The Sydney Morning Herald. One player who will still be at the Glory next season is marquee signing Stan Lazaridis

[17] "Colosimo new Perth skipper". The World Game. SBS. 8 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2008.

[18] Ritson, Jon (24 July 2007). "Moore Signs With Roar". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012.

[19] "Moore has his hands full". A-League. 28 September 2008. Queensland Roar captain Craig Moore might be....

[20] Cockerill, Michael (1 August 2007). "Sydney FC end marquee mess with Juninho swoop". The Sydney Morning Herald.

[21] "Poppa's Yer Ante in Family Affair". FTBL. 19 September 2007. ROAR striker Ante Milicic says there will be no love lost when he faces brother-in-law and Sydney FC captain Tony Popovic this Saturday.

[22] Maddaford, Terry (13 May 2008). "Soccer: Phoenix patient for marquee player". The New Zealand Herald. Of the marquee player – they had Socceroo Ahmad Elrich filling that role for the latter part of last season...

[NixCaptaincy-23] "Aloisi named captain of Phoenix". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2007.

[24] "Durante named Wellington Phoenix skipper". Nine MSN. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Midfielder Brown filled the vice-captain's role with the Phoenix last season, also taking the field with the captain's armband despite a frustrating run of injuries.

[25] Hyundai A-League 2007–08 Season Draw, A-League, 23 April 2007.

[28] Match postponed due to heavy rain affecting pitch conditions.