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EspañolA-LEAGUE 2005-06
The '2005-06 season' saw the start of the 'A-League', a new domestic club competition for football (soccer) in Australia. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition, the first match in the A-League was played on August 26. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.
The first A-League Grand Final took place on March 5 2006, with Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural champions, winning 1-0 against the Central Coast Mariners. Adelaide United FC were the named premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league.
2005-06 League Participants
Map of Australia and New Zealand.png
Of the A-League participants, four come from the National Soccer League (1977-2004): Perth Glory (established 1995), NZ Football Kingz (1999), Newcastle United (2000) and Adelaide United (2003). The New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but have been significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. The Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977-1988 & had competed in the Queensland State League since then as the ''Brisbane Lions'', who are no relation to the city's AFL team, who share the same name as them.
| Team | Region | Chairman | Manager | Home Ground | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Adelaide, SA | Gordon Pickard | John Kosmina | Hindmarsh Stadium | 16,500 |
| | Central Coast, NSW | Ian Kiernan | Lawrie McKinna | Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium | 20,059 |
| | Melbourne, Vic | Geoff Lord | Ernie Merrick | Olympic Park | 18,500 |
| | Newcastle, NSW | Con Constantine | Richard Money | Energy Australia Stadium | 28,000 |
| | Auckland, NZ | Anthony Lee | John Adshead | North Harbour Stadium | 25,000 |
| | Perth, WA | Nick Tana | Steve McMahon (Aug 26 - Dec 7) Alan Vest (Dec 7 2005 - ) | Members Equity Stadium | 18,450 |
| | Brisbane, Qld | John Ribot | Miron Bleiberg | Suncorp Stadium | 52,000 |
| | Sydney, NSW | Walter Bugno | Pierre Littbarski | Aussie Stadium | 41,159 |
Preliminary Competitions
Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season.
World Club Qualification Competition
This competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for 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 Champion - a bye into the Semi-finals.
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.
In the future, with Australia's move into the Asian Football Confederation, it is likely that the teams finishing first and second in the league stage of the A-League competition will qualify for the Asian Champions League. However, Australian participation will probably not begin until the 2007 revamp of the competition.
Pre-Season Challenge Cup
This competition 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'''
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'Melbourne Victory' | '5' | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 'Perth Glory' | '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Adelaide United | '3' | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Newcastle United Jets | '2' | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
'''Group B'''
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'Sydney FC' | '7' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 'Central Coast' | '6' | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Queensland Roar FC | '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| New Zealand Knights FC | '0' | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
Finals
Central Coast Mariners celebrate their 2005 Pre-Season Cup win at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium.
Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners.
Regular season
The A-League season commenced on August 26, 2005 with two Friday night fixtures. Games each round are held throughout the weekend, though certain rounds will also feature Thursday night games. As there is no concurrent cup competition, midweek fixtures are uncommon unless they are held on Australian public holidays. Also, a three week break over December was scheduled to coincide with the FIFA Club World Championship in Tokyo.
Home and away season
Round 1
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 2
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 3
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 4
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 5
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 6
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 7
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 8
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 9
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 10
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 11
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 12
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 13
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 14
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 15
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 16
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 17
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 18
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 19
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 20
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
Round 21
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right width| 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
League table
As at completion of regular season: February 6, 2006:
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 33 | 25 | 8 | '43' | |
| 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 35 | 28 | 7 | '36' | |
| 21 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 35 | 28 | 7 | '32' | |
| 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 27 | 29 | -2 | '31' | |
| 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 29 | 5 | '29' | |
| 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 22 | 5 | '28' | |
| 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 24 | 2 | '26' | |
| 21 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 47 | -32 | '6' |
'Key'
:'Green': Qualified for Major Semi-final
:'Blue': Qualified for Minor Semi-final
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, was crowned as the A-League champion. , 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.
|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF" font size=1
| 'Date'
| align=right | 'Home team'
| align=center | 'Score'
| align=left | 'Away team'
| 'Venue'
| 'Crowd'
| 'Report'
|- bgcolor="#EEEEFF"
| align=center colspan=7 | 'Semi-finals - Leg 1'
|- bgcolor="#EEEEFF"
| align=center colspan=7 | 'Semi-finals - Leg 2'
|- bgcolor="#EEEEFF"
| align=center colspan=7 | 'Preliminary final'
|- bgcolor="#EEEEFF"
| align=center colspan=7 | 'Grand final'
Asian 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 AFC Champions League 2007 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 will represent Australia.
2005-06 League Records (Regular Season)
As at completion of regular season: February 6, 2006.
Awards
| Award | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Johnny Warren Medal (Player's Player of the Year) | Bobby Despotovski () |
| Reebok Golden Boot Award (Top Goalscorer) | Four players (see below) |
| Hyundai Rising Star Award (U-20 Player of the Year) | Nick Ward () |
| Hyundai A-League Coach of the Year | Lawrie McKinna () |
| Zurich Referee of the Year | Mark Shield |
| Joe Marston Medal (Best player in Grand Final) | Dwight Yorke () |
Leading goalscorers
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Brosque | '8' | |
| Bobby Despotovski | '8' | |
| Archie Thompson | '8' | |
| Stewart Petrie | '8' | |
| Carl Veart | '7' | |
| Dean Heffernan | '7' | |
| Dwight Yorke | '7' | |
| Ante Milicic | '7' | |
| Sasho Petrovski | '7' | |
| Damian Mori | '7' |
Goal assists
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Brosque | '6' | |
| David Carney | '6' | |
| Nick Carle | '6' | |
| Qu Shengqing | '6' | |
| Tom Pondeljak | '6' | |
| Dwight Yorke | '5' | |
| Kristian Sarkies | '5' | |
| Sasho Petrovski | '5' | |
| Andre Gumprecht | '4' | |
| Carl Veart | '4' |
Fouls conceded
| Player | Team | Fouls Conceded |
|---|---|---|
| Stewart Petrie | '60' | |
| Ross Aloisi | '50' | |
| Andrew Clark | '49' | |
| Sasho Petrovski | '49' | |
| Steve Pantelidis | '47' | |
| Terry McFlynn | '42' | |
| Noel Spencer | '41' | |
| Carl Veart | '40' | |
| Richard Johnson | '40' | |
| Travis Dodd | '39' |
Disciplinary records
| Player | Team | Yellow | Red |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terry McFlynn | 7 | 0 | |
| Matt McKay | 5 ★ | 2 ★ | |
| Kevin Muscat | 6 ★ | 1 ★ | |
| Ross Aloisi | 6 | 0 | |
| Remo Buess | 6 | 0 |
NB:
★ = totals include 1 red card awarded after 2 yellow cards in same match.
Biggest victories
5 goals
| Score | Date | Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:left;" | 5-0 | 16 Oct 2005 | 8 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 5-0 | 26 Jan 2006 | 20 |
4 goals
| Score | Date | Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:left;" | 5-1 | 8 Oct 2005 | 7 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 5-1 | 5 Nov 2005 | 11 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 4-0 | 18 Sep 2005 | 4 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 4-0 | 8 Oct 2005 | 8 |
Highest aggregate scores
| Score | Date | Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:left;" | 5-1 | 8 Oct 2005 | 7 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 5-1 | 5 Nov 2005 | 11 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 4-2 | 14 Oct 2005 | 8 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 4-2 | 4 Nov 2005 | 11 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 4-2 | 6 Nov 2005 | 11 | |
| style="text-align:left;" | 4-2 | 1 Jan 2006 | 16 |
Home attendances
'Highest Attendances'
★ 41,689: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, March 5, 2006 (Grand Final)
★ 30,335: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, February 19, 2006 (Finals Week 2)
★ 25,557: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, February 3, 2006 (Round 21)
★ 25,208: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, August 28, 2005 (Round 1)
★ 23,142: Queensland Roar vs Sydney FC, September 23, 2005 (Round 5)
★ 20,725: Queensland Roar vs New Zealand Knights, August 28, 2005 (Round 1)
★ 18,276: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, October 9, 2005 (Round 7)
★ 18,206: Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC, October 16, 2005 (Round 8)
★ 17,960: Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory, September 4, 2005 (Round 2)
'Honours'
★ First goal - Carl Veart ( vs , Round 1)
★ First hat trick - Ante Milicic ( vs , Round 11)
★ First red card - Richie Alagich ( vs , Round 3)
League Milestones
League Statistics
★ 'Matches Played: 84'
★
★ ''Home Wins: 33%, Draws: 25%, Away Wins: 42%''
★ 'Total Goals: 232'
★
★ ''Average of 2.76 goals per match''.
See also
★ Adelaide United season 2005-06
★ Central Coast Mariners season 2005-06
★ Melbourne Victory season 2005-06
★ Newcastle United Jets season 2005-06
★ New Zealand Knights season 2005-06
★ Perth Glory season 2005-06
★ Queensland Roar season 2005-06
★ Sydney FC season 2005-06
External links
★ A-League official website, including fixtures
★ Football Federation Australia
★ SBS The World Game A-League section
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