-League Men

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from A-League)
"A-League" redirects here. For other uses, see A-League (disambiguation).
A-League Men

Founded April 2004; 19 years ago

First season 2005–06
Country Australia (11 teams)
Other club(s) from New Zealand (1 team)
Confederation AFC
Number of teams 12
Level on pyramid 1
Domestic cup(s) Australia Cup
International cup(s)
AFC Champions League
AFC Cup
Current champions Central Coast Mariners (2nd title)
(2022–23)
Current premiers Melbourne City (3rd title)
(2022–23)
Most championships Sydney FC (5 titles)
Most premierships Sydney FC (4 titles)
Most appearances Leigh Broxham (371)
Top goalscorer Jamie Maclaren (144)
TV partners
Australia:
Network 10, Paramount+
New Zealand:
Prime, Sky Sport
International:
Broadcasters
Website keepup.com.au/news/a-league-men Edit this at Wikidata
Current: 2023–24 A-League Men
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the
highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the
top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competition
for the sport. A-League Men was established in 2004 as the A-League by the Football
Federation Australia (FFA) as a successor to the National Soccer League (NSL) and
competition commenced in August 2005. The league is currently administered by the
Australian Professional Leagues (APL), contested by twelve teams; eleven based in
Australia and one based in New Zealand. The men's, women's and youth leagues have
now been brought together under a unified A-Leagues banner.[1]

Seasons run from October to May and include a 26-round regular season followed by a
Finals Series playoff involving the six highest-placed teams, culminating in a
grand final match. The winner of the regular season tournament is dubbed the
'Premier' while the winner of the grand final is the season's 'Champion'. This
differs from other football codes in Australia, where 'premier' refers to the
winner of the grand final and the winner of the regular season is the 'minor
premier'.
Successful A-League Men clubs gain qualification into the Asian continental club
competitions, the AFC Champions League (ACL) and the AFC Cup. In 2014, the Western
Sydney Wanderers became the first and only winning Australian club. Similar to the
United States and Canada's Major League Soccer and Canadian Premier League, as well
as other professional sports leagues in Australia, A-League Men does not practice
relegation and promotion.

History
Origins
A national round-robin tournament existed in various forms prior to the formation
of the A-League, with the most notable being the National Soccer League (NSL). The
formation of the NSL came after Australia's qualification for the 1974 FIFA World
Cup, which led to discussion of a national league, with 14 teams eventually chosen
to participate in the inaugural season of the NSL in 1977.[2]

Under the guidance of the then-governing body, the Australian Soccer Federation
(later Soccer Australia), the NSL flourished through the 1980s and early 1990s but
then fell into decline with the increasing departure of Australian players to
overseas leagues, a disastrous television deal with the Seven Network and the
resulting lack of sponsorship.[3][unreliable source?] Few clubs continued to grow
with Sydney Olympic, Perth Glory, and the newly established Adelaide United the
exception in a dying league.[4][5][6][unreliable source?]

In April 2003, the Australian Federal Government initiated the Independent Soccer
Review Committee to investigate the governance and management of the sport in
Australia, including that of the NSL.[7] In December 2003, the Crawford Report
found that the NSL was financially unviable, and in response the chairman of the
sports new governing body, Frank Lowy of the Football Federation Australia,
announced that a task force would be formed to create a new national competition as
a successor to the NSL which dissolved at the conclusion of the 2003–04 season
after 27 years of operation.[8]

Foundations
The A-League was announced in April 2004, as a successor to the NSL.[8] Eight teams
would be part of the new national competition, with one team from each city of
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle, plus a New Zealand team
and one from a remaining expressions of interest from either Melbourne or Sydney.
The competition start date was set for August 2005.[9][10]

By June of that year, 20 submissions had been received and a month later 12
consortiums sent in their final bids for the eight spots. Three bids were received
from Melbourne, two each from Sydney and Brisbane, one from each of the remaining
preferred cities and a bid from the New South Wales Central Coast city of Gosford.
Over the next three months, each bid was reviewed and on 1 November 2004, the eight
successful bidders and the major sponsor were revealed, for what would be known as
the Hyundai A-League, with the Hyundai Motor Company unveiled as the official
naming rights sponsor for the league.[10]

The eight founding teams for the league were Adelaide United, the Central Coast
Mariners, the Melbourne Victory, the Newcastle Jets, the New Zealand Knights, the
Perth Glory, the Queensland Roar, and Sydney FC, with four former NSL clubs taking
part, those being Adelaide United, the Newcastle Jets, and the Perth Glory, as well
as the Queensland Lions who withdrew their first team from the Queensland State
League and entered it in to the competition as the Queensland Roar[11] plus the New
Zealand Knights who were formed from the New Zealand Football Kingz. Each club was
given a five-year exclusivity deal in its own market as part of the league's "one-
city, one-team" policy. This was intended to allow clubs to grow and develop an
identity in their respective region without local competition.[12][unreliable
source?]

Initial seasons
On 26 August 2005, 16 months after the demise of the NSL, the inaugural season of
the A-League began.[10] The first season would see Adelaide United win the
premier's plate by seven points over Sydney FC with Central Coast and Newcastle
filling the final two spots in the final series.[13] In the final series, it was
Sydney that took out the title after they defeated Central Coast by a Steve Corica
goal to claim the first title on 5 March 2006.[14] The following season saw
Melbourne Victory claim the A-League premiers plate when they smashed Adelaide
United 6–0 in the final at the Telstra Dome with Archie Thompson scoring five goals
in the rout.[15] But the season wasn't without a change with the New Zealand
Knights being replaced by the Wellington Phoenix after the Knights were taken over
by New Zealand Football after the team only won six times in forty-two games and
selected overseas talent instead of local.[16][17]

Development and reforms

See also: List of A-League Men seasons
Both Gold Coast United and the North Queensland Fury joined the league in the 2009–
10 season. On 12 June 2009, Melbourne Heart was awarded a licence to join the 2010–
11 season.[18] On 1 March 2011 North Queensland Fury's A-League licence was revoked
for financial reasons.[19] On 29 February 2012, Gold Coast United also had its
licence revoked.[20][21] On 4 April 2012, it was announced that a new Western
Sydney-based club, Western Sydney Wanderers, would join the league for the 2012–13
season.[22] In January 2014, Melbourne Heart was acquired by the City Football
Group and was renamed Melbourne City ahead of the 2014–15 season.[23] In February
2018, officials announced that the league would expand to 12 teams for the 2019–20
season.[24] Later that year, the league announced that Western United FC would join
the competition in 2019–20 and Macarthur would enter the following season (2020–
21).[25]

In the lead-up to the expansion announcements in 2019, club stakeholders entered

into discussions with Football Federation Australia (FFA) to take over ownership of
the competition. The league had been created and operated by the FFA since its
inception in 2004, though by 2018 the FFA and clubs were at loggerheads over the
permanent ownership structure of the league.[26] A FIFA-backed congress review
working group issued a sweeping 100-page report in August 2018, recommending an
expanded domestic congress and an independent A-League, controlled and operated by
the clubs.[27] On 1 July 2019, the FFA and Australian Professional Football Clubs
Association (the body representing the A-League clubs) announced an agreement had
been reached for the FFA to relinquish control of the league to the clubs by the
following month, in time for the start of the 2019–20 season.[28] The agreement
brought the sport in line with the governance structure utilised in most European
leagues.[28][29] The new ownership body is called the Australian Professional
Leagues, a consortium of the A-League clubs and their owners, with certain rights
held by the FFA, and a capital investment & ownership stake held by American firm
Silver Lake.

In 2020, soccer experts concluded A-League is entering a new crisis era, due to
lack of major competitiveness and that total reforms must be done to improve the
league, including the introduction of promotion and relegation system, and this has
started to be debated.[30][31] In response, A-League officials in May 2021
announced that the league will align to the Domestic Match Calendar to avoid
clashing with FIFA Days, as well as introducing Domestic Transfer System and
National Club Licensing frameworks.[32][33]

Competition format
Regular season
The regular season runs mainly during the Australian summer, from early October to
April of the following year. The competition consists of 26 rounds, with each team
playing every other team two or three times. The teams allotted two home matches
against an opponent in one season are allotted one home match against that opponent
in the following season. Each match sees the winning team awarded three competition
points, with one point each for a draw. The club at the top of this ladder is
crowned A-League Premiers, and since the 2005–06 season has been entered into the
AFC Champions League.[34][35] The Premier is presented with a trophy known as the
Premier's Plate.[36]

At the completion of the regular season the top six placed teams on the league
table progress to the finals series. The position of each team is determined by the
highest number of points accumulated during the regular season. If two or more
teams are level on points, the following criteria are applied in order until one of
the teams can be determined as the higher ranked:[37]

Highest goal difference;

Highest number of goals scored;
Highest number of points accumulated in matches between the teams concerned;
Highest goal difference in matches between the teams concerned;
Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams concerned;
Lowest number of red cards accumulated;
Lowest number of yellow cards accumulated;
Toss of a coin.[37]
Finals series
Further information: A-League Men Finals

Melbourne Victory celebrating after their 2007 A-League Grand Final victory.
City Terrace protest
Original Style Melbourne protest
City Terrace and Original Style Melbourne, the active supporter groups of Melbourne
City FC and Melbourne Victory FC respectively, protesting the decision by
Australian Professional Leagues to give A-Leagues Grand Final hosting rights to
Sydney for the next three seasons in the 20th minute of the Melbourne Derby on 17
December 2022.
The top six clubs at the conclusion of the regular season progress to the finals
series. The finals series culminates to the A-League grand final, where the winner
is crowned A-League champion. The club that wins the grand final is presented with
the A-League Champions Trophy.

The finals series consists of six teams who are placed by rank, as determined at
the end of the regular season. The finals series runs over four weeks. In the first
week of fixtures, the third-through-sixth ranked teams play a single-elimination
match, with the two winners of those matches joining the first and second ranked
teams in two-legged ties played over two weeks. The two winners of those matches
meet in the grand final. This method was initially adopted for the 2021–22 season.
[38]

Up until 2022, between the two grand finalists, the team that finished higher on
the ladder at the conclusion of the regular season hosted the grand final. The only
exception to this was if the FA deemed that team's home ground to be an
inappropriate venue. For example, in 2008, Central Coast Mariners (as the higher-
placed team) hosted the grand final against the Newcastle Jets at Sydney Football
Stadium, due to FFA deciding that Central Coast Mariners' home stadium, Central
Coast Stadium with a capacity of 20,000, was too small for the event.[39] On 12
December 2022, the Australian Professional Leagues announced that the grand finals
for the 2022–23, 2023–2024 and 2024–25 seasons would be hosted in Sydney,[40] a
move which received considerable backlash.[41][42]

Grand final host stadium

Stadium Location No. hosted Years hosted
Sydney Football Stadium Sydney 4 2006, 2008, 2013, 2017
Docklands Stadium Melbourne 3 2007, 2009, 2010
Lang Park Brisbane 3 2011, 2012, 2014
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium Melbourne 3 2015, 2021, 2022
Western Sydney Stadium Sydney 2 2020, 2023
Adelaide Oval Adelaide 1 2016
Newcastle International Sports Centre Newcastle 1 2018
Perth Stadium Perth 1 2019
Continental qualification
AFC Champions League
Further information: Australian soccer clubs in the AFC Champions League

Adelaide United against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the AFC Champions League in 2010.
In 2004–05, Australia was still a part of the Oceania Football Confederation and
Sydney FC won the right to compete in the Oceania Club Championship after defeating
the Central Coast Mariners in a qualifying tournament.

A-League clubs are eligible for participation in the AFC Champions League
competition each season since the 2007 edition of the tournament.[43] Wellington
Phoenix are not eligible to compete in the Asian Champions League, nor do they
compete in the OFC Champions League. Qualification is determined by league
finishing positions and the winner of the Australia Cup Final, with the number of
positions determined by the Asian Football Confederation club competition ranking.
Due to the re-formatting of the AFC Champions League to have an inter-year schedule
from September (northern hemisphere autumn-to-spring) instead of an intra-year
schedule (northern hemisphere spring-to-autumn),[44] the qualification format for
the 2023–24 AFC Champions League was changed, with a single qualification spot
going to whichever of which of the Premiers for the 2021–22 or the 2022–23 seasons
accrues the most combined points over both seasons.[45]

The only Australian side to win the Asian Champions League are the Western Sydney
Wanderers FC.

AFC Cup
Australia will participate in the AFC Cup for the first time in the 2023–24 season,
with allocated slots based on the AFC Club Competitions Ranking which was published
on 24 November 2021.[46] Initially, the participants will be the winner of the 2022
Australia Cup (Macarthur FC), and Central Coast Mariners who came second in the
2022–23 season.[45]

Other competitions
Since 2014 clubs compete in the annual Australia Cup knock-out tournament
(previously known as the FFA Cup).[47] Since 2021, the top eight teams qualify for
the competition's Round of 32, while the bottom four teams play-off against each
other for the final two slots.[48]

Between 2005 and 2008 clubs participated in the A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup
prior to each A-League regular season. In 2013 and 2014 an A-League All Stars Game
was also played as a pre-season friendly game between the league's finest players
and a high-profile international team.[49][50]

Most A-League Men clubs have teams in the A-League Youth competition, which runs in
conjunction with the A-League Men as a national youth developmental and reserve
league. All players in the youth teams are between the ages of 16 and 21 as of the
start of the calendar year for each new season, while four over-age players from
each of the senior teams also allowed to be selected. In addition, the A-League
Women operates as the top division of women's league with affiliations to the men's
competition.[51]

In response to the debate about the development of a new professional second

division, the Australian Championship has been proposed to support the A-League,
with the aim to avoid the American franchise-based system and to put in line with
European football leagues.[52][32]

Clubs
Further information: List of A-League Men clubs
Adelaide UnitedBrisbane RoarCentral Coast MarinersMacarthur FCMelbourne
CityMelbourne VictoryNewcastle JetsPerth GlorySydney FCWellington PhoenixWestern
UnitedWestern Sydney Wanderers

The A-League Men is currently contested by 12 teams: eleven from Australia and one
from New Zealand. A total of 15 teams have competed at some stage in the league's
short history. Only four of these clubs – Adelaide United, the Brisbane Roar (as
the Queensland Lions), the Newcastle Jets, and the Perth Glory – existed before the
A-League was formed in 2004. Gold Coast United, the New Zealand Knights, and the
North Queensland Fury have formerly competed in the league.

Unlike most leagues from across the world, there is no system for relegation and
promotion of teams. The A-Leagues system thus shares some franchising elements with
most other professional leagues in Australia, Major League Soccer, and other major
Northern American-based sports leagues.

Current clubs
Team City State Stadium Capacity Founded Joined Head coach Team
captain
Adelaide United Adelaide South Australia Coopers Stadium 16,500 2003
2005 Australia Carl Veart Australia Craig Goodwin
Brisbane Roar Brisbane Queensland Kayo Stadium
Suncorp Stadium 10,000
52,500 1957 2005 Australia Ross Aloisi Scotland Tom Aldred
Central Coast Mariners Gosford New South Wales Industree Group Stadium 20,059
2004 2005 Scotland Nick Montgomery Australia Danny Vukovic
Macarthur FC Campbelltown New South Wales Campbelltown Stadium 17,500
2017 2020 Australia Mile Sterjovski Mexico Ulises Dávila
Melbourne City Melbourne Victoria AAMI Park 30,050 2009 2010
Australia Rado Vidošić Vacant
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victoria AAMI Park 30,050 2004 2005
Australia Tony Popovic Vacant
Newcastle Jets Newcastle New South Wales McDonald Jones Stadium 30,000
2000 2005 Australia Robert Stanton England Carl Jenkinson
Australia Brandon O’Neill
Perth Glory Perth Western Australia HBF Park 20,500 1995 2005 Australia
Alen Stajcic Australia Mustafa Amini
Sydney FC Sydney New South Wales Allianz Stadium 42,500 2004 2005
Australia Steve Corica Vacant
Wellington Phoenix Wellington New Zealand Sky Stadium 34,500 2007 2007
Australia Giancarlo Italiano New Zealand Alex Rufer
Western Sydney Wanderers Sydney New South Wales CommBank Stadium 30,000
2012 2012 Australia Mark Rudan Brazil Marcelo
Western United Wyndham Victoria AAMI Park
Mars Stadium
University of Tasmania Stadium 30,050
11,000
19,000 2017 2019 Australia John Aloisi Vacant
Defunct clubs
Team City State Stadium Capacity Founded Joined Dissolved
Gold Coast United Gold Coast Queensland Skilled Park 27,690 2008 2009
2012
New Zealand Knights Auckland New Zealand North Harbour Stadium 22,000
1998 2005 2007
North Queensland Fury Townsville Queensland Dairy Farmers Stadium 26,500
2008 2009 2011
Timeline

League member Former member Future member

Expansion
Main article: Expansion of the A-League Men
While making a relatively modest start to ensure future stability, both the FFA and
the soccer media indicated significant interest in expanding the league. The eight
foundation clubs had exclusivity clauses for their respective cities valid for five
years, but this did not exclude teams from other areas joining the league.

Before the introduction of the A-League, FFA chairman Frank Lowy speculated that he
hoped to expand the league into other cities, mentioning Canberra, Hobart,
Wollongong, Geelong, Bendigo, Cairns, Ballarat, Albury–Wodonga, Launceston,
Christchurch, Auckland, Sunshine Coast and possibly Darwin and later Singapore.[53]
[54][55][56]

In February 2018, officials announced that the league would expand to 12 teams for
the 2019–20 season.[24][57][58] In December 2018, the FFA announced they accepted
the bids of Western United who joined the league in the 2019–20 season and of
Macarthur FC, who joined the league in the 2020–21 season.[59]

In 2021, further steps were taken in an attempt to expand from the recent 12 clubs,
with goals being set to get 14 clubs in 2022–23 and a potential 16 clubs in 2023–
24.[60][61]

In March 2023, the Australian Professional Leagues confirmed plans for the next two
expansion clubs to be based in Canberra and Auckland, ahead of the 2024–25 season.
[62]

Rivalries
There are several key rivalries and local derbies that have formed in the A-League,
including:

"Melbourne Derby" – Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory