A-League
A-League | |
Full name | Hyundai A-League |
Association | Football Federation Australia |
First edition | August 26, 2005 |
Teams | 11 |
master | Sydney FC (4th title) |
Record champions |
Melbourne Victory Sydney FC (4 wins each) |
Record player | Danny Vukovic (278) |
Record scorer | Besart Berisha (102) |
Current season | 2019/20 |
Website | www.a-league.com.au |
Qualification for | AFC Champions League |
↓ National Premier Leagues
(no relegation) |
The A-League is the top division in Australian football , which was founded in 2004 and has been taking place since the 2005/06 season . Clubs from ten Australian cities and one New Zealand city are represented in the league. It is also known as the Hyundai A-League after the current sponsor .
history
Replacement of the NSL and establishment of the A-League
Even before the A-League was founded, there was a professional league; the National Soccer League was founded in 1977 as the first Australian professional league, before that only regional amateur leagues existed. There, however, some clubs got into financial difficulties at the beginning of the 21st century, which they tried to solve by selling profitable players to Europe. The bad organization of the league turned out to be the death criterion of the NSL, so a TV contract was signed, through which it almost completely disappeared from Australian screens. In October 2003, planning began for a successor format, ironically headed by Frank Lowy, who was also an NSL pioneer. Compared to the NSL, the number of first division clubs was reduced from 13 to 8 teams, the start of the league was set for August 2005. By July 2004, 12 specific applications for these places had been received, including three from Melbourne, although only one league place was awarded per city. In November of the same year, the eight successful applicants were announced, including five clubs from the NSL. The clubs came from the following cities: Sydney , Perth , Brisbane , Melbourne , Adelaide , Newcastle , Gosford and Auckland (New Zealand). The eight founding clubs received 5-year exclusive contracts for their cities, but the New Zealand team was replaced in 2007. At the same time as the license was awarded to the participants, the sponsorship contract with Hyundai and TV contracts with Foxsports were also concluded.
Development of the league
In order to make the league known, an AU $ 3,000,000 marketing package was passed after it was founded . The slogan was "Football, but not as you know it" Football mainly refers to Australian football , the common name for soccer is soccer). The campaign mainly focused on relevant sports channels.
Above all, however, attractive players quickly established the new format. Some legionnaires like Archie Thompson or Steve Corica returned and some internationally renowned players were signed, especially Dwight Yorke . The audience numbers of over 1 million in the premiere season even exceeded expectations. The good performance of the national team at the 2006 World Cup started a boom in Australia, where football was previously a marginal sport and remained in comparison with Australian football and rugby. The league's successful start and the desire to consolidate it gave those in favor of expansion a tailwind.
However, a planned increase to ten teams proved difficult and was only completed in the 2009/10 season with the North Queensland Fury (Townsville) and Gold Coast United (Gold Coast) teams , who new to the declining audience numbers with stars like Jason Culina and Robbie Fowler To give momentum. The season was extended from 21 to 27 game days with the addition of the two clubs. For the 2010/11 season, another team was added with Melbourne Heart .
After North Queensland had stopped playing after only two seasons before the 2011/12 season, a dispute, mainly on a personal level, between the association president and shopping center billionaire Frank Lowy and the club owner and mining billionaire Clive Palmer led to the withdrawal of the license shortly before the end of the season the Gold Coast team. After completing the league phase of the championship, the Newcastle Jets, owned by the half-billionaire Nathan Tinkler and still champions in 2008, announced that they would no longer participate in the championship next season.
All of this clouded the joy that after three years of decline the average attendance rose slightly again, although it was still almost 30% below the 2008 record. Another negative effect is the disappearance of the "golden generation" of Australian footballers, who took part in the football world championships in Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010, for the most part without replacement . Players like Harry Kewell , Mark Viduka and also goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer created a broader interest in national football thanks to their international prestige. The failure to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games - after a loss to the low-rated United Arab Emirates - was of little help.
For the 2012/13 season Gold Coast United was replaced by the Western Sydney Wanderers . They ended their first season in first place and helped the A-League gain international renown when it won the Asian Champions League a year later . The final first leg took place in the Parramatta Stadium in Sydney , which can hold just 21,000 spectators . One of the many signs that the sport of soccer is establishing itself in Australia is that this stadium will be expanded to over 30,000 seats by 2019.
mode
Regular season
The "Regular Season" takes place in the Australian spring and summer, from August to February. 27 match days are played, each team meets each other three times, depending on the constellation, twice in the home stadium and once away, or vice versa, but this is offset by the fact that this relationship is reversed in the next season - so you have two seasons three home games and three away games against the respective opponent. As in Europe, the three-point rule applies . The top of the table at the end of the season is called "A-League Premiership" and the club in question is allowed to take part in the AFC Champions League next year .
Play-offs
The six best-placed teams reach the play-offs, known as the "Final Series". These are played in a system that is unusual for football and little known in Europe, the page playoff system . In the Elimination Finals, the third-placed player first plays against the sixth-placed player and the fourth-placed player against the fifth-placed player, with the third-placed and fourth-placed each having home rights. The winners of these games qualify for the semi-finals. In these, the master competes against the winner of the elimination finals who is worse placed in the final table of the regular season and the runner-up plays against the winner of the elimination finals who is better placed in the final table of the regular season. The champion and the runner-up have home rights in the semifinals. The winners of the semi-finals play in the Grand Final. Here again the better placed semi-finalist has the home right. The winner of the final is A-League champion and receives the second available Champions League place. In the event that the Premiership winner is in the final, the other club will automatically become the second Champions League participant in the final.
Participants in the A-League
Current and former A-League venues |
Ten teams have played in the A-League since the 2011/12 season, previously eleven (2010/11), ten (2009/10) and eight (2005/06–2008/09) teams were represented. For the 2019/20 season, the Hyundai A-League is to be expanded by 2 teams. In contrast to European professional leagues, there is neither a promotion-relegation system nor a national cup competition. There is also no second professional league, but the Australian Football Association has plans to do so, which will only be implemented in the next few years.
Audience numbers
The average number of spectators without matches in the finals or the Pre-Season Cup can be compared roughly with the number of visitors to the Scottish Premier League.
season | Average number of viewers in the regular season (excluding finals) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AU | BR | CC | GC | MC | MV | NU | NZ | NQ | PG | SF | WP | WS | total | |
2005/06 | 10,948 | 14,785 | 7,899 | - | - | 16,167 | 9,022 | 3,909 | - | 9,734 | 16,669 | - | - | 10,956 |
2006/07 | 12,165 | 16,465 | 9,828 | - | - | 27,728 | 12,573 | 3,011 | - | 7,589 | 15,555 | - | - | 12,911 |
2007/08 | 12,697 | 16,951 | 12,738 | - | - | 26,064 | 13.209 | - | - | 7,596 | 16,963 | 11,683 | - | 14,610 |
2008/09 | 11,713 | 12,995 | 10,465 | - | - | 24,516 | 9,729 | - | - | 7,942 | 12,375 | 7.193 | - | 12,180 |
2009/10 | 10,765 | 8,665 | 7,388 | 5,297 | - | 20,750 | 6,358 | - | 6,723 | 9.205 | 13,677 | 8,966 | - | 9,793 |
2010/11 | 11,552 | 9,291 | 8,168 | 3,419 | 8,312 | 18,458 | 8,429 | - | 4,245 | 8,488 | 8,014 | 7,829 | - | 8,429 |
2011/12 | 8,829 | 13,387 | 9,505 | 3,438 | 9,082 | 20,714 | 12,117 | - | - | 8,972 | 11,861 | 8,691 | - | 10,497 |
2012/13 | 9,793 | 13,857 | 9,994 | - | 8,860 | 21,885 | 13,389 | - | - | 8,876 | 18,737 | 6,877 | 12,466 | 12,347 |
2013/14 | 11,225 | 14,957 | 9,398 | - | 9,933 | 21,808 | 11,949 | - | - | 9,418 | 18,682 | 8,201 | 14,860 | 13,041 |
2014/15 | 12,637 | 11,660 | 7,585 | - | 10,374 | 25,388 | 8,968 | - | - | 9,542 | 17,378 | 8,583 | 12,520 | 12,511 |
2015/16 | 11,287 | 12,850 | 8,111 | - | 11,047 | 23,112 | 9,586 | - | - | 8,986 | 16,071 | 8,042 | 14,297 | 12,309 |
2016/17 | 9,565 | 14,152 | 7,412 | - | 10,528 | 21,888 | 8,645 | - | - | 10,533 | 18,099 | 6.224 | 17,746 | 12,650 |
2017/18 | 9,830 | 9.093 | 7,194 | - | 9,868 | 17,631 | 11,016 | - | - | 9,186 | 14,593 | 5,694 | 11,924 | 10,671 |
2018/19 | 9,013 | 9,632 | 5,562 | - | 8,135 | 20,604 | 9,079 | - | - | 10,360 | 13,566 | 8,533 | 9,191 | 10,411 |
Fat represented the highest A-League attendances of the association, in italics the lowest. |
Eternal table
Since the introduction of the A-League in 2005, 13 teams have competed in this division. The all-time table has been led by Brisbane Roar since the end of the 2013/14 season .
Title holder
season | Pre-season Cup | Regular season | Grand Final | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Premiers | 2nd place | master | Runner-up | ||
2005/06 | Central Coast Mariners | Adelaide United | Sydney FC | Sydney FC | Central Coast Mariners |
2006/07 | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United |
2007/08 | Adelaide United | Central Coast Mariners | Newcastle United Jets | Newcastle United Jets | Central Coast Mariners |
2008/09 | Melbourne Victory | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United |
2009/10 | not carried out | Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory | Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory |
2010/11 | Brisbane Roar | Central Coast Mariners | Brisbane Roar | Central Coast Mariners | |
2011/12 | Central Coast Mariners | Brisbane Roar | Brisbane Roar | Perth Glory | |
2012/13 | Western Sydney Wanderers | Central Coast Mariners | Central Coast Mariners | Western Sydney Wanderers | |
2013/14 | Brisbane Roar | Western Sydney Wanderers | Brisbane Roar | Western Sydney Wanderers | |
2014/15 | Melbourne Victory | Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory | Sydney FC | |
2015/16 | Adelaide United | Western Sydney Wanderers | Adelaide United | Western Sydney Wanderers | |
2016/17 | Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory | Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory | |
2017/18 | Sydney FC | Newcastle Jets | Melbourne Victory | Newcastle Jets | |
2018/19 | Perth Glory | Sydney FC | Sydney FC | Perth Glory |
Squad
The squad of an A-League team must have at least 20 players. There must be at least three U23 players per team in the squad. The maximum number of foreigners (neither from Australia nor New Zealand) is five.
Salary cap
As in Australian football, there is an upper salary limit , 20 players may not earn more than AU $ 2.35 million (almost EUR 1.4 million). Since this is negligible compared to European football wages, the upper salary limit for another player was suspended in order to ensure the attractiveness of the league. This so-called marquee player is allowed to earn an unlimited amount of money. In addition, there has been a junior marquee player since the 2008/09 season . They must be under 23 years of age and earn AU $ 150,000 outside the salary cap. In order to be able to keep domestic star players in the league or to encourage them to return home, another squad place was created for the 2010/11 season with the Australian Marquee player , which is not taken into account in the upper salary limit.
Youth League
Parallel to the A-League, there is a youth game round with the National Youth League . Their aim is to offer young talents a springboard to a professional career, but also to give substitute players from the A-League match practice; four over-21 players are allowed to take part per game. The league was founded in March 2008 and started at the same time as the professional season in August of the same year. The league currently consists of eight teams from the A-League clubs - Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Heart do not provide a team - and a team from the Australian Institute of Sport , AIS for short.
player
Eternal goalscorer list (league and finals)
As of May 7, 2017
rank | player | Team (s) | Gates |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Besart Berisha | Brisbane Roar (48), Melbourne Victory (54) | 102 |
2 | Shane Smeltz | Adelaide United (8), Gold Coast United (28), Wellington Phoenix (24), Perth Glory (38), Sydney FC (12) | 92 |
3 | Archie Thompson | Melbourne Victory | 90 |
4th | Alex Brosque | Queensland Roar (8), Sydney FC (55) | 63 |
5 | Mark Bridge | Newcastle Jets (13), Sydney FC (17), Western Sydney Wanderers (28) | 58 |
6th | Jamie Maclaren | Perth Glory (11), Brisbane Roar (40) | 51 |
7th | Sergio van Dijk | Adelaide United (25), Brisbane Roar (25) | 50 |
8th | Bruce Djite | Adelaide United (35), Gold Coast United (10) | 45 |
9 | Matt Simon | Central Coast Mariners (41), Sydney FC (3) | 44 |
10 | Carlos Hernández | Melbourne Victory (36), Wellington Phoenix (7) | 43 |
10 | Daniel Allsopp | Melbourne Victory (43) | 43 |
Honors
Johnny Warren Medal
The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the season, chosen by the players of the A-League. It is named after the former Australian international Johnny Warren .
year | player | club |
---|---|---|
2006 | Bobby Despotovski | Perth Glory |
2007 | Nick Carle | Newcastle United Jets |
2008 | Joel Griffiths | Newcastle United Jets |
2009 | Shane Smeltz | Wellington Phoenix |
2010 | Carlos Hernández | Melbourne Victory |
2011 | Marcos Flores | Adelaide United |
2012 | Thomas Broich | Brisbane Roar |
2013 | Marco Rojas | Melbourne Victory |
2014 | Thomas Broich | Brisbane Roar |
2015 | Nathan Burns | Wellington Phoenix |
2016 | Diego Castro | Perth Glory |
2017 | Miloš Ninković | Sydney FC |
Joe Marston Medal
The Joe Marston Medal is awarded to the best player of the Grand Finals.
year | player | club |
---|---|---|
2006 | Dwight Yorke | Sydney FC |
2007 | Archie Thompson | Melbourne Victory |
2008 | Andrew Durante | Newcastle United Jets |
2009 | Tom Pondeljak | Melbourne Victory |
2010 | Simon Colosimo | Sydney FC |
2011 | Mathew Ryan | Central Coast Mariners |
2012 | Jacob Burns | Perth Glory |
2013 | Daniel McBreen | Central Coast Mariners |
2014 |
Thomas Broich Iacopo La Rocca |
Brisbane Roar Western Sydney Wanderers |
2015 | Mark Milligan | Melbourne Victory |
2016 | Isaías | Adelaide United |
2017 | Daniel Georgievski | Melbourne Victory |
Rising Star Award
The Rising Star Award is given to the best young player of the season (under 20). The winner will be determined by a jury of experts.
year | player | club |
---|---|---|
2006 | Nick Ward | Perth Glory |
2007 | Adrian Leijer | Melbourne Victory |
2008 | Bruce Djite | Adelaide United |
2009 | Scott Jamieson | Adelaide United |
2010 | Tommy Oar | Brisbane Roar |
2011 | Mathew Ryan | Central Coast Mariners |
2012 | Mathew Ryan | Central Coast Mariners |
2013 | Marco Rojas | Melbourne Victory |
2014 | Adam Taggart | Newcastle United Jets |
2015 | James Jeggo | Adelaide United |
2016 | Jamie Maclaren | Brisbane Roar |
2017 | Jamie Maclaren | Brisbane Roar |
Golden boot
The Golden Boot , currently officially named Reebok Golden Boot after a sponsor , is the award for the regular season's top scorer.
year | player | club | Gates |
---|---|---|---|
2006 |
Alex Brosque , Bobby Despotovski Stewart Petrie Archie Thompson |
Queensland Roar Perth Glory Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Victory |
8th |
2007 | Danny Allsopp | Melbourne Victory | 11 |
2008 | Joel Griffiths | Newcastle Jets | 12 |
2009 | Shane Smeltz | Wellington Phoenix | 12 |
2010 | Shane Smeltz | Gold Coast United | 19th |
2011 | Sergio van Dijk | Adelaide United | 16 |
2012 | Besart Berisha | Brisbane Roar | 19th |
2013 | Daniel McBreen | Central Coast Mariners | 17th |
2014 | Adam Taggart | Newcastle United Jets | 16 |
2015 | Marc Janko | Sydney FC | 16 |
2016 | Bruno Fornaroli | Melbourne City FC | 23 |
2017 |
Besart Berisha , Jamie Maclaren |
Melbourne Victory Brisbane Roar |
19th |
2018 | Bobô | Sydney FC | 27 |
2019 | Roy Krishna | Wellington Phoenix | 18th |
Goalkeeper of the year
year | player | club |
---|---|---|
2006 | Clint Bolton | Sydney FC |
2007 | Michael Theoklitos | Melbourne Victory |
2008 | Michael Theoklitos | Melbourne Victory |
2009 | Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United |
2010 | Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United |
2011 | Michael Theoklitos | Brisbane Roar |
2012 | Mathew Ryan | Central Coast Mariners |
2013 | Ante Covic | Western Sydney Wanderers |
2014 | Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United |
2015 | Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United |
2016 | Thomas Sørensen | Melbourne City FC |
2017 | Danny Vukovic | Sydney FC |
Coach of the year
year | Surname | club |
---|---|---|
2006 | Lawrie McKinna | Central Coast Mariners |
2007 | Ernie Merrick | Melbourne Victory |
2008 | Gary van Egmond | Newcastle Jets |
2009 | Aurelio Vidmar | Adelaide United |
2010 | Ernie Merrick | Melbourne Victory |
2011 | Ange Postecoglou | Brisbane Roar |
2012 | Graham Arnold | Central Coast Mariners |
2013 | Tony Popovic | Western Sydney Wanderers |
2014 | Mike Mulvey | Brisbane Roar |
2015 | Kevin Muscat | Melbourne Victory |
2016 | Guillermo Amor | Adelaide United |
2017 | Graham Arnold | Sydney FC |
Foreign player of the year
year | Surname | club |
---|---|---|
2009 | Charlie Miller | Queensland Roar |
Fair Play Award
Award for the winner of the fair play rating.
year | club |
---|---|
2006 | Perth Glory |
2007 | Perth Glory |
2008 | Newcastle Jets |
2009 | Queensland Roar |
2010 | Sydney FC |
2011 | Brisbane Roar |
2012 | Brisbane Roar |
2013 | Brisbane Roar |
2014 | Brisbane Roar |
2015 | Wellington Phoenix |
2016 | Brisbane Roar |
2017 | Central Coast Mariners |
Referee of the Year
Award for the referee of the year, currently named after the sponsor Zurich . The wise man traditionally heads the Grand Final.
year | referee |
---|---|
2006 | Mark Shield |
2007 | Mark Shield |
2008 | Mark Shield |
2009 | Matthew Breeze |
2010 | Strebre Delovski |
2011 | Matthew Breeze |
2012 | Jarred Gillett |
2013 | Peter Green |
2014 | Peter Green |
2015 | Jarred Gillett |
2016 | Jarred Gillett |
2017 | Jarred Gillett |
See also
Web links
- Website of the A-League (English)
- All games and results (English)
- Website of the Australian Football Association (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ History of the A-League . Archived from the original on July 1, 2010.
- ↑ spiegel.de: Fringe sport on the edge of the world. March 25, 2015.
- ↑ Western Sydney Wanderers best moments at Pirtek Stadium. in The Daily Telegraph , March 31, 2016
- ↑ New 30,000-seat Parramatta stadium among premier's $ 1.6b promises. in The Sydney Morning Herald , September 4, 2015.
- ↑ A-League 2017/2018 - spectators. Retrieved January 26, 2019 .