A-League 2006/07

The 2006/07 season was the second season of the A-League . The season began on August 25, 2006 with the encounter Melbourne Victory against Adelaide United and ended with the same pairing in the championship final on February 18, 2007. Melbourne succeeded last year's champions Sydney FC with a 6-0 runaway win.

It was the last season for the New Zealand Knights , which the Australian Federation revoked their license in December 2005. The Knights ended the season under the interim leadership of the New Zealand Football Association and were subsequently dissolved.

Closing table

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points	Comments
1.	Melbourne Victory	21st	14th	3	4th	041:200	+21	45	Qualified for the major semi-final
2.	Adelaide United	21st	10	3	8th	032:270	+5	33
3.	Newcastle United Jets	21st	8th	6th	7th	032:300	+2	30th	Qualified for the minor semi-final
4th	Sydney FC * (M)	21st	8th	8th	5	029:190	+10	29
5.	Queensland Roar	21st	8th	5	8th	025:270	−2	29
6th	Central Coast Mariners	20th	6th	5	9	022:260	−4	23
7th	Perth Glory	21st	5	5	11	024:300	−6	20th
8th.	New Zealand Knights	21st	5	4th	12	013:390	−26	19th

* Sydney FC were deducted three points in December 2006 for breaches of the salary cap during the 2005/06 season.

Final round

	Semifinals						Preliminary final					Grand final
			L1	L2
	1	Melbourne Victory	0	2
	2	Adelaide United	0	1								1	Melbourne Victory	6th
							2	Adelaide United	1 (4) 1			2	Adelaide United	0
							3	Newcastle United Jets	1 (3)
	3	Newcastle United Jets	1	2
	4th	Sydney FC	2	0

¹ after penalty shoot-out

Grand Final

Melbourne Victory		Adelaide United		Lineup
	Grand Final February 18, 2007 in Melbourne ( Telstra Dome ) Result: 6: 0 (3: 0) Spectators: 55,436 Referee: Mark Shield (Townsville)
	Michael Theoklitos - Simon Storey , Adrian Leijer , Rodrigo Vargas , Steve Pantelidis - Kevin Muscat , Grant Brebner (59th Leigh Broxham ) - Fred , Adrian Caceres (62nd James Robinson ) - Archie Thompson (90th Kristian Sarkies ), Daniel Allsopp coach : Ernie Merrick	Daniel Beltrame - Richie Alagich (70th Jason Spagnuolo ), Angelo Costanzo , Michael Valkanis , Greg Owens (46th Aaron Goulding ) - Travis Dodd , Ross Aloisi , Diego Walsh , Nathan Burns (68th Matthew Osman ) - Fernando Rech (59. Bruce Djite ), Carl Veart Trainer: John Kosmina
	1: 0 Thompson (20th) 2: 0 Thompson (29th) 3: 0 Thompson (39th) 4: 0 Thompson (56th) 5: 0 Thompson (72nd) 6: 0 Sarkies (90th + 3 ' )
	Fred (64.)	Costanzo (57th), Valkanis (57th), Veart (68th)
		Aloisi (34.)

Awards

Award	winner
Johnny Warren Medal (Player of the Year)	Nick Carle (Newcastle United Jets)
Reebok Golden Boot Award (Top Goalscorer)	Daniel Allsopp (Melbourne Victory)
Hyundai Rising Star Award (Young Player of the Year (U-20))	Adrian Leijer (Melbourne Victory)
Hyundai A-League Coach of the Year	Ernie Merrick (Melbourne Victory)
Zurich Referee of the Year	Mark Shield
Joe Marston Medal (Best Player in Grand Final)	Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory)
Goalkeeper of the Year	Michael Theoklitos (Melbourne Victory)

List of goalscorers

Pl.	Nat.	player	Societies)	Gates
1		Daniel Allsopp	Melbourne Victory	11
2		Archie Thompson	Melbourne Victory	10
3		Damian Mori	Central Coast Mariners, Queensland Roar	8 (6 + 2)
		Mark Bridge	Newcastle United Jets	8th
5		Adam Kwasnik	Central Coast Mariners	7th
		Jamie Harnwell	Perth Glory	7th

Venues

society	Stadion	capacity	Average audience
Melbourne Victory	Telstra Dome , Olympic Park Stadium	56,347 18,500	27,728
Queensland Roar	Suncorp Stadium	52,500	16,465
Sydney FC	Aussie Stadium	42,000	14,999
Adelaide United	Hindmarsh Stadium	17,000	12,162
Newcastle United Jets	EnergyAustralia Stadium	26,164	11,442
Central Coast Mariners	Central Coast Stadium	20,119	9,828
Perth Glory	Members Equity Stadium	18,156	7,671
New Zealand Knights	North Harbor Stadium	25,000	3,014

Preseason competitions

Before the start of the A-League season, the mandatory pre-season cup was held.

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

The Pre-Season Challenge Cup 2006 took place in July and August as a run-up to the main season. The eight A-League teams were initially divided into two preliminary round groups of four teams each and played in a simple league round. As an additional game, a game was played against a team from the other group. In addition to the normal points, this game also included bonus points for goals scored. Two goals scored one point, three goals earned two points and three bonus points were awarded for four or more goals.

The two group leaders in each group advanced to the semi-finals and played the winner in a knockout process. The table third and fourth played placement games.

Some of the games were played in Australian cities without an A-League team to promote the league there.

In the final, Adelaide United won 5-4 on penalties against defending champions Central Coast Mariners.

Group stage

Group A

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Central Coast Mariners	4th	2	2	0	005: 200	+3	08th
2.	Adelaide United	4th	2	2	0	002-000	+2	08th
3.	Melbourne Victory	4th	1	1	2	005: 700	−2	06th
4th	Perth Glory	4th	0	2	2	002: 600	−4	02

Group B

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sydney FC	4th	3	1	0	007: 200	+5	12
2.	Newcastle United Jets	4th	0	2	2	004: 600	−2	03
3.	New Zealand Knights	4th	0	3	1	002: 300	−1	03
4th	Queensland Roar	4th	0	3	1	002: 300	−1	03

Final round

	Semifinals				final
	Central Coast Mariners	2
	Newcastle Jets	1
					Central Coast Mariners	1 (4) 1
					Adelaide United	1 (5)
					place 3
	Adelaide United	2			Sydney FC	2
	Sydney FC	1			Newcastle Jets	0

	5th place				5th place
	Melbourne Victory	0 (4) 1
	Queensland Roar	0 (2)
					Melbourne Victory	1
					Perth Glory	0
					7th place
	New Zealand Knights	0			New Zealand Knights	1
	Perth Glory	1			Queensland Roar	2

¹ after penalty shoot-out

Web links

• Season archive on a-league.com.au
• Game details at ozfootball.net