The 2005-06 season was the first season of the A-League, a 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 26 August 2005. 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 5 March 2006, with Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural champions, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1-0. Adelaide United were the named premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league. Of the A-League participants, four come from the National Soccer League (1977-2004): Perth Glory (established 1995), New Zealand Knights (1999), Newcastle Jets (2000) and Adelaide United (2003). The New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but were significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. The Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977-1988 and had competed in the Queensland State League since then as the Brisbane Lions, who are no relation to the city's AFL team, who shared the same name as them. | Team | City | Home Ground |  Adelaide United | Adelaide, SA | Hindmarsh Stadium (17,000) |  Central Coast Mariners | Gosford, NSW | Bluetongue Stadium (20,119) |  Melbourne Victory | Melbourne, Vic | Olympic Park Stadium (18,500) |  Newcastle Jets | Newcastle, NSW | Energy Australia Stadium (26,164) |  New Zealand Knights | Auckland, NZ | North Harbour Stadium (25,000) |  Perth Glory | Perth, WA | Members Equity Stadium (18,156) |  Queensland Roar | Brisbane, Qld | Suncorp Stadium (52,500) |  Sydney FC | Sydney, NSW | Aussie Stadium (42,000) | [edit] Preliminary Competitions Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season. [edit] Oceania Club Championship Qualification This three-round competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for the 2005 season of the Oceabua 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 champions - 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. [edit] Pre-Season Challenge Cup The inaugural pre-season cup 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. [edit] 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 | [edit] Finals The Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners. [edit] Regular season The A-League season commenced on 26 August 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 2005 FIFA Club World Championship in Tokyo. [edit] Home and away season [edit] Round 1
[edit] Round 2
[edit] Round 3
[edit] Round 4
[edit] Round 5
[edit] Round 6
[edit] Round 7
[edit] Round 8
[edit] Round 9
[edit] Round 10
[edit] Round 11
[edit] Round 12
[edit] Round 13
[edit] Round 14
[edit] Round 15
[edit] Round 16
[edit] Round 17
[edit] Round 18
[edit] Round 19
[edit] Round 20
[edit] Round 21
[edit] League table
Rules for classification:1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
# = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points.
[edit] 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, Sydney FC was crowned as the A-League champion. Adelaide United, 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. [edit] Semi-Finals (Leg 1)
[edit] Semi-Finals (Leg 2)
[edit] Preliminary Final
[edit] Grand Final
[edit] AFC 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 2007 AFC Champions League 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 represented Australia. [edit] Attendance | Team | Hosted | Average | Highest | Lowest | Total | | Sydney FC | 11 | 16,669 | 25,557 | 9,132 | 183,355 | | Queensland Roar | 11 | 14,785 | 23,142 | 8,607 | 162,636 | | Melbourne Victory | 10 | 14,158 | 18,026 | 10,078 | 141,578 | | Adelaide United | 10 | 10,947 | 14,068 | 7,013 | 109,473 | | Perth Glory | 11 | 9,734 | 13,157 | 5,033 | 107,075 | | Newcastle Jets | 11 | 8,912 | 13,000 | 5,868 | 98,027 | | Central Coast Mariners | 10 | 7,899 | 17,429 | 5,194 | 78,989 | | New Zealand Knights | 10 | 3,909 | 9,900 | 1,922 | 39,086 | | {{ALeague {{{T9}}}}} | 0 | Expression error: Division by zero | 0 | 0 | 0 | | {{ALeague {{{T10}}}}} | 0 | Expression error: Division by zero | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Totals | 84 | 10,955 | 25,557 | 1,922 | 920,219 | [edit] Highest attendance - 41,689: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, 5 March 2006 (Grand Final)
- 30,377: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 19 February 2006 (Semi-final L2)
- 25,557: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 13 February 2006 (Round 21)
- 25,208: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, 28 August 2005 (Round 1)
- 23,142: Queensland Roar vs Sydney FC, 23 September 2005 (Round 5)
- 20,725: Queensland Roar vs New Zealand Knights, 28 August 2005 (Round 1)
- 18,276: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 9 October 2005 (Round 7)
- 18,206: Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC, 16 October 2005 (Round 8)
- 17,960: Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory, 4 September 2005 (Round 2)
[edit] League records The following league records are from the regular season only. It does not include records from the finals series. [edit] Awards [edit] Leading goalscorers [edit] Goal assists [edit] Fouls conceded [edit] Disciplinary records NB: * = totals include 1 red card awarded after 2 yellow cards in same match. [edit] Biggest victories [edit] 5 goals [edit] 4 goals [edit] Highest aggregate scores Honours [edit] League Milestones [edit] League Statistics - Matches Played: 84
- Home Wins: 33%, Draws: 25%, Away Wins: 42%
- Total Goals: 232
- Average of 2.76 goals per match
[edit] See also [edit] External links |
