The 2007–08 A-League was the 31st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the third season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Football Federation Australia hoped to build on the success of the previous two seasons and on the interest generated by Sydney FC and Adelaide United playing in the 2007 AFC Champions League, and the Socceroos competing in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.
Based on their A-League 2006-07 season performances Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory competed in the 2008 AFC Champions League, making it two consecutive seasons in the competition for Adelaide United. Based on the 2007–08 season of the A-League, the Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets qualified for the 2009 AFC Champions League, as the competition's Premiers and Champions respectively.
Changes included: The New Zealand Knights, who folded at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season, were replaced by Wellington Phoenix. An increase of the squad size, from 20 to 23 players, increasing the salary cap from A$1.6 million to A$1.8 million.
Clubs
Team Location Stadium Capacity Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000 Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119 Melbourne Victory Melbourne Telstra Dome 56,347 Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164 Perth Glory Perth Members Equity Stadium 18,156 Queensland Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500 Sydney FC Sydney Aussie Stadium 42,500 Wellington Phoenix Wellington Westpac Stadium 34,500
Foreign players Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s) Adelaide United Cássio Diego Walsh Bobby Petta Jonas Salley1 Central Coast Mariners André Gumprecht John Hutchinson2 Melbourne Victory Leandro Love Carlos Hernández Joe Keenan Grant Brebner Newcastle Jets Denni Mário Jardel Song Jin-hyung Jorge Drovandi Perth Glory James Robinson Mate Dragicevic Jerry Karpeh1 Queensland Roar Marcinho Reinaldo Simon Lynch Seo Hyuk-su1 Sydney FC Juninho Patrick da Silva Terry McFlynn Michael Enfield Michael Bridges3 Michael Herbet3 Wellington Phoenix Cleberson Daniel Felipe George The following do not fill a Visa position: 1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian Residency (and New Zealand Residency, in the case of Wellington Phoenix); 2Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team; 3Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players; 4Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games)
Salary cap exemptions and captains Club Marquee Captain Vice-Captain Adelaide United Paul Agostino Michael Valkanis Travis Dodd Central Coast Mariners Tony Vidmar Alex Wilkinson None Melbourne Victory Archie Thompson Kevin Muscat None Newcastle Jets Mário Jardel Jade North Ante Covic Perth Glory Stan Lazaridis Simon Colosimo None Queensland Roar Craig Moore Craig Moore None Sydney FC Juninho Tony Popovic None Wellington Phoenix Ahmad Elrich Ross Aloisi Tim Brown
Pre-Season Challenge Cup
The pre-season cup competition was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The opening round began on 14 July 2007. The competition featured a group stage, with three regular rounds, followed by a two-week finals playoff.
The pre-season cup was won by Adelaide United at the final on 12 August 2007.
Regular season The league season took a triple round-robin format over 21 rounds between 24 August 2007 and 20 January 2008 with each team playing the other seven teams three times.Hyundai A-League 2007–08 Season Draw, A-League, 23 April 2007.
League table
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Finals series
Semi-finals
Preliminary-final
Grand Final
Season statistics
Leading scorers
TotalPlayerTeamGoals per Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2112 Joel Griffiths Newcastle Jets 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 19 Shane Smeltz Wellington Phoenix 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 8 Alex Brosque Sydney FC 1 1 2 2 1 18 Jamie Harnwell Perth Glory 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 17 Daniel Allsopp Melbourne Victory 1 1 1 2 1 17 John Aloisi Central Coast Mariners 2 1 1 1 1 16 Sasho Petrovski Central Coast Mariners 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 Reinaldo Queensland Roar 1 1 2 1 1 6 Archie Thompson Melbourne Victory 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 Lucas Pantelis Adelaide United 1 1 1 1 1 1
Attendance The attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season, does not include finals series attendances.
* Adelaide United played a one-off match at the Adelaide Oval against Sydney FC in their Round 18 match. This is why Adelaide United's Highest single attendance exceeds the capacity of Hindmarsh Stadium.
Top 10 attendances Attendance Round Date Home Score Away Venue Weekday Time of Day 36,354 Grand Final 24 February 2008 Central Coast Mariners 0–1 Newcastle Jets Sydney Football Stadium Sunday Day 36,221 Finals – Week 2 8 February 2008 Queensland Roar 2–0 Sydney FC Suncorp Stadium Friday Night 33,458 Round 21 20 January 2008 Sydney FC 2–2 Melbourne Victory Sydney Football Stadium Sunday Day 31,933 Round 20 13 January 2008 Queensland Roar 0–0 Sydney FC Suncorp Stadium Sunday Twilight 31,884 Round 12 10 November 2007 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Sydney FC Telstra Dome Saturday Night 31,545 Round 2 1 September 2007 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Perth Glory Telstra Dome Saturday Night 27,351 Round 4 16 September 2007 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Central Coast Mariners Telstra Dome Sunday Afternoon 27,123 Round 10 26 October 2007 Melbourne Victory 0–2 Newcastle Jets Telstra Dome Friday Night 25,622 Round 6 28 September 2007 Melbourne Victory 2–0 Queensland Roar Telstra Dome Friday Night 25,598 Round 9 21 October 2007 Melbourne Victory 2–1 Perth Glory Telstra Dome Sunday Afternoon
Disciplinary The Fair Play Award was awarded to Newcastle Jets, the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season.
Awards The Premiers' Plate was awarded to Central Coast Mariners, who finished on top of the ladder after the regular season. The Championship Trophy was awarded to the Newcastle Jets. The Johnny Warren Medal was awarded to Joel Griffiths from the Newcastle Jets for the best player in the league. The Coach of the Year was awarded to Gary van Egmond of the Newcastle Jets. The Joe Marston Medal was awarded to Andrew Durante of Newcastle Jets. The Reebok Golden Boot was awarded to Joel Griffiths of Newcastle Jets (12 goals - regular season). The Rising Star award was awarded to Bruce Djite of Adelaide United. The Fair Play Award was awarded to the Newcastle Jets.
See also 2007 Australian football code crowds Adelaide United season 2007-08 Central Coast Mariners season 2007-08 Melbourne Victory season 2007-08 Newcastle United Jets season 2007-08 Perth Glory season 2007-08 Queensland Roar season 2007-08 Sydney FC season 2007-08 Wellington Phoenix season 2007-08
References