The 2008-09 Hyundai A-League season was Melbourne Victory's fourth season. They finished top of the table at the end of the regular season and defeated Adelaide United in the Grand Final to take their second A-League title.
Season summary The 2008–09 season brought the start of the A-League Youth League and the introduction of the W-League with Melbourne fielding teams in both competitions. Melbourne actively recruited, bringing in Socceroo Michael Thwaite on a one-year loan, Costa Rican World Cup player José Luis López, as well as Ney Fabiano from Asian Champions League rivals Chonburi FC.
Melbourne's season got off to an optimal start, winning the Pre-Season Challenge Cup. A 0–0 draw resulted in a penalty shoot-out, with Victory winning 8–7 on penalties against Wellington Phoenix.
After winning the pre-season cup, the Victory were held to a 0–0 draw away against Sydney FC. They reinforced their premiership favouritism by coasting to 4–2 and 5–0 victories against Wellington Phoenix and the Newcastle Jets respectively. Despite this, they succumbed 0–2 to an undermanned Sydney side at the Telstra Dome in front of 31,564 fans.
On 6 December 2008, Melbourne Victory became the first A-League club to amass total crowd figures of 1,000,000 after their away match against Perth Glory.
On 24 January 2009, Melbourne Victory won its final game of the season against Wellington Phoenix. The 2–0 win in front of 28,905 fans placed Victory ahead of Adelaide United on goals scored for the premiership title, a margin United failed to achieve in its 1–0 win over the Central Coast Mariners.
The Victory kicked off their finals campaign on 7 February 2009 in the major semi-final first leg against bitter rival Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium, a game which was won courtesy of goals from Carlos Hernández and Danny Allsopp. In the second leg Melbourne defeated Adelaide United 4–0 with goals from Archie Thompson, Hernandez, Allsopp and Tom Pondeljak, granting Melbourne passage to the Grand Final on a 6–0 aggregate.
Adelaide then defeated Queensland Roar to set up a rematch with Melbourne in the Grand Final, which the Victory won 1–0 with Tom Pondeljak scoring in the 59th minute to regain the A-League Championship and becoming the first A-League team to win their second championship, a feat since achieved by Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar.
Players
First team squad
Transfers In
Player From League Fee Date Billy Celeski Perth Glory A-League – February 2008 Tom Pondeljak Central Coast Mariners A-League – February 2008 Nathan Elasi Marconi Stallions New South Wales Premier League – February 2008 Steve Mautone* Retired None – February 2008 Ney FabianoFIFA.com Fabiano leaves Chonburi for Victory Accessed 31 May 2008 Chonburi FC Thailand Premier League US$13,500 1 July 2008 Michael Thwaite SK Brann Norwegian Premier League Loan 1 July 2008 José Luis López Deportivo Saprissa Primera División de Costa Rica Loan 14 July 2008 * Steve Mautone is the current Melbourne Victory Goalkeeping coach and was named as the third choice goalkeeper for the AFC Champions League
Out
Player To League Fee Date Ljubo Milicevic Released – – February 2008 Steve Mautone Retired – – June 2008 Adrian Caceres Central Coast Mariners A-League – July 2008 Daniel Piorkowski Released – – July 2008 Leandro Love Vissel Kobe (loan ended) J.League – July 2008 Kaz Pataftaa-league.com.au Patafta moves north to join Newcastle Accessed 31 May 2008 Newcastle Jets A-League – July 2008
Matches
2008 Pre-Season Cup fixtures
2008-09 Hyundai A-League fixtures
2008-09 finals series
Statistics
Goals
TotalPlayerGoals per Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 S1 S2 GF 13 Daniel Allsopp 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 Archie Thompson 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 Ney Fabiano 1 1 1 1 1 5 Kevin Muscat 1 1 2 1 4 Carlos Hernández 1 1 1 1 3 Tom Pondeljak 1 1 1 2 Grant Brebner 1 1 2 Rodrigo Vargas 1 1 2 Nick Ward 1 1 1 Billy Celeski 1
A-League
Ladder
Finals series
2008–09 Awards Victory Medal Kevin Muscat and Danny Allsopp Players' Player of the Year Rodrigo Vargas Clubman of the Year Evan Berger Golden Boot Danny Allsopp Women's Player of the Year Brittany Timko Youth Team Player of the Year Matthew Theodore
References
External links
Melbourne – Official Website Pictures of Melbourne supporters MVFC – Melbourne Victory Videos