The 2009–10 A-League was the 33rd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fifth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. The season marked the addition of two new teams from Queensland. Gold Coast United FC and the North Queensland Fury FC made their A-League debuts at the start of the season. Because of this, Queensland Roar were renamed to Brisbane Roar, as they were no longer the only A-League club from Queensland. With the inception of the two new clubs, many club transfers took place both within Australia and New Zealand, and around the world.
The length of the regular season was longer than in previous years, with 27 rounds rather than 21, plus finals. The season began on 6 August, with Melbourne hosting the Central Coast at home. Football Federation Australia, 20 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009. As well as these major changes to the league, the Pre-Season Challenge Cup was no longer held as part of the 2009–10 season due to a busier regular season schedule, and clubs attracting higher profile pre-season friendlies. The Premiership and Championship double was completed by Sydney FC with victory over Melbourne in the final match of the regular season and on penalties in the Championship Grand Final.
Clubs
Team City Home Ground Capacity Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000 Brisbane Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500 Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119 Gold Coast United Gold Coast Skilled Park 27,400 Melbourne Victory Melbourne Etihad Stadium 56,347 Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164 North Queensland Fury Townsville Dairy Farmers Stadium 26,500 Perth Glory Perth ME Bank Stadium 20,500 Sydney FC Sydney Sydney Football Stadium 45,500 Wellington Phoenix Wellington Westpac Stadium 36,000
Transfers
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTableSydney FC Sacked31 January 2009Coach John Kosmina dumped by A-League club Sydney FC5th (08–09)4 February 2009Czech mate: Sydney FC confirm Lavicka appointmentPre-seasonNewcastle Jets Resigned27 June 20098th (08–09)30 June 2009Pre-SeasonBrisbane Roar Sacked14 October 2009Brisbane Sack Farina6th (09–10)16 October 2009Round 10
Foreign players Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s) Adelaide United Alemão Cássio Cristiano Lloyd Owusu Shin In-seob Marcos Flores3 Brisbane Roar Pieter Collen Henrique Reinaldo Steven Bryce Sergio van Dijk Bob Malcolm Central Coast Mariners Nicky Travis Chris Doig Jonathan Brown Matt Crowell John Hutchinson2 Wolry Wolfe4 Michael McGlinchey Gold Coast United Jefferson Robson Adama Traoré Bas van den Brink Charlie Miller Anderson3 Milson Melbourne Victory Marvin Angulo Carlos Hernández Surat Sukha Glen Moss2 Grant Brebner1 Ney Fabiano Sutee Suksomkit Newcastle Jets Michael Bridges Marcello Fiorentini Song Jin-hyung Ali Abbas3 North Queensland Fury Robbie Fowler James Robinson Kojiro Kaimoto Jeremy Brockie Scott Wilson Terry Cooke3 Dyron Daal3 Jack Hingert2 Perth Glory Andy Todd Victor Sikora Branko Jelić Steven McGarry Amaral4 Eugène Dadi Sydney FC Karol Kisel Byun Sung-hwan Stephan Keller Terry McFlynn1 Iain Ramsay2 Wellington Phoenix Paul Ifill Daniel Diego Walsh Jiang Chen Chris Greenacre Eugène Dadi4 Manny Muscat2 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 Junior Marquee Captain Vice-Captain Adelaide United None None Travis Dodd Lucas Pantelis Brisbane Roar None Michael Zullo Matt McKay None Central Coast Mariners None None Alex Wilkinson John Hutchinson Gold Coast United Jason Culina Tahj Minniecon Jason Culina Michael Thwaite Melbourne Victory Archie Thompson None Kevin Muscat Rodrigo Vargas Newcastle Jets Fabio Vignaroli Adam D'Apuzzo Matt Thompson None North Queensland Fury Robbie Fowler None Robbie Fowler None Perth Glory Mile Sterjovski None Jacob Burns None Sydney FC John Aloisi Mark Bridge Steve Corica None Wellington Phoenix None None Andrew Durante Tim Brown
Regular season League table
Home and away season The 2009–10 A-League season was played over 27 rounds, followed by a finals series.
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
Round 22
Round 23
Round 24
Round 25
Round 26
Round 27
Finals series Bracket
Elimination finals
Semi-finals Major semi-final
Melbourne Victory won 4–3 on aggregate.
Minor semi-final
Preliminary final
Grand Final
Season statistics
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Shane SmeltzGold Coast United192 Sergio van DijkBrisbane Roar133 Carlos HernándezMelbourne Victory12 Paul IfillWellington Phoenix5 Archie ThompsonMelbourne Victory106 John AloisiSydney FC9 Robbie FowlerNorth Queensland Fury8 Daniel McBreenPerth Glory89 Tim BrownWellington Phoenix7 Steve CoricaSydney FC Matt ThompsonNewcastle Jets
Attendance These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.
Top 10 Attendances
Attendance Round Date Home Score Away Venue Weekday Time of Day 44,560 Grand Final 20 March 2010 Melbourne Victory 1–1 Sydney FC Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening 32,792 FinalsWk 2 7 March 2010 Wellington Phoenix 3–1 Newcastle Jets Westpac Stadium Sunday Afternoon 30,668 10 9 October 2009 Melbourne Victory 0–3 Sydney FC Etihad Stadium Friday Night 27,344 20 19 December 2009 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Sydney FC Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening 25,407 27 14 February 2010 Sydney FC 2–0 Melbourne Victory Sydney Football Stadium Sunday Evening 24,278 FinalsWk 1 21 February 2010 Wellington Phoenix 1–1 Perth Glory Westpac Stadium Sunday Evening 23,818 FinalWk 2 7 March 2010 Sydney FC 2–2 Melbourne Victory Sydney Football Stadium Sunday Evening 22,726 26 5 February 2010 Melbourne Victory 2–0 North Queensland Fury Etihad Stadium Friday Night 21,182 12 24 October 2009 Melbourne Victory 3–1 Adelaide United Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening 20,537 16 28 November 2009 Melbourne Victory 4–0 Gold Coast United Etihad Stadium Saturday Evening
Discipline The Fair Play Award will go to the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season. It was awarded to Premiers Sydney FC who scraped in by 4 points from rivals Melbourne Victory.
* The Newcastle Jets' Tarek Elrich received a direct red card in their round 7 fixture against Sydney FC. However, this was successfully appealed by the club and expunged from Elrich and the team's records. * Adelaide United's Iain Fyfe received a direct red card in their round 19 fixture against Perth Glory. However, this was overruled by the match review panel and expunged from Fyfe and the team's records.
See also 2009 Australian football code crowds
Team season articles
2009–10 Adelaide United FC season 2009–10 Brisbane Roar FC season 2009–10 Central Coast Mariners FC season 2009–10 Gold Coast United FC season 2009–10 Melbourne Victory FC season 2009–10 Newcastle Jets FC season 2009–10 North Queensland Fury FC season 2009–10 Perth Glory FC season 2009–10 Sydney FC season 2009–10 Wellington Phoenix FC season
References