The 2011–12 A-League was the 35th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the seventh season of the Australian A-League soccer competition since its establishment in 2004. At the end of the previous season, the North Queensland Fury were cut from the competition by the governing body, Football Federation Australia, due to financial reasons.
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 Heart Melbourne AAMI Park 30,050 Melbourne Victory Melbourne Etihad StadiumAAMI Park 55,00030,050 Newcastle Jets Newcastle Ausgrid Stadium 33,000 Perth Glory Perth NIB Stadium 20,500 Sydney FC Sydney Sydney Football Stadium 45,500 Wellington Phoenix Wellington Westpac Stadium 36,000
Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Jersey sponsorAdelaide United ErreàCoopersBrisbane Roar Matt SmithPumaThe Coffee ClubCentral Coast Mariners HummelSoccer5sGold Coast United Fi-taHyatt Regency CoolumMelbourne Heart FredISCWestpacMelbourne Victory AdidasAdeccoNewcastle Jets ISCHunter PortsPerth Glory X-bladesQBE InsuranceSydney FC AdidasUNICEFWellington Phoenix AdidasSony
Transfers
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Newcastle Jets Sacked 4 October 2011 Pre-season 20 October 2011 Adelaide United Sacked 18 December 2011 9th 18 December 2011 Melbourne Victory Sacked 6 January 2012 8th 7 January 2012 Gold Coast United Sacked/Resigned 19 February 2012 10th 20 February 2012
Foreign players Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s) Adelaide United Cássio Sergio van Dijk Yevhen Levchenko Francisco Usúcar Iain Ramsay2 Ricardo1 Brisbane Roar Besart Berisha Sayed Mohamed Adnan Henrique Issey Nakajima-Farran Thomas Broich Jack Hingert2 Central Coast Mariners John Sutton Patrick Zwaanswijk Michael McGlinchey John Hutchinson2 Brad McDonald2 Gold Coast United Robson Adama Traoré Paul Beekmans Peter Jungschläger Maceo Rigters Ante Rožić2 Samuel Tesfagabr1 Ambesager Yosief1 Glen Moss2 Jonas Salley1 Alex Smith Melbourne Heart Jonatan Germano Fred Maycon Alex Terra Rutger Worm Melbourne Victory Fábio Carlos Hernández Jean Carlos Solórzano Marco Rojas Ubay Luzardo Grant Brebner1 Newcastle Jets Tiago Michael Bridges Francis Jeffers Jeremy Brockie Byun Sung-hwan Ali Abbas1 Perth Glory Billy Mehmet Liam Miller Bas van den Brink Victor Sikora Steven McGarry Andrezinho3 Shane Smeltz2 Ndumba Makeche1 Sydney FC Bruno Cazarine Juho Mäkelä Hirofumi Moriyasu Pascal Bosschaart Karol Kisel Terry McFlynn1 Wellington Phoenix Paul Ifill Chris Greenacre Dani Sánchez Tony Warner Alex Smith Daniel1 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 Australian Marquee International Marquee Junior Marquee Captain Vice-Captain Adelaide United Dario Vidosic Sergio van Dijk None Jon McKain Eugene Galekovic Cássio Brisbane Roar None None None Matt Smith Shane Stefanutto Central Coast Mariners None None Oliver Bozanic Alex Wilkinson None Gold Coast United None None Tahj Minniecon Michael Thwaite Paul Beekmans Glen Moss Melbourne Heart None Fred None Fred Matt Thompson Melbourne Victory Archie Thompson Harry Kewell None Adrian Leijer Archie Thompson Newcastle Jets None None None Jobe Wheelhouse Kasey Wehrman Perth Glory Mile Sterjovski Shane Smeltz None Jacob Burns Chris Coyne Sydney FC Nick Carle Brett Emerton None Terry McFlynn Alex Brosque Wellington Phoenix None None None Andrew Durante Tim Brown
Regular season League table
Home and away season The 2011–12 season saw each team play 27 games, host 13 and play 1 regional game over 25 rounds. On 4 January, over 11 hours of soccer was broadcast with all matches aired back to back starting in Wellington and ending in Perth. The season began on 8 October 2011 and concluded on 22 April 2012. All times are local unless otherwise stated.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Midweek FixtureGame was postponed due to severe weather in Perth, preventing travel for Perth Glory.
Round 10
Midweek Fixture
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Midweek Round
Round 14
Round 15
Midweek Fixture
Round 16
Midweek Fixture
Round 17
Midweek Fixture
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Postponed Round 17 FixtureGame was postponed due to risk of flooding in the Gold Coast.
Round 21
Round 22
Round 23
Round 24
Round 25
Table of results
Finals series
Elimination-finals
Semi-finals
Brisbane Roar won 5–2 on aggregate.
Preliminary final
Grand Final
Season statistics
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Besart BerishaBrisbane Roar192 Shane SmeltzPerth Glory133 Carlos HernándezMelbourne Victory104 Eli BabaljMelbourne Heart9 Jeremy BrockieNewcastle Jets Ryan GriffithsNewcastle Jets Mitch NicholsBrisbane Roar8 Bruno CazarineSydney FC8 Harry KewellMelbourne Victory Sergio van DijkAdelaide United
Own goals
PlayerTeamAgainstWeek Nigel Boogaard Adelaide United Wellington Phoenix 7 Vince Lia Wellington Phoenix Melbourne Victory 11 Byun Sung-Hwan Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory 14 Byun Sung-Hwan Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory 14 Adama Traoré Gold Coast United Perth Glory 18 Nigel Boogaard Adelaide United Gold Coast United 19
Attendances 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.
Updated to the 25 March 2012 note: Adelaide United's lowest crowd was at Bathurst's Carrington Park(NSW) as part of the regional round fixtures.
Top 10 Season Attendances Attendance Round Date Home Score Away Venue Weekday Time of Day 50,334 GF 22 April 2012 Brisbane Roar 2–1 Perth Glory Suncorp Stadium Sunday Afternoon 40,351 1 8 October 2011 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Sydney FC Etihad Stadium Saturday Night 39,309 3 22 October 2011 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Melbourne Heart Etihad Stadium Saturday Night 26,579 12 23 December 2011 Melbourne Heart 3–2 Melbourne Victory AAMI Park Friday Night 26,395 18 4 February 2012 Melbourne Heart 0–0 Melbourne Victory AAMI Park Saturday Night 24,820 5 5 November 2011 Melbourne Victory 2–2 Brisbane Roar Etihad Stadium Saturday Night 20,959 15 13 January 2012 Melbourne Victory 1–1 Adelaide United AAMI Park Friday Night 20,078 7 19 November 2011 Wellington Phoenix 1–1 Adelaide United Eden Park Saturday Afternoon 20,053 17 26 January 2012 Melbourne Victory 2–2 Sydney FC AAMI Park Thursday Afternoon 19,339 8 26 November 2011 Brisbane Roar 4–0 Perth Glory Suncorp Stadium Saturday Night
Discipline Updated to end of Week 17, 2 February 2012 The Fair Play Award will go to the team with the lowest points on the fair play table at the conclusion of the home and away season.
Wellington Phoenix's Nick Ward was given a straight red card that was later rescinded by the Match Review Panel.
Awards
End-of-season awards Johnny Warren Medal – Thomas Broich, Brisbane Roar NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Mathew Ryan, Central Coast Mariners Nike Golden Boot Award – Besart Berisha, Brisbane Roar, 19 Goals Goalkeeper of the Year – Mathew Ryan, Central Coast Mariners Manager of the Year – Graham Arnold, Central Coast Mariners Fair Play Award – Brisbane Roar Referee of the Year – Jarred Gillett Foreign Player of the Year – Thomas Broich, Brisbane Roar Solo Goal of the Year – Carlos Hernández, Melbourne Victory FC (Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners, 10-Feb-12)
All-Star team Formation: 3–4–3
PositionNameClub GK Matt Ryan Central Coast Mariners RB Michael Marrone Melbourne Heart CB Patrick Zwaanswijk Central Coast Mariners LB Joshua Rose Central Coast Mariners RM Mitch Nichols Brisbane Roar CM Thomas Broich Brisbane Roar CM Fred Melbourne Heart LM Aziz Behich Melbourne Heart RF Paul Ifill Wellington Phoenix ST Besart Berisha Brisbane Roar LF Archie Thompson Melbourne Victory Coach Graham Arnold Central Coast MarinersSubstitutes: GK Clint Bolton Melbourne Heart CB Andrew Durante Wellington Phoenix CM Nicky Carle Sydney FC CM Carlos Hernandez Melbourne Victory LF Harry Kewell Melbourne Victory
See also 2011 Australian football code crowds
Team season articles
2011–12 Adelaide United season 2011–12 Brisbane Roar season 2011–12 Central Coast Mariners season 2011–12 Gold Coast United season 2011–12 Melbourne Heart season 2011–12 Melbourne Victory season 2011–12 Newcastle Jets season 2011–12 Perth Glory season 2011–12 Sydney FC season 2011–12 Wellington Phoenix season
Notes
References