The 2019–20 A-League, also known as the 2019–20 Hyundai A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 43rd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 15th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced on 11 October 2019 and was scheduled to conclude on 26 April 2020, though was postponed to 19 August 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused Football Federation Australia (FFA) to suspend the season from late March to mid July. The season resumed on 17 July 2020, which meant the finals occurred in mid-August and the Grand Final was held on 30 August 2020.
Sydney FC were the defending champions and Perth Glory were the defending premiers.
Clubs The league has been expanded to eleven teams, with the addition of the Western United starting their first season.
ClubCityHome GroundCapacityAdelaide UnitedAdelaideCoopers Stadium16,500Brisbane RoarBrisbaneSuncorp Stadium52,500Dolphin Stadium10,000Cbus Super Stadium27,000Central Coast MarinersGosfordCentral Coast Stadium20,059Melbourne CityMelbourneAAMI Park30,050Melbourne VictoryMelbourneMarvel Stadium56,347AAMI Park30,050Newcastle JetsNewcastleMcDonald Jones Stadium33,000Perth GloryPerthHBF Park20,500Sydney FCSydneyNetstrata Jubilee Oval20,500Leichhardt Oval20,000Wellington PhoenixWellingtonSky Stadium34,500Eden Park50,000Western Sydney WanderersSydneyBankwest Stadium30,000Western UnitedMelbourneGMHBA Stadium36,000Mars Stadium11,000VU Whitten Oval12,000
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Kit sponsor Adelaide United Carl Veart (caretaker) Michael Jakobsen Macron Flinders University#BookThemOut Brisbane Roar Warren Moon Tom Aldred Umbro Actron Air Central Coast Mariners Alen Stajcic Matt Simon Umbro Masterfoods MATE Melbourne City Erick Mombaerts Scott Jamieson Puma Etihad Airways Melbourne Victory Grant Brebner (caretaker) Vacant Adidas Metricon Newcastle Jets Carl Robinson Nigel Boogaard Viva Sports #FootballForFires Inspirations Paint Perth Glory Tony Popovic Diego Castro Macron BHP Sydney FC Steve Corica Alex Wilkinson Under Armour The Star Wellington Phoenix Ufuk Talay Steven Taylor Paladin Sports Huawei Western Sydney Wanderers Jean-Paul de Marigny Mitchell Duke Nike CenturiaJD Sports Western United Marko Rudan Alessandro Diamanti Kappa Probuild 1. Away kit.
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position on table Incoming manager Date of appointment Brisbane Roar (caretaker) End of caretaker spell 25 April 2019 Pre-season 23 April 2019 Wellington Phoenix Resigned 4 May 2019 4 May 2019 Melbourne City End of contract 8 May 2019 27 June 2019 Adelaide United End of contract 10 May 2019 23 May 2019 Melbourne Victory Resigned 23 May 2019 28 June 2019 Western UnitedInaugural manager 23 May 2019 Newcastle Jets Sacked 6 January 2020 11th (caretakers) 6 January 2020 Melbourne Victory Sacked 15 January 2020 6th (caretaker) 15 January 2020 Western Sydney Wanderers Sacked 20 January 2020 9th (caretaker) 20 January 2020 Newcastle Jets (caretakers) End of caretaker spell 6 February 2020 11th 6 February 2020 Adelaide United Mutual contract termination 29 April 2020 7th (caretaker) 15 June 2020 Melbourne Victory (caretaker) Resigned 30 May 2020 10th (caretaker) 11 June 2020 Brisbane Roar Resigned 29 June 2020 4th (caretakers) 29 June 2020 Western Sydney Wanderers (caretaker) Promoted to full time 14 July 2020 9th 14 July 2020 Brisbane Roar (caretakers) End of caretaker spell 16 July 2020 4th 16 July 2020
Foreign players Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s) Adelaide United Chen Yongbin Michael Jakobsen Kristian Opseth Pacifique Niyongabire2 Michaël Maria5 Mirko Boland5 Brisbane Roar Macaulay Gillesphey Jay O'Shea Matthew Ridenton Tom Aldred Aaron Amadi-Holloway Jamie Young2 Max Crocombe2 Jai Ingham2 Jack Hingert2 Roy O'Donovan Central Coast Mariners Jair Michael McGlinchey Ziggy Gordon Milan Đurić Gianni Stensness2 Kim Eun-sun5 Melbourne City Richard Windbichler Craig Noone Florin Berenguer Adrián Luna Jack Hendry5 Markel Susaeta5 Javier Cabrera Melbourne Victory Migjen Basha Marco Rojas Elvis Kamsoba2 Adama Traoré1 Storm Roux2 Kenny Athiu2 Kristijan Dobras Jakob Poulsen5 Tim Hoogland5 Ola Toivonen5 Newcastle Jets Roy O'Donovan Abdiel Arroyo Joe Ledley Kaine Sheppard1, 5 Wes Hoolahan5 Glen Moss2, 5 Matthew Ridenton Bobby Burns5 Perth Glory Diego Castro Juande Bruno Fornaroli Dane Ingham2 Thomas James1 Kim Soo-beom5 Gregory Wüthrich5 Sydney FC Adam Le Fondre Alexander Baumjohann Kosta Barbarouses Miloš Ninković Wellington Phoenix David Ball Gary Hooper Steven Taylor Matti Steinmann Ulises Dávila Western Sydney Wanderers Patrick Ziegler Simon Cox Radosław Majewski Daniel Lopar Pirmin Schwegler Nicolai Müller3 Daniel Georgievski2 Mohamed Adam2 Alexander Meier Western United Alessandro Diamanti Tomoki Imai Filip Kurto Besart Berisha1 Kwabena Appiah2 Andrew Durante2 Panagiotis Kone Ersan Gülüm2 Dario Jertec5 The following do not fill a Visa position: 1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian citizenship (or New Zealand citizenship, in the case of Wellington Phoenix); 2Australian citizens (or New Zealand citizens, 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 fourteen games); 5Players who left at the end of their contract, which was originally at the end of the season, but became mid-season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia extending the season
Salary cap exemptions and captains Club First Designated Second Designated Captain Vice-Captain Adelaide United None None Michael Jakobsen None Brisbane Roar None None Tom Aldred Roy O'Donovan Central Coast Mariners Daniel De Silva None Matt Simon None Melbourne City Jamie Maclaren None Scott Jamieson None Melbourne Victory Ola Toivonen Robbie Kruse Ola Toivonen None Newcastle Jets None None Nigel Boogaard Nikolai Topor-Stanley Perth Glory Diego Castro Bruno Fornaroli Diego Castro None Sydney FC Adam Le Fondre None Alex Wilkinson None Wellington Phoenix Gary Hooper None Steven Taylor Alex Rufer Western Sydney Wanderers Alexander Meier None Mitchell Duke Dylan McGowan Western United Panagiotis Kone Alessandro Diamanti Alessandro Diamanti None
Transfers
Regular season
Effects of the 2019–20 COVID-19 pandemic Due to the self isolation requirements after overseas travel imposed by the Australian Government on 16 March, both Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix were required to self-isolate having returned from playing in Wellington on 15 March 2020. This led to four games involving both clubs being postponed.
On 16 March 2020, due to restrictions imposed by the Australian Government of gatherings involving more than 500 people, the FFA announced that the remainder of the season would proceed with all games being played behind closed doors. Wellington Phoenix had intended to relocate for the remainder of the season in Sydney in order to keep playing the remainder of its scheduled games. The season was suspended on 24 March.
The season resumed on 17 July 2020, with almost all of the remaining 27 matches in the regular season played in New South Wales.
League table
Results
Finals series
Elimination-finals
Semi-finals
Grand Final
Statistics
Attendances
By club 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.
By round + 2019–20 A-League Attendance RoundTotalGames Avg. Per Game Round 1 78,600 5 15,720 Round 2 52,966 5 10,593 Round 3 63,373 5 12,675 Round 4 60,180 5 12,036 Round 5 41,585 5 8,317 Round 6 36,964 4 9,241 Round 7 44,882 5 8,976 Round 8 44,395 5 8,879 Round 9 42,443 5 8,489 Round 10 45,171 5 9,034 Round 11 50,314 5 10,063 Round 12 45,534 5 9,107 Round 13 53,061 5 10,612 Round 14 43,997 5 8,799 Round 15 43,366 5 8,673 Round 16 42,947 5 8,589 Round 17 37,738 5 7,548 Round 18 55,717 5 11,143 Round 19 35,300 4 8,825 Round 20 38,227 5 7,645 Round 21 33,032 4 8,258 Round 22 43,804 5 8,761 Round 23 22,317 5 4,463 Elimination finals 0 2 0 Semifinals 5,374 2 2,687 Grand final 7,051 1 7,051
Club membership + 2019–20 A-League membership figures Club Members Adelaide United 7,138 Brisbane Roar 9,883 Central Coast Mariners 6,821 Melbourne City 11,968 Melbourne Victory 23,633 Newcastle Jets 10,344 Perth Glory 10,278 Sydney FC 14,026 Wellington Phoenix 6,625 Western Sydney Wanderers 17,325 Western United 4,786Total122,827Average 11,166
Player stats Top scorers Including Finals matches RankPlayerClubGoals1 Jamie MaclarenMelbourne City232 Adam Le FondreSydney FC213 Besart BerishaWestern United194 Mitchell DukeWestern Sydney Wanderers145 Bruno FornaroliPerth Glory136 Ulises DávilaWellington Phoenix127 Riley McGreeAdelaide United10 Roy O'DonovanBrisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets Ola ToivonenMelbourne Victory10 Ben HalloranAdelaide United9
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Ref. Jamie Maclaren Melbourne City Brisbane Roar 3–4 Roy O'Donovan Brisbane Roar Melbourne City 4–3 Adam Le Fondre Sydney FC Brisbane Roar 5–1 Max Burgess Western United Central Coast Mariners 6–2 Jamie Maclaren Melbourne City Central Coast Mariners 4–2
Own goals PlayerClubAgainstRound Dino Djulbic Perth Glory Sydney FC 7 Harrison Delbridge Melbourne City Perth Glory 9 Steven Taylor Wellington Phoenix Sydney FC 11 Luke DeVere Wellington Phoenix Central Coast Mariners 13 Matthew Millar Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory 13 Kye Rowles Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Victory 14 Kye Rowles Central Coast Mariners Western United 15 Kim Eun-sun Central Coast Mariners Newcastle Jets 18 Jamie Young Brisbane Roar Melbourne City 21
Clean sheets Including Finals matches RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Liam ReddyPerth Glory92 Andrew RedmayneSydney FC83 Filip KurtoWestern United6 Jamie YoungBrisbane Roar5 Stefan MarinovicWellington Phoenix5 Lawrence ThomasMelbourne Victory7 Tom GloverMelbourne City4 Lewis ItalianoNewcastle Jets Paul IzzoAdelaide United10 Dean BouzanisMelbourne City3 Daniel LoparWestern Sydney Wanderers
Awards The NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award will be awarded to the finest performance of an under-23 player from Australia or New Zealand throughout the season.
Monthly awards
MonthCoach of the MonthPlayer of the MonthNominee for Young Footballer of the YearManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubOctober Markus Babbel Daniel Lopar Riley McGreeAdelaide UnitedNovember Ernie MerrickNewcastle Jets Ulises DavilaWellington Phoenix Angus ThurgateNewcastle JetsDecember Ufuk TalayWellington Phoenix Cameron DevlinWellington Phoenix Reno PiscopoJanuaryBrisbane RoarPerth Glory Cameron DevlinWellington PhoenixFebruary Robbie FowlerBrisbane Roar David BallWellington PhoenixPerth GloryMarch Matthew MillarNewcastle JetsJuly/August Tom GloverMelbourne City
Annual awards The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2019–20 Dolan Warren Awards night on 10 September 2020. Johnny Warren Medal – Alessandro Diamanti, Western United NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Riley McGree, Adelaide United Nike Golden Boot Award – Jamie Maclaren, Melbourne City (22 goals) Goalkeeper of the Year – Andrew Redmayne, Sydney FC Coach of the Year – Erick Mombaerts, Melbourne City Fair Play Award – Sydney FC Referee of the Year – Chris Beath Goal of the Year – Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Newcastle Jets (Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory, 29 February 2020)