The 2023–24 season was the 20th in the history of Adelaide United Football Club since its establishment in 2003. The club participated in the A-League Men for the 19th time and the Australia Cup for the ninth time.
In their 20th year of existence, Adelaide United's season began with their second worst Australia Cup performance, losing 1–5 to Western Sydney Wanderers in the round of 16. Leading into the season, Adelaide lost numerous high-profile players, including their captain and all-time leading goalscorer, Craig Goodwin, Olyroos midfielder Louis D'Arrigo, and ex-La Liga midfielder Juande. Their A-League Men campaign began on 20 October with a 3–0 win over reigning champions, Central Coast Mariners and a 6–0 win against reigning premiers Melbourne City a week later. Following a draw with rivals Melbourne Victory, the Reds sat atop of the ladder for the first time since they won the premiers' plate in 2016.
Adelaide confirmed the sale of 17-year-old Nestory Irankunda to Bayern Munich in November 2023, breaking the record for the largest domestic transfer fee paid to an Australian club, with the fee reported to be around $5.7 million plus add-ons. Irankunda would spend the remainder of the season with United, where he would be nominated for the Australian Young Footballer of the Year award and become the first Australian player to be named in Goal.com's NXGN. Adelaide also completed the deadline-day sale of Socceroos goalkeeper Joe Gauci to Aston Villa for a reported $2.4 million plus add-ons, becoming the second most expensive player in the club's history, only behind Irankunda.
A poor run of form from November through to March saw Adelaide win just three out of 18 matches. The loss of key players Bernardo, Gauci, Hall and Popovic, as well as constant squad rotation due to player unavailability to injury, was the catalyst for a seven-match winless run, which saw them slump to 11th on the ladder after round 20. United ended their drought with consecutive wins against the Newcastle Jets, Western United and Perth Glory, helping them maintain a slim chance of finals, before a loss to Macarthur and a draw against Western United knocked Adelaide out of finals for the first time since 2020.
Season summary Pre-season 10 days after their 2022–23 season ended with a 4–1 semi-final aggregate defeat to Central Coast Mariners, Spanish midfielder Juande announced his departure from the club, following a two-year stint. After spending the second half of the season on the sidelines after suffering a broken leg in a 3–3 draw with Melbourne City, Juande announced his departure on Instagram, saying "... sometimes football is so unfair and selfish, but Adelaide United is much more than two people to tarnish my memories." A week and a half later, the departures of George Blackwood and Asad Kasumovic were also announced. Blackwood made 41 appearances and scored 9 goals in all competitions during his second stint at the club, while making 113 appearances and scoring 25 goals over both stints. Asad Kasumovic made 10 appearances in all competitions.
On 28 June 2023, the draw for the 2023 Australia Cup Round of 32 took place. Adelaide United drew National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 side Northcote City, with the match being scheduled for 14 August a week later.
On 10 July, Javi López became the first player of the new season to extend his contract. Over the next two days, extensions were announced for Josh Cavallo and Ethan Alagich, both for two years. The pre-season calendar was released the following day, with training sessions at West Torrens Birkalla, FK Beograd, The Cove and Croydon FC, and matches at Cove, Beograd and Campbelltown City. The matches were organised during Football South Australia's competition hiatus during the Women's World Cup.
On 18 July, Adelaide United NPL player Nathan Amanatidis signed for Sydney FC, following the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup, where he scored two goals for Australia, against China and Tajikistan.
Following a contract extension for Luke Duzel and a scholarship contract for Ethan Cox, their first friendly game against The Cove resulted in an 8–1 win, with a squad formed of young players. The following day, a three-year contract was announced for Luka Jovanovic. Their second friendly was against FK Beograd, where a team, once again composed of mostly young players, lost 4–2, with former injury replacement player Joshua Mori scoring a penalty. Adelaide United were scheduled to play a friendly match against Campbelltown City, however it was cancelled without notice, and the announcement of the game was removed from their website.
The week before their first game of the season, Adelaide United announced a new three-year contract for Jonny Yull.
Australia Cup
Adelaide United's first competitive match was against Victorian semi-professional club Northcote City in Melbourne, which saw the debuts of Giuseppe Bovalina and Fabian Talladira. Five minutes into the game, captain Craig Goodwin opened his account for the season with a low drive that was spilled in by the goalkeeper, assisted by Jonny Yull. Despite dominating the game, they were unable to increase their lead, until Zach Clough scored with a volley in the 85th minute to confirm their advance to the round of 16. The same night as their 2–0 win in the Round of 32, the draw for the next round of the Cup took place. They were drawn against A-League Men opposition Western Sydney Wanderers, with the match being confirmed to be played at Marconi Stadium on the night of 29 August.
Carl Veart went with an unchanged starting lineup for the round of 16 match, with Nestory Irankunda being dropped from the squad after an incident in an NPL SA semi-final the previous Friday. Adelaide United would drop out of the cup, going down 1–5 to Western Sydney Wanderers, with Zach Clough scoring a consolation goal in the 81st minute.
On 6 September 2023, midfielder Louis D'Arrigo left the club to sign for Polish second division club Lechia Gdańsk. D'Arrigo made 98 league appearances for the club since 2018, and was a product of the youth academy. Later that day, scholarships were announced for Bailey O'Neil, Panagiotis Kikianis, and Giuseppe Bovalina, all of which play as defenders.
On 8 September, it was reported that Adelaide's captain Craig Goodwin had signed for a Saudi Arabian club on a $800,000 transfer fee. It was also indicated that he had requested a three-year extension on his current two-year deal, but was rejected by the club. Later that day, his departure to join Al Wehda was confirmed by the club for an undisclosed fee. That same day, Adelaide United's youth team won the NPL SA Grand Final, defeating Modbury Jets 7–2. The team included many young first team players, including Panashe Madanha, Luka Jovanovic, Jonny Yull, Luke Duzel and Ethan Alagich, in a side with an average age of 17.2 years.
On 19 September, Adelaide United announced their only new signing ahead of the new season, English midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe on a two-year deal. Tunnicliffe most recently played for League One side Portsmouth, playing a total of 350 games in English professional football, and was a product of Manchester United's academy. Two days later, United released their home kit for the season, with the design inspired by the original kit from their inaugural 2003–04 season, the design being a red shirt with navy blue hoops on the sleeves.
On 27 September, United played their first pre-season friendly against A-League opposition, defeating Melbourne Victory 1–0 in a behind closed doors friendly at AAMI Park. Ryan Kitto scored the only goal of the tightly contested match, a left-footed strike from outside the box into the top-right corner. Two days later, Kitto was named club captain, replacing Craig Goodwin, who departed the club earlier in the month. Isaías, Joe Gauci and Ben Halloran were named vice-captains.
On 5 October, just over a week out from the start of the A-League Men season, 19-year-old Panashe Madanha signed a new 3-year contract, replacing his previous contract, which still had a year left to run. The next day, Adelaide United defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 1–0 in their second pre-season friendly against A-League Men opposition. Lachlan Barr scored the winning goal, a closed ranged header in the 90th minute, in another match that was held without a crowd. Adelaide United rounded off their pre-season with a goalless draw at home against Westen United the next week.
A-League Men
The fixtures for the 2023–24 A-League Men season were released on 24 August 2023. Their first match being at home on a Friday night against Central Coast Mariners, a team that they failed to defeat last season, with an aggregate score of 2–12. Adelaide will play rivals Melbourne Victory on three occasions, twice away, on 4 November and 30 December 2023 and once home, on 9 March 2024. Controversially, Adelaide Venue Management (AVM), who own and operate Coopers Stadium, announced the same day that Melbourne Victory fans would not be allowed into the venue for the round 20 game, due to the incident in last years Melbourne Derby, and previous incidents between Adelaide and Victory supporters. A few hours later, they deleted their announcement, stating that the decision had been reversed. The CEO of AVM, Anthony Kirchner, was stood down three days later, and sacked in late September.
On 18 October 2023, two days before Adelaide United's season opener, the Australian Professional Leagues announced a Magic Round style Unite Round, with all the matches being held in Sydney from 12–14 January 2024. This meant that the season was expanded to 27 games. This was introduced as part of the APL's scrapping of the controversial grand final decision last season.
October Carl Veart named a 20-man-squad for the opening match against reigning champions, Central Coast Mariners. Bernardo, Hiroshi Ibusuki, and Nestory Irankunda all returned from off-season injuries. Harry Van der Saag remained on the sideline with a knee injury from early last season, Jay Barnett, Josh Cavallo, and Panagiotis Kikianis were also out injured, with hamstring, achilles, and ankle injuries respectively. Luka Jovanovic, Steven Hall, and Bailey O'Neil were all on international duty with the Australian U18 squad.
Nestory Irankunda made his first start for the club after 35 substitute appearances. The Mariners were forced into two substitutions in the first half, with Brian Kaltak and Alou Kuol going down injured after 22 and 32 minutes respectively. Six minutes later, Ben Halloran scored the opening goal of the new A-League Men season, a first time shot following a lay-off from Hiroshi Ibusuki, landing just over the line off the crossbar. The goal came after two near-misses from Adelaide, Zach Clough having his shot saved from point-blank, and later hitting the base of the far post. Clough would eventually score, converting a penalty won by captain Ryan Kitto midway through the second half. Mariners defender Jacob Farrell received two yellow cards in quick succession to put their team down to ten-men. Adelaide would score from this set-piece, Nick Ansell scoring a header from Bernardo's cross to make it 3–0.
Adelaide United's second match of the season was against reigning premiers Melbourne City, held a day later than originally scheduled due to City's involvement in the AFC Champions League. The club partnered with the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation to host Mental Health Game. Luka Jovanovic returned from international duty, and Ethan Alagich returned to the squad after not featuring in the opening game. Javi López was unavailable with a quad injury. Van der Saag, Barnett, Cavallo and Kikianis remained on the sideline, with the latter expected to return for the match against Melbourne Victory.