The 2005–06 A-League was the 29th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the inaugural season of the A-League. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition since the close of the 2003–04 National Soccer League season, the first match in the A-League was played on 26 August 2005. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.
Of the eight participants, four came from the National Soccer League (1977–2004): Perth Glory (established 1995), New Zealand Knights (1999), Newcastle Jets (2000) and Adelaide United (2003). New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but were significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977 to 1988 and had competed in the Queensland State League since then as Brisbane Lions.
Adelaide United were named Premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league. The first A-League Grand Final took place on 5 March 2006, with Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural Champions, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1–0.
Clubs
Team City Home Ground Capacity Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000 Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119 Melbourne Victory Melbourne Olympic Park Stadium 18,500 Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164 New Zealand Knights Auckland North Harbour Stadium 25,000 Perth Glory Perth nib Stadium 20,500 Queensland Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500 Sydney FC Sydney Aussie Stadium 42,500
Foreign players Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s) Adelaide United Fernando Rech Qu Shengqing Central Coast Mariners André Gumprecht Wayne O'Sullivan Stewart Petrie John Hutchinson2 Ian Ferguson3 Melbourne Victory Richard Kitzbichler Geoffrey Claeys New Zealand Knights Zhang Xiaobin Darren Bazeley Ben Collett Neil Emblen Li Yan3 Ronnie Bull3 Sean Devine1 Naoki Imaya3 Frank van Eijs3 Simon Yeo Danny Hay Newcastle Jets Guy Bates Mateo Corbo Vaughan Coveny1 Perth Glory Steve McMahon Hiroyuki Ishida Danny Hay Henry Fa'arodo Stuart Young1 Milan Jovanić3 Brian Deane Queensland Roar Reinaldo Remo Buess Osvaldo Carro Seo Hyuk-su1 Sydney FC Terry McFlynn Dwight Yorke Alejandro Salazar Kazuyoshi Miura4 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 Captain Vice-Captain Adelaide United Qu Shengqing Ross Aloisi None Central Coast Mariners None Noel Spencer None Melbourne Victory Archie Thompson Kevin Muscat None New Zealand Knights None Danny Hay Darren Bazeley None Newcastle Jets Ned Zelic Ned Zelic None Perth Glory Brian Deane Jamie Harnwell None Queensland Roar None Chad Gibson None Sydney FC Dwight Yorke Mark Rudan None
Preliminary Competitions Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season.
Oceania Club Championship Qualification
This three-round competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for the 2005 season of the Oceania Club Championship. It consisted of all Australian A-League clubs (i.e. all clubs except for the New Zealand Knights) and granted Perth Glory – the reigning NSL champions – a bye into the semi-finals.
Sydney FC qualified for and subsequently won the 2005 Oceania Club Championship entitling it to a place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship to be played in Tokyo.
Pre-Season Challenge Cup
The inaugural pre-season cup was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Commentators did not give much weight to the competition as a guide for performance during the season proper, as injuries or club strategic policy ruled that many teams did not use their best players and often used experimental tactics.
Group stage
Finals
The Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners.
Regular season The A-League season commenced on 26 August 2005 with two Friday night fixtures. Games each round were held throughout the weekend, though certain rounds also featured Thursday night games. As there was no concurrent cup competition, midweek fixtures were uncommon unless they were held on Australian public holidays. A three-week break was also scheduled in December to coincide with the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo.
League table
Results
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
Finals series After the home and away season, the finals series began, with the top four teams. The finals series used a modified Page playoff system, with the difference that each first-round game would be played over two legs. The winner of the finals series, Sydney FC was crowned as the A-League champion. Adelaide United, as the holder of the top position on the league ladder, were named the 2005–06 premiers.
Standard cup rules – such as the away goals rule (two-leg ties only), extra time and penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn games.
Semi-finals
Sydney FC won 4–3 on aggregate.
Central Coast Mariners won 2–1 on aggregate.
Preliminary final
Grand Final
Statistics
Attendance
Highest attendance 41,689: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, 5 March 2006 (grand final) 30,377: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 19 February 2006 (Semi-final Leg2) 25,557: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 3 February 2006 (Round 21) 25,208: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, 28 August 2005 (Round 1) 23,142: Queensland Roar vs Sydney FC, 23 September 2005 (Round 5) 20,725: Queensland Roar vs New Zealand Knights, 28 August 2005 (Round 1) 18,276: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 9 October 2005 (Round 7) 18,206: Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC, 16 October 2005 (Round 8) 17,960: Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory, 4 September 2005 (Round 2)
Leading goalscorers
TotalPlayerTeamGoals per Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 218 Alex Brosque Brisbane Roar1 2 1 2 1 1 Bobby Despotovski Perth Glory 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 Archie Thompson Melbourne Victory1 1 1 2 1 1 1 Stewart Petrie Central Coast Mariners 1 1 2 2 1 17 Carl Veart Adelaide United1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Dean Heffernan Central Coast Mariners 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Dwight Yorke Sydney FC1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ante Milicic Newcastle Jets 1 1 1 3 1 Sasho Petrovski Sydney FC 1 1 1 3 1 Damian Mori Perth Glory 2 3 1 1
Disciplinary records PlayerTeamYellow2YCRedTerry McFlynnSydney FC700Matt McKayQueensland Roar311Kevin MuscatMelbourne Victory410Ross AloisiAdelaide United600Remo BuessQueensland Roar600
Biggest victories
Score DateRoundMelbourne Victory5–0Sydney FC16 Oct 20058Queensland Roar5–0Newcastle Jets26 Jan 200620Perth Glory5–1Newcastle Jets8 Oct 20057Sydney FC5–1Central Coast Mariners5 Nov 200511Newcastle Jets4–0New Zealand Knights18 Sep 20054Central Coast Mariners4–0Perth Glory8 Oct 20058
Highest aggregate scores Score DateRoundPerth Glory5–1Newcastle Jets8 Oct 20057Sydney FC5–1Central Coast Mariners5 Nov 200511Newcastle Jets4–2Adelaide United14 Oct 20058Newcastle Jets4–2New Zealand Knights4 Nov 200511Perth Glory4–2Adelaide United6 Nov 200511Adelaide United4–2Queensland Roar1 Jan 200616
Other honours
First goal – Carl Veart (Adelaide United vs Newcastle Jets, Round 1) First hat trick – Ante Milicic (Newcastle Jets vs New Zealand Knights, Round 11) First red card – Richie Alagich (Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory, Round 3)
Awards AwardRecipientJohnny Warren Medal (Player's Player of the Year)Bobby Despotovski (Perth Glory)Golden Boot Award (Top Goalscorer)Alex Brosque (Brisbane Roar) Bobby Despotovski (Perth Glory) Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory) Stewart Petrie (Central Coast Mariners)Rising Star Award (U-20 Player of the Year)Nick Ward (Perth Glory)Coach of the YearLawrie McKinna (Central Coast Mariners)Referee of the YearMark ShieldJoe Marston Medal (Best player in grand final)Dwight Yorke (Sydney FC)
AFC Champions League Although Australia became a member of the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, Australian teams were not invited to participate in the 2006 AFC Champions League competition.
The AFC later determined that qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League would be based on the 2005–06 A-League competition, despite that ACL matches will commence after the completion of the 2006–07 A-League season. Adelaide as Premiers and Sydney as Champions were the representatives.
See also 2005–06 Adelaide United FC season 2005–06 Central Coast Mariners FC season 2005–06 Melbourne Victory FC season 2005–06 Newcastle Jets FC season 2005–06 New Zealand Knights FC season 2005–06 Perth Glory FC season 2005–06 Queensland Roar FC season 2005–06 Sydney FC season
Notes
References
External links A-League official website, including fixtures