A-League
Season2006–07
Dates25 August 2006 – 18 February 2007
ChampionsMelbourne Victory (1st title)
PremiersMelbourne Victory (1st title)
AFC Champions LeagueMelbourne Victory, Adelaide United
Matches played84
Goals scored218 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorerArchie Thompson
(15 goals)
Best goalkeeperMichael Theoklitos
Biggest away winNew Zealand Knights 0–4 Melbourne Victory
(27 October 2006)
Highest attendance50,333
Lowest attendance1,632
Average attendance12,927 ( 1972)

The 2006–07 A-League was the 30th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the second season of the A-League since its establishment the previous season. Football Federation Australia hoped to build on the success of the first season and on the interest generated by the Socceroos competing in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Fox Sports had signed a A$120 million deal over 7 years for the exclusive broadcast rights of the A-League, AFC Champions League, and national team matches (excluding matches played in the World Cup finals).[1]

The television advertisement campaign used for the 2006–07 season was the same as the previous season, with different music. Scribe's song "Not Many" was replaced with Manuel Neztic's "Kickin Down".[2] The second season was marketed as "A-League: Version 2".[3]

Clubs

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000
Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Olympic Park Stadium
Telstra Dome		 18,500
56,347
Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164
New Zealand Knights Auckland North Harbour Stadium 25,000
Perth Glory Perth Members Equity Stadium 18,156
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 Brazil Diego Brazil Fernando China Qu Shengqing Netherlands Bobby Petta Brazil Romário4
Central Coast Mariners Germany André Gumprecht England Jamie McMaster Republic of Ireland Wayne O'Sullivan Malta John Hutchinson2
Melbourne Victory Brazil Alessandro Brazil Fred England James Robinson Scotland Grant Brebner Belgium Geoffrey Claeys
Brazil Claudinho4
New Zealand Knights England Darren Bazeley England Malik Buari England Neil Emblen Portugal Dani Rodrigues Brazil Fernando3
Canada Alen Marcina3
China Gao Leilei3
China Li Yan3
Ghana Hamza Mohammed3
Republic of Ireland Sean Devine1
Scotland Scot Gemmill3		 England Dean Gordon3
Newcastle Jets Colombia Milton Rodríguez New Zealand Tim Brown New Zealand Steven Old New Zealand Vaughan Coveny1
Perth Glory New Zealand Leo Bertos New Zealand Jeremy Christie New Zealand Danny Hay England Stuart Young1
Queensland Roar Brazil Reinaldo Germany Marcus Wedau Scotland Simon Lynch Switzerland Remo Buess China Zhang Yuning3
Scotland Stuart McLaren1
South Korea Seo Hyuk-su1
Sydney FC New Zealand Jeremy Brockie Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn Ivory Coast Jonas Salley1 Italy Benito Carbone4
Trinidad and Tobago Dwight Yorke

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 China Qu Shengqing[4] Australia Ross Aloisi[5] None
Central Coast Mariners Australia Tony Vidmar[6] Australia Noel Spencer[7]
Australia Alex Wilkinson[note 1][8]		 None
Melbourne Victory Australia Archie Thompson[9][10] Australia Kevin Muscat[11] Australia Archie Thompson[12]
New Zealand Knights Scotland Scot Gemmill[13] England Darren Bazeley[14] None
Newcastle Jets Australia Paul Okon[15] Australia Paul Okon[15] None
Perth Glory Australia Stan Lazaridis[16] Australia Jamie Harnwell[17] None
Queensland Roar None Australia Chad Gibson[18] None
Sydney FC Trinidad and Tobago Dwight Yorke[19][note 2] Australia Mark Rudan[21][22] None

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

Newcastle playing Sydney in a pre-season match in Canberra

This competition was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The opening round was 15 July 2006. The competition featured a group stage, with three regular rounds and a bonus round, followed by a two-week finals playoff. The bonus group round matched up teams against opponents from the other group, and also offered the incentive of "bonus points" based on goals scored (1 point for 2 goals, 2 points for 3 goals, 3 points for 4 or more goals).

The Pre-Season Cup was used to enhance the A-League's profiles by playing pre-season games in regional centres including the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Launceston, Canberra, Wollongong, Port Macquarie, Orange and Tamworth.[23]

The pre-season cup was won by Adelaide United at the final on 19 August 2006.

Regular season

The league season took a triple round-robin format, and took place over 21 rounds between 25 August 2006 and 21 January 2007.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Melbourne Victory (C) 21 14 3 4 41 20 +21 45 Qualification for 2008 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series
2 Adelaide United 21 10 3 8 32 27 +5 33
3 Newcastle Jets 21 8 6 7 32 30 +2 30 Qualification for Finals series
4 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 29 19 +10 29[lower-alpha 1]
5 Queensland Roar 21 8 5 8 25 27 −2 29
6 Central Coast Mariners 21 6 6 9 22 26 −4 24
7 Perth Glory 21 5 5 11 24 30 −6 20
8 New Zealand Knights[lower-alpha 2] 21 5 4 12 13 39 −26 19 Disbanded at end of season
Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ↑ Sydney FC were penalised three competition points following round 18 due to salary cap breaches which occurred during the 2005–06 season
  2. ↑ New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Results

Round 1

25 August 2006 Melbourne Victory 2–0 Adelaide United Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10 Claudinho 78'
Muscat 29' (pen.)		 Attendance: 15,781
Referee: Matthew Breeze
26 August 2006 Queensland Roar 3–0 Perth Glory Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:30 UTC+10 McLaren 84'
Vidosic 82'
Lynch 79'		 Attendance: 20,606
Referee: Ben Williams
27 August 2006 New Zealand Knights 0–0 Newcastle Jets North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
16:30 UTC+12 Attendance: 7,304
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 2

1 September 2006 Newcastle Jets 2–3 Queensland Roar EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
Bridge 40'
Gibson 25' (o.g.)		 Lynch 88'
Okon 38' (o.g.)
Reinaldo 5'		 Attendance: 7,276
Referee: Angelo Nardi
2 September 2006 Melbourne Victory 3–2 Sydney FC Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Muscat 11' (pen.)
Allsopp 8', 51'		 Vargas 84' (o.g.)
Fyfe 18'		 Attendance: 39,730
Referee: Mark Shield
3 September 2006 Perth Glory 2–0 Central Coast Mariners Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Young 81'
Colosimo 52'		 Attendance: 7,229
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 3

8 September 2006 Adelaide United 5–1 Newcastle Jets Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Durante 65' (o.g.)
Qu 28'
Cornthwaite 19'
Rech 8', 73'		 Bridge 52' Attendance: 8,785
Referee: Mark Shield
10 September 2006 Perth Glory 1–1 Sydney FC Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Coyne 69' Petrovski 36' Attendance: 7,229
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 4

15 September 2006 Queensland Roar 5–0 New Zealand Knights Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Milicic 80'
Lynch 72'
Reinaldo 55' (pen.)
McKay 7', 86'		 Attendance: 15,517
Referee: Mark Shield
16 September 2006 Adelaide United 3–0 Perth Glory Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Dodd 34'
Rech 14', 50'		 Attendance: 11,474
Referee: Peter O'Leary
17 September 2006 Sydney FC 2–2 Newcastle Jets Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Zdrillic 38'
Corica 33' (pen.)		 Rodriguez 45', 62' Attendance: 15,488
Referee: Matthew Breeze
17 September 2006 Melbourne Victory 1–0 Central Coast Mariners Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
Thompson 51' Attendance: 17,617
Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 5

23 September 2006 Central Coast Mariners 1–1 Newcastle Jets Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Hutchinson 12' Griffiths 84' Attendance: 8,439
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 6

29 September 2006 Newcastle Jets 0–3 Perth Glory EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
Harnwell 83'
Young 44', 90'		 Attendance: 7,961
Referee: Matthew Breeze
1 October 2006 Melbourne Victory 4–1 Queensland Roar Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Allsopp 82'
Muscat 22' (pen.), 56' (pen.)
Fred 11'		 Milicic 16' Attendance: 25,921
Referee: Simon Przydacz
2 October 2006 Adelaide United 1–4 Sydney FC Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Burns 54' Carbone 85'
Petrovski 80'
Dodd 57' (o.g.)
Zadkovich 36'		 Attendance: 15,119
Referee: Mark Shield

Round 7

6 October 2006 Perth Glory 1–0 New Zealand Knights Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Young 37' Attendance: 7,309
Referee: Craig Zetter
8 October 2006 Sydney FC 1–1 Queensland Roar Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Ceccoli 45' Dilevski 15' Attendance: 17,274
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 8

13 October 2006 Central Coast Mariners 3–1 Sydney FC Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Mori 52', 90'
O'Grady 40'		 Carbone 12' Attendance: 11,567
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 9

21 October 2006 Sydney FC 1–2 Melbourne Victory Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Corica 9' Thompson 50', 73' Attendance: 20,881
Referee: Mark Shield
22 October 2006 Adelaide United 4–2 New Zealand Knights Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Dodd 84'
Petta 56'
Veart 36'
Burns 23'		 van Dommele 71' (o.g.)
Hickey 65'		 Attendance: 11,600
Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 10

27 October 2006 New Zealand Knights 0–4 Melbourne Victory North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Allsopp 72'
Caceres 59'
Thompson 57'
Fred 9'		 Attendance: 2,357
Referee: Simon Przydacz
28 October 2006 Queensland Roar 1–1 Central Coast Mariners Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Reinaldo 49' Mori 21' Attendance: 13,727
Referee: Mark Shield
29 October 2006 Sydney FC 1–1 Perth Glory Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Zdrillic 15' Glavas 75' Attendance: 12,316
Referee: Ben Williams

Round 11

5 November 2006 Adelaide United 3–2 Perth Glory Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Veart 8'
Owens 24'
Kemp 57'		 Saric 14'
Despotovski 45+2'		 Attendance: 11,032
Referee: Matthew Breeze
5 November 2006 New Zealand Knights 1–0 Queensland Roar North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Ognenovski 7' (o.g.) Attendance: 2,675
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 12

9 November 2006 Melbourne Victory 1–0 Perth Glory Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Brebner 88' Attendance: 22,890
Referee: Craig Zetter
10 November 2006 Sydney FC 4–0 New Zealand Knights Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Petrovski 37', 53'
Zdrillic 65'
Carney 89'		 Attendance: 9,871
Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 13

17 November 2006 Queensland Roar 0–2 Melbourne Victory Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Packer 18' (o.g.)
Thompson 46'		 Attendance: 14,797
Referee: Simon Przydacz
18 November 2006 Perth Glory 2–1 Newcastle Jets Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Harnwell 38'
Glavaš 90+4'		 Carle 77' (pen.) Attendance: 7,315
Referee: Angelo Nardi
19 November 2006 Sydney FC 2–1 Adelaide United Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Talay 15' (pen.)
Rudan 22'		 Aloisi 9' Attendance: 14,308
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 14

24 November 2006 Sydney FC 3–0 Queensland Roar Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Talay 23' (pen.)
Corica 64'
Middleby 89'		 Attendance: 12,718
Referee: Ben Williams
26 November 2006 Perth Glory 4–1 New Zealand Knights Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Harnwell 10', 42', 60'
Despotovski 83'		 Hickey 3' Attendance: 6,251
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 15

2 December 2006 Queensland Roar 1–0 Perth Glory Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
McKay 80' Attendance: 11,237
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 16

8 December 2006 Melbourne Victory 0–0 Sydney FC Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 50,333
Referee: Mark Shield
10 December 2006 Adelaide United 1–1 New Zealand Knights Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Owens 72' Gao 18' Attendance: 11,548
Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 17

14 December 2006 Sydney FC 1–0 Perth Glory Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Brosque 80' Attendance: 11,816
Referee: Simon Przydacz
17 December 2006 Melbourne Victory 4–0 New Zealand Knights Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
Allsopp 35', 45'
Caceres 39'
Thompson 45+3'		 Attendance: 15,563
Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 18

Round 19

4 January 2007 Adelaide United 0–1 Queensland Roar Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Reinaldo 52' Attendance: 10,435
Referee: Matthew Breeze
7 January 2007 Sydney FC 0–1 New Zealand Knights Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Bunce 16' Attendance: 16,040
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 20

14 January 2007 Perth Glory 3–3 Newcastle Jets Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Colosimo 43' (pen.)
Harnwell 78'
Magdic 81'		 Carle 12'
Griffiths 90+1', 90+4'		 Attendance: 7,904
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 21

20 January 2007 Queensland Roar 1–1 Sydney FC Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Mori 20' Brosque 13' Attendance: 32,371
Referee: Mark Shield
21 January 2007 New Zealand Knights 2–0 Perth Glory North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Emblen 32'
Buari 40'		 Attendance: 4,936
Referee: Kevin Docherty
21 January 2007 Central Coast Mariners 1–3 Adelaide United Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Pondeljak 77' Burns 10', 49', 66' Attendance: 8,128
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Finals series

Melbourne Victory celebrating their 2007 A-League Grand Final victory.
26 January 2007 Minor Semi Final – Leg 1 Sydney FC 2–1 Newcastle Jets Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11 Brosque 15'
Milligan 30'		 Rodriguez 71' Attendance: 21,112
Referee: Peter Green
28 January 2007 Major Semi Final – Leg 1 Adelaide United 0–0 Melbourne Victory Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
17:30 UTC+10.30 Attendance: 15,575
Referee: Simon Przydacz
2 February 2007 Minor Semi Final – Leg 2 Newcastle Jets 2–0 Sydney FC EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11
Attendance: 24,338
Referee: Matthew Breeze
4 February 2007 Major Semi Final – Leg 2 Melbourne Victory 2–1 Adelaide United Telstra Dome, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+11 Allsopp 48'
Robinson 90+2'		 Dodd 4' Attendance: 47,413
Referee: Mark Shield
18 February 2007 Grand Final Melbourne Victory 6–0 Adelaide United Telstra Dome, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+11
Attendance: 55,436
Referee: Mark Shield

The Asian Football Confederation announced on 21 November 2006 that Adelaide United and Sydney FC would represent Australia in the 2007 AFC Champions League. Despite an appeal by the Football Federation Australia, it was determined that the 2005–06 A-League premiers and champions would qualify and not those from the current season.[24]

The AFC also indicated that the qualification arrangements would not be reviewed prior to 2009. The FFA have indicated that the premiers and champions of A-League 2006–07 will qualify for the 2008 AFC Champions League – establishing a precedent of maintaining a one-year lag between qualification and participation.

Season statistics

Leading goalscorers

PlayerTeamGoals
Archie ThompsonMelbourne Victory15
Daniel AllsoppMelbourne Victory12
Damian MoriCentral Coast Mariners (6), Queensland Roar (2)8
Mark BridgeNewcastle Jets8
Adam KwasnikCentral Coast Mariners7
Jamie HarnwellPerth Glory7

Most yellow cards

PlayerTeamYellow Cards
Adrian LeijerMelbourne Victory7
Nick CarleNewcastle Jets6
Andrew DuranteNewcastle Jets6
Kevin MuscatMelbourne Victory5
Terry McFlynnSydney FC5
Simon ColosimoPerth Glory5

Attendances

Team Hosted Average High Low Total
Melbourne Victory1127,72850,33315,563305,011
Queensland Roar1016,46532,37110,040164,653
Sydney FC1014,99920,8819,871149,986
Adelaide United1112,16216,3788,785133,782
Newcastle Jets1011,44220,9804,635114,420
Central Coast Mariners119,82815,4044,644108,112
Perth Glory107,6719,9786,25176,709
New Zealand Knights113,0147,3041,63233,156
{{{T9}}}00000
{{{T10}}}00000
{{{T11}}}00000
{{{T12}}}00000
League total 84 12,927 50,333 1,632 1,085,829

Highest attendances

Awards

The 2007 A-League Awards ceremony was held on 27 February 2007.[25]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Wilkinson replaced Spencer as captain mid-season
  2. ↑ Yorke was released from his marquee deal early by Sydney FC to join Sunderland in September 2006.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Historic deal for football". 26 April 2006. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006.
  2. ↑ "Football's new kick-start". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 August 2006.
  3. ↑ "Version 2.0 launched". 25 August 2006. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012.
  4. ↑ "Eastern promise arrives right on Qu". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 July 2005. The 30-year-old Chinese international, who has the potential to be one of the stars of the new A-League as Adelaide United's marquee signing...
  5. ↑ "Dodd Gets The Nod As Skipper". FTBL. 31 July 2008. Ross Aloisi taking over as the club's first Hyundai A-League captain and then Valkanis acquiring the role prior to the 2007/08 season.
  6. ↑ "Vidmar announces retirement". ABC News. 14 February 2008. Vidmar joined the Mariners as a marquee signing in the 2006-07 season
  7. ↑ "Mariners announce soccer captain". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 April 2005.
  8. ↑ "Captain Wilkinson promoted to Centurion". Central Coast Mariners. Football Federation Australia. 8 February 2011. Wilkinson took the captain-s armband from an injured Noel Spencer late in the second season of the Hyundai A-League
  9. ↑ Lynch, Michael (30 April 2016). "Archie Thompson should play on after leaving Melbourne Victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. As Victory's inauguaral marquee signing...
  10. ↑ "Archie Thompson, Adrian Leijer sign new deals with Melbourne Victory". The Guardian. 2 May 2014. Victory's first ever signing, and scorer, will join up with new marquee Besart Berisha next season, after agreeing a new deal with the club that takes him inside the salary cap
  11. ↑ "Kevin Muscat appointed as new Melbourne Victory coach". The Guardian. 31 October 2013. Phoenix's Ernie Merrick was the Victory's inaugural coach and Muscat the club's inaugural captain
  12. ↑ "Victory youngster in line for debut". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 January 2007. Scottish midfielder Grant Brebner will captain the side in the absence of captain Muscat and vice-captain Thompson.
  13. ↑ "SOCCER: Knights stars face cream of the Bay". The New Zealand Herald. 15 June 2006. Knights unveil their marquee signing for the 2006/07 season. Son of the legendary Archie Gemmill, [Scot Gemmill]
  14. ↑ "Mariners escape with controversial win". ABC News. 28 September 2006. ...from New Zealand captain Darren Bazeley...
  15. 1 2 Roach, Stewart (7 June 2006). "Easy come, easy go: Okon signs for Jets as captain Zelic quits". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. ↑ Cockerill, Michael (14 December 2006). "Sydney stars on the radar as Smith goes Glory seeking". The Sydney Morning Herald. One player who will still be at the Glory next season is marquee signing Stan Lazaridis
  17. ↑ "Harnwell named Glory captain". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 May 2005.
  18. ↑ "Roar name inaugural captain". ABC News. 3 May 2005. A-League club Queensland Roar have named Chad Gibson as their inaugural captain...
  19. ↑ "Yorke goes Down Under". The Guardian. 30 June 2005. The former Manchester United, Aston Villa, Blackburn and Birmingham striker is Sydney's marquee player
  20. ↑ "Yorke confirms Sunderland move". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 September 2006.
  21. ↑ "Long time coming for Rudan". The World Game. SBS. 2 March 2006.
  22. ↑ "Butcher blows stack after star floored, Rudan sent off". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 September 2006. a 14th-minute send-off of Sydney captain Mark Rudan...
  23. ↑ "A-League Pre-Season Schedule Confirmed". 1 June 2006. Archived from the original on 30 August 2006.
  24. ↑ "AFC confirm Sydney and Adelaide". 21 November 2006. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011.
  25. ↑ Nick Carle takes out Johnny Warren Medal Archived 17 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, A-League, 27 February 2007.
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