A-League
Season2007–08
Dates24 August 2007 – 24 February 2008
ChampionsNewcastle Jets (1st title)
PremiersCentral Coast Mariners
(1st title)
AFC Champions LeagueNewcastle Jets,
Central Coast Mariners
Matches played111
Goals scored223 (2.01 per match)
Top goalscorerJoel Griffiths
(12 goals)
Best goalkeeperMichael Theoklitos
Biggest home winCentral Coast Mariners 3–0 Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix 4–1 Perth Glory
Adelaide United 4–1 Melbourne Victory
Adelaide United 4–1 Wellington Phoenix
Queensland Roar 3–0 Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix 3–0 Perth Glory
Melbourne Victory 3–0 Wellington Phoenix
Central Coast Mariners 3–0 Newcastle Jets
Biggest away winNewcastle Jets 1–4 Perth Glory
Perth Glory 1–4 Queensland Roar
Central Coast Mariners 2–5 Melbourne Victory
Highest scoringCentral Coast Mariners 4–5 Sydney FC
Longest winning run4 games
Newcastle Jets
Longest unbeaten run6 games
Melbourne Victory
Longest winless run11 games
Perth Glory
Longest losing run4 games
Adelaide United
Wellington Phoenix
Highest attendance33,458
Lowest attendance6,252
Average attendance14,610 ( 1683)

The 2007–08 A-League was the 31st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the third season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Football Federation Australia hoped to build on the success of the previous two seasons and on the interest generated by Sydney FC and Adelaide United playing in the 2007 AFC Champions League, and the Socceroos competing in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

Based on their A-League 2006-07 season performances Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory competed in the 2008 AFC Champions League, making it two consecutive seasons in the competition for Adelaide United. Based on the 2007–08 season of the A-League, the Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets qualified for the 2009 AFC Champions League, as the competition's Premiers and Champions respectively.

Changes included:

Clubs

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000
Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Telstra Dome 56,347
Newcastle Jets Newcastle Energy Australia Stadium 26,164
Perth Glory Perth Members Equity Stadium 18,156
Queensland Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500
Sydney FC Sydney Aussie Stadium 42,500
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Westpac Stadium 34,500

Foreign players

Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s)
Adelaide United Brazil Cássio Brazil Diego Walsh Netherlands Bobby Petta Ivory Coast Jonas Salley1
Central Coast Mariners Germany André Gumprecht Malta John Hutchinson2
Melbourne Victory Brazil Leandro Love Costa Rica Carlos Hernández England Joe Keenan Scotland Grant Brebner
Newcastle Jets Brazil Denni Brazil Mário Jardel South Korea Song Jin-hyung Argentina Jorge Drovandi
Perth Glory England James Robinson Croatia Mate Dragicevic Liberia Jerry Karpeh1
Queensland Roar Brazil Marcinho Brazil Reinaldo Scotland Simon Lynch South Korea Seo Hyuk-su1
Sydney FC Brazil Juninho Brazil Patrick da Silva Northern Ireland Terry McFlynn United States Michael Enfield England Michael Bridges3
France Michael Herbet3
Wellington Phoenix Brazil Cleberson Brazil Daniel Brazil Felipe Brazil George

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 Australia Paul Agostino[4] Australia Michael Valkanis[5][6] Australia Travis Dodd[7]
Central Coast Mariners Australia Tony Vidmar[8] Australia Alex Wilkinson[9] None
Melbourne Victory Australia Archie Thompson[10][11] Australia Kevin Muscat[12][13] None
Newcastle Jets Brazil Mário Jardel[14] Australia Jade North[15] Australia Ante Covic
Perth Glory Australia Stan Lazaridis[16] Australia Simon Colosimo[17] None
Queensland Roar Australia Craig Moore[18] Australia Craig Moore[19] None
Sydney FC Brazil Juninho[20] Australia Tony Popovic[21] None
Wellington Phoenix Australia Ahmad Elrich[22] Australia Ross Aloisi[23] New Zealand Tim Brown[23][24]

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

The pre-season cup competition was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The opening round began on 14 July 2007. The competition featured a group stage, with three regular rounds, followed by a two-week finals playoff.

The pre-season cup was won by Adelaide United at the final on 12 August 2007.

Regular season

The league season took a triple round-robin format over 21 rounds between 24 August 2007 and 20 January 2008 with each team playing the other seven teams three times.[25]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Central Coast Mariners 21 10 4 7 30 25 +5 34 Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series[lower-alpha 1]
2 Newcastle Jets (C) 21 9 7 5 25 21 +4 34
3 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 28 24 +4 32 Qualification for 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship and Finals series
4 Queensland Roar 21 8 7 6 25 21 +4 31 Qualification for Finals series
5 Melbourne Victory 21 6 9 6 29 29 0 27
6 Adelaide United 21 6 8 7 31 29 +2 26
7 Perth Glory 21 4 8 9 27 34 −7 20
8 Wellington Phoenix[lower-alpha 2] 21 5 5 11 25 37 −12 20
Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ↑ First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage.
    Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
  2. ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Round 1

24 August 2007 Sydney FC 0–1 Central Coast Mariners Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10 Report
Summary		 Petrovski 7' Attendance: 18,457
Referee: Peter Green
26 August 2007 Perth Glory 0–0 Newcastle Jets Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8 Report
Summary		 Attendance: 8,508
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 2

2 September 2007 Newcastle Jets 1–1 Queensland Roar EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+10 J. Griffiths 89' Report
Summary		 Reinaldo 70' Attendance: 13,144
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 3

9 September 2007 Perth Glory 0–0 Sydney FC Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8 Report
Summary		 Attendance: 7,907
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 4

15 September 2007 Newcastle Jets 1–0 Adelaide United EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+10 Bridge 81' Report
Summary		 Attendance: 13,627
Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 5

22 September 2007 Queensland Roar 0–1 Sydney FC Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10 Report
Summary		 Patrick 69' Attendance: 16,582
Referee: Mark Shield
23 September 2007 Central Coast Mariners 1–0 Perth Glory Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+10 Petrovski 80' Report
Summary		 Attendance: 9,274
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 6

29 September 2007 Sydney FC 1–0 Newcastle Jets Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10 Brosque 36' Report
Summary		 Attendance: 13,755
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 7

5 October 2007 Queensland Roar 2–1 Wellington Phoenix Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10 Zullo 4'
Kruse 45+1'		 Report
Summary		 Smeltz 90+5' Attendance: 12,458
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 8

12 October 2007 Perth Glory 3–3 Sydney FC Members Equity Stadium, Perth
20:00 UTC+8 Harnwell 53'
Robinson 59'
Prentice 69'		 Report
Summary		 Brosque 40', 90+3'
Patrick 72'		 Attendance: 6,876
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 9

21 October 2007 Melbourne Victory 2–1 Perth Glory Telstra Dome, Melbourne
16:30 UTC+10 Hernandez 24'
Thompson 34'		 Report
Summary		 Harnwell 42' Attendance: 25,598
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 10

27 October 2007 Queensland Roar 3–3 Perth Glory Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10 Marcinho 45+3'
Lynch 69' (pen.), 86'		 Report
Summary		 Moore 18' (o.g.)
Harnwell 43'
Coyne 90+3'		 Attendance: 16,715
Referee: Ben Williams
28 October 2007 Adelaide United 4–1 Wellington Phoenix Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+9:30 Giraldi 5'
Burns 45+4'
Pantelis 50'
Spagnuolo 75'		 Report
Summary		 Smeltz 3' Attendance: 11,740
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 11

2 November 2007 Perth Glory 0–1 Wellington Phoenix Members Equity Stadium, Perth
20:00 UTC+9 Report
Summary		 Daniel 51' Attendance: 7,105
Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 12

10 November 2007 Central Coast Mariners 2–0 Adelaide United Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11 J.Aloisi 48' (pen.), 59' Report
Summary		 Attendance: 11,680
Referee: Simon Przydacz
11 November 2007 Queensland Roar 3–0 Wellington Phoenix Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
17:00 UTC+10 Reinaldo 67' (pen.), 79'
Marcinho 83'		 Report
Summary		 Attendance: 13,808
Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 13

18 November 2007 Perth Glory 0–1 Central Coast Mariners Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+9 Summary Owens 13' Attendance: 7,310
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 14

Round 15

30 November 2007 Wellington Phoenix 1–2 Adelaide United Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+12 Daniel 69' (pen.) Report
Summary		 Agostino 9'
Pantelis 79'		 Attendance: 18,345
Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 16

Round 17

15 December 2007 Sydney FC 2–4 Perth Glory Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11 Corica 50'
Bridges 90'		 Report
Summary		 Celeski 34', 35', 77' (pen.)
Bertos 49'		 Attendance: 12,402
Referee: Michael Hester

Round 18

30 December 2007 Perth Glory 1–4 Queensland Roar Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+9 Rizzo 57' Report
Summary		 Kruse 34'
Reinaldo 42'
Minniecon 59'
McCloughan 74'		 Attendance: 9,614
Referee: Peter Green

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Finals series

Semi-finals

8 February 2008 Queensland Roar 2–0 Sydney FC Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:07 UTC+10
(Delayed Kickoff)
Report
Summary		 Attendance: 36,221
Referee: Mark Shield

Preliminary-final

17 February 2008 Newcastle Jets 3–2 (a.e.t.) Queensland Roar EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
18:00 UTC+11
Report
Summary		 Reinaldo 90+2' (pen.), 118' (pen.) Attendance: 16,021
Referee: Peter Green

Grand Final

Season statistics

Leading scorers

Total Player Team Goals per Round
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718192021
12AustraliaJoel GriffithsNewcastle Jets11111112111
9New ZealandShane SmeltzWellington Phoenix11111211
8AustraliaAlex BrosqueSydney FC112211
8AustraliaJamie HarnwellPerth Glory11111111
7AustraliaDaniel AllsoppMelbourne Victory111211
7AustraliaJohn AloisiCentral Coast Mariners211111
6AustraliaSasho PetrovskiCentral Coast Mariners111111
6BrazilReinaldoQueensland Roar11211
6AustraliaArchie ThompsonMelbourne Victory111111
6AustraliaLucas PantelisAdelaide United111111

  Goal scored from penalty kick

Attendance

The attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season, does not include finals series attendances.

Team Hosted Average High Low Total
Melbourne Victory1026,06431,88420,938260,642
Queensland Roar1116,95131,9338,815186,456
Sydney FC1116,37333,45810,732180,107
Newcastle Jets1113,20916,4338,112145,303
Central Coast Mariners1012,74119,2388,113127,409
Adelaide United1012,69725,03910,256126,966
Wellington Phoenix1011,68318,3458,039116,833
Perth Glory117,5969,6146,25283,557
{{{T9}}}00000
{{{T10}}}00000
{{{T11}}}00000
{{{T12}}}00000
League total 84 14,610 33,458 6,252 1,227,273

* Adelaide United played a one off match at the Adelaide Oval against Sydney FC in their Round 18 match. This is why Adelaide United's Highest single attendance exceeds the capacity of Hindmarsh Stadium.

Top 10 attendances

AttendanceRoundDateHomeScoreAwayVenueWeekdayTime of Day
36,354Grand Final24 February 2008Central Coast Mariners0–1Newcastle JetsSydney Football StadiumSundayDay
36,221Finals – Week 28 February 2008Queensland Roar2–0Sydney FCSuncorp StadiumFridayNight
33,458Round 2120 January 2008Sydney FC2–2Melbourne VictorySydney Football StadiumSundayDay
31,933Round 2013 January 2008Queensland Roar0–0Sydney FCSuncorp StadiumSundayTwilight
31,884Round 1210 November 2007Melbourne Victory0–0Sydney FCTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
31,545Round 21 September 2007Melbourne Victory0–0Perth GloryTelstra DomeSaturdayNight
27,351Round 416 September 2007Melbourne Victory0–0Central Coast MarinersTelstra DomeSundayAfternoon
27,123Round 1026 October 2007Melbourne Victory0–2Newcastle JetsTelstra DomeFridayNight
25,622Round 628 September 2007Melbourne Victory2–0Queensland RoarTelstra DomeFridayNight
25,598Round 921 October 2007Melbourne Victory2–1Perth GloryTelstra DomeSundayAfternoon

Disciplinary

The Fair Play Award was awarded to Newcastle Jets, the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season.

1 pointYellow Card
2 pointsSecond Caution Red Card
3 pointsDirect Red Card
TeamPoints
Newcastle Jets440044
Perth Glory341345
Sydney FC421250
Queensland Roar453051
Wellington Phoenix461254
Adelaide United453154
Melbourne Victory431354
Central Coast Mariners443462
Sydney FC0000
Wellington Phoenix0000
Melbourne Heart0000
Sydney Rovers0000
Totals3431315

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kiwis alive as Townsville pulls pin". Fox Sports. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  2. ↑ "The time is right to go into the ref's book". The Age. 31 December 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  3. ↑ "A-League lifts its salary cap to $1.8m". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  4. ↑ "Agostino Scores on His Debut". FTBL. 17 August 2007. United's marquee Paul Agostino scored in...
  5. ↑ "Injured Adelaide United skipper out for season". Brisbane Times. 10 September 2007.
  6. ↑ "Valkanis and Costanzo Stay With Adelaide". FTBL. 12 February 2008. Valkanis, a member of Adelaide United's inaugural squad back in 2003, was appointed captain prior to the 2007/08 season
  7. ↑ "Dodd Gets The Nod As Skipper". FTBL. 31 July 2008. Travis was vice-captain last year
  8. ↑ "Vidmar announces retirement". ABC News. 14 February 2008. Vidmar joined the Mariners as a marquee signing in the 2006–07 season
  9. ↑ "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
  10. ↑ Lynch, Michael (30 April 2016). "Archie Thompson should play on after leaving Melbourne Victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. As Victory's inauguaral marquee signing...
  11. ↑ "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
  12. ↑ "Muscat Takes on Coaching Role". FTBL. 29 August 2007. MELBOURNE Victory skipper Kevin Muscat has signed a new two-year contract that sees him taking on a coaching role as well as the captaincy
  13. ↑ "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
  14. ↑ "Jardel flies in for Jets". The World Game. SBS. 14 August 2007.
  15. ↑ "North heading to Korea". Newcastle Jets. 13 December 2008. North is a Newcastle Jets foundation player, having been with the club since the 2005/06 Hyundai A-League season, and was instated as captain last season.
  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. ↑ "Colosimo new Perth skipper". The World Game. SBS. 8 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  18. ↑ Ritson, Jon (24 July 2007). "Moore Signs With Roar". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012.
  19. ↑ "Moore has his hands full". A-League. 28 September 2008. Queensland Roar captain Craig Moore might be....
  20. ↑ Cockerill, Michael (1 August 2007). "Sydney FC end marquee mess with Juninho swoop". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  21. ↑ "Poppa's Yer Ante in Family Affair". FTBL. 19 September 2007. ROAR striker Ante Milicic says there will be no love lost when he faces brother-in-law and Sydney FC captain Tony Popovic this Saturday.
  22. ↑ Maddaford, Terry (13 May 2008). "Soccer: Phoenix patient for marquee player". The New Zealand Herald. Of the marquee player – they had Socceroo Ahmad Elrich filling that role for the latter part of last season...
  23. 1 2 "Aloisi named captain of Phoenix". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2007.
  24. ↑ "Durante named Wellington Phoenix skipper". Nine MSN. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Midfielder Brown filled the vice-captain's role with the Phoenix last season, also taking the field with the captain's armband despite a frustrating run of injuries.
  25. ↑ Hyundai A-League 2007–08 Season Draw, A-League, 23 April 2007.
  26. ↑ Match postponed due to heavy rain affecting pitch conditions.
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