2014–15 A-League Explained

Competition:	A-League
Season:	2014–15
Dates:	10 October 2014 – 17 May 2015
Winners:	Melbourne Victory (3rd title)
Premiers:	Melbourne Victory (3rd title)
Continentalcup1:	Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:	Melbourne Victory Sydney FC Adelaide United
Matches:	135
Total Goals:	401
League Topscorer:	Marc Janko (16 goals)
Best Goalkeeper:	Eugene Galekovic
Biggest Home Win:	Adelaide United 7–0 Newcastle Jets (24 January 2015)
Biggest Away Win:	Newcastle Jets 0–4 Brisbane Roar (14 November 2014) Central Coast Mariners 1–5 Sydney FC (24 January 2015)
Highest Scoring:	Sydney FC 5–4 Brisbane Roar (15 March 2015)
Longest Wins:	Perth Glory Wellington Phoenix (4)
Longest Unbeaten:	Melbourne Victory Perth Glory (10)
Longest Winless:	Western Sydney Wanderers (13)
Longest Losses:	Brisbane Roar Western Sydney Wanderers (4)
Highest Attendance:	43,729
Lowest Attendance:	4,162
Average Attendance:	12,514 (527)
Prevseason:	2013–14
Nextseason:	2015–16

The 2014–15 A-League was the 38th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 10th season of the A-League since its establishment in 2004. Brisbane Roar were both the defending A-League Premiers and Champions. The regular season commenced on 10 October 2014 and concluded on 26 April 2015. The 2015 Grand Final took place on 17 May 2015. The season was suspended from 9–24 January in order to avoid a clash with the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, which was hosted by Australia.^[1]

The 2015 Grand Final took place on 17 May 2015, with Melbourne Victory claiming their third Championship with a 3–0 win against Sydney FC.

The season marked the first year that the team formerly known as Melbourne Heart competed as Melbourne City after the club's renaming in June 2014.

Clubs

Team	City	Home Ground	Capacity
Adelaide United	Adelaide	Coopers Stadium Adelaide Oval	17,000 53,583
Brisbane Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Central Coast Stadium	20,119
Melbourne City	Melbourne	AAMI Park	30,050
Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Etihad Stadium AAMI Park	56,347 30,050
			33,000
Perth Glory	Perth	nib Stadium	20,500
Sydney FC	Sydney	Allianz Stadium	45,500
Wellington Phoenix	Wellington	Westpac Stadium	36,000
Western Sydney Wanderers	Sydney	Pirtek Stadium	21,487

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Kit partner
Adelaide United	Josep Gombau	Eugene Galekovic	Kappa	Veolia
Brisbane Roar	Frans Thijssen	Matt McKay	Umbro^[2]	The Coffee Club
Central Coast Mariners	Tony Walmsley (Head Coach)	John Hutchinson (Player/Coach)	Kappa	Masterfoods
Melbourne City	John van 't Schip	Patrick Kisnorbo	Nike	Etihad
Melbourne Victory	Kevin Muscat	Mark Milligan	Adidas^[3]	Community Training Initiatives (h) Oliana Foods (a)
Newcastle Jets	Phil Stubbins	Taylor Regan	BLK	Castle Quarry Products
Perth Glory	Kenny Lowe	Michael Thwaite	Macron^[4]	QBE Insurance
Sydney FC	Graham Arnold	Alex Brosque	Adidas	Webjet
Wellington Phoenix	Ernie Merrick	Andrew Durante	Adidas	Huawei
Western Sydney Wanderers	Tony Popovic	Nikolai Topor-Stanley	Nike^[5]	NRMA Insurance

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Sydney FC		Sacked^[6]	23 April 2014	Pre-season	^[7]	8 May 2014
Newcastle Jets	(caretaker)	End of contract	5 May 2014		^[8]	5 May 2014
Brisbane Roar		Mutual consent^[9]	23 November 2014	8th	(caretaker)	24 November 2014
Central Coast Mariners		Sacked^[10]	6 March 2015	8th	(caretaker head coach) John Hutchinson (caretaker player/coach)	6 March 2015

Foreign players

Club	Visa 1	Visa 2	Visa 3	Visa 4	Visa 5	Non-Visa foreigner(s)	Former player(s)
Adelaide United	Marcelo Carrusca	Sergio Cirio	Miguel Palanca	Isaías	Pablo Sánchez		Cássio^1 Fábio Ferreira
Brisbane Roar	Jean Carlos Solórzano	Thomas Broich	Jérome Polenz	Andrija Kaluđerović		Henrique^1 Jamie Young^2 Jack Hingert^2	Liam Miller Mensur Kurtiši
Central Coast Mariners	Richárd Vernes	Fábio Ferreira	Nick Montgomery			John Hutchinson^2 Storm Roux^2	Malick Mané Kim Seung-yong
Melbourne City	Jonatan Germano	Damien Duff	Rob Wielaert	Robert Koren		Kew Jaliens^3 Harry Novillo^3	Liam Miller^3 Safuwan Baharudin David Villa^4
Melbourne Victory	Besart Berisha	Guilherme Finkler	Matthieu Delpierre	Kosta Barbarouses		Daniel Georgievski^2
Newcastle Jets	Edson Montaño	Lee Ki-Je	Enver Alivodić				Marcos Flores Jerónimo Neumann Kew Jaliens Jonny Steele
Perth Glory	Sidnei	Andy Keogh	Youssouf Hersi	Nebojša Marinković	Denis Kramar	Dragan Paljić^3
Sydney FC	Marc Janko	Jacques Faty	Mickaël Tavares	Miloš Dimitrijević	Nikola Petković	Vedran Janjetović^1 Ali Abbas^1 Shane Smeltz^2
Wellington Phoenix	Kenny Cunningham	Roy Krishna	Roly Bonevacia	Albert Riera	Alex Rodriguez	Manny Muscat^2
Western Sydney Wanderers	Mateo Poljak	Iacopo La Rocca	Yojiro Takahagi	Yūsuke Tanaka	Romeo Castelen		Vítor Saba Seyi Adeleke

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 (and New Zealand citizenship, in the case of Wellington Phoenix);^[11]
2Australian citizens (and 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 ten games)

Salary cap exemptions and captains

Club	Domestic Marquee	International Marquee	Junior Marquee player-->	Captain	Vice-Captain
Adelaide United	Eugene Galekovic^[12]	Marcelo Carrusca	Eugene Galekovic^[13]	Nigel Boogaard
Brisbane Roar	Matt McKay^[14]	Thomas Broich^[15]	Matt McKay^[16]	Shane Stefanutto^[17]
Central Coast Mariners	None	None	John Hutchinson^[18]	Nick Montgomery
Melbourne City	Josh Kennedy^[19]	Robert Koren^[20]	Patrick Kisnorbo^[21]	None
Melbourne Victory	Mark Milligan^[22]	Besart Berisha^[23]	Mark Milligan^[24]	Leigh Broxham^[25]
Newcastle Jets	None	None	Kew Jaliens^[26] Taylor Regan^[27]	Joel Griffiths
Perth Glory	Michael Thwaite^[28]	Nebojša Marinković	Michael Thwaite^[29]	None
Sydney FC	Alex Brosque^[30]	Marc Janko^[31]	Alex Brosque^[32]	Saša Ognenovski Nikola Petković
Wellington Phoenix	None	None	Andrew Durante^[33]	Ben Sigmund
Western Sydney Wanderers	Matthew Spiranovic^[34]	None	Nikolai Topor-Stanley^[35]	None

Regular season

Results

Finals series

Elimination-finals

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Semi-finals

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Grand Final

See also: 2015 A-League Grand Final.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Marc Janko	Sydney FC	16
2	Nathan Burns	Wellington Phoenix	14
3	Besart Berisha	Melbourne Victory	13
4	Andy Keogh	Perth Glory	12
5	Archie Thompson	Melbourne Victory	10
6	Roy Krishna	Wellington Phoenix	9
	Jamie Maclaren	Perth Glory
8	Henrique	Brisbane Roar	8
	Pablo Sánchez	Adelaide United
	Shane Smeltz	Sydney FC

Own goals

Player	Club	Against	Round
			1
			2
			2
			7
			8
			8
			16
			19
			23
			24
			24
			25

Hat-tricks

See main article: List of A-League hat-tricks.

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
			3–2^[36]	19 October 2014
			5–2^[37]	25 October 2014
Henrique			4–0^[38]	14 November 2014
			5–1^[39]	30 November 2014
			3–3^[40]	13 December 2014
			5–2^[41]	30 December 2014
			5–4^[42]	15 March 2015
			6–1^[43]	2 April 2015
			3–1^[44]	19 April 2015

Player came on as substitute.

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Vedran Janjetović	Sydney FC	9
2	Tando Velaphi	Melbourne City	8
3	Nathan Coe	Melbourne Victory	7
	Eugene Galekovic	Adelaide United
	Glen Moss	Wellington Phoenix
	Liam Reddy	Central Coast Mariners
7	Jamie Young	Brisbane Roar	5
8	Danny Vuković	Perth Glory	4
9	Ante Covic	Western Sydney Wanderers	3
	Ben Kennedy	Newcastle Jets

NB - Additional clean sheets were kept by Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory, however these are not listed due to goalkeeper substitutions.

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

2014–15 A-League Attendance

Round	Total	Games	Avg. Per Game
scope='row'	Round 1	90,013	5	18,003
scope='row'	Round 2	106,082	5	21,216
scope='row'	Round 3	91,836	5	18,367
scope='row'	Round 4	73,547	5	14,709
scope='row'	Round 5	58,437	5	11,687
scope='row'	Round 6	62,752	5	12,550
scope='row'	Round 7	62,977	5	12,595
scope='row'	Round 8	72,856	5	14,571
scope='row'	Round 9	47,373	5	9,475
scope='row'	Round 10	64,067	5	12,813
scope='row'	Round 11	67,924	5	13,585
scope='row'	Round 12	63,190	5	12,638
scope='row'	Round 13	72,186	5	14,437
scope='row'	Round 14	53,727	5	10,745
scope='row'	Round 15	52,157	5	10,431
scope='row'	Round 16	75,844	5	15,169
scope='row'	Round 17	53,339	5	10,668
scope='row'	Round 18	49,016	5	9,803
scope='row'	Round 19	67,338	5	13,468
scope='row'	Round 20	57,301	5	11,460
scope='row'	Round 21	47,703	5	9,541
scope='row'	Round 22	53,237	5	10,647
scope='row'	Round 23	50,305	5	10,061
scope='row'	Round 24	39,366	5	7,873
scope='row'	Round 25	53,630	5	10,726
scope='row'	Round 26	42,233	5	8,447
scope='row'	Round 27	61,841	5	12,368
scope='row'	Elimination Final	30,326	2	15,163
scope='row'	Semi Final	77,656	2	38,828
scope='row'	Grand Final	29,843	1	29,843

Top 10 season attendances

Attendance	Round	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Weekday	Time of Day
50,873	SF	8 May 2015		3–0			Friday	Night
43,729	3	25 October 2014		5–2			Saturday	Night
41,213	2	18 October 2014		3–2			Saturday	Night
40,042	16	7 February 2015		3–0			Saturday	Night
33,126	2	17 October 2014		1–1			Friday	Night
30,083	1	10 October 2014		4–1			Friday	Night
29,843	GF	17 May 2015		3–0			Sunday	Night
26,783	SF	9 May 2015		4–1			Saturday	Night
26,372	11	20 December 2014		1–0			Saturday	Night
25,525	1	11 October 2014		1–1			Saturday	Night

Club membership

2014–15 A-League membership figures

Club	Members
Adelaide United	9,429
Brisbane Roar	12,113
Central Coast Mariners	6,242
Melbourne City	11,741
Melbourne Victory	24,200
Newcastle Jets	10,003
Perth Glory	6,296
Sydney FC	11,508
Wellington Phoenix	4,183
Western Sydney Wanderers	18,706
Total	114,421
Average	11,442

Awards

End-of-season awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the Hyundai A-League & Westfield W-League 2014–15 Awards night held at the Carriageworks in Sydney on 11 May 2015.^[45]

• Johnny Warren Medal – Nathan Burns, Wellington Phoenix
• NAB Young Footballer of the Year – James Jeggo, Adelaide United
• Nike Golden Boot Award – Marc Janko, Sydney FC (16 goals)
• Goalkeeper of the Year – Eugene Galekovic, Adelaide United
• Manager of the Year – Kevin Muscat, Melbourne Victory
• Fair Play Award – Wellington Phoenix
• Referee of the Year – Jarred Gillett
• Goal of the Year – Tarek Elrich, Adelaide United (Adelaide United v Melbourne City, 25 April 2015)
• Joe Marston Medal – Mark Milligan

See also

• 2014–15 Adelaide United FC season
• 2014–15 Brisbane Roar FC season
• 2014–15 Central Coast Mariners FC season
• 2014–15 Melbourne City FC season
• 2014–15 Melbourne Victory FC season
• 2014–15 Newcastle Jets FC season
• 2014–15 Perth Glory FC season
• 2014–15 Sydney FC season
• 2014–15 Wellington Phoenix FC season
• 2014–15 Western Sydney Wanderers FC season

Notes and References

1. Web site: Season 2014/15 Hyundai A-League draw revealed. footballaustralia.com.au. 12 June 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141017213740/http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/season-2014/15-hyundai-a-league-draw-revealed/90818. 17 October 2014. dead. dmy-all.
2. Web site: Brisbane Roar and Umbro announce long-term partnership. Brisbane Roar. 15 August 2014. 6 February 2020. 27 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190327142849/https://www.brisbaneroar.com.au/news/brisbane-roar-and-umbro-announce-long-term-partnership. dead.
3. Web site: Melbourne Victory extends partnership with adidas. Melbourne Victory. 6 February 2017.
4. Web site: Macron sign on for four more years. Perth Glory. 30 May 2017.
5. Web site: Wanderers launch jersey, announce Nike partnership extension. Western Sydney Wanderers. 11 August 2017.
6. Web site: Sydney FC Statement On Mr Frank Farina. Football Federation Australia. 23 April 2014. 23 April 2014.
7. Web site: Sydney FC Appoint Graham Arnold Head Coach. Football Federation Australia. 8 May 2014.
8. Web site: Phil Stubbins named Newcastle Jets' new A-League coach. 5 May 2014 . theherald.com.au. 5 May 2014.
9. Web site: Mulvey and Roar part ways. Football Federation Australia. 23 November 2014.
10. Web site: CLUB STATEMENT: Head Coach Phil Moss stood aside. 6 March 2015. Football Federation Australia.
11. Web site: A-League Collective Bargaining Agreement – 2008/9 – 2012/13 . Australian Professional Footballers' Football Association . 9 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140204110810/http://pfa.net.au/fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/MINUS_LETTERS_A-League_CBA_08-13_1_.pdf . 4 February 2014 . dead . dmy-all .
12. News: Reds' Marquee duo confirmed as two of the best in the A-League . 11 July 2014 . Adelaide United . 14 April 2015 . 14 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150414112057/http://www.adelaideunited.com.au/article/reds-marquee-duo-confirmed-as-two-of-the-best-in-the-a-league/o2k94seypjoi1oxtoicl7otuf#sYUduGrk5tAZsu2q.97 . dead .
13. News: Galekovic takes over as Reds skipper . 28 December 2011 . Football Federation Australia . https://archive.today/20120731115017/http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/galekovic-takes-over-as-reds-skipper/43927 . dead . 31 July 2012 . A-League . 28 December 2011 .
14. Web site: Roar sign Australian international McKay . Football Federation Australia . 11 August 2013 . 17 October 2013 . 22 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131022145518/http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/roar-sign-australian-international-mckay/72497 . dead .
15. News: Paartalu blows stack on Broich's uncapped salary at Roar . Herald Sun . 21 August 2012 . 24 December 2012 . Monteverde, Marco.
16. News: McKay is Roar's new captain . Brisbane Roar . 22 December 2014 . 9 January 2015 . 24 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150724173648/http://www.brisbaneroar.com.au/article/mckay-is-roars-new-captain/10es1vfvn1rwg1razwhwfnznfp . dead .
17. News: Matt Smith to replace Matt McKay as Brisbane Roar skipper. The Courier-Mail . 6 September 2011 . 22 December 2012.
18. News: John Hutchinson handed Central Coast Mariners captaincy. news.com.au. 29 September 2012.
19. Web site: Josh Kennedy inks deal to become City's Australian marquee. The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 November 2014 . 6 November 2014.
20. News: Robert Koren joins A-League's Melbourne City for two years as international marquee. ABC News. 3 August 2014.
21. Web site: ANNOUNCEMENT: Patrick Kisnorbo Appointed Captain. Football Federation Australia. Melbourne City. 4 October 2014. 4 October 2014. 6 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141006090857/http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/announcement/3bb0smm2ddm11ehv9sptfqj7f. dead.
22. Web site: Milligan confirmed as Victory's Aussie marquee. a-league.com.au. 16 October 2014.
23. News: Besart Berisha says money not a reason to leave Roar as Melbourne Victory double his pay. Herald Sun. 24 January 2014 . 24 January 2014.
24. News: Socceroo Mark Milligan confirmed as Melbourne Victory captain for the 2013-2014 A-League season. David. Davutovic. The Advertiser. 17 September 2013.
25. News: Adrian Leijer names his Melbourne Victory Team of the Decade. Adrian. Leijer. Geelong Advertiser. 27 November 2014. Leigh Broxham [...] but now he’s the vice-captain....
26. News: Kew Jaliens named Jets captain. ABC News. 4 August 2014.
27. Web site: Captain Taylor says performance should reflect people. 5 February 2015. Football Federation Australia.
28. News: Perth Glory made Nebojsa Marinkovic and Michael Thwaite marquee players. Joe. Gorman. Dominic. Bossi. WAtoday. 15 December 2014. 16 December 2014.
29. News: Perth Glory skipper Michael Thwaite barred from playing in FFA Cup game after All Stars call-up. Braden. Quartermaine. The Sunday Times. 2 August 2014.
30. Web site: Sky Blues sign Brosque as Aussie marquee. a-league.com.au. 16 October 2014.
31. News: Marc Janko announced as Sydney FC's marquee signing. Tom. Decent. The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 July 2014. 16 October 2014.
32. Web site: Brosque to skipper Sydney. fourfourtwo.com. 16 October 2014.
33. Web site: Durante named Wellington Phoenix skipper . Wwos.ninemsn.com.au . 22 December 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120330072014/http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=598972 . 30 March 2012 . dead . dmy-all .
34. News: Western Sydney Wanderers release club captain Michael Beauchamp, defender Jerome Polenz. Tom. Smithies. The Daily Telegraph. 21 May 2014. Western Sydney last week signed Matthew Spiranovic as their Australian marquee.
35. News: Nikolai Topor-Stanley leads by example for A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers in AFC Champions League. The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 October 2014.
36. News: The Australian. Perth Glory striker Andy Keogh sinks Roar in stoppage time. 19 October 2014. 21 October 2014.
37. News: ABC. 25 October 2014. 26 October 2014. Melbourne Victory beats Melbourne City 5-2 thanks to Besart Berisha hat-trick.
38. News: ABC. 14 November 2014. 14 November 2014. Henrique hat-trick leads Brisbane Roar to first win of A-League season over Newcastle Jets.
39. News: Nathan Burns scores first-ever Phoenix hat-trick as Wellington down Melbourne City 5-1. ABC News . 30 November 2014 . ABC. 30 November 2014.
40. News: Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC play out thrilling 3-3 draw at Docklands. ABC News . 13 December 2014 . ABC. 14 December 2014.
41. Web site: Melbourne City thump Newcastle Jets 5-2 thanks to Robert Koren hat-trick. ABC. 30 December 2014.
42. News: Sydney FC holds on to beat Brisbane Roar 5-4 in thrilling A-League encounter. ABC News . 15 March 2015 . ABC. 15 March 2015.
43. News: Brisbane Roar thump Central Coast Mariners 6-1 in one-sided A-League clash. ABC News . 2 April 2015 . ABC. 3 April 2015.
44. News: Perth Glory beats Melbourne City thanks to Maclaren hat=trick. ABC News . 19 April 2015 . ABC. 19 April 2015.
45. Web site: Hyundai A-League/Westfield W-League award winners. Football Federation Australia. 11 May 2015. 18 May 2015.