2007–08 A-League Explained

Competition:	A-League
Season:	2007–08
Dates:	24 August 2007 – 24 February 2008
Winners:	Newcastle Jets (1st title)
Premiers:	Central Coast Mariners (1st title)
Continentalcup1:	AFC Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:	Newcastle Jets, Central Coast Mariners
Matches:	111
Total Goals:	223
League Topscorer:	Joel Griffiths (12 goals)
Best Goalkeeper:	Michael Theoklitos
Biggest Home Win:	Central 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 Win:	Newcastle Jets 1–4 Perth Glory Perth Glory 1–4 Queensland Roar Central Coast Mariners 2–5 Melbourne Victory
Highest Scoring:	Central Coast Mariners 4–5 Sydney FC
Longest Wins:	4 games Newcastle Jets
Longest Unbeaten:	6 games Melbourne Victory
Longest Winless:	11 games Perth Glory
Longest Losses:	4 games Adelaide United Wellington Phoenix
Highest Attendance:	33,458
Lowest Attendance:	6,252
Average Attendance:	14,610 (1683)
Prevseason:	2006–07
Nextseason:	2008–09

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:

• The New Zealand Knights, who folded at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season, were replaced by Wellington Phoenix.^[1]
• An increase of the squad size, from 20 to 23 players, increasing the salary cap from A$1.6 million to A$1.8 million.^{[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	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	Cássio	Diego Walsh	Bobby Petta		Jonas Salley^1
Central Coast Mariners	André Gumprecht				John Hutchinson^2
Melbourne Victory	Leandro Love	Carlos Hernández	Joe Keenan	Grant Brebner
Newcastle Jets	Denni	Mário Jardel	Song Jin-hyung			Jorge Drovandi
Perth Glory	James Robinson	Mate Dragicevic			Jerry Karpeh^1
Queensland Roar	Marcinho	Reinaldo	Simon Lynch		Seo Hyuk-su^1
Sydney FC	Juninho	Patrick da Silva	Terry McFlynn	Michael Enfield		Michael Bridges^3 Michael Herbet^3
Wellington Phoenix	Cleberson	Daniel	Felipe	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	Paul Agostino^[4]	Michael Valkanis^[5] ^[6]	Travis Dodd^[7]
Central Coast Mariners	Tony Vidmar^[8]	Alex Wilkinson^[9]	None
Melbourne Victory	Archie Thompson^[10] ^[11]	Kevin Muscat^[12] ^[13]	None
Newcastle Jets	Mário Jardel^[14]	Jade North^[15]	Ante Covic
Perth Glory	Stan Lazaridis^[16]	Simon Colosimo^[17]	None
Queensland Roar	Craig Moore^[18]	Craig Moore^[19]	None
Sydney FC	Juninho^[20]	Tony Popovic^[21]	None
Wellington Phoenix	Ahmad Elrich^[22]	Ross Aloisi^[23]	Tim Brown^[24]

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

See main article: 2007 A-League 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

Round 21

Finals series

Grand Final

See also: 2008 A-League Grand Final.

Season statistics

Leading scorers

Total	Player	Team	Goals per Round
	1		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
12					1						1	1	1		1	1		1		2		1	1	1
9				1				1	1	1			1						2	1	1
8					1				1		2		2									1		1
8							1				1	1	1				1	1					1	1
7				1						1							1				2	1		1
7															2			1	1	1	1			1
6				1				1	1			1		1						1
6					1									1	2					1	1
6								1	1		1	1									1	1
6											1	1	1					1				1		1
5															2		2					1
4																		1	2	1
4									1											3
4				1			1							1			1
4						1					2					1
4				1				1	2
4												1	1						1		1
4										1		1				1					1
4					1	1												1					1
3							1			1									1
3				1	1								1
3																		1	1	1
3							1	1											1
3													2									1
3							1				1								1
3				1			1											1
3				1					1									1
3					1											1		1
2					1												1
2														1					1
2								1					1
2													2
2					2
2													1		1
2																			1	1 To keep from the list getting too long, only the top ten is currently being displayed. *** -->

Attendance

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

* 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

Attendance	Round	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Weekday	Time of Day
36,354	Grand Final	24 February 2008		0–1			Sunday	Day
36,221	Finals – Week 2	8 February 2008		2–0			Friday	Night
33,458	Round 21	20 January 2008		2–2			Sunday	Day
31,933	Round 20	13 January 2008		0–0			Sunday	Twilight
31,884	Round 12	10 November 2007		0–0			Saturday	Night
31,545	Round 2	1 September 2007		0–0			Saturday	Night
27,351	Round 4	16 September 2007		0–0			Sunday	Afternoon
27,123	Round 10	26 October 2007		0–2			Friday	Night
25,622	Round 6	28 September 2007		2–0			Friday	Night
25,598	Round 9	21 October 2007		2–1		Telstra Dome	Sunday	Afternoon

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.

Awards

• The Premiers' Plate was awarded to Central Coast Mariners, who finished on top of the ladder after the regular season.
• The Championship Trophy was awarded to the Newcastle Jets.
• The Johnny Warren Medal was awarded to Joel Griffiths from the Newcastle Jets for the best player in the league.
• The Coach of the Year was awarded to Gary van Egmond of the Newcastle Jets.
• The Joe Marston Medal was awarded to Andrew Durante of Newcastle Jets.
• The Reebok Golden Boot was awarded to Joel Griffiths of Newcastle Jets (12 goals - regular season).
• The Rising Star award was awarded to Bruce Djite of Adelaide United.
• The Fair Play Award was awarded to the Newcastle Jets.

See also

• 2007 Australian football code crowds
• Adelaide United season 2007-08
• Central Coast Mariners season 2007-08
• Melbourne Victory season 2007-08
• Newcastle United Jets season 2007-08
• Perth Glory season 2007-08
• Queensland Roar season 2007-08
• Sydney FC season 2007-08
• Wellington Phoenix season 2007-08

Notes and References

1. News: Kiwis alive as Townsville pulls pin. Fox Sports. 19 March 2007. 19 March 2007.
2. News: The time is right to go into the ref's book. The Age. 31 December 2006. 24 January 2007.
3. News: A-League lifts its salary cap to $1.8m. The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 2007. 23 April 2007.
4. News: Agostino Scores on His Debut. FTBL. 17 August 2007. United’s marquee Paul Agostino scored in....
5. News: Injured Adelaide United skipper out for season. Brisbane Times. 10 September 2007.
6. News: 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. News: Dodd Gets The Nod As Skipper. FTBL. 31 July 2008. Travis was vice-captain last year.
8. News: Vidmar announces retirement. ABC News. 14 February 2008. Vidmar joined the Mariners as a marquee signing in the 2006–07 season.
9. Web site: Captain Wilkinson promoted to Centurion. Football Federation Australia. Central Coast Mariners. 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. News: Archie Thompson should play on after leaving Melbourne Victory. Michael. Lynch. The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 April 2016. As Victory's inauguaral marquee signing....
11. News: 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. News: 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. News: 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. Web site: Jardel flies in for Jets. SBS. The World Game. 14 August 2007.
15. Web site: North heading to Korea. 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.. Newcastle Jets. 13 December 2008.
16. News: Sydney stars on the radar as Smith goes Glory seeking. Michael. Cockerill. The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 December 2006. One player who will still be at the Glory next season is marquee signing Stan Lazaridis.
17. News: Colosimo new Perth skipper . . . 8 August 2007 . 19 January 2008 . dead . https://archive.today/20120914162434/http://www.theworldgame.com.au/home/index.php?pid=st&cid=93190 . 14 September 2012 .
18. News: Moore Signs With Roar. FourFourTwo. Jon. Ritson. 24 July 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20120930141024/http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/57086,moore-signs-up-with-roar.aspx. 30 September 2012.
19. Web site: Moore has his hands full. Queensland Roar captain Craig Moore might be..... A-League. 28 September 2008.
20. News: Sydney FC end marquee mess with Juninho swoop. Michael. Cockerill. The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 August 2007.
21. News: Poppa's Yer Ante in Family Affair. 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.. FTBL. 19 September 2007.
22. News: Soccer: Phoenix patient for marquee player. Terry. Maddaford. The New Zealand Herald. 13 May 2008. Of the marquee player – they had Socceroo Ahmad Elrich filling that role for the latter part of last season....
23. News: Aloisi named captain of Phoenix. The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2007.
24. News: Durante named Wellington Phoenix skipper. Nine MSN. 17 July 2008. 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.. https://web.archive.org/web/20120330072014/http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=598972. 30 March 2012. dead.
25. http://www.a-league.com.au/_content/document/00000327-source.pdf Hyundai A-League 2007–08 Season Draw