| Clubname: | Adelaide United Women |
| Fullname: | Adelaide United Football Club |
| Nickname: | The Reds |
| Ground: | Marden Sports Complex, Adelaide |
| Capacity: | 6,000 |
| Chairman: | Ned Morris |
| Mgrtitle: | Head Coach |
| Manager: | Adrian Stenta |
| Current: | 2024–25 Adelaide United FC (A-League Women) season |
| Website: | http://adelaideunited.com.au/ |
| Pattern La1: | _whitecuffpiping |
| Pattern B1: | _vneckwhite |
| Pattern Ra1: | _whitecuffpiping |
| Pattern So1: | _band_white |
| Leftarm1: | D50032 |
| Body1: | D50032 |
| Rightarm1: | D50032 |
| Shorts1: | D50032 |
| Socks1: | D50032 |
| Pattern La2: | _redborder |
| Pattern B2: | _redcollar |
| Pattern Ra2: | _redborder |
| Leftarm2: | 000040 |
| Body2: | 000040 |
| Rightarm2: | 000040 |
| Shorts2: | 000040 |
| Socks2: | 000040 |
Adelaide United Football Club is an Australian women's soccer team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 2008, it is the affiliated women's team of Adelaide United. The team competes in the country's premier women's soccer competition, the A-League Women.
Adelaide United's women's team was formed in 2008 with the inception of the W-League, becoming one of the founding eight teams.[1] The inaugural set up saw North Eastern MetroStars coach Michael Barnett take charge[2] with ex-Adelaide United player Richie Alagich take up the assistant coach role and Matildas stalwart Dianne Alagich named as captain.[3]
Adelaide's first game was on 25 October 2008 against Queensland Roar at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, which ended in a 4–1 loss with Sharon Black getting the consolation goal.[4] The first win came in Round 2 against the Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium, a hard-fought 3–2 win thanks to a hat-trick from Sandra Scalzi.[5] The Reds followed this up with another 3–2 win over Sydney FC before failing to win any of their next seven league games, finished last in the eight-team competition in their inaugural season.
After a disappointing inaugural season drastic changes were made to the playing staff including the retirement of experienced campaigners Sharon Black and Dianne Alagich to create a youthful team for the 2009 season.[6] [7] Despite the new look squad Adelaide continued to struggle in the league failing to win any of the first 5 games which included a record equaling defeat against Sydney FC on 1 November 2009.[8] The first goal of the 2009 season was scored by Tenneille Boaler against Newcastle Jets in the round 6 clash at the Wanderers Oval the game ended in a 3 – 3 draw handing Adelaide its second point of the year.[9] The season didn't get any better for Adelaide as they failed to win a single game in the second season but thanks to an unlikely 2 all draw with power house team Brisbane Roar they finished the season in 7th place their best ever finish to date.[10] Most Valuable player for 2009 season Racheal Quigley.
The 2010–11 season was even worse for Reds as they lost all ten of their W-League matches. They only scored four goals and finished with a disappointing −32 goal differential; they tied their worst defeat with a −1 loss to Newcastle in round nine. Coach Michael Barnett was let go at the end of the disappointing season, and was replaced by David Edmondson.
Adelaide continued to struggle through most of the 2011–12 season as they opened the campaign with six more losses, scoring four goals during that time while letting twenty-one in. This was better pace than the previous season, though, and the Reds showed significant improvement in on-field play versus 2010–2011, cited as being "unlucky" to not come away with at least a point on multiple occasions. They finally snapped their winless and losing streaks, at 34 and 18 games respectively, with a 1–0 defeat of the Perth Glory in round eight, taking them off the bottom of the table for the first time since November 2009.
Following Adelaide United taking control of the women's team, their first move was signing Mark Jones as the head coach.[11]
See main article: Hindmarsh Stadium. Adelaide United WFC used to play their home games at Hindmarsh Stadium where they sometimes play a curtain-raiser to A-League games. As of the 2017/18 season, they play their home games at Marden Sports Complex. In the 2016/17 season, Hindmarsh Stadium was questioned about having portable change rooms for the women's team when there is a double header with the A-League side. This resulted in Adelaide WFC having no matches scheduled during the next season.[12] [13]
For notable current and former players, see .
| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Adrian Stenta[14] | |
| Assistant coach | Michele Lastella | |
| Assistant coach | Alice Gorman | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Rian Del Nido |
| Name | From | To | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Barnett | 1 July 2008 | 30 June 2011 | 30 | 2 | 4 | 24 | [15] | |
| David Edmondson | 31 August 2011 | 13 January 2013 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | [16] [17] | |
| Ross Aloisi | 22 August 2013 | 28 July 2015 | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | [18] [19] | |
| Jamie Harnwell | 30 July 2015 | 30 June 2016 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | [20] | |
| Mark Jones | 7 September 2016 | 22 September 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | [21] | |
| Hussein Skenderovic | 5 October 2016 | 30 June 2017 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | [22] | |
| Ivan Karlović | 1 July 2017 | 4 August 2020 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 12 | [23] | |
| Adrian Stenta | 4 August 2020 | 27 | 16 | 1 | 10 | [24] |
Since its inception Adelaide United has played in a predominantly all-red home kit. For the inaugural season the away kit consisted of a white top and socks and red shorts; during the 2009 season the away kit changed to a black top with red shorts and socks. The badge is heavily based on the Adelaide United men's team, with the logo being encased in a W-League shield; as is the case with every other W-League club.
| Season | League/Division | League Position | Play-offs | Top scorers | Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | W-League | 8th of 8 | – | Victoria Balomenos, Sandra Scalzi (4) | Michael Barnett |
| 2009 | W-League | 7th of 8 | – | Racheal Quigley (5) | |
| 2010–11 | W-League | 7th of 7 | – | multiple players scoring 1 goal | |
| 2011–12 | W-League | 7th of 7 | – | Marijana Rajcic (3) | David Edmondson |
| 2012–13 | W-League | 8th of 8 | – | Racheal Quigley,  Sarah McLaughlin (4) | |
| 2013–14 | W-League | 6th of 8 | – | Kristy Moore (3) | Ross Aloisi |
| 2014 | W-League | 7th of 8 | – | Kristy Moore (3) | |
| 2015–16 | W-League | 5th of 9 | – | Rosie Sutton,  Abby Dahlkemper (5) | Jamie Harnwell |
| 2016–17 | W-League | 6th of 9 | – | Adriana Jones (9) | Hussein Skenderovic |
| 2017–18 | W-League | 9th of 9 | – | Makenzy Doniak (7) | Ivan Karlović |
| 2018–19 | W-League | 6th of 9 | – | Veronica Latsko (9) | |
| 2019–20 | W-League | 8th of 9 | – | Mallory Weber (4) | |
| 2020–21 | W-League | 5th of 9 | – | Chelsie Dawber (5) | Adrian Stenta |
| 2021–22 | A-League Women | 3rd of 10 | SF | Fiona Worts (13) |
Last updated 30 April 2024
Adelaide United