2009–10 A-League

A-League

Season	2009–10
Dates	6 August 2009 – 20 March 2010
Champions	Sydney FC (2nd title)
Premiers	Sydney FC (1st title)
AFC Champions League	Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory
Matches played	135
Goals scored	348 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer	Shane Smeltz (19 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Eugene Galekovic
Biggest home win	Wellington Phoenix 6–0 Gold Coast United (25 October 2009)
Biggest away win	Melbourne Victory 0–4 Central Coast Mariners (7 November 2009) North Queensland Fury 1–5 Central Coast Mariners (21 November 2009)
Highest scoring	Melbourne Victory 6–2 Perth Glory (16 January 2010) (8 goals)
Highest attendance	30,668
Lowest attendance	2,616
Average attendance	9,796 ( 2384)
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The 2009–10 A-League was the 33rd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fifth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. The season marked the addition of two new teams from Queensland. Gold Coast United FC and the North Queensland Fury FC made their A-League debuts at the start of the season.^[1] Because of this, Queensland Roar were renamed to Brisbane Roar, as they were no longer the only A-League club from Queensland. With the inception of the two new clubs, many club transfers took place both within Australia and New Zealand, and around the world.

The length of the regular season was longer than in previous years, with 27 rounds rather than 21, plus finals. The season began on 6 August, with Melbourne hosting the Central Coast at home.^[2] As well as these major changes to the league, the Pre-Season Challenge Cup was no longer held as part of the 2009–10 season due to a busier regular season schedule,^[3] and clubs attracting higher profile pre-season friendlies. The Premiership and Championship double was completed by Sydney FC with victory over Melbourne in the final match of the regular season and on penalties in the Championship Grand Final.

Team	City	Home Ground	Capacity
Adelaide United	Adelaide	Hindmarsh Stadium	17,000
Brisbane Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Bluetongue Stadium	20,119
Gold Coast United	Gold Coast	Skilled Park	27,400
Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	56,347
Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Energy Australia Stadium	26,164
North Queensland Fury	Townsville	Dairy Farmers Stadium	26,500
Perth Glory	Perth	ME Bank Stadium	20,500
Sydney FC	Sydney	Sydney Football Stadium	45,500
Wellington Phoenix	Wellington	Westpac Stadium	36,000

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Sydney FC	John Kosmina	Sacked	31 January 2009[4]	5th (08–09)	Vítězslav Lavička	4 February 2009[5]	Pre-season
Newcastle Jets	Gary van Egmond	Resigned	27 June 2009	8th (08–09)	Branko Čulina	30 June 2009[6]	Pre-Season
Brisbane Roar	Frank Farina	Sacked	14 October 2009[7]	6th (09–10)	Ange Postecoglou	16 October 2009[8]	Round 10

Club	Visa 1	Visa 2	Visa 3	Visa 4	Visa 5	Non-Visa foreigner(s)	Former player(s)
Adelaide United	Alemão	Cássio	Cristiano	Lloyd Owusu	Shin In-seob	Marcos Flores3
Brisbane Roar	Pieter Collen	Henrique	Reinaldo	Steven Bryce	Sergio van Dijk		Bob Malcolm
Central Coast Mariners	Nicky Travis	Chris Doig	Jonathan Brown	Matt Crowell		John Hutchinson2	Wolry Wolfe4 Michael McGlinchey
Gold Coast United	Jefferson	Robson	Adama Traoré	Bas van den Brink	Charlie Miller	Anderson3	Milson
Melbourne Victory	Marvin Angulo	Carlos Hernández	Surat Sukha			Glen Moss2 Grant Brebner1	Ney Fabiano Sutee Suksomkit
Newcastle Jets	Michael Bridges	Marcello Fiorentini	Song Jin-hyung			Ali Abbas3
North Queensland Fury	Robbie Fowler	James Robinson	Kojiro Kaimoto	Jeremy Brockie	Scott Wilson	Terry Cooke3 Dyron Daal3 Jack Hingert2
Perth Glory	Andy Todd	Victor Sikora	Branko Jelić	Steven McGarry			Amaral4 Eugène Dadi
Sydney FC	Karol Kisel	Byun Sung-hwan	Stephan Keller			Terry McFlynn1
Wellington Phoenix	Paul Ifill	Daniel	Diego Walsh	Jiang Chen	Chris Greenacre	Eugène Dadi4 Manny Muscat2

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)

Club	Marquee	Junior Marquee	Captain	Vice-Captain
Adelaide United	None	None	Travis Dodd[9]	Lucas Pantelis[9]
Brisbane Roar	None	Michael Zullo[10]	Matt McKay[11]	None
Central Coast Mariners	None	None	Alex Wilkinson[12]	John Hutchinson[13]
Gold Coast United	Jason Culina[14]	Tahj Minniecon[15]	Jason Culina[16][17]	Michael Thwaite[16][17]
Melbourne Victory	Archie Thompson[18][19]	None	Kevin Muscat[20]	Rodrigo Vargas[21]
Newcastle Jets	Fabio Vignaroli[22]	Adam D'Apuzzo[23]	Matt Thompson[24]	None
North Queensland Fury	Robbie Fowler[25]	None	Robbie Fowler[26]	None
Perth Glory	Mile Sterjovski[27]	None	Jacob Burns[28]	None
Sydney FC	John Aloisi[29]	Mark Bridge[23]	Steve Corica[30]	None
Wellington Phoenix	None	None	Andrew Durante[31]	Tim Brown[31]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sydney FC (C)	27	15	3	9	35	23	+12	48	Qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series
2	Melbourne Victory	27	14	5	8	47	32	+15	47
3	Gold Coast United	27	13	5	9	39	35	+4	44	Qualification for Finals series
4	Wellington Phoenix	27	10	10	7	37	29	+8	40
5	Perth Glory	27	11	6	10	40	34	+6	39
6	Newcastle Jets	27	10	4	13	33	45	−12	34
7	North Queensland Fury	27	8	8	11	29	46	−17	32
8	Central Coast Mariners	27	7	9	11	32	29	+3	30
9	Brisbane Roar	27	8	6	13	32	42	−10	30
10	Adelaide United	27	7	8	12	24	33	−9	29

The 2009–10 A-League season was played over 27 rounds, followed by a finals series.^[2]