# 2015–16 Adelaide United FC season

The 2015–16 season was the 12th in the history of Adelaide United Football Club since its establishment in 2003. The club participated in the A-League for the 11th time, the FFA Cup for the second time and the AFC Champions League for the fifth time.
Ahead of the season, manager Josep Gombau stood down, citing family reasons. He was replaced by the club's technical director, Guillermo Amor, in his first senior managerial role. Adelaide United were knocked out of the FFA Cup in the quarter-finals by rivals Melbourne Victory, their first loss in the competition's history. Two and a half weeks later, Adelaide would begin their season by hosting Victory at Adelaide Oval, a match that ended 0–0. The Reds went winless in their first eight games and sat 13 points from the top of the ladder. From round nine onwards, the club went on a 14-match unbeaten run, which saw them sit atop the ladder by the end of it, following a 4–0 win over Wellington Phoenix. A loss to Melbourne City and a draw with the Western Sydney Wanderers put their title charge in doubt. Adelaide won their remaining three matches and thanks to Melbourne Victory's draw with Brisbane Roar in the final round, Adelaide United were premiers by a solitary point.
Adelaide played Melbourne City in the semi-final. After a scoreless first half, Bruce Djite broke the deadlock in the 48th minute, curling the ball into the top right corner from outside the box. Djite would double their lead from the penalty spot 12 minutes later. Fitzgerald pulled a goal back for Melbourne City, but late goals from Dylan McGowan and Pablo Sánchez saw Adelaide into their third Grand Final, which would also be their first time hosting the match. Second-placed Western Sydney Wanderers travelled to Adelaide Oval for the Grand Final. Bruce Kamau scored in the 21st minute and won a free kick that was converted by Isaías in the 32nd minute. Scott Neville's goal just shy of the hour mark brought the Wanderers back into the game, but Adelaide held on, with Pablo Sánchez eventually scoring Adelaide's third to seal the win. This was Adelaide United's first Australian title, and to this day, their last Grand Final they have played in.
Despite the success, Adelaide lost numerous key players ahead of next season, including Bruce Kamau, Pablo Sánchez, Craig Goodwin, Stefan Mauk and Bruce Djite.

## Kits

| Home | Away | Goalkeeper 1 | Cup Home | Cup Away |

## Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Guillermo Amor |
| Assistant coaches | Pau Martí Michael Valkanis |
| General manager | Ante Kovacevic |
| Goalkeeping coach | Peter Blazincic |
| High performance manager | Greg King |
| Club doctor | James Ilic |
| Head trainer | Peter Duke |
| Head physiotherapist | Peter Chitti |

## Players
### Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Eugene Galekovic (Captain) |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Michael Marrone |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Iacopo La Rocca |
| 4 | DF | AUS | Dylan McGowan |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Stefan Mauk |
| 7 | FW | ESP | Pablo Sánchez |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Isaías |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Sergio Cirio |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Marcelo Carrusca |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Bruce Djite |
| 12 | DF | AUS | Mark Ochieng (Youth) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 13 | MF | AUS | Dylan Smith (Youth) |
| 14 | MF | AUS | George Mells |
| 15 | DF | AUS | Ben Warland (Youth) |
| 16 | DF | AUS | Craig Goodwin |
| 17 | FW | AUS | Mate Dugandzic |
| 19 | FW | AUS | Eli Babalj (on loan from AZ) |
| 20 | GK | AUS | John Hall |
| 21 | DF | AUS | Tarek Elrich |
| 23 | DF | AUS | Jordan Elsey |
| 24 | FW | AUS | Bruce Kamau |
| 80 | GK | AUS | John Solari |

## Transfers and contracts
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | From | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 3 | DF | Iacopo La Rocca | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 2 years | 27 June 2015 |
| 14 | MF | George Mells | Southampton | Free transfer | 1 year | 4 July 2015 |
| 19 | FW | Eli Babalj | AZ Alkmaar | Loan | 1 year | 26 July 2015 |
| 17 | FW | Mate Dugandzic | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 16 August 2015 |
| 6 | MF | Stefan Mauk | Melbourne City | Player swap | 2.5 years | 23 January 2016 |
| 18 | FW | Sergio van Dijk | Unattached | Guest player | 1 week | 3 February 2016 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | To | Type/fee | Date |
| 3 | DF | Nigel Boogaard | Newcastle Jets | Free transfer | 30 June 2015 |
| 14 | MF | Cameron Watson | Unattached | End of contract | 30 June 2015 |
| 19 | FW | Miguel Palanca | Unattached | End of contract | 30 June 2015 |
| 20 | GK | Paul Izzo | Central Coast Mariners | Free transfer | 8 July 2015 |
| 17 | FW | Awer Mabil | Midtjylland | $1,300,000 | 20 July 2015 |
| 32 | MF | Nathan Konstandopoulos | Unattached | Mutual termination | 28 December 2015 |
| 5 | MF | Osama Malik | Melbourne City | Player swap | 23 January 2016 |
| 18 | MF | James Jeggo | Sturm Graz | $400,000 | 27 January 2016 |
| 18 | FW | Sergio van Dijk | Unattached | End of contract | 9 February 2016 |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Position | Player | Contract length | Date |
| 20 | GK | John Hall | 2 years | 11 August 2015 |
| 21 | DF | Tarek Elrich | 3 years | 29 September 2015 |
| 23 | DF | Jordan Elsey | 1.5 years | 23 February 2016 |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League | 9 October 2015 | 8 April 2016 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 051.85 |
| A-League Finals | 22 April 2016 | 1 May 2016 | Semi-finals | Winners | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 100.00 |
| FFA Cup | 5 August 2015 | 22 September 2015 | Round of 32 | Quarter-finals | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 066.67 |
| Champions League | 9 February 2016 | 9 February 2016 | Qualifying play-off | Qualifying play-off | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 33 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 62 | 37 | +25 | 054.55 |
Last updated: 1 May 2016 Source: Soccerway

### A-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Adelaide United (C) | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 49 | Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 48 | Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 3 | Brisbane Roar | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 49 | 40 | +9 | 48 | Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League second preliminary round and Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne City | 27 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 63 | 44 | +19 | 44 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Perth Glory | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 43 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Melbourne Victory | 27 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 40 | 33 | +7 | 41 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Sydney FC | 27 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 34 | |
| 8 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 28 | 41 | −13 | 30 | |
| 9 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 25 | |
| 10 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 33 | 70 | −37 | 13 | |
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 8 April 2016. Source: ultimatealeague.com

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Ground | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A |
| Result | D | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Points | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 33 | 36 | 39 | 39 | 40 | 43 | 46 | 49 |

#### Finals series
### FFA Cup
### AFC Champions League
#### Qualifying play-off
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | A-League | A-League | A-League Finals | A-League Finals | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Eugene Galekovic | 26 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Michael Marrone | 30 | 1 | 23+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Iacopo La Rocca | 15 | 0 | 10+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | AUS | Dylan McGowan | 32 | 3 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Stefan Mauk | 14 | 3 | 9+2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ESP | Pablo Sánchez | 27 | 11 | 8+15 | 7 | 0+2 | 2 | 1+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Isaías | 31 | 5 | 24+1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Sergio Cirio | 31 | 5 | 24+1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Marcelo Carrusca | 32 | 7 | 22+4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Bruce Djite | 29 | 11 | 20+4 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | AUS | Mark Ochieng | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | AUS | George Mells | 25 | 0 | 11+14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | AUS | Ben Warland | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | AUS | Craig Goodwin | 30 | 4 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | AUS | Mate Dugandzic | 21 | 1 | 4+14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | AUS | Eli Babalj | 8 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | GK | AUS | John Hall | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | AUS | Tarek Elrich | 26 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | AUS | Jordan Elsey | 18 | 0 | 14+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | AUS | Bruce Kamau | 19 | 3 | 7+9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | AUS | Antoni Trimboli | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | AUS | Riley McGree | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | AUS | Daniel Margush | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player(s) transferred out but featured this season ||||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | AUS | Osama Malik | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | AUS | James Jeggo | 18 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | IDN | Sergio van Dijk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
* Source: Soccerway