# 2021–22 in Australian soccer

The 2021–22 season was the 53rd season of national competitive association football in Australia and 139th overall.

## National teams
### Men's senior
#### Friendly

The following is a list of friendlies played by the men's senior national team in 2021–22.

#### FIFA World Cup qualification
##### Inter-Confederation play-offs
### Men's under 23
#### Friendlies

The following is a list of friendlies played by the men's under 23 national team in 2021–22.

#### AFC U-23 Asian Cup
### Women's senior
#### Friendlies

The following is a list of friendlies played by the women's national team in 2021–22.

#### AFC Women's Asian Cup
### Women's under-20

Australia was to host one of the groups in the first round of qualification for the 2022 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, between 14 and 22 August 2021 in Shepparton, Victoria. However, in July 2021, the Asian Football Confederation confirmed that the competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

#### Friendlies

The following is a list of friendlies played by the Women's U-20 team in 2021–22.

### Women's under-17

Australia was to host one of the groups in the first round of qualification for the 2022 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, between 18 and 26 September 2021 in Cessnock, New South Wales. However, in July 2021, the Asian Football Confederation confirmed that the competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## AFC competitions
### AFC Champions League

Qualifiers:
* Melbourne City as 2020–21 A-League regular season premiers
* Melbourne Victory as 2021 FFA Cup winners
* Sydney FC as 2020–21 A-League regular season runners-up
Melbourne Victory were eliminated in the play-off round.

#### Group stage
##### Group G

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BGP | MCY | JND | UCT |
| 1 | BG Pathum United (H) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 12 | Advance to Round of 16 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Melbourne City | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 12 | | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Jeonnam Dragons | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | United City | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 17 | −16 | 0 | | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | — |

##### Group H

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | YFM | JBH | HOA | SYD |
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 13 | Advance to Round of 16 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 12 | Advance to Round of 16 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| 3 | Hoang Anh Gia Lai (H) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 5 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Sydney FC | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 2 | | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | — |

## Men's football
### A-League Men

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne City | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 55 | 33 | +22 | 49 | Qualification for finals series and 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Melbourne Victory | 26 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 48 | Qualification for finals series |
| 3 | Western United (C) | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 40 | 30 | +10 | 45 | Qualification for finals series |
| 4 | Adelaide United | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 43 | Qualification for finals series |
| 5 | Central Coast Mariners | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 42 | Qualification for finals series |
| 6 | Wellington Phoenix | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 39 | Qualification for finals series |
| 7 | Macarthur FC | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 33 | |
| 8 | Sydney FC | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 31 | |
| 9 | Newcastle Jets | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 45 | 43 | +2 | 29 | Qualification for 2022 Australia Cup play-offs |
| 10 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 27 | Qualification for 2022 Australia Cup play-offs |
| 11 | Brisbane Roar | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 29 | 39 | −10 | 26 | Qualification for 2022 Australia Cup play-offs |
| 12 | Perth Glory | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 43 | −23 | 18 | Qualification for 2022 Australia Cup play-offs |
* ↑ Determined by which of the Premiers for the 2021–22 or 2022–23 seasons accrued the most combined points over both seasons. Melbourne City qualified as they were Premiers in both seasons.
* ↑ The top two teams enter the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the finals series at the elimination-finals.
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.
* ↑ The top 8 teams qualify for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participate in a play-off round.

#### Finals

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 4 | Adelaide United | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Adelaide United | 3 | 1 | Melbourne City (a.e.t.) | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Central Coast Mariners | 1 | | | | | | 1 | Melbourne City | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | 3 | Western United | 2 |
| | | | 3 | Western United | 0 | 4 | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Western United | 1 | 2 | Melbourne Victory | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |
| 6 | Wellington Phoenix | 0 | | | | | | | | |

### National Premier Leagues

The Final Series was not held.

### Cup competitions
#### FFA Cup

| Round of 32 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| ECU Joondalup | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| Adelaide Olympic | 3 | Adelaide Olympic | 0 | | | | | | |
| Floreat Athena | 1 | Adelaide United | 1 | | | | | | |
| Adelaide United (a.e.t.) | 3 | | | Adelaide United | 1 | | | | |
| Edge Hill United | 0 | | | Melbourne Victory | 2 | | | | |
| Gold Coast Knights | 2 | Gold Coast Knights | 1 | | | | | | |
| Adelaide City | 0 | Melbourne Victory (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | | | |
| Melbourne Victory | 1 | | | | | Melbourne Victory | 4 | | |
| Hume City | 3 | | | | | Wellington Phoenix | 1 | | |
| Port Melbourne | 1 | Hume City | 0 | | | | | | |
| South Melbourne | 0 | Melbourne City | 1 | | | | | | |
| Melbourne City | 3 | | | Melbourne City | 0 (3) | | | | |
| Avondale FC (w/o) | | | | Wellington Phoenix (p) | 0 (4) | | | | |
| Devonport City | | Avondale FC | 1 | | | | | | |
| Western United | 0 | Wellington Phoenix | 4 | | | | | | |
| Wellington Phoenix | 1 | | | | | | | Melbourne Victory | 2 |
| Sydney Olympic | 2 | | | | | | | Central Coast Mariners | 1 |
| Sydney FC | 4 | Sydney FC (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | | | |
| Newcastle Olympic | 0 | Macarthur FC | 0 | | | | | | |
| Macarthur FC | 3 | | | Sydney FC | 1 | | | | |
| Lions FC | 6 | | | Brisbane Roar | 0 | | | | |
| Casuarina FC | 0 | Lions FC | 0 | | | | | | |
| Peninsula Power | 0 | Brisbane Roar | 4 | | | | | | |
| Brisbane Roar | 3 | | | | | Sydney FC | 0 | | |
| Tigers FC | 0 | | | | | Central Coast Mariners | 1 | | |
| APIA Leichhardt (a.e.t.) | 3 | APIA Leichhardt | 2 | | | | | | |
| Broadmeadow Magic | 0 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 1 | | | | | | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 3 | | | APIA Leichhardt | 0 | | | | |
| Mt Druitt Town Rangers | 0 | | | Central Coast Mariners | 6 | | | | |
| Wollongong Wolves | 3 | Wollongong Wolves | 1 | | | | | | |
| Blacktown City | 0 | Central Coast Mariners | 2 | | | | | | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 1 | | | | | | | | |

#### A-Leagues All Stars Game
## Women's football
### A-League Women

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney FC | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 6 | +30 | 35 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 2 | Melbourne City | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 11 | +18 | 33 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 3 | Adelaide United | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 17 | +16 | 27 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne Victory (C) | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 22 | +4 | 24 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 5 | Perth Glory | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 23 | −3 | 24 | |
| 6 | Brisbane Roar | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 28 | 30 | −2 | 17 | |
| 7 | Canberra United | 14 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 13 | |
| 8 | Newcastle Jets | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 30 | −15 | 10 | |
| 9 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 27 | −20 | 7 | |
| 10 | Wellington Phoenix | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 36 | −23 | 7 | |

#### Finals

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| 1 | Sydney FC (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | | 1 | Sydney FC | 1 |
| 2 | Melbourne City | 2 | | | | 4 | Melbourne Victory | 2 |
| | | | 2 | Melbourne City | 1 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Melbourne Victory | 3 | | | |
| 3 | Adelaide United | 1 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Melbourne Victory | 2 | | | | | | |

## Deaths

* 3 January 2022: Ulysses Kokkinos, 74, former South Melbourne Hellas, Fitzroy United, Hakoah Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne Juventus, West Adelaide Hellas, Western Suburbs, and Floreat Athena forward.
* 23 February 2022: Jim Milisavljevic, 70, former Footscray JUST and Carlton Serbia goalkeeper.
* 14 March 2022: Colin Kitching, 88, former Bundamba, Blackstone United, St Helens United, Hellenic, and Australia forward.

## Retirements

* 14 September 2021: Wayne Brown, 33, former Newcastle Jets midfielder.
* 19 September 2021: Christine Nairn, 30, former United States and Melbourne Victory midfielder.
* 24 September 2021: Lisa De Vanna, 36, former Australia, Adelaide Sensation, Western Waves, Perth Glory, Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, North Shore Mariners, Canberra United, South Melbourne, and Sydney FC forward.
* 28 September 2021: Steven Taylor, 35, former Wellington Phoenix defender.
* 30 September 2021: Ronald Vargas, 34, former Venezuela and Newcastle Jets forward.
* 15 October 2021: Simon Cox, 34, former Ireland and Western Sydney Wanderers forward.
* 23 October 2021: Adam Federici, 36, former Australia and Macarthur FC goalkeeper.
* 28 October 2021: Daniel Georgievski, 33, former Macedonia, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Melbourne City defender.
* 12 November 2021: Joe Ledley, 34, former Wales and Newcastle Jets midfielder.
* 27 January 2022: Besart Berisha, 36, former Albania, Kosovo, Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, and Western United forward.
* 9 March 2022: Zac Anderson, 30, former Gold Coast United, Central Coast Mariners, Sydney FC, and Olympic FC defender.
* 30 April 2022: Andy Keogh, 35, former Republic of Ireland and Perth Glory forward.
* 7 May 2022: Bobô, 37, former Sydney FC forward.
* 20 May 2022: Louis Fenton, 29, former New Zealand and Wellington Phoenix defender.
* 22 May 2022: Joseph Mills, 32, former Perth Glory defender.

## Comebacks

* 23 November 2021: Ashleigh Sykes, 28, former Australia international forward who retired in 2018 and signed with Canberra United.
* 25 November 2021: Lisa De Vanna, 36, former Australia international forward who retired in September 2021 and signed with Perth Glory.