# 2020–21 in Australian soccer

The 2020–21 season was the 52nd season of national competitive association football in Australia and 138th overall.
Several events from March 2020 onwards were disrupted or postponed due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

## National teams
### Men's under 23
#### Friendlies

The following is a list of friendlies played by the men's under 23 national team in 2020–21.

### Men's under-20
#### AFC U-19 Championship

The 2020 AFC U-19 Championship was cancelled after the draw for the group stage was conducted.

### Men's under-17
#### AFC U-16 Championship

The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship was cancelled after the draw for the group stage was conducted.

### Australia women's national soccer team
#### Friendlies

The following is a list of friendlies played by the women's senior national team in 2020–21.

## AFC competitions
### AFC Champions League

All three teams that qualified for the 2021 AFC Champions League – Sydney FC, Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar – withdrew from the competition after the draw.

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne City (C) | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 49 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series |
| 2 | Sydney FC | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 47 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and finals series |
| 3 | Central Coast Mariners | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 35 | 31 | +4 | 42 | Qualification for finals series |
| 4 | Brisbane Roar | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 40 | Qualification for finals series |
| 5 | Adelaide United | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 39 | Qualification for finals series |
| 6 | Macarthur FC | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 39 | Qualification for finals series |
| 7 | Wellington Phoenix | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 38 | |
| 8 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 43 | +2 | 35 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 34 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 10 | Western United | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 28 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 11 | Newcastle Jets | 26 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 24 | 38 | −14 | 21 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 12 | Melbourne Victory | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 31 | 60 | −29 | 19 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
* 1 2 3 The top two teams entered the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth entered 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 qualified for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participated in a playoff round.
* ↑ Qualified as the 2021 FFA Cup winners.

#### Finals

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | 20 June – Sydney | 20 June – Sydney | | |
| | | Melbourne City | 2 | |
| 12 June – Gosford | 12 June – Gosford | | Melbourne City | 2 | |
| 12 June – Gosford | 12 June – Gosford | Macarthur FC | 0 | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 0 | Macarthur FC | 0 | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 0 | | | | 27 June – Melbourne | 27 June – Melbourne |
| Macarthur FC | 2 | | | | 27 June – Melbourne | 27 June – Melbourne |
| Macarthur FC | 2 | | | | Melbourne City | 3 |
| | | | | | Sydney FC | 1 |
| | | 19 June – Sydney | 19 June – Sydney | | | |
| | | Sydney FC | 2 | | | |
| 13 June – Brisbane | 13 June – Brisbane | | Sydney FC | 2 | | |
| 13 June – Brisbane | 13 June – Brisbane | Adelaide United | 1 | |
| Brisbane Roar | 1 | Adelaide United | 1 | |
| Adelaide United | 2 | | | |

### National Premier Leagues

The competition in all member federations was suspended, effective from 18 March, due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Apart from Victoria, competitions resumed in the various member federations between late June and late July. It was announced on 3 July that the finals series for the 2020 competition had been cancelled.

### Cup competitions
#### FFA Cup

The competition was suspended for one month due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, effective 18 March, and cancelled on 3 July, although the associated Lakoseljac Cup competition in Tasmania recommenced in July.

## Women's football
### W-League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney FC | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 28 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 2 | Brisbane Roar | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 12 | +17 | 25 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 3 | Melbourne Victory (C) | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 23 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 4 | Canberra United | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 22 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 5 | Adelaide United | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 18 | +4 | 22 | |
| 6 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 21 | −8 | 13 | |
| 7 | Melbourne City | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 23 | −12 | 13 | |
| 8 | Newcastle Jets | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 7 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 12 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 32 | −25 | 1 | |

## New clubs

* A-League: Macarthur FC

## Deaths

* 12 January 2021: Frank Arok, 88, Australian head coach from 1983 to 1989.
* 26 January 2021: Jozef Vengloš, 84, Australian head coach in 1967.
* January 2021: Frank Parsons, Australian striker.
* 9 March 2021: Alan Marnoch, 77, Australian and Sydney Hakoah defender.
* 29 March 2021: Bill Murphy, Australian footballer.
* 23 May 2021: Alan Garside, Australian and Granville Kewpies striker.

## Retirements

* 12 July 2020: Mile Jedinak, 35, former Australia, Sydney United, and Central Coast Mariners midfielder.
* 10 August 2020: Oriol Riera, 34, former Western Sydney Wanderers forward.
* 12 August 2020: Pirmin Schwegler, 33, former Switzerland and Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder.
* 26 August 2020: Daniel Bowles, 28, former Gold Coast United, Adelaide United, and Brisbane Roar defender.
* 9 October 2020: Chris Harold, 28, former Gold Coast United, Perth Glory, and Central Coast Mariners forward.
* 16 December 2020: Archie Thompson, 42, former Australia, Gippsland Falcons, Carlton, Marconi Stallions, and Melbourne Victory forward.
* December 2020: Rashid Mahazi, 28, former Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder.
* 25 March 2021: Rhali Dobson, 28, former Australia, Newcastle Jets, and Melbourne City forward.
* 5 June 2021: Andrew Durante, 39, former New Zealand, Sydney Olympic, Parramatta Power, Newcastle Jets, Wellington Phoenix, Sydney FC, and Western United defender.
* 11 June 2021: Nigel Boogaard, 34, former Newcastle Jets, Central Coast Mariners, and Adelaide United defender.
* 20 June 2021: Mark Milligan, 35, former Australia, Northern Spirit, Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets, Melbourne Victory, and Macarthur FC defender and midfielder.
* 29 June 2021: Beñat Etxebarria, 34, former Spain and Macarthur FC midfielder.
* 29 June 2021: Markel Susaeta, 33, former Spain, Melbourne City, and Macarthur FC midfielder.