# 2014–15 A-League

The 2014–15 A-League was the 38th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 10th season of the A-League since its establishment in 2004. Brisbane Roar were both the defending A-League Premiers and Champions. The regular season commenced on 10 October 2014 and concluded on 26 April 2015. The 2015 Grand Final took place on 17 May 2015. The season was suspended from 9–24 January in order to avoid a clash with the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, which was hosted by Australia.
The 2015 Grand Final took place on 17 May 2015, with Melbourne Victory claiming their third Championship with a 3–0 win against Sydney FC.
The season marked the first year that the team formerly known as Melbourne Heart competed as Melbourne City after the club's renaming in June 2014.

## Clubs

| Team | City | Home Ground | Capacity |
| Adelaide United | Adelaide | Coopers Stadium Adelaide Oval | 17,000 53,583 |
| Brisbane Roar | Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 52,500 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Gosford | Central Coast Stadium | 20,119 |
| Melbourne City | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Melbourne Victory | Melbourne | Etihad Stadium AAMI Park | 56,347 30,050 |
| Newcastle Jets | Newcastle | Hunter Stadium | 33,000 |
| Perth Glory | Perth | nib Stadium | 20,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Allianz Stadium | 45,500 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wellington | Westpac Stadium | 36,000 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney | Pirtek Stadium | 21,487 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit partner |
| Adelaide United | Josep Gombau | Eugene Galekovic | Kappa | Veolia |
| Brisbane Roar | Frans Thijssen | Matt McKay | Umbro | The Coffee Club |
| Central Coast Mariners | Tony Walmsley (Head Coach) | John Hutchinson (Player/Coach) | Kappa | Masterfoods |
| Melbourne City | John van 't Schip | Patrick Kisnorbo | Nike | Etihad |
| Melbourne Victory | Kevin Muscat | Mark Milligan | Adidas | Community Training Initiatives (h) Oliana Foods (a) |
| Newcastle Jets | Phil Stubbins | Taylor Regan | BLK | Castle Quarry Products |
| Perth Glory | Kenny Lowe | Michael Thwaite | Macron | QBE Insurance |
| Sydney FC | Graham Arnold | Alex Brosque | Adidas | Webjet |
| Wellington Phoenix | Ernie Merrick | Andrew Durante | Adidas | Huawei |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Tony Popovic | Nikolai Topor-Stanley | Nike | NRMA Insurance |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Sydney FC | Frank Farina | Sacked | 23 April 2014 | Pre-season | Graham Arnold | 8 May 2014 |
| Newcastle Jets | Clayton Zane (caretaker) | End of contract | 5 May 2014 | Pre-season | Phil Stubbins | 5 May 2014 |
| Brisbane Roar | Mike Mulvey | Mutual consent | 23 November 2014 | 8th | Frans Thijssen (caretaker) | 24 November 2014 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Phil Moss | Sacked | 6 March 2015 | 8th | Tony Walmsley (caretaker head coach) John Hutchinson (caretaker player/coach) | 6 March 2015 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Visa 5 | Non-Visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
| Adelaide United | Marcelo Carrusca | Sergio Cirio | Miguel Palanca | Isaías | Pablo Sánchez | | Cássio$^1$ Fábio Ferreira |
| Brisbane Roar | Jean Carlos Solórzano | Thomas Broich | Jérome Polenz | Andrija Kaluđerović | | Henrique$^1$ Jamie Young$^2$ Jack Hingert$^2$ | Liam Miller Mensur Kurtiši |
| Central Coast Mariners | Richárd Vernes | Fábio Ferreira | Nick Montgomery | | | John Hutchinson$^2$ Storm Roux$^2$ | Malick Mané Kim Seung-yong |
| Melbourne City | Jonatan Germano | Damien Duff | Rob Wielaert | Robert Koren | | Kew Jaliens$^3$ Harry Novillo$^3$ | Liam Miller$^3$ Safuwan Baharudin David Villa$^4$ |
| Melbourne Victory | Besart Berisha | Guilherme Finkler | Matthieu Delpierre | Kosta Barbarouses | Fahid Ben Khalfallah | Daniel Georgievski$^2$ | |
| Newcastle Jets | Edson Montaño | Lee Ki-Je | Enver Alivodić | | | | Marcos Flores Jerónimo Neumann Kew Jaliens Jonny Steele |
| Perth Glory | Sidnei | Andy Keogh | Youssouf Hersi | Nebojša Marinković | Denis Kramar | Dragan Paljić$^3$ | |
| Sydney FC | Marc Janko | Jacques Faty | Mickaël Tavares | Miloš Dimitrijević | Nikola Petković | Vedran Janjetović$^1$ Ali Abbas$^1$ Shane Smeltz$^2$ | |
| Wellington Phoenix | Kenny Cunningham | Roy Krishna | Roly Bonevacia | Albert Riera | Alex Rodriguez | Manny Muscat$^2$ | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Mateo Poljak | Iacopo La Rocca | Yojiro Takahagi | Yūsuke Tanaka | Romeo Castelen | | Vítor Saba Seyi Adeleke |
The following do not fill a Visa position: $^1$Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian citizenship (and New Zealand citizenship, in the case of Wellington Phoenix); $^2$Australian citizens (and New Zealand citizens, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team; $^3$Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players; $^4$Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games)

### Salary cap exemptions and captains

| Club | Domestic Marquee | International Marquee | Captain | Vice-Captain |
| Adelaide United | Eugene Galekovic | Marcelo Carrusca | Eugene Galekovic | Nigel Boogaard |
| Brisbane Roar | Matt McKay | Thomas Broich | Matt McKay | Shane Stefanutto |
| Central Coast Mariners | None | None | John Hutchinson | Nick Montgomery |
| Melbourne City | Josh Kennedy | Robert Koren | Patrick Kisnorbo | None |
| Melbourne Victory | Mark Milligan | Besart Berisha | Mark Milligan | Leigh Broxham |
| Newcastle Jets | None | None | Kew Jaliens Taylor Regan | Joel Griffiths |
| Perth Glory | Michael Thwaite | Nebojša Marinković | Michael Thwaite | None |
| Sydney FC | Alex Brosque | Marc Janko | Alex Brosque | Saša Ognenovski Nikola Petković |
| Wellington Phoenix | None | None | Andrew Durante | Ben Sigmund |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Matthew Spiranovic | None | Nikolai Topor-Stanley | None |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne Victory (C) | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 56 | 31 | +25 | 53 | Qualification for 2016 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Sydney FC | 27 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 52 | 35 | +17 | 50 | Qualification for 2016 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 3 | Adelaide United | 27 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 46 | Qualification for 2016 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off and Finals series |
| 4 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 46 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Melbourne City | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 41 | −5 | 35 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Brisbane Roar | 27 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 34 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Perth Glory | 27 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 45 | 35 | +10 | 50 | |
| 8 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 26 | 50 | −24 | 23 | |
| 9 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 18 | |
| 10 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 23 | 55 | −32 | 17 | |
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.
* ↑ Perth Glory disqualified from the Finals series and given a compulsory 7th-place finish due to salary cap violations.

### Results

| Home \ Away | ADE | BRI | CCM | MBC | MVC | NEW | PER | SYD | WEL | WSW | ADE | BRI | CCM | MBC | MVC | NEW | PER | SYD | WEL | WSW |
| Adelaide United | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 7–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 2–3 | | | 2–2 | | 1–1 | | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Brisbane Roar | 1–2 | | 6–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | | | | | 0–1 | | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 0–2 | 3–3 | | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | | 1–0 | | | 1–1 | | | |
| Melbourne City | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | | | 4–0 | 0–0 | | | |
| Melbourne Victory | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 5–2 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | | | 3–1 | 3–0 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 2–3 | |
| Newcastle Jets | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 2–2 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | | | | | 3–4 | | |
| Perth Glory | 1–2 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | | | | 2–0 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Sydney FC | 0–3 | 5–4 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | | 4–2 | 0–1 | 3–3 | | | | | |
| Wellington Phoenix | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | | 1–0 | | | 3–2 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | | 1–2 | | 1–0 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | | 3–4 | | |

## Finals series

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Melbourne Victory | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Wellington Phoenix | 0 | 5 | Melbourne City | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Melbourne City | 2 | | | | 1 | Melbourne Victory | 3 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Sydney FC | 0 |
| | | | 2 | Sydney FC | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Adelaide United | 2 | 4 | Adelaide United | 1 | | | |
| 6 | Brisbane Roar | 1 | | | | | | |

### Grand Final
## Statistics
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Marc Janko | Sydney FC | 16 |
| 2 | Nathan Burns | Wellington Phoenix | 14 |
| 3 | Besart Berisha | Melbourne Victory | 13 |
| 4 | Andy Keogh | Perth Glory | 12 |
| 5 | Archie Thompson | Melbourne Victory | 10 |
| 6 | Roy Krishna | Wellington Phoenix | 9 |
| 6 | Jamie Maclaren | Perth Glory | 9 |
| 8 | Henrique | Brisbane Roar | 8 |
| 8 | Pablo Sánchez | Adelaide United | 8 |
| 8 | Shane Smeltz | Sydney FC | 8 |
Last updated: 26 April 2015. Source: ultimatealeague.com

### Own goals

| Player | Club | Against | Round |
| James Donachie | Brisbane Roar | Adelaide United | 1 |
| Tom Doyle | Wellington Phoenix | Central Coast Mariners | 2 |
| Vedran Janjetović | Sydney FC | Western Sydney Wanderers | 2 |
| Jade North | Brisbane Roar | Melbourne Victory | 7 |
| Nigel Boogaard | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | 8 |
| Sergio Cirio | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | 8 |
| Allan Welsh | Newcastle Jets | Brisbane Roar | 16 |
| Ante Covic | Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney FC | 19 |
| Manny Muscat | Wellington Phoenix | Sydney FC | 23 |
| Daniel Bowles | Brisbane Roar | Central Coast Mariners | 24 |
| Andrew Durante | Wellington Phoenix | Melbourne Victory | 24 |
| Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United | Brisbane Roar | 25 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Andy Keogh | Perth Glory | Brisbane Roar | 3–2 | 19 October 2014 |
| Besart Berisha | Melbourne Victory | Melbourne City | 5–2 | 25 October 2014 |
| Henrique$^†$ | Brisbane Roar | Newcastle Jets | 4–0 | 14 November 2014 |
| Nathan Burns | Wellington Phoenix | Melbourne City | 5–1 | 30 November 2014 |
| Archie Thompson | Melbourne Victory | Sydney FC | 3–3 | 13 December 2014 |
| Robert Koren | Melbourne City | Newcastle Jets | 5–2 | 30 December 2014 |
| Marc Janko | Sydney FC | Brisbane Roar | 5–4 | 15 March 2015 |
| Steven Lustica | Brisbane Roar | Central Coast Mariners | 6–1 | 2 April 2015 |
| Jamie Maclaren | Perth Glory | Melbourne City | 3–1 | 19 April 2015 |
† Player came on as substitute.

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Vedran Janjetović | Sydney FC | 9 |
| 2 | Tando Velaphi | Melbourne City | 8 |
| 3 | Nathan Coe | Melbourne Victory | 7 |
| 3 | Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United | 7 |
| 3 | Glen Moss | Wellington Phoenix | 7 |
| 3 | Liam Reddy | Central Coast Mariners | 7 |
| 7 | Jamie Young | Brisbane Roar | 5 |
| 8 | Danny Vuković | Perth Glory | 4 |
| 9 | Ante Covic | Western Sydney Wanderers | 3 |
| 9 | Ben Kennedy | Newcastle Jets | 3 |
Last updated: 26 April 2015. Source: ultimatealeague.com
NB - Additional clean sheets were kept by Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory, however these are not listed due to goalkeeper substitutions.

### Attendances
#### By club

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.
| Team | Hosted | Average | High | Low | Total |
| Melbourne Victory | 14 | 25,388 | 43,729 | 18,205 | 355,436 |
| Sydney FC | 13 | 17,406 | 41,213 | 11,280 | 226,276 |
| Adelaide United | 14 | 12,644 | 33,126 | 7,767 | 177,012 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 14 | 12,520 | 19,484 | 7,239 | 175,284 |
| Brisbane Roar | 13 | 11,660 | 17,131 | 6,813 | 151,586 |
| Melbourne City | 13 | 10,374 | 26,372 | 5,867 | 134,859 |
| Perth Glory | 14 | 9,540 | 12,271 | 5,821 | 133,564 |
| Newcastle Jets | 13 | 8,968 | 11,884 | 4,162 | 116,587 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 14 | 8,583 | 13,248 | 6,236 | 120,168 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 13 | 7,585 | 12,102 | 4,508 | 98,605 |
| {{{T11}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| {{{T12}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| League total | 135 | 12,514 | 43,729 | 4,162 | 1,689,377 |

#### By round

2014–15 A-League Attendance :
| Round | Total | Games | Avg. Per Game |
| Round 1 | 90,013 | 5 | 18,003 |
| Round 2 | 106,082 | 5 | 21,216 |
| Round 3 | 91,836 | 5 | 18,367 |
| Round 4 | 73,547 | 5 | 14,709 |
| Round 5 | 58,437 | 5 | 11,687 |
| Round 6 | 62,752 | 5 | 12,550 |
| Round 7 | 62,977 | 5 | 12,595 |
| Round 8 | 72,856 | 5 | 14,571 |
| Round 9 | 47,373 | 5 | 9,475 |
| Round 10 | 64,067 | 5 | 12,813 |
| Round 11 | 67,924 | 5 | 13,585 |
| Round 12 | 63,190 | 5 | 12,638 |
| Round 13 | 72,186 | 5 | 14,437 |
| Round 14 | 53,727 | 5 | 10,745 |
| Round 15 | 52,157 | 5 | 10,431 |
| Round 16 | 75,844 | 5 | 15,169 |
| Round 17 | 53,339 | 5 | 10,668 |
| Round 18 | 49,016 | 5 | 9,803 |
| Round 19 | 67,338 | 5 | 13,468 |
| Round 20 | 57,301 | 5 | 11,460 |
| Round 21 | 47,703 | 5 | 9,541 |
| Round 22 | 53,237 | 5 | 10,647 |
| Round 23 | 50,305 | 5 | 10,061 |
| Round 24 | 39,366 | 5 | 7,873 |
| Round 25 | 53,630 | 5 | 10,726 |
| Round 26 | 42,233 | 5 | 8,447 |
| Round 27 | 61,841 | 5 | 12,368 |
| Elimination Final | 30,326 | 2 | 15,163 |
| Semi Final | 77,656 | 2 | 38,828 |
| Grand Final | 29,843 | 1 | 29,843 |

#### Top 10 season attendances

| Attendance | Round | Date | Home | Score | Away | Venue | Weekday | Time of Day |
| 50,873 | SF | 8 May 2015 | Melbourne Victory | 3–0 | Melbourne City | Etihad Stadium | Friday | Night |
| 43,729 | 3 | 25 October 2014 | Melbourne Victory | 5–2 | Melbourne City | Etihad Stadium | Saturday | Night |
| 41,213 | 2 | 18 October 2014 | Sydney FC | 3–2 | Western Sydney Wanderers | Allianz Stadium | Saturday | Night |
| 40,042 | 16 | 7 February 2015 | Melbourne Victory | 3–0 | Melbourne City | Etihad Stadium | Saturday | Night |
| 33,126 | 2 | 17 October 2014 | Adelaide United | 1–1 | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide Oval | Friday | Night |
| 30,083 | 1 | 10 October 2014 | Melbourne Victory | 4–1 | Western Sydney Wanderers | Etihad Stadium | Friday | Night |
| 29,843 | GF | 17 May 2015 | Melbourne Victory | 3–0 | Sydney FC | AAMI Park | Sunday | Night |
| 26,783 | SF | 9 May 2015 | Sydney FC | 4–1 | Adelaide United | Allianz Stadium | Saturday | Night |
| 26,372 | 11 | 20 December 2014 | Melbourne City | 1–0 | Melbourne Victory | AAMI Park | Saturday | Night |
| 25,525 | 1 | 11 October 2014 | Sydney FC | 1–1 | Melbourne City | Allianz Stadium | Saturday | Night |
Last updated: 9 May 2015. Source: ultimatealeague.com

### Club membership

2014–15 A-League membership figures :
| Club | Members |
| Adelaide United | 9,429 |
| Brisbane Roar | 12,113 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 6,242 |
| Melbourne City | 11,741 |
| Melbourne Victory | 24,200 |
| Newcastle Jets | 10,003 |
| Perth Glory | 6,296 |
| Sydney FC | 11,508 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 4,183 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 18,706 |
| Total | 114,421 |
| Average | 11,442 |
Last updated: 26 April 2015. Source: aleague.com.au

## Awards
### End-of-season awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the Hyundai A-League & Westfield W-League 2014–15 Awards night held at the Carriageworks in Sydney on 11 May 2015.
* Johnny Warren Medal – Nathan Burns, Wellington Phoenix
* NAB Young Footballer of the Year – James Jeggo, Adelaide United
* Nike Golden Boot Award – Marc Janko, Sydney FC (16 goals)
* Goalkeeper of the Year – Eugene Galekovic, Adelaide United
* Manager of the Year – Kevin Muscat, Melbourne Victory
* Fair Play Award – Wellington Phoenix
* Referee of the Year – Jarred Gillett
* Goal of the Year – Tarek Elrich, Adelaide United (Adelaide United v Melbourne City, 25 April 2015)
* Joe Marston Medal – Mark Milligan