# 2009–10 A-League

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. 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. 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, 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.

## Clubs

| 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 |

### Managerial changes

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

### Foreign players

| 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 Flores$^3$ | |
| 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 Hutchinson$^2$ | Wolry Wolfe$^4$ Michael McGlinchey |
| Gold Coast United | Jefferson | Robson | Adama Traoré | Bas van den Brink | Charlie Miller | Anderson$^3$ | Milson |
| Melbourne Victory | Marvin Angulo | Carlos Hernández | Surat Sukha | | | Glen Moss$^2$ Grant Brebner$^1$ | Ney Fabiano Sutee Suksomkit |
| Newcastle Jets | Michael Bridges | Marcello Fiorentini | Song Jin-hyung | | | Ali Abbas$^3$ | |
| North Queensland Fury | Robbie Fowler | James Robinson | Kojiro Kaimoto | Jeremy Brockie | Scott Wilson | Terry Cooke$^3$ Dyron Daal$^3$ Jack Hingert$^2$ | |
| Perth Glory | Andy Todd | Victor Sikora | Branko Jelić | Steven McGarry | | | Amaral$^4$ Eugène Dadi |
| Sydney FC | Karol Kisel | Byun Sung-hwan | Stephan Keller | | | Terry McFlynn$^1$ | |
| Wellington Phoenix | Paul Ifill | Daniel | Diego Walsh | Jiang Chen | Chris Greenacre | Eugène Dadi$^4$ Manny Muscat$^2$ | |
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 Residency (and New Zealand Residency, in the case of Wellington Phoenix); $^2$Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, 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 | Marquee | Junior Marquee | Captain | Vice-Captain |
| Adelaide United | None | None | Travis Dodd | Lucas Pantelis |
| Brisbane Roar | None | Michael Zullo | Matt McKay | None |
| Central Coast Mariners | None | None | Alex Wilkinson | John Hutchinson |
| Gold Coast United | Jason Culina | Tahj Minniecon | Jason Culina | Michael Thwaite |
| Melbourne Victory | Archie Thompson | None | Kevin Muscat | Rodrigo Vargas |
| Newcastle Jets | Fabio Vignaroli | Adam D'Apuzzo | Matt Thompson | None |
| North Queensland Fury | Robbie Fowler | None | Robbie Fowler | None |
| Perth Glory | Mile Sterjovski | None | Jacob Burns | None |
| Sydney FC | John Aloisi | Mark Bridge | Steve Corica | None |
| Wellington Phoenix | None | None | Andrew Durante | Tim Brown |

## Regular season
### League table

| 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 | Qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 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 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Perth Glory | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 39 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 34 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 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 | |

### Home and away season

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

#### Round 27
## Finals series

| Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| | | | 1 | Sydney FC | 1 | 2 | | | Melbourne Victory | Melbourne Victory | 1 (2) |
| | | | 2 | Melbourne Victory | 2 | 2 | | | Sydney FC (p.s.o.) | Sydney FC (p.s.o.) | 1 (4) |
| | | | | | | | Sydney FC | 4 | | |
| 3 | Gold Coast United | 0 (5) | | | | | Sydney FC | 4 | | |
| 3 | Gold Coast United | 0 (5) | | | | | Wellington Phoenix | Wellington Phoenix | 2 | | |
| 6 | Newcastle Jets (p.s.o.) | 0 (6) | | | | | Wellington Phoenix | Wellington Phoenix | 2 | | |
| 6 | Newcastle Jets (p.s.o.) | 0 (6) | Wellington Phoenix | Wellington Phoenix | Wellington Phoenix | 3 | | | | | |
| | | | Newcastle Jets | Newcastle Jets | Newcastle Jets | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Wellington Phoenix (p.s.o.) | 1 (4) | Newcastle Jets | Newcastle Jets | Newcastle Jets | 1 | | | | | |
| 5 | Perth Glory | 1 (2) | | | | | | | | | |
Melbourne Victory won 4–3 on aggregate.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Shane Smeltz | Gold Coast United | 19 |
| 2 | Sergio van Dijk | Brisbane Roar | 13 |
| 3 | Carlos Hernández | Melbourne Victory | 12 |
| 3 | Paul Ifill | Wellington Phoenix | 12 |
| 5 | Archie Thompson | Melbourne Victory | 10 |
| 6 | John Aloisi | Sydney FC | 9 |
| 6 | Robbie Fowler | North Queensland Fury | 9 |
| 8 | Daniel McBreen | Perth Glory | 8 |
| 9 | Tim Brown | Wellington Phoenix | 7 |
| 9 | Steve Corica | Sydney FC | 7 |
| 9 | Matt Thompson | Newcastle Jets | 7 |

### Attendance

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 | 20,750 | 30,668 | 15,168 | 290,503 |
| Sydney FC | 14 | 12,987 | 25,407 | 8,359 | 181,816 |
| Adelaide United | 14 | 10,765 | 15,038 | 8,244 | 150,705 |
| Perth Glory | 13 | 9,205 | 12,822 | 7,217 | 119,670 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 13 | 8,965 | 19,258 | 4,115 | 116,549 |
| Brisbane Roar | 14 | 8,650 | 19,902 | 5,801 | 121,099 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 13 | 7,430 | 11,137 | 5,193 | 96,588 |
| North Queensland Fury | 13 | 6,723 | 8,897 | 4,156 | 87,396 |
| Newcastle Jets | 13 | 6,358 | 9,892 | 4,329 | 82,656 |
| Gold Coast United | 14 | 5,392 | 10,024 | 2,616 | 75,493 |
| {{{T11}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| {{{T12}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| League total | 135 | 9,796 | 30,668 | 2,616 | 1,322,475 |

#### Top 10 Attendances

| Attendance | Round | Date | Home | Score | Away | Venue | Weekday | Time of Day |
| 44,560 | Grand Final | 20 March 2010 | Melbourne Victory | 1–1 | Sydney FC | Etihad Stadium | Saturday | Evening |
| 32,792 | Finals Wk 2 | 7 March 2010 | Wellington Phoenix | 3–1 | Newcastle Jets | Westpac Stadium | Sunday | Afternoon |
| 30,668 | 10 | 9 October 2009 | Melbourne Victory | 0–3 | Sydney FC | Etihad Stadium | Friday | Night |
| 27,344 | 20 | 19 December 2009 | Melbourne Victory | 0–0 | Sydney FC | Etihad Stadium | Saturday | Evening |
| 25,407 | 27 | 14 February 2010 | Sydney FC | 2–0 | Melbourne Victory | Sydney Football Stadium | Sunday | Evening |
| 24,278 | Finals Wk 1 | 21 February 2010 | Wellington Phoenix | 1–1 | Perth Glory | Westpac Stadium | Sunday | Evening |
| 23,818 | Final Wk 2 | 7 March 2010 | Sydney FC | 2–2 | Melbourne Victory | Sydney Football Stadium | Sunday | Evening |
| 22,726 | 26 | 5 February 2010 | Melbourne Victory | 2–0 | North Queensland Fury | Etihad Stadium | Friday | Night |
| 21,182 | 12 | 24 October 2009 | Melbourne Victory | 3–1 | Adelaide United | Etihad Stadium | Saturday | Evening |
| 20,537 | 16 | 28 November 2009 | Melbourne Victory | 4–0 | Gold Coast United | Etihad Stadium | Saturday | Evening |

### Discipline

The Fair Play Award will go to the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season. It was awarded to Premiers Sydney FC who scraped in by 4 points from rivals Melbourne Victory.
| 1 point | Yellow Card |
| 2 points | Second Caution Red Card |
| 3 points | Direct Red Card |
| Team | | | | Points |
| Sydney FC | 38 | 0 | 1 | 41 |
| Melbourne Victory | 40 | 1 | 1 | 45 |
| North Queensland Fury | 41 | 2 | 0 | 45 |
| Adelaide United | 43 | 1 | 1 | 48 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 42 | 2 | 0 | 46 |
| Newcastle Jets | 43 | 1 | 0 | 45 |
| Perth Glory | 50 | 1 | 0 | 52 |
| Gold Coast United | 48 | 1 | 2 | 56 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 54 | 0 | 1 | 57 |
| Brisbane Roar | 54 | 2 | 1 | 61 |
| Melbourne Heart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Rovers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 453 | 11 | 7 | |
* The Newcastle Jets' Tarek Elrich received a direct red card in their round 7 fixture against Sydney FC. However, this was successfully appealed by the club and expunged from Elrich and the team's records. * Adelaide United's Iain Fyfe received a direct red card in their round 19 fixture against Perth Glory. However, this was overruled by the match review panel and expunged from Fyfe and the team's records.