# 2017–18 A-League

The 2017–18 A-League was the 41st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 13th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The season began on 6 October 2017 and ended with the Grand Final on 5 May 2018.
Sydney FC won the A-League minor premiership, while Melbourne Victory won the Championship after defeating the Newcastle Jets 1–0 in the Grand Final on 5 May 2018; this marked the first time in A-League history in which the Championship was won by a team which finished outside the top 2.

## 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 | McDonald Jones Stadium | 33,000 |
| Perth Glory | Perth | nib Stadium | 20,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Allianz Stadium | 45,500 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wellington | Westpac Stadium | 34,500 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney | ANZ Stadium Spotless Stadium | 84,000 24,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit sponsor |
| Adelaide United | Marco Kurz | Isaías | Macron | IGA |
| Brisbane Roar | John Aloisi | Matt McKay | Umbro | Central Home Loans |
| Central Coast Mariners | Wayne O'Sullivan | Alan Baró | Umbro | Masterfoods |
| Melbourne City | Warren Joyce | Michael Jakobsen | Nike | Etihad Airways |
| Melbourne Victory | Kevin Muscat | Carl Valeri | Adidas | Optislim & Optivite |
| Newcastle Jets | Ernie Merrick | Nigel Boogaard | Viva Sports | Ledman Group |
| Perth Glory | Kenny Lowe | Andy Keogh | Macron | QBE Insurance |
| Sydney FC | Graham Arnold | Alex Brosque | Puma | The Star |
| Wellington Phoenix | Chris Greenacre | Andrew Durante | Adidas | Huawei Century 21 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Josep Gombau | Mark Bridge | Nike | NRMA Insurance |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position on table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Newcastle Jets | Mark Jones | Sacked | 16 April 2017 | Pre-season | Ernie Merrick | 9 May 2017 |
| Adelaide United | Guillermo Amor | Resigned | 10 May 2017 | Pre-season | Marco Kurz | 16 June 2017 |
| Melbourne City | Michael Valkanis | End of contract | 10 May 2017 | Pre-season | Warren Joyce | 19 June 2017 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Des Buckingham | End of contract | 19 May 2017 | Pre-season | Darije Kalezić | 7 June 2017 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Tony Popovic | Resigned | 1 October 2017 | Pre-season | Hayden Foxe (caretaker) | 3 October 2017 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Hayden Foxe (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 1 November 2017 | 4th | Josep Gombau | 1 November 2017 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Darije Kalezić | Sacked | 7 March 2018 | 10th | Chris Greenacre (caretaker) | 7 March 2018 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Paul Okon | Resigned | 20 March 2018 | 9th | Wayne O'Sullivan (caretaker) | 20 March 2018 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Visa 5 | Non-Visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
| Adelaide United | Johan Absalonsen | Daniel Adlung | Baba Diawara | Džengis Čavušević | Isaías | Ersan Gülüm$^2$ | Karim Matmour |
| Brisbane Roar | Thomas Kristensen | Éric Bauthéac | Massimo Maccarone | Fahid Ben Khalfallah | | Henrique$^1$ Jamie Young$^2$ Avraam Papadopoulos$^2$ Dane Ingham$^2$ Jack Hingert$^2$ | |
| Central Coast Mariners | Wout Brama | Tom Hiariej | Alan Baró | | | Storm Roux$^2$ | Kwabena Appiah$^2$ Asdrúbal |
| Melbourne City | Michael Jakobsen | Bart Schenkeveld | Marcin Budziński | Bruno Fornaroli | | Iacopo La Rocca$^1$ Manny Muscat$^2$ | Fernando Brandán Marcelo Carrusca$^1$ Ross McCormack |
| Melbourne Victory | Matías Sánchez | Besart Berisha | Leroy George | Kosta Barbarouses | | Jai Ingham$^2$ Kenny Athiu$^2$ | |
| Newcastle Jets | Wayne Brown | Roy O'Donovan | Ronald Vargas | | | Patito Rodríguez$^3$ Ivan Vujica$^2$ Daniel Georgievski$^2$ Glen Moss$^2$ | |
| Perth Glory | Joseph Mills | Andy Keogh | Andreu | Diego Castro | Xavi Torres | | |
| Sydney FC | Bobô | Jordy Buijs | Adrian Mierzejewski | Miloš Ninković | Fábio Ferreira | | |
| Wellington Phoenix | Goran Paracki | Roy Krishna | Marco Rossi | Andrija Kaluđerović | Matija Ljujić | | Guilherme Finkler Ali Abbas$^1$ |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Roly Bonevacia | Álvaro Cejudo | Raúl Llorente | Oriol Riera | | Marcelo Carrusca$^1$ | Jumpei Kusukami |
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 fourteen games)

### Salary cap exemptions and captains

| Club | First Marquee | Second Marquee | Mature Age Rookie | Captain | Vice-Captain |
| Adelaide United | Baba Diawara | None | None | Isaías | Jordan Elsey |
| Brisbane Roar | Brett Holman | Massimo Maccarone | Brendan White | Matt McKay | Jade North |
| Central Coast Mariners | Daniel De Silva | None | None | Alan Baró | None |
| Melbourne City | Bruno Fornaroli | Marcin Budziński | None | Michael Jakobsen | None |
| Melbourne Victory | Besart Berisha | None | None | Carl Valeri | Leigh Broxham |
| Newcastle Jets | Ronald Vargas | None | None | Nigel Boogaard | None |
| Perth Glory | Diego Castro | None | None | Andy Keogh | None |
| Sydney FC | Bobô | Miloš Ninković | None | Alex Brosque | Alex Wilkinson |
| Wellington Phoenix | None | None | None | Andrew Durante | None |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Oriol Riera | Álvaro Cejudo | None | Mark Bridge | None |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney FC | 27 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 64 | 22 | +42 | 64 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 50 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Champions League second preliminary round and Finals series |
| 3 | Melbourne City | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 41 | 33 | +8 | 43 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne Victory (C) | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 43 | 37 | +6 | 41 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 5 | Adelaide United | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 39 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Brisbane Roar | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 40 | −7 | 35 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 33 | |
| 8 | Perth Glory | 27 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 32 | |
| 9 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 31 | 55 | −24 | 21 | |
| 10 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 28 | 49 | −21 | 20 | |
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

### Results

| Home \ Away | ADE | BRI | CCM | MCY | MVC | NEW | PER | SYD | WEL | WSW | ADE | BRI | CCM | MCY | MVC | NEW | PER | SYD | WEL | WSW |
| Adelaide United | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | | 2–2 | 1–1 | | 5–2 | | 0–0 | | |
| Brisbane Roar | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 3–2 | | | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | | | | | 2–8 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Melbourne City | 5–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | | 1–0 | | 1–2 | | | 0–4 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Melbourne Victory | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 5–2 | | | | | 1–3 | | 3–1 |
| Newcastle Jets | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | | | 0–3 | 2–0 | | 0–2 | | 2–3 | 2–2 |
| Perth Glory | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–3 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | | | | |
| Sydney FC | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 3–2 | 2–2 | | 1–2 | | | | 2–2 | 6–0 | | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–4 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | | | 2–1 | | 2–1 | | | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–5 | 4–0 | | 2–3 | 3–0 | | | | | 1–1 | | 4–1 | |

## Finals series

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | Sydney FC | 2 | | |
| Melbourne Victory | 2 | Melbourne Victory (a.e.t.) | 3 | | |
| Adelaide United | 1 | | | Newcastle Jets | 0 |
| | | | | Melbourne Victory | 1 |
| | | Newcastle Jets | 2 | | |
| Melbourne City | 2 | Melbourne City | 1 | | |
| Brisbane Roar | 0 | | | | |

### Grand Final
## Statistics
### 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.
    As of matches played on 15 April 2018.
| Team | Hosted | Average | High | Low | Total |
| Melbourne Victory | 14 | 17,631 | 35,792 | 8,370 | 246,832 |
| Sydney FC | 14 | 14,593 | 34,810 | 9,110 | 204,304 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 13 | 11,924 | 36,433 | 6,612 | 155,017 |
| Newcastle Jets | 14 | 11,016 | 18,156 | 6,258 | 154,218 |
| Melbourne City | 14 | 9,868 | 22,515 | 5,207 | 138,158 |
| Adelaide United | 13 | 9,830 | 19,416 | 7,021 | 127,790 |
| Perth Glory | 13 | 9,186 | 13,565 | 7,277 | 119,419 |
| Brisbane Roar | 14 | 9,093 | 11,485 | 5,192 | 127,299 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 13 | 7,194 | 12,044 | 4,973 | 93,525 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 13 | 5,694 | 8,154 | 4,312 | 74,022 |
| {{{T11}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| {{{T12}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| League total | 135 | 10,671 | 36,433 | 4,312 | 1,440,584 |

#### By round

2017–18 A-League Attendance :
| Round | Total | Games | Avg. Per Game |
| Round 1 | 66,814 | 5 | 13,363 |
| Round 2 | 86,537 | 5 | 17,307 |
| Round 3 | 85,558 | 5 | 17,118 |
| Round 4 | 45,757 | 5 | 9,151 |
| Round 5 | 61,403 | 5 | 12,281 |
| Round 6 | 48,008 | 5 | 9,602 |
| Round 7 | 46,569 | 5 | 9,314 |
| Round 8 | 39,323 | 5 | 7,865 |
| Round 9 | 37,224 | 5 | 7,445 |
| Round 10 | 73,636 | 5 | 14,727 |
| Round 11 | 44,008 | 5 | 8,802 |
| Round 12 | 55,153 | 5 | 11,031 |
| Round 13 | 59,479 | 5 | 11,896 |
| Round 14 | 51,890 | 5 | 10,378 |
| Round 15 | 44,845 | 5 | 8,969 |
| Round 16 | 48,325 | 5 | 9,665 |
| Round 17 | 50,613 | 5 | 10,123 |
| Round 18 | 50,514 | 5 | 10,103 |
| Round 19 | 45,865 | 5 | 9,173 |
| Round 20 | 46,316 | 5 | 9,263 |
| Round 21 | 59,729 | 5 | 11,946 |
| Round 22 | 60,794 | 5 | 12,159 |
| Round 23 | 43,918 | 5 | 8,784 |
| Round 24 | 33,053 | 5 | 6,611 |
| Round 25 | 58,202 | 5 | 11,640 |
| Round 26 | 47,837 | 5 | 9,567 |
| Round 27 | 49,184 | 5 | 9,837 |
| Elimination Final | 23,259 | 2 | 11,630 |
| Semi Final | 36,906 | 2 | 18,453 |
| Grand Final | 29,410 | 1 | 29,410 |

### Club membership

2017–18 A-League membership figures :
| Club | Members |
| Adelaide United | 6,906 |
| Brisbane Roar | 9,345 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 7,124 |
| Melbourne City | 11,255 |
| Melbourne Victory | 26,095 |
| Newcastle Jets | 9,195 |
| Perth Glory | 9,368 |
| Sydney FC | 14,834 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 5,289 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 19,007 |
| Total | 118,418 |
| Average | 11,841 |
Last updated: 15 April 2018. Source: a-league.com.au

### Player stats
#### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 15 April 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Bobô | Sydney FC | 27 |
| 2 | Oriol Riera | Western Sydney Wanderers | 15 |
| 3 | Ross McCormack | Melbourne City | 14 |
| 4 | Besart Berisha | Melbourne Victory | 13 |
| 4 | Adrian Mierzejewski | Sydney FC | 13 |
| 6 | Andrew Nabbout | Newcastle Jets | 10 |
| 6 | Dimitri Petratos | Newcastle Jets | 10 |
| 8 | Andrija Kaluđerović | Wellington Phoenix | 9 |
| 8 | Massimo Maccarone | Brisbane Roar | 9 |
| 8 | Roy O'Donovan | Newcastle Jets | 9 |
| 8 | Dario Vidošić | Wellington Phoenix Melbourne City | 9 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Roy O'Donovan | Newcastle Jets | Central Coast Mariners | 5–1 | 7 October 2017 |
| Bobô | Sydney FC | Wellington Phoenix | 1–4 | 23 December 2017 |
| Bobô | Sydney FC | Perth Glory | 6–0 | 30 December 2017 |
| Besart Berisha | Melbourne Victory | Central Coast Mariners | 5–2 | 18 March 2018 |
| Riley McGree | Newcastle Jets | Central Coast Mariners | 2–8 | 14 April 2018 |

#### Own goals

    As of matches played on 15 April 2018
| Player | Club | Against | Round |
| Thomas Deng | Melbourne Victory | Sydney FC | 1 |
| Brendan Hamill | Western Sydney Wanderers | Perth Glory | 1 |
| Nigel Boogaard | Newcastle Jets | Brisbane Roar | 3 |
| Andrija Kaluđerović | Wellington Phoenix | Central Coast Mariners | 8 |
| Goran Paracki | Wellington Phoenix | Melbourne Victory | 9 |
| Lachlan Scott | Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney FC | 10 |
| Jeremy Walker | Perth Glory | Newcastle Jets | 10 |
| Mark Milligan | Melbourne Victory | Wellington Phoenix | 15 |
| Dino Djulbic | Perth Glory | Adelaide United | 19 |
| Shane Lowry | Perth Glory | Wellington Phoenix | 20 |
| Ryan Strain | Adelaide United | Central Coast Mariners | 20 |
| Taylor Regan | Adelaide United | Melbourne Victory | 21 |
| Leigh Broxham | Melbourne Victory | Wellington Phoenix | 26 |
| Jacob Pepper | Brisbane Roar | Perth Glory | 27 |

#### Clean sheets

    As of matches played on 15 April 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Andrew Redmayne | Sydney FC | 12 |
| 2 | Dean Bouzanis | Melbourne City | 6 |
| 3 | Ben Kennedy | Central Coast Mariners | 5 |
| 3 | Jamie Young | Brisbane Roar | 5 |
| 5 | Jack Duncan | Newcastle Jets | 4 |
| 5 | Vedran Janjetović | Western Sydney Wanderers | 4 |
| 5 | Liam Reddy | Perth Glory | 4 |
| 8 | Eugene Galekovic | Melbourne City | 3 |
| 8 | Paul Izzo | Adelaide United | 3 |
| 8 | Glen Moss | Newcastle Jets | 3 |
| 8 | Lawrence Thomas | Melbourne Victory | 3 |

### Discipline

During the season each club is given fair play points based on the number of cards they received in games. A yellow card is worth 1 point, a second yellow card is worth 2 points, and a red card is worth 3 points. At the annual awards night, the club with the fewest points wins the Fair Play Award.
| Club | | | | FP Pts |
| Sydney FC | 38 | 0 | 1 | 41 |
| Newcastle Jets | 51 | 1 | 1 | 56 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 54 | 0 | 1 | 57 |
| Melbourne City | 44 | 2 | 3 | 57 |
| Perth Glory | 59 | 0 | 1 | 62 |
| Adelaide United | 51 | 2 | 3 | 64 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 50 | 3 | 3 | 65 |
| Melbourne Victory | 53 | 2 | 3 | 66 |
| Brisbane Roar | 62 | 0 | 2 | 68 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 61 | 3 | 2 | 73 |
| League total | 523 | 13 | 20 | |
Last updated: 15 April 2018. Source: ultimatealeague.com

## Awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2017–18 Dolan Warren Awards night on 30 April 2018.
* Johnny Warren Medal – Adrian Mierzejewski, Sydney FC
* NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Daniel Arzani, Melbourne City
* Nike Golden Boot Award – Bobô, Sydney FC (27 goals)
* Goalkeeper of the Year – Jamie Young, Brisbane Roar
* Coach of the Year – Graham Arnold, Sydney FC
* Fair Play Award – Sydney FC
* Referee of the Year – Jarred Gillett
* Goal of the Year – Andrew Nabbout, Newcastle Jets (Western Sydney Wanderers v Newcastle Jets, 16 February 2018)