# 2021–22 A-League Men

The 2021–22 A-League Men, known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 45th season of national level men's soccer in Australia, and the 17th since the establishment of the competition as the A-League in 2004.
Melbourne City were the defending champions and premiers, having won their first titles respectively the previous season. They retained the premiership, but lost the Grand Final to first-time grand finalists Western United.

## Clubs

Twelve clubs participated in the 2021–22 season.
| Club | City | Home ground | Capacity |
| Adelaide United | Adelaide | Coopers Stadium | 16,500 |
| Brisbane Roar | Brisbane | Moreton Daily Stadium | 11,500 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Gosford | Central Coast Stadium | 20,059 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Mudgee | Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium | 10,000 |
| Macarthur FC | Sydney | Campbelltown Stadium | 20,000 |
| Macarthur FC | Sydney | BlueBet Stadium | 22,500 |
| Macarthur FC | Newcastle | McDonald Jones Stadium | 33,000 |
| Melbourne City | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Melbourne Victory | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Newcastle Jets | Newcastle | McDonald Jones Stadium | 33,000 |
| Perth Glory | Perth | HBF Park | 20,500 |
| Perth Glory | Launceston | UTAS Stadium | 19,000 |
| Perth Glory | Sydney | Netstrata Jubilee Oval | 20,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Netstrata Jubilee Oval | 20,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Leichhardt Oval | 20,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Auckland | Eden Park | 50,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Gosford | Central Coast Stadium | 20,059 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Sydney | Netstrata Jubilee Oval | 20,500 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Sydney | Leichhardt Oval | 20,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Sydney | Campbelltown Stadium | 20,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Sydney | Endeavour Field | 22,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wellington | Sky Stadium | 34,500 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wollongong | WIN Stadium | 23,000 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney | CommBank Stadium | 30,000 |
| Western United | Ballarat | Mars Stadium | 11,000 |
| Western United | Ballarat | Morshead Park | 8,500 |
| Western United | Geelong | GMHBA Stadium | 26,000 |
| Western United | Launceston | UTAS Stadium | 19,000 |
| Western United | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit sponsor |
| Adelaide United | Carl Veart | Craig Goodwin | UCAN | Flinders University Australian Outdoor Living |
| Brisbane Roar | Warren Moon | Tom Aldred | New Balance | ActronAir |
| Central Coast Mariners | Nick Montgomery | Oliver Bozanic | Paladin Sports | MATE |
| Macarthur FC | Ante Milicic | Ulises Dávila | Macron | Wisdom Homes |
| Melbourne City | Patrick Kisnorbo | Scott Jamieson | Puma | Etihad Airways |
| Melbourne Victory | Tony Popovic | Joshua Brillante | Macron | Metricon |
| Newcastle Jets | Arthur Papas | Matthew Jurman | VIVA | Port of Newcastle Ampcontrol |
| Perth Glory | Ruben Zadkovich | Brandon O'Neill | Macron | BHP |
| Sydney FC | Steve Corica | Alex Wilkinson | Under Armour | The Star |
| Wellington Phoenix | Ufuk Talay | Alex Rufer | Paladin Sports | Spark Oppo |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Marko Rudan | Rhys Williams | Kappa | Voltaren Turner Freeman Lawyers |
| Western United | John Aloisi | Alessandro Diamanti | Kappa | Simonds Homes |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position on table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Melbourne Victory | Steve Kean (caretaker) | End of contract | 10 June 2021 | Pre-season | Tony Popovic | 22 April 2021 |
| Newcastle Jets | Craig Deans | Resigned | 3 June 2021 | Pre-season | Arthur Papas | 28 June 2021 |
| Western United | Marko Rudan | Sacked | 8 June 2021 | Pre-season | John Aloisi | 15 July 2021 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Alen Stajcic | Resigned | 17 June 2021 | Pre-season | Nick Montgomery | 2 July 2021 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Carl Robinson | Sacked | 30 January 2022 | 11th | Marko Rudan | 31 January 2022 |
| Perth Glory | Richard Garcia | Sacked | 20 March 2022 | 12th | Ruben Zadkovich (caretaker) | 20 March 2022 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Visa 5 | Non-visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
| Adelaide United | Michael Jakobsen | Zach Clough | Hiroshi Ibusuki | Juande | Javi López | Isaías$^1$ | |
| Brisbane Roar | Juan Lescano | Matti Steinmann | Jay O'Shea | Ryo Wada | Tom Aldred | Rahmat Akbari$^2$ Jack Hingert$^2$ | Aidan Munford$^2$ |
| Central Coast Mariners | Moresche | Marco Ureña | Béni Nkololo | Nicolai Müller | Cy Goddard | Dan Hall$^2$ Storm Roux$^2$ Jason Cummings$^2$ | |
| Macarthur FC | Jordon Mutch | Craig Noone | Adrian Mariappa | Ulises Dávila | Filip Kurto | | Antonis Martis$^2$ |
| Melbourne City | Carl Jenkinson | Florin Berenguer | Manuel Pucciarelli | Tsubasa Endoh | Nuno Reis | Stefan Colakovski$^2$ | |
| Melbourne Victory | Ivan Kelava | Francesco Margiotta | Marco Rojas | Roderick Miranda | Rai Marchán | | |
| Newcastle Jets | Daniel Penha | Olivier Boumal | Beka Mikeltadze | Savvas Siatravanis | Mario Arqués | Dane Ingham$^2$ Valentino Yuel$^2$ | |
| Perth Glory | Darryl Lachman | Daniel Sturridge | Kosuke Ota | Adrián Sardinero | | Andy Keogh$^1$ Darko Stanojević$^2$ | |
| Sydney FC | Bobô | Adam Le Fondre | Luciano Narsingh | Kosta Barbarouses | Miloš Ninković | Elvis Kamsoba$^2$ | |
| Wellington Phoenix | David Ball | Gary Hooper | Scott Wootton | Gael Sandoval | | Matthew Bozinovski$^2$ | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Jack Rodwell | Tomer Hemed | Keijiro Ogawa | Ziggy Gordon | Tomás Mejías | Adama Traoré$^1$ | |
| Western United | Alessandro Diamanti | Tomoki Imai | Aleksandar Prijović | Rene Krhin | Léo Lacroix | Jamie Young$^2$ | |
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 citizenship (or New Zealand citizenship, in the case of Wellington Phoenix); $^2$Australian citizens (or 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 | Designated Player | Captain | Vice-captain |
| Adelaide United | None | None | None | Stefan Mauk Craig Goodwin | Ryan Kitto Isaías |
| Brisbane Roar | None | None | None | Tom Aldred | None |
| Central Coast Mariners | None | None | None | Oliver Bozanic | None |
| Macarthur FC | None | None | None | Ulises Dávila | None |
| Melbourne City | Jamie Maclaren | None | None | Scott Jamieson | None |
| Melbourne Victory | Marco Rojas | Chris Ikonomidis | Roderick Miranda | Joshua Brillante | Roderick Miranda |
| Newcastle Jets | None | None | Beka Mikeltadze | Matthew Jurman | None |
| Perth Glory | Daniel Sturridge | Bruno Fornaroli | Adrián Sardinero | Brandon O'Neill | None |
| Sydney FC | None | None | None | Alex Wilkinson | None |
| Wellington Phoenix | None | None | None | Alex Rufer | Oliver Sail |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | None | None | None | Rhys Williams | None |
| Western United | Alessandro Diamanti | None | None | Alessandro Diamanti | Josh Risdon |

### Transfers
## Regular season
### League table

| 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 |
* ↑ The stadium will be undergoing construction during the season, which will reduce the stadium's capacity to around 26,000. The stadium will have a capacity of 40,000 once construction is complete.
* ↑ 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.

### Fixtures and results

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

### AFC Champions League qualification

Due to the re-formatting of the AFC Champions League to have an inter-year schedule from September (northern hemisphere autumn-to-spring) instead of an intra-year schedule (northern hemisphere spring-to-autumn), the qualification for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League was changed. The single qualification spot for this competition goes to whichever of which of the Premiers for the current season or the following season accrues the most combined points over both seasons. Melbourne City won the Premiership in both the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons, thereby automatically qualifying for the Champions League.

## Finals series
### Format

The finals series, which ran over three weeks, consisted of the top six teams from the regular season. In the first week of fixtures, the third-through-sixth ranked teams played a single-elimination match, with the two winners of those matches joining the first and second ranked teams in two-legged semi-final ties. The first and second placed teams chose whether they would play home or away in the first leg. The two winners of those matches meet in the Grand Final. This season was the first to use this format.
| 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 | | | | | | | | |

### Semi-finals

Summary
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Melbourne City | 2–1 | Adelaide United | 0–0 | 2–1 (a.e.t.) |
| Melbourne Victory | 2–4 | Western United | 1–0 | 1–4 |
Matches
Western United won 4–2 on aggregate.
Melbourne City won 2–1 on aggregate.

### Grand Final
## Regular season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City | 15 |
| 2 | Beka Mikeltadze | Newcastle Jets | 13 |
| 3 | Jason Cummings | Central Coast Mariners | 10 |
| 3 | Nicholas D'Agostino | Melbourne Victory | 10 |
| 3 | Aleksandar Prijović | Western United | 10 |
| 3 | Craig Goodwin | Adelaide United | 10 |
| 7 | Mathew Leckie | Melbourne City | 9 |
| 8 | Bruno Fornaroli | Perth Glory | 8 |
| 9 | Ulises Dávila | Macarthur FC | 7 |
| 9 | Adam Le Fondre | Sydney FC | 7 |
| 9 | Beni Nkololo | Central Coast Mariners | 7 |
| 9 | Marco Ureña | Central Coast Mariners | 7 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Adam Le Fondre | Sydney FC | Central Coast Mariners | 5–0 (A) | 9 April 2022 |
| Beka Mikeltadze | Newcastle Jets | Perth Glory | 6–1 (H) | 10 April 2022 |
| Lachlan Wales | Western United | Perth Glory | 6–0 (H) | 16 April 2022 |
Key :
| (A) | Away team |
| (H) | Home team |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Jamie Young | Western United | 10 |
| 2 | Mark Birighitti | Central Coast Mariners | 9 |
| 3 | Ivan Kelava | Melbourne Victory | 7 |
| 4 | Tom Glover | Melbourne City | 6 |
| 5 | Oliver Sail | Wellington Phoenix | 5 |
| 6 | Jack Duncan | Newcastle Jets | 4 |
| 6 | Joe Gauci | Adelaide United | 4 |
| 6 | Filip Kurto | Macarthur FC | 4 |
| 6 | Liam Reddy | Perth Glory | 4 |
| 6 | Andrew Redmayne | Sydney FC | 4 |

## Awards
### Annual awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2021–22 Dolan Warren Awards night on 26 May 2022.
| Award | Winner | Club |
| Johnny Warren Medal | Jake Brimmer | Melbourne Victory |
| Young Footballer of the Year | Angus Thurgate | Newcastle Jets |
| Golden Boot Award | Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Mark Birighitti | Central Coast Mariners |
| Coach of the Year | Tony Popovic | Melbourne Victory |
| Goal of the Year | Ben Garuccio | Western United |
| Referee of the Year | Alex King |

### Team of the season

Team of the season :
| Goalkeeper | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) |
| Defenders | Jason Geria (Melbourne Victory) | Léo Lacroix (Western United) | Léo Lacroix (Western United) | Curtis Good (Melbourne City) | Curtis Good (Melbourne City) | Curtis Good (Melbourne City) | Jason Davidson (Melbourne Victory) | Jason Davidson (Melbourne Victory) |
| Midfielders | Florin Berenguer (Melbourne City) | Florin Berenguer (Melbourne City) | Joshua Brillante (Melbourne Victory) | Joshua Brillante (Melbourne Victory) | Joshua Brillante (Melbourne Victory) | Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United) | Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United) | Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United) |
| Forwards | Nick D'Agostino (Melbourne Victory) | Nick D'Agostino (Melbourne Victory) | Jake Brimmer (Melbourne Victory) | Jake Brimmer (Melbourne Victory) | Jake Brimmer (Melbourne Victory) | Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) | Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) | Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) |
| Substitutes | Jamie Young (Western United) | Ben Garuccio (Western United) | Javi López (Adelaide United) | Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City) | Ulises Dávila (Macarthur FC) | Daniel Penha (Newcastle Jets) | Daniel Penha (Newcastle Jets) | Neil Kilkenny (Western United) |