# 2013–14 A-League

The 2013–14 A-League was the 37th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the ninth of the A-League since its establishment in 2004. The season began on 11 October 2013, with Western Sydney Wanderers as the defending A-League Premiers and Central Coast Mariners as the defending A-League Champions. The regular season concluded on 13 April 2014, with Brisbane Roar crowned Premiers. The 2014 Grand Final took place on 4 May 2014, with Brisbane Roar claiming their third Championship with a 2–1 win in extra time against Western Sydney Wanderers.
This was the first A-League season to be broadcast on free-to-air television, after SBS obtained the rights to a live Friday night game each week of the season, and all finals games on a one-hour delay, on a $160 million four-year broadcast deal.

## Clubs

| Team | City | Home Ground | Capacity |
| Adelaide United | Adelaide | Coopers Stadium | 17,000 |
| Brisbane Roar | Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 52,500 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Gosford | Central Coast Stadium | 20,119 |
| Melbourne Heart | 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 Galeković | Kappa | Veolia |
| Brisbane Roar | Mike Mulvey | Matt Smith | Puma | The Coffee Club |
| Central Coast Mariners | Phil Moss | John Hutchinson | Kappa | Masterfoods |
| Melbourne Heart | John van 't Schip | Harry Kewell | Kappa | Westpac |
| Melbourne Victory | Kevin Muscat | Mark Milligan | Adidas | Adecco |
| Newcastle Jets | Clayton Zane | Ruben Zadkovich | ISC | Hunter Ports |
| Perth Glory | Kenny Lowe | Jacob Burns | Macron | QBE Insurance |
| Sydney FC | Frank Farina | Alessandro Del Piero | Adidas | Webjet |
| Wellington Phoenix | Ernie Merrick | Andrew Durante | Adidas | Huawei |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Tony Popovic | Michael Beauchamp | Nike | NRMA Insurance |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Adelaide United | Michael Valkanis (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 30 April 2013 | Pre-season | Josep Gombau | 30 April 2013 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Chris Greenacre (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 20 May 2013 | Pre-season | Ernie Merrick | 20 May 2013 |
| Melbourne Victory | Ange Postecoglou | Signed by Australia | 31 October 2013 | 4th | Kevin Muscat | 31 October 2013 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Graham Arnold | Signed by Vegalta Sendai | 14 November 2013 | 5th | Phil Moss | 14 November 2013 |
| Perth Glory | Alistair Edwards | Sacked | 17 December 2013 | 7th | Kenny Lowe (caretaker) | 20 December 2013 |
| Melbourne Heart | John Aloisi | Sacked | 29 December 2013 | 10th | John van 't Schip | 30 December 2013 |
| Newcastle Jets | Gary van Egmond | Mutual termination | 20 January 2014 | 7th | Clayton Zane (caretaker) | 20 January 2014 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Visa 5 | Non-Visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
| Adelaide United | Marcelo Carrusca | Jerónimo Neumann | Fábio Ferreira | Sergio Cirio | Isaías | Cássio$^1$ | |
| Brisbane Roar | Besart Berisha | Henrique | Jean Carlos Solórzano | Thomas Broich | Liam Miller | Jack Hingert$^2$ |
| Central Coast Mariners | Marcos Flores | Marcel Seip | Nick Montgomery | Kim Seung-Yong | | John Hutchinson$^2$ Storm Roux$^2$ | Michael McGlinchey |
| Melbourne Heart | Jonatan Germano | Patrick Gerhardt | Orlando Engelaar | Rob Wielaert | | | Michael Mifsud |
| Melbourne Victory | Guilherme Finkler | Pablo Contreras | Adama Traore | Kosta Barbarouses | | | Jonathan Bru |
| Newcastle Jets | Michael Bridges | Emile Heskey | Kew Jaliens | | | | |
| Perth Glory | Sidnei | William Gallas | Darvydas Šernas | Steven McGarry | Nebojša Marinković | Shane Smeltz$^2$ | Ryo Nagai |
| Sydney FC | Alessandro Del Piero | Ranko Despotović | Miloš Dimitrijević | Nikola Petković | | Vedran Janjetović$^1$ Ali Abbas$^1$ Terry McFlynn$^1$ | Tiago Calvano Yairo Yau |
| Wellington Phoenix | Paul Ifill | Stein Huysegems | Kenny Cunningham | Carlos Hernández | Albert Riera | Roy Krishna$^3$ Shaun Timmins$^3$ Manny Muscat$^2$ | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Mateo Poljak | Jérome Polenz | Iacopo La Rocca | Shinji Ono | Youssouf Hersi | Kwabena Appiah$^2$ | |
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 (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 | Australian Marquee | International Marquee | Captain | Vice-Captain |
| Adelaide United | None | None | Eugene Galekovic | Cássio |
| Brisbane Roar | Matt McKay | Thomas Broich | Matt Smith | Shane Stefanutto |
| Central Coast Mariners | None | None | John Hutchinson | Michael McGlinchey |
| Melbourne Heart | David Williams | Orlando Engelaar | Harry Kewell | Rob Wielaert |
| Melbourne Victory | Archie Thompson | Pablo Contreras | Mark Milligan | Leigh Broxham |
| Newcastle Jets | None | Emile Heskey | Ruben Zadkovich | Kew Jaliens |
| Perth Glory | Shane Smeltz | William Gallas | Jacob Burns | Michael Thwaite |
| Sydney FC | Brett Emerton | Alessandro Del Piero | Alessandro Del Piero | Brett Emerton Terry McFlynn |
| Wellington Phoenix | None | None | Andrew Durante | Ben Sigmund |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | None | Shinji Ono | Michael Beauchamp | Nikolai Topor-Stanley |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brisbane Roar (C) | 27 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 43 | 25 | +18 | 52 | Qualificaition for 2015 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series |
| 2 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 42 | Qualificaition for 2015 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series |
| 3 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 42 | Qualification for 2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off and finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne Victory | 27 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 41 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Sydney FC | 27 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 39 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Adelaide United | 27 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 38 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 36 | |
| 8 | Perth Glory | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 28 | |
| 9 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 36 | 51 | −15 | 28 | |
| 10 | Melbourne Heart | 27 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 26 | |
* ↑ Since the winner of 2014 A-League Grand Final (Brisbane Roar) qualified for the 2015 AFC Champions League group stage, the 2nd and 3rd placed teams qualified for the group stage and the qualifying play-off of 2015 AFC Champions League.
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

### Home and away season

The 2013–14 season will see each team play 27 games, kicking off on 11 October 2013, and concluding on 13 April 2014.

#### Round 27
## Finals series

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | Brisbane Roar | 1 | | |
| Melbourne Victory | 2 | Melbourne Victory | 0 | | |
| Sydney FC | 1 | | | Brisbane Roar (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| | | | | Western Sydney Wanderers | 1 |
| | | Western Sydney Wanderers | 2 | | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 1 | Central Coast Mariners | 0 | | |
| Adelaide United | 0 | | | | |

### Grand Final
## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of match 13 April 2014
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Adam Taggart | Newcastle Jets | 16 |
| 2 | James Troisi | Melbourne Victory | 12 |
| 2 | David Williams | Melbourne Heart | 12 |
| 4 | Besart Berisha | Brisbane Roar | 11 |
| 5 | Alessandro Del Piero | Sydney FC | 10 |
| 5 | Stein Huysegems | Wellington Phoenix | 10 |
| 7 | Fábio Ferreira | Adelaide United | 9 |
| 7 | Jerónimo Neumann | Adelaide United | 9 |
| 9 | Sergio Cirio | Adelaide United | 8 |
| 9 | Gui Finkler | Melbourne Victory | 8 |
| 9 | Tomi Juric | Western Sydney Wanderers | 8 |
| 9 | Archie Thompson | Melbourne Victory | 8 |

#### Own goals

| Player | Team | Against | Week |
| Justin Pasfield | Central Coast Mariners | Newcastle Jets | 4 |
| James Donachie | Brisbane Roar | Newcastle Jets | 11 |
| Mitch Nichols | Melbourne Victory | Newcastle Jets | 14 |
| Glen Moss | Wellington Phoenix | Melbourne Heart | 19 |
| Mark Milligan | Melbourne Victory | Perth Glory | 23 |
| Adrian Leijer | Melbourne Victory | Newcastle Jets | 26 |
| Zachary Anderson | Central Coast Mariners | Perth Glory | 26 |

### Attendances

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 | 13 | 21,808 | 45,202 | 14,774 | 283,507 |
| Sydney FC | 14 | 18,682 | 40,388 | 10,148 | 261,543 |
| Brisbane Roar | 14 | 14,957 | 21,841 | 10,101 | 209,394 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 13 | 14,860 | 18,080 | 11,892 | 193,178 |
| Newcastle Jets | 14 | 11,949 | 16,634 | 7,692 | 167,285 |
| Adelaide United | 13 | 11,225 | 16,504 | 6,980 | 145,928 |
| Melbourne Heart | 14 | 9,933 | 26,491 | 5,046 | 139,059 |
| Perth Glory | 13 | 9,418 | 13,856 | 5,837 | 122,431 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 14 | 9,398 | 17,134 | 5,787 | 131,567 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 13 | 8,201 | 18,056 | 5,336 | 106,616 |
| {{{T11}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| {{{T12}}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| League total | 135 | 13,041 | 45,202 | 5,046 | 1,760,508 |

#### Top 10 Season Attendances

| Attendance | Round | Date | Home | Score | Away | Venue | Weekday | Time of Day |
| 51,153 | GF | 4 May 2014 | Brisbane Roar | 2 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Western Sydney Wanderers | Suncorp Stadium | Sunday | Night |
| 45,202 | 1 | 12 October 2013 | Melbourne Victory | 0–0 | Melbourne Heart | Etihad Stadium | Saturday | Night |
| 40,388 | 3 | 26 October 2013 | Sydney FC | 0–2 | Western Sydney Wanderers | Allianz Stadium | Saturday | Night |
| 40,285 | 22 | 8 March 2014 | Sydney FC | 3–1 | Western Sydney Wanderers | Allianz Stadium | Saturday | Night |
| 28,350 | SF | 27 April 2014 | Brisbane Roar | 1–0 | Melbourne Victory | Suncorp Stadium | Sunday | Night |
| 26,491 | 11 | 21 December 2013 | Melbourne Heart | 1–3 | Melbourne Victory | AAMI Park | Saturday | Night |
| 25,546 | 21 | 1 March 2014 | Melbourne Heart | 4–0 | Melbourne Victory | AAMI Park | Saturday | Night |
| 24,354 | 16 | 26 January 2014 | Melbourne Victory | 0–5 | Sydney FC | Etihad Stadium | Sunday | Afternoon |
| 23,226 | 4 | 4 November 2013 | Melbourne Victory | 3–2 | Wellington Phoenix | Etihad Stadium | Monday | Night |
| 22,133 | 12 | 28 December 2013 | Melbourne Victory | 1–1 | Western Sydney Wanderers | AAMI Park | Saturday | Night |

### 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.
| 1 point | Yellow Card |
| 2 points | Second Caution Red Card |
| 3 points | Direct Red Card |
| Team | | | | Points |
| Adelaide United | 65 | 2 | 2 | 75 |
| Brisbane Roar | 43 | 2 | 2 | 53 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 53 | 0 | 0 | 53 |
| Melbourne Heart | 59 | 1 | 1 | 64 |
| Melbourne Victory | 59 | 2 | 2 | 69 |
| Newcastle Jets | 66 | 0 | 2 | 72 |
| Perth Glory | 62 | 1 | 0 | 64 |
| Sydney FC | 58 | 3 | 1 | 67 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 60 | 2 | 0 | 64 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 62 | 0 | 0 | 62 |
| Melbourne Heart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Rovers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 587 | 13 | 10 | |
Current as of 13 April 2014

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

* Johnny Warren Medal – Thomas Broich, Brisbane Roar
* NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Adam Taggart, Newcastle Jets
* Nike Golden Boot Award – Adam Taggart, Newcastle Jets (16 goals)
* Goalkeeper of the Year – Eugene Galekovic, Adelaide United
* Manager of the Year – Mike Mulvey, Brisbane Roar
* Fair Play Award – Brisbane Roar
* Referee of the Year – Peter Green
* Goal of the Year – Orlando Engelaar, Melbourne Heart (Melbourne Heart v Central Coast Mariners, 23 March 2014)