# 2020–21 A-League

The 2020–21 A-League was the 44th season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 16th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The season was started on 28 December 2020 and concluded with the Grand Final on 27 June 2021. The start of the season was later than previous seasons as a result of both the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand, and as part of a gradual shift to move the competition from summer to winter. Wellington Phoenix played the majority of their home matches at Wollongong Showground in Wollongong due to international travel restrictions.
Sydney FC were the defending champions and premiers, having won their record fifth and fourth titles respectively the previous season. Melbourne City won their first premiership and championship title, leaving Sydney FC in second on both.

## Clubs

There were 12 clubs participating in this season. Macarthur FC made their A-League debut this season.
| Club | City | Home stadium(s) | 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 |
| Macarthur FC | Sydney | Campbelltown Stadium | 20,000 |
| Melbourne City | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Melbourne Victory | Melbourne | Marvel Stadium | 56,347 |
| Melbourne Victory | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Newcastle Jets | Newcastle | McDonald Jones Stadium | 33,000 |
| Newcastle Jets | Coffs Harbour | C.ex Coffs International Stadium | 20,000 |
| Perth Glory | Perth | HBF Park | 20,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Stadium Australia | 83,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Sydney Cricket Ground | 48,601 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 20,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Leichhardt Oval | 20,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Auckland | Eden Park | 50,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wellington | Sky Stadium | 34,500 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Newcastle | McDonald Jones Stadium | 33,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wollongong | WIN Stadium | 23,000 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney | Bankwest Stadium | 30,000 |
| Western United | Geelong | GMHBA Stadium | 26,000 |
| Western United | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Western United | Launceston | UTAS Stadium | 19,000 |
| Western United | Ballarat | Mars Stadium | 11,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit sponsor |
| Adelaide United | Carl Veart | Stefan Mauk | UCAN | Flinders University Australian Outdoor Living |
| Brisbane Roar | Warren Moon | Tom Aldred | Umbro | ActronAir |
| Central Coast Mariners | Alen Stajcic | Oliver Bozanic | Umbro | Masterfoods MATE |
| Macarthur FC | Ante Milicic | Mark Milligan | Macron | Wisdom Homes |
| Melbourne City | Patrick Kisnorbo | Scott Jamieson | Puma | Etihad Airways |
| Melbourne Victory | Steve Kean (caretaker) | Leigh Broxham | Adidas | Metricon |
| Newcastle Jets | Craig Deans | Nigel Boogaard | Apelle | Inspirations Paint |
| Perth Glory | Richard Garcia | Diego Castro | Macron | BHP |
| Sydney FC | Steve Corica | Alex Wilkinson | Under Armour | The Star |
| Wellington Phoenix | Ufuk Talay | Ulises Dávila | Paladin Sports | KPMG Multi Civil and Rail |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Carl Robinson | Dylan McGowan | Kappa | Voltaren JD Sports |
| Western United | Marko Rudan | Alessandro Diamanti | Kappa | Simonds Homes Tasman Logistics |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position on table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Macarthur FC | Inaugural manager | Inaugural manager | Inaugural manager | Pre-season | Ante Milicic | 15 May 2019 |
| Melbourne Victory | Grant Brebner (caretaker) | Promoted to full time | 24 August 2020 | Pre-season | Grant Brebner | 24 August 2020 |
| Perth Glory | Tony Popovic | Signed by Xanthi | 27 August 2020 | Pre-season | Hayden Foxe (caretaker) | 2 September 2020 |
| Melbourne City | Erick Mombaerts | Resigned | 3 September 2020 | Pre-season | Patrick Kisnorbo | 3 September 2020 |
| Adelaide United | Carl Veart (caretaker) | Promoted to full time | 18 September 2020 | Pre-season | Carl Veart | 18 September 2020 |
| Perth Glory | Hayden Foxe (caretaker) | End of contract | 18 September 2020 | Pre-season | Richard Garcia | 18 September 2020 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Jean-Paul de Marigny | Sacked | 12 October 2020 | Pre-season | Carl Robinson | 15 October 2020 |
| Newcastle Jets | Carl Robinson | Signed by Western Sydney Wanderers | 15 October 2020 | Pre-season | Craig Deans | 16 October 2020 |
| Melbourne Victory | Grant Brebner | Sacked | 17 April 2021 | 12th | Steve Kean (caretaker) | 19 April 2021 |
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ Deans was initially appointed as interim coach, but the move was made permanent on 10 February 2021.

### Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Visa 5 | Non-visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
| Adelaide United | Michael Jakobsen | Juande | Javi López | | | | |
| Brisbane Roar | Macaulay Gillesphey | Jay O'Shea | Riku Danzaki | Masato Kudo | Tom Aldred | Jamie Young$^2$ Joe Champness$^2$ Jack Hingert$^2$ | Jai Ingham$^2$ |
| Central Coast Mariners | Marco Ureña | Michał Janota | Stefan Janković | | | Dan Hall$^2$ Gianni Stensness$^2$ | |
| Macarthur FC | Matt Derbyshire | Loïc Puyo | Beñat | Markel Susaeta | | Antonis Martis$^2$ | |
| Melbourne City | Craig Noone | Florin Berenguer | Naoki Tsubaki | Nuno Reis | Adrián Luna | Stefan Colakovski$^2$ | Daniel Georgievski$^2$ |
| Melbourne Victory | Rudy Gestede | Jacob Butterfield | Callum McManaman | Marco Rojas | | Elvis Kamsoba$^2$ Adama Traoré$^1$ Max Crocombe$^2$ Storm Roux$^2$ | Ryan Shotton |
| Newcastle Jets | | | | | | Ali Abbas$^1$ Roy O'Donovan$^1$ Valentino Yuel$^2$ | Syahrian Abimanyu Liridon Krasniqi |
| Perth Glory | Darryl Lachman | Sebastian Langkamp | Kosuke Ota | Diego Castro | Bruno Fornaroli | Andy Keogh$^1$ Dane Ingham$^2$ | |
| Sydney FC | Bobô | Adam Le Fondre | Alexander Baumjohann | Kosta Barbarouses | Miloš Ninković | | |
| Wellington Phoenix | David Ball | Steven Taylor | Tomer Hemed | Ulises Dávila | | | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Jordon Mutch | Nicolai Müller | Graham Dorrans | Ziggy Gordon | | Patrick Ziegler$^1$ | Simon Cox Daniel Georgievski$^2$ |
| Western United | Alessandro Diamanti | Tomoki Imai | Filip Kurto | Iker Guarrotxena | Víctor Sánchez | Kaine Sheppard$^1$ Besart Berisha$^1$ Andrew Durante$^2$ | |
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 Designated | Second Designated | Captain | Vice-Captain |
| Adelaide United | None | None | Stefan Mauk | Jordan Elsey Ben Halloran |
| Brisbane Roar | None | None | Tom Aldred | None |
| Central Coast Mariners | Daniel De Silva | None | Oliver Bozanic | None |
| Macarthur FC | Mark Milligan | None | Mark Milligan | None |
| Melbourne City | Jamie Maclaren | None | Scott Jamieson | None |
| Melbourne Victory | Robbie Kruse | None | Leigh Broxham | None |
| Newcastle Jets | None | None | Nigel Boogaard | Nikolai Topor-Stanley |
| Perth Glory | Diego Castro | Bruno Fornaroli | Diego Castro | Neil Kilkenny |
| Sydney FC | None | None | Alex Wilkinson | None |
| Wellington Phoenix | Tomer Hemed | None | Ulises Dávila | Alex Rufer |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | None | None | Dylan McGowan | None |
| Western United | Alessandro Diamanti | None | Alessandro Diamanti | Tomislav Uskok |

### Transfers
## Regular season

The regular season commenced on 28 December 2020 and ended on 10 June 2021.

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne City (C) | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 49 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series |
| 2 | Sydney FC | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 47 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and finals series |
| 3 | Central Coast Mariners | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 35 | 31 | +4 | 42 | Qualification for finals series |
| 4 | Brisbane Roar | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 40 | Qualification for finals series |
| 5 | Adelaide United | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 39 | Qualification for finals series |
| 6 | Macarthur FC | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 39 | Qualification for finals series |
| 7 | Wellington Phoenix | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 38 | |
| 8 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 43 | +2 | 35 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 34 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 10 | Western United | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 28 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 11 | Newcastle Jets | 26 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 24 | 38 | −14 | 21 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
| 12 | Melbourne Victory | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 31 | 60 | −29 | 19 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
* 1 2 3 The top two teams entered the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth entered 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 qualified for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participated in a playoff round.
* ↑ Qualified as the 2021 FFA Cup winners.

### 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 | | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | | | | | | | | 1–4 | | 2–2 | |
| Brisbane Roar | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | | | | 3–0 | | | | 0–2 | | | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 2–1 | 0–4 | | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | | | | | | | 0–2 | | | | | 2–0 |
| Macarthur FC | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | | 1–2 | | | | | | | 0–3 | | |
| Melbourne City | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 7–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | | | 1–0 | | | | 1–2 | | | | | |
| Melbourne Victory | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–6 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 5–4 | 3–4 | 0–1 | | | | 1–1 | | | | | | | |
| Newcastle Jets | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–2 | | | | | | 1–1 | | | | |
| Perth Glory | 5–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | | | 1–1 | | | | | | | | |
| Sydney FC | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | | | | | 2–0 | | | | | 1–0 | |
| Wellington Phoenix | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | | | | | | | | 2–2 | | | | 3–0 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 4–3 | | 5–0 | | 2–0 | | | | | | | | 1–2 | | |
| Western United | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 5–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | | | | 1–2 | | 1–6 | | | | | | |

## Finals series

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | 20 June – Sydney | 20 June – Sydney | | |
| | | Melbourne City | 2 | |
| 12 June – Gosford | 12 June – Gosford | | Melbourne City | 2 | |
| 12 June – Gosford | 12 June – Gosford | Macarthur FC | 0 | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 0 | Macarthur FC | 0 | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 0 | | | | 27 June – Melbourne | 27 June – Melbourne |
| Macarthur FC | 2 | | | | 27 June – Melbourne | 27 June – Melbourne |
| Macarthur FC | 2 | | | | Melbourne City | 3 |
| | | | | | Sydney FC | 1 |
| | | 19 June – Sydney | 19 June – Sydney | | | |
| | | Sydney FC | 2 | | | |
| 13 June – Brisbane | 13 June – Brisbane | | Sydney FC | 2 | | |
| 13 June – Brisbane | 13 June – Brisbane | Adelaide United | 1 | |
| Brisbane Roar | 1 | Adelaide United | 1 | |
| Adelaide United | 2 | | | |

### Grand Final
## Statistics
### Top scorers

Including Finals matches
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City | 25 |
| 2 | Matt Derbyshire | Macarthur FC | 14 |
| 3 | Bruno Fornaroli | Perth Glory | 13 |
| 4 | Bobô | Sydney FC | 12 |
| 5 | Tomer Hemed | Wellington Phoenix | 11 |
| 6 | Matt Simon | Central Coast Mariners | 10 |
| 7 | Kosta Barbarouses | Sydney FC | 9 |
| 7 | Riku Danzaki | Brisbane Roar | 9 |
| 7 | Tomi Juric | Adelaide United | 9 |
| 7 | Bruce Kamau | Western Sydney Wanderers | 9 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Matt Derbyshire | Macarthur FC | Adelaide United | 4–0 (H) | 12 February 2021 |
| Tomi Juric | Adelaide United | Central Coast Mariners | 3–2 (H) | 19 February 2021 |
| Jamie Maclaren$^5$ | Melbourne City | Melbourne Victory | 7–0 (H) | 17 April 2021 |
| Andy Keogh$^4$ | Perth Glory | Western Sydney Wanderers | 5–1 (H) | 16 May 2021 |
Key :
| $^4$ | Player scored four goals |
| $^5$ | Player scored five goals |
| (H) | Home team |

## Awards
### Annual awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2020–21 Dolan Warren Awards night on 23 June 2021.
* Johnny Warren Medal – Ulises Dávila, Wellington Phoenix & Miloš Ninković, Sydney FC
* NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Joel King, Sydney FC
* Nike Golden Boot Award – Jamie Maclaren, Melbourne City (25 goals)
* Goalkeeper of the Year – Mark Birighitti, Central Coast Mariners & Andrew Redmayne, Sydney FC
* Coach of the Year – Patrick Kisnorbo, Melbourne City
* Fair Play Award – Brisbane Roar
* Referee of the Year – Chris Beath
* Goal of the Year – Andy Keogh, Perth Glory (Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers, 16 May 2021)

### Team of the season

Team of the season :
| Goalkeeper | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) | Adam Federici (Macarthur FC) |
| Defenders | Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC) | Ruon Tongyik (Central Coast Mariners) | Ruon Tongyik (Central Coast Mariners) | Curtis Good (Melbourne City) | Curtis Good (Melbourne City) | Curtis Good (Melbourne City) | Scott Jamieson (Melbourne City) | Scott Jamieson (Melbourne City) |
| Midfielders | Oliver Bozanic (Central Coast Mariners) | Oliver Bozanic (Central Coast Mariners) | Ulises Dávila (Wellington Phoenix) | Ulises Dávila (Wellington Phoenix) | Ulises Dávila (Wellington Phoenix) | Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City) | Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City) | Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City) |
| Forwards | Matt Derbyshire (Macarthur FC) | Matt Derbyshire (Macarthur FC) | Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) | Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) | Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) | Craig Noone (Melbourne City) | Craig Noone (Melbourne City) | Craig Noone (Melbourne City) |
| Substitutes | Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | Ryan Strain (Adelaide United) | Luke Brattan (Sydney FC) | Matt Simon (Central Coast Mariners) | Ryan McGowan (Sydney FC) | Miloš Ninković (Sydney FC) | Miloš Ninković (Sydney FC) | Jay O'Shea (Brisbane Roar) |