# 2022–23 A-League Men

The 2022–23 A-League Men, known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 46th season of national level men's soccer in Australia, and the 18th since the establishment of the competition as the A-League in 2004.
The regular season commenced on 7 October 2022. The season featured a mid-season break from 18 November 2022 to 8 December 2022 due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar.
Melbourne City were the defending premiers and Western United were the defending champions. Melbourne City successfully defended their title, winning their third premiership in a row with two games remaining. Central Coast Mariners won their second championship, defeating Melbourne City 6–1 in the Grand Final.
This season was the first A-League Men season since 2013–14 to record an increase in average attendance compared to the previous season.

## Clubs
### Stadiums and locations

Twelve clubs are participating in the 2022–23 season.
    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Club | City | Home ground | Capacity |
| Adelaide United | Adelaide | Coopers Stadium | 16,500 |
| Brisbane Roar | Brisbane | Kayo Stadium | 11,500 |
| Brisbane Roar | Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 52,500 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Gosford | Industree Group Stadium | 20,059 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Mudgee | Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium | 10,000 |
| Macarthur FC | Campbelltown | Campbelltown Stadium | 17,500 |
| 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 | Perth | Macedonia Park | 4,500 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney | Allianz Stadium | 42,500 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wellington | Sky Stadium | 35,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Auckland | Eden Park | 50,000 |
| Wellington Phoenix | Palmerston North | Central Energy Trust Arena | 15,000 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Parramatta | CommBank Stadium | 30,000 |
| Western United | Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Western United | Ballarat | Mars Stadium | 11,000 |
| Western United | Hobart | North Hobart Oval | 10,000 |
| Western United | Launceston | UTAS Stadium | 19,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit sponsor |
| Adelaide United | Carl Veart | Craig Goodwin | UCAN | Flinders University Australian Outdoor Living |
| Brisbane Roar | Nick Green (caretaker) | Tom Aldred | New Balance | Cars4Us |
| Central Coast Mariners | Nick Montgomery | Danny Vukovic | Paladin Sports | MATE |
| Macarthur FC | Mile Sterjovski | Ulises Dávila | Kelme | ALAND |
| Melbourne City | Rado Vidošić | Scott Jamieson | Puma | Etihad Airways |
| Melbourne Victory | Tony Popovic | Joshua Brillante | Macron | Bonza |
| Newcastle Jets | Arthur Papas | Carl Jenkinson Matthew Jurman Brandon O'Neill | Legend Sportswear | Port of Newcastle Ampcontrol |
| Perth Glory | Ruben Zadkovich | Mustafa Amini | Macron | Evolution Capital |
| Sydney FC | Steve Corica | Alex Wilkinson | Under Armour | The Star |
| Wellington Phoenix | Ufuk Talay | Alex Rufer | Paladin Sports | Oppo Spark |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Marko Rudan | Marcelo | 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 |
| Macarthur FC | Ante Milicic | Resigned | 26 April 2022 | Pre-season | Dwight Yorke | 15 May 2022 |
| Perth Glory | Ruben Zadkovich | Promoted to full time | 2 June 2022 | Pre-season | Ruben Zadkovich | 2 June 2022 |
| Melbourne City | Patrick Kisnorbo | Signed by Troyes | 23 November 2022 | 1st | Rado Vidošić (caretaker) | 23 November 2022 |
| Macarthur FC | Dwight Yorke | Mutual termination | 21 January 2023 | 6th | Mile Sterjovski | 23 January 2023 |
| Melbourne City | Rado Vidošić (caretaker) | Promoted to full time | 6 February 2023 | 1st | Rado Vidošić | 6 February 2023 |
| Brisbane Roar | Warren Moon | Sacked | 20 February 2023 | 11th | Nick Green (caretaker) | 21 February 2023 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Visa 5 | Non-visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
| Adelaide United | Zach Clough | Hiroshi Ibusuki | Juande | Javi López | | Isaías$^1$ | |
| Brisbane Roar | Marcel Canadi | Jay O'Shea | Tom Aldred | Stefan Šćepović | | Rahmat Akbari$^2$ Jack Hingert$^2$ | Charlie Austin Matti Steinmann Riku Danzaki |
| Central Coast Mariners | Moresche | Marco Túlio | Béni Nkololo | Paul Ayongo | James McGarry | Dan Hall$^2$ Storm Roux$^2$ Brian Kaltak$^3$ | Kelechi John |
| Macarthur FC | Craig Noone | Bachana Arabuli | Ulises Dávila | Filip Kurto | | Jason Romero$^3$ | Mario Williams |
| Melbourne City | Thomas Lam | Florin Berenguer | Valon Berisha | Richard van der Venne | Nuno Reis | | |
| Melbourne Victory | Damien Da Silva | Roderick Miranda | Nani | Cadete | Rai Marchán | Matthew Bozinovski$^2$ Fernando Romero$^3$ | |
| Newcastle Jets | Carl Jenkinson | Beka Mikeltadze | Manabu Saitō | | | Dane Ingham$^2$ | Beka Dartsmelia James McGarry |
| Perth Glory | Darryl Lachman | Mark Beevers | Aaron McEneff | Adrián Sardinero | | Stefan Colakovski$^2$ Salim Khelifi$^3$ | Pacifique Niyongabire$^2$ Ben Azubel |
| Sydney FC | Adam Le Fondre | Joe Lolley | Jack Rodwell | Róbert Mak | Diego Caballo | | |
| Wellington Phoenix | Yan Sasse | Bozhidar Kraev | David Ball | Scott Wootton | Oskar Zawada | | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Marcelo | Yeni Ngbakoto | Romain Amalfitano | Morgan Schneiderlin | Amor Layouni | Adama Traoré$^1$ Miloš Ninković$^1$ | Sulejman Krpić |
| Western United | Alessandro Diamanti | Tomoki Imai | Tongo Doumbia | Aleksandar Prijović | 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)

## Regular season

The 2022–23 season sees each team play 26 games, starting on 7 October 2022, and concluding on 30 April 2023, with a mid-season break between 14 November 2022 and 8 December 2022, due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This will be followed by a finals series for the top six teams.

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne City | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 61 | 32 | +29 | 55 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Central Coast Mariners (C) | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 55 | 35 | +20 | 44 | Qualification for AFC Cup group stage and Finals series |
| 3 | Adelaide United | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 42 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 27 | +16 | 41 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Sydney FC | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 40 | 39 | +1 | 38 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Wellington Phoenix | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 39 | 45 | −6 | 35 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Western United | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 32 | |
| 8 | Brisbane Roar | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 30 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 29 | Qualification for 2023 Australia Cup play-offs |
| 10 | Newcastle Jets | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 30 | 45 | −15 | 29 | Qualification for 2023 Australia Cup play-offs |
| 11 | Melbourne Victory | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 28 | Qualification for 2023 Australia Cup play-offs |
| 12 | Macarthur FC | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 31 | 48 | −17 | 26 | Qualification for AFC Cup group stage and 2023 Australia Cup play-offs |
* ↑ Determined by which of the Premiers for the 2021–22 or 2022–23 seasons accrued the most combined points over both seasons.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000089-QINU`"'
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ Qualified to the AFC Cup as the 2022 Australia 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 | | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 4–4 | 0–1 | | | | | | 1–1 | | 2–0 | | | | |
| Brisbane Roar | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | | | | 0–0 | | | | 0–2 | | | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 4–0 | 4–1 | | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 | | | | 4–1 | | | 3–0 | | | | | |
| Macarthur FC | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | | | | | | | 0–1 | | | 0–1 | | |
| Melbourne City | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 6–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | | | | | | | | | | 4–1 | | 4–0 |
| Melbourne Victory | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | | | 3–2 | | | | | | | |
| Newcastle Jets | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | 4–0 | | | | | | 2–2 | | | | |
| Perth Glory | 4–4 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–2 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | | | | | | | | | | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Sydney FC | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 | | | | | | 1–0 | | | | | 0–4 | |
| Wellington Phoenix | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | | 1–0 | | | 2–0 | 4–0 | | | | | | | | |
| Western United | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–0 | | 2–3 | | | | | | | | 1–0 | | | |

### 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 the Premiers for the current season or the previous 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.

### Melbourne Derby pitch invasion

During the Melbourne Derby between Melbourne City FC and Melbourne Victory FC on 17 December 2022 at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, the match was abandoned in the 22nd minute after several incidents of hooliganism took place both on and off the field. Throughout the match, supporters of both teams both ignited and threw flares.
In the 20th minute, the match was interrupted due to flares being ignited and thrown onto the pitch, two of which had been thrown by Melbourne Victory supporters. Conflict arose when Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover, who was defending the goal in front of the Melbourne Victory supporters end, picked up and threw the flares away from the pitch, the second of which was thrown into the crowd of Victory supporters. This sparked a pitch invasion by between 100 and 200 spectators, who proceeded to attack Glover and match referee Alex King, both of whom sustained minor injuries. The match was abandoned as a result.
On 23 December, Football Australia handed down interim sanctions on both clubs while a full investigation was being conducted. Both teams had their active supporter bays closed, with Melbourne Victory further sanctioned with supporter restrictions: travelling support was banned for away games, while home games were restricted to only valid club members.
The match was resumed on 5 April 2023 from the 21st minute, with the score resuming at 1–0 to Melbourne City. The match ended in a 2-1 win to Melbourne City, with Aiden O'Neill and Nishan Velupillay scoring for the Victory.

## Finals series
### Format

The finals series was held in mostly the same format as the previous year, run over three weeks, and involving 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 two winners of those matches met in the Grand Final.
On 12 December 2022, the Australian Professional Leagues announced that the 2023 A-League Men Grand Final would be the first of three successive Grand Finals hosted in Sydney, regardless of which two teams earned the right to play in the final. The move received a large amount of backlash from supporters of all 12 clubs, and was overturned in the following season.

### Bracket

| Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| 4 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Sydney FC | 2 | 5 | Sydney FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | |
| | | | 1 | Melbourne City | 1 | 4 | 5 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | 1 | Melbourne City | 1 |
| 3 | Adelaide United | 2 | | | | | | 2 | Central Coast Mariners | 6 |
| 6 | Wellington Phoenix | 0 | 3 | Adelaide United | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Central Coast Mariners | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | |

### Semi-finals
#### Summary

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Melbourne City | 5–1 | Sydney FC | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 4–1 | Adelaide United | 2–1 | 2–0 |

#### Matches

Melbourne City won 5–1 on aggregate.
Central Coast Mariners won 4–1 on aggregate.

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

    As of 29 April 2023
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City | 24 |
| 2 | Jason Cummings | Central Coast Mariners | 16 |
| 3 | Oskar Zawada | Wellington Phoenix | 15 |
| 4 | Brandon Borello | Western Sydney Wanderers | 13 |
| 5 | Craig Goodwin | Adelaide United | 12 |
| 6 | Adam Le Fondre | Sydney FC | 10 |
| 7 | Róbert Mak | Sydney FC | 9 |
| 7 | Jay O'Shea | Brisbane Roar | 9 |
| 7 | Marco Tilio | Melbourne City | 9 |
| 7 | Marco Túlio | Central Coast Mariners | 9 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Richard van der Venne | Melbourne City | Macarthur FC | 6–1 (H) | 4 February 2023 |
| Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City | Western United | 3–1 (A) | 22 April 2023 |
| Jason Cummings | Central Coast Mariners | Melbourne City | 6–1 (N) | 3 June 2023 |
Key :
| (A) | Away team |
| (H) | Home team |
| (N) | Neutral venue |

### Clean sheets

    As of 29 April 2023
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Lawrence Thomas | Western Sydney Wanderers | 10 |
| 2 | Jordan Holmes | Brisbane Roar | 7 |
| 3 | Tom Glover | Melbourne City | 6 |
| 4 | Paul Izzo | Melbourne Victory | 5 |
| 4 | Filip Kurto | Macarthur FC | 5 |
| 4 | Andrew Redmayne | Sydney FC | 5 |
| 4 | Oliver Sail | Wellington Phoenix | 5 |
| 8 | Danny Vukovic | Central Coast Mariners | 4 |
| 8 | Jamie Young | Western United | 4 |
| 10 | Cameron Cook | Perth Glory | 3 |
| 10 | Jack Duncan | Newcastle Jets | 3 |
| 10 | Joe Gauci | Adelaide United | 3 |

## Awards
### Club awards

| Club | Player |
| Adelaide United | Craig Goodwin |
| Brisbane Roar | Tom Aldred |
| Central Coast Mariners | Josh Nisbet |
| Macarthur FC | Ivan Vujica |
| Melbourne City | Mathew Leckie |
| Melbourne Victory | Damien Da Silva |
| Newcastle Jets | Dane Ingham |
| Perth Glory | Mark Beevers |
| Sydney FC | Róbert Mak |
| Wellington Phoenix | Oskar Zawada |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Brandon Borrello |
| Western United | Josh Risdon |

### Annual awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2022–23 Dolan Warren Awards night that took place at The Star Casino on 1 June 2023.
| Award | Winner | Club |
| Johnny Warren Medal | Craig Goodwin | Adelaide United |
| Young Footballer of the Year | Jordan Bos | Melbourne City |
| Golden Boot Award | Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Lawrence Thomas | Western Sydney Wanderers |
| Coach of the Year | Carl Veart | Adelaide United |
| Goal of the Year | Giordano Colli | Perth Glory |
| Fair Play Award | Brisbane Roar | Brisbane Roar |
| Referee of the Year | Chris Beath | — |

### Team of the season

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Substitutes |
| Joe Gauci (Adelaide United) | Marcelo (Western Sydney Wanderers) Brian Kaltak (Central Coast Mariners) Jordan Bos (Melbourne City) | Aiden O'Neill (Melbourne City) Josh Nisbet (Central Coast Mariners) Calem Nieuwenhof (Western Sydney Wanderers) Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City) | Brandon Borrello (Western Sydney Wanderers) Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United) | Lawrence Thomas (Western Sydney Wanderers) Curtis Good (Melbourne City) Nectarios Triantis (Central Coast Mariners) Jay O'Shea (Brisbane Roar) Marco Túlio (Central Coast Mariners) Jason Cummings (Central Coast Mariners) Marco Tilio (Melbourne City) |