# 2005–06 Adelaide United FC season

The 2005–06 Adelaide United FC season was the club's second season since its establishment in 2003. The club participated in the A-League for the first time after the National Soccer League was replaced.
Continuing their good form from the final season of the NSL, Adelaide United finished as Premiers in the inaugural season of the Hyundai A-League.
The Reds were bundled out of the finals race in straight sets losing to Sydney FC in the two leg semi final and then Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the preliminary final at Hindmarsh.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Daniel Beltrame |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Richie Alagich |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Kristian Rees |
| 4 | DF | AUS | Angelo Costanzo |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Michael Valkanis |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Ross Aloisi |
| 7 | MF | AUS | Lucas Pantelis |
| 8 | FW | AUS | Carl Veart |
| 9 | MF | AUS | Matthew Kemp |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 10 | FW | BRA | Fernando |
| 11 | MF | AUS | Louis Brain |
| 12 | FW | AUS | Chad Bugeja |
| 13 | MF | AUS | Travis Dodd |
| 15 | FW | AUS | Michael Matricciani |
| 17 | DF | AUS | Adam van Dommele |
| 20 | GK | AUS | Robert Bajic |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Jason Spagnuolo |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 2 | DF | Richie Alagich | Unattached | Undisclosed | 3 years | 1 July 2005 |
| 1 | GK | Daniel Beltrame | Parramatta Power | Undisclosed | 4 years | 1 July 2005 |
| 18 | DF | Robert Cornthwaite | Unattached | Undisclosed | 6 years | 1 July 2005 |
| 4 | DF | Angelo Costanzo | Campbelltown City | Undisclosed | 4 years | 1 July 2005 |
| 10 | MF | Fernando | Villa Rio | Undisclosed | 2 years | 1 July 2005 |
| 16 | MF | Tony Hatzis | North Eastern MetroStars | Free | 1 year | 1 July 2005 |
| 21 | MF | Jason Spagnuolo | Metro AFC | Undisclosed | 3 years | 1 January 2006 |
| 14 | DF | Aaron Goulding | Unattached | Undisclosed | 1 year | 1 January 2006 |
| 3 | DF | Kristian Rees | Unattached | Undisclosed | 1 year | 1 January 2006 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date | Ref |
| — | FW | Aurelio Vidmar | Retired | Retired | 1 July 2005 | |
| 16 | MF | Tony Hatzis | North Eastern MetroStars | Free | 1 February 2006 | |

### Loans out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Date | Ref |
| 19 | FW | Shengqing Qu | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua | 1 December 2005 | |

## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos. | Name | A-League | A-League | Pre-Season Challenge Cup | Pre-Season Challenge Cup | OFC Club Championship | OFC Club Championship | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | Daniel Beltrame | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Richie Alagich | 18+5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Kristian Rees | 15+7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | Angelo Costanzo | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Michael Valkanis | 24 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 5 |
| 6 | MF | Ross Aloisi | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 3 |
| 7 | MF | Lucas Pantelis | 13+4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 8 | FW | Carl Veart | 23 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 7 |
| 9 | DF | Matthew Kemp | 11+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Fernando | 17+1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 7 |
| 11 | MF | Louis Brain | 6+11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 19 | 3 |
| 12 | FW | Chad Bugeja | 1+8 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | Travis Dodd | 20+3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 4 |
| 14 | DF | Aaron Goulding | 7+2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | Michael Matricciani | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | Adam van Dommele | 19 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| 18 | DF | Robert Cornthwaite | 2+9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 20 | GK | Robert Bajic | 10+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Jason Spagnuolo | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Players sold but featured this season |||||||||||
| 10 | MF | Aurelio Vidmar | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Tony Hatzis | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Shengqing Qu | 17+2 | 7 | 1+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 7 |

### Disciplinary record

| Rank | Position | Name | A-League | A-League | Pre-Season Challenge Cup | Pre-Season Challenge Cup | OFC Club Championship | OFC Club Championship | Total | Total |
| 1 | DF | Richie Alagich | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | GK | Daniel Beltrame | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | MF | Ross Aloisi | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Adam van Dommele | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | FW | Carl Veart | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Kristian Rees | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | Angelo Costanzo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | Shengqing Qu | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | Travis Dodd | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | DF | Michael Valkanis | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | Matthew Kemp | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | Lucas Pantelis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | Louis Brain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Fernando | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | Aaron Goulding | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Michael Matricciani | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

## Pre-season
### Pre-Season Challenge Cup

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Victory | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 |
| 2 | Perth Glory | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Adelaide United | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Newcastle Jets | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 |

## Competitions
### A-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Adelaide United | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 33 | 25 | +8 | 43 | Qualification for 2007 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Sydney FC (C) | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 35 | 28 | +7 | 36 | Qualification for 2007 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 3 | Central Coast Mariners | 21 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 35 | 28 | +7 | 32 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Newcastle Jets | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 31 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Perth Glory | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 29 | |
| 6 | Queensland Roar | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 22 | +5 | 28 | |
| 7 | Melbourne Victory | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 26 | |
| 8 | New Zealand Knights | 21 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 47 | −32 | 6 | |
* ↑ New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

#### Finals Series
### OFC Club Championship
#### Qualification zone
## Awards

| Award | Player |
| Club Champion | Carl Veart |
| Player's Player | Michael Valkanis |
| Top Goalscorer | Carl Veart |
| Best Team Man | Matthew Kemp |
| Rising Star | Adam van Dommele |