2005–06 A-League

A-League

Season	2005–06
Champions	Sydney FC (1st title)
Premiers	Adelaide United (1st title)
Champions League	Sydney FC Adelaide United
Matches played	84
Goals scored	232 (2.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alex Brosque Bobby Despotovski Archie Thompson Stewart Petrie (8 goals)
Biggest home win	Melbourne Victory 5–0 Sydney FC (16 October 2005)
Biggest away win	Newcastle Jets 0–5 Queensland Roar (26 January 2006)
Highest attendance	25,557
Lowest attendance	1,922
Average attendance	10,955
← 2003–04 NSL 2006–07 →

The 2005–06 A-League was the inaugural season of the Australian A-League soccer competition. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition, the first match in the A-League was played on 26 August 2005. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.

Of the eight participants, four come from the National Soccer League (1977–2004): Perth Glory !Perth Glory (established 1995), New Zealand Knights (1999), Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets (2000) and Adelaide United (2003). New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but were significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977–1988 and had competed in the Queensland State League since then as Brisbane Lions.

The first A-League Grand Final took place on 5 March 2006, with Sydney FC !Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural champions, defeating the Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners 1–0. Adelaide United !Adelaide United were the named premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league.

Clubs

Adelaide United

Central Coast Mariners

Further information: A-League § Clubs

Team	City	Home Ground	Capacity
Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Adelaide	Hindmarsh Stadium	17,000
Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Bluetongue Stadium	20,119
Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Olympic Park Stadium	18,500
Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Energy Australia Stadium	26,164
New Zealand Knights	Auckland	North Harbour Stadium	25,000
Perth Glory !Perth Glory	Perth	Members Equity Stadium	18,156
Queensland Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Sydney	Aussie Stadium	42,500

Preliminary Competitions

Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season.

Oceania Club Championship Qualification

This three-round competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for the 2005 season of the Oceania Club Championship. It consisted of all Australian A-League clubs (i.e. all clubs except for the New Zealand Knights) and granted Perth Glory – the reigning NSL champions – a bye into the semi-finals.

Round 1
(7 May)

Semi Finals
(11 May)

Finals
(15 May)

Perth Glory

Sydney FC !Sydney FC

Queensland Roar

Sydney FC !Sydney FC

Central Coast Mariners

Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners (pen)

0 (4)

Newcastle Jets

0 (2)

Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners

Adelaide United

Adelaide United !Adelaide United (pen)

0 (4)

Melbourne Victory

0 (1)

Sydney FC qualified for and subsequently won the 2005 Oceania Club Championship entitling it to a place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship to be played in Tokyo.

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

The inaugural pre-season cup was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Commentators did not give much weight to the competition as a guide for performance during the season proper, as injuries or club strategic policy ruled that many teams did not use their best players and often used experimental tactics.

Group stage

Group A


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5	2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
2	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4	2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
3	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	3	0	3	0	3	3	0	3
4	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	2

Group B


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	7	2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
2	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6	2005-06 Pre-Season Cup Semi Finals
3	Queensland Roar !Queensland Roar	3	1	1	1	6	3	+3	4
4	New Zealand Knights !New Zealand Knights	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

Finals

Semi-finals		Final

12 August
Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	1
Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	3

		21 August
		Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1
		Perth Glory !Perth Glory	0



14 August
Sydney FC !Sydney FC	0
Perth Glory !Perth Glory	1

The Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners.

Regular season

The A-League season commenced on 26 August 2005 with two Friday night fixtures. Games each round were held throughout the weekend, though certain rounds also featured Thursday night games. As there was no concurrent cup competition, midweek fixtures were uncommon unless they were held on Australian public holidays. A three-week break was also scheduled in December to coincide with the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo.

League table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	21	13	4	4	33	25	+8	43	2007 AFC Champions League Group stage
2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC (C)	21	10	6	5	35	28	+7	36	2007 AFC Champions League Group stage
3	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	21	8	8	5	35	28	+7	32	2006 A-League Finals Series
4	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	21	9	4	8	27	29	−2	31	2006 A-League Finals Series
5	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	21	8	5	8	34	29	+5	29
6	Queensland Roar !Queensland Roar	21	7	7	7	27	22	+5	28
7	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	21	7	5	9	26	24	+2	26
8	New Zealand Knights !New Zealand Knights	21	1	3	17	15	47	−32	6

Updated to games played on 5 February 2006
Source: theworldgame.sbs.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
¹First place through to fourth place qualify for the 2006 A-League Finals Series.
²First place qualifies for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage.
³Winning the 2006 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
⁴New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the 2007 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.
Rules for classification:1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
# = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points.

Round 1

26 August 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	0 – 1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
20:00 UTC+8		Report Summary	Spencer 66'	Attendance: 11,113 Referee: Ben Williams

26 August 2005	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Veart 19'	Attendance: 13,160 Referee: Peter O'Leary

28 August 2005	Queensland Roar	2 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
15:00 UTC+10	Brosque 80' Baird 86'	Report Summary		Attendance: 20,725 Referee: Matthew Breeze

28 August 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	1 – 1	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Yorke 44'	Report Summary	Thompson 73'	Attendance: 25,208 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 2

2 September 2005	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	0 – 0	Queensland Roar	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30		Report Summary		Attendance: 11,029 Referee: Ben Williams

2 September 2005	New Zealand Knights	1 – 3	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+12	Rose 69'	Report Summary	Rudan 25' Bingley 73' Middleby 90+4'	Attendance: 9,827 Referee: Peter O'Leary

4 September 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
15:00 UTC+10	Petrie 69'	Report Summary	Milicic 25'	Attendance: 5,917 Referee: Mark Shield

4 September 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	2 – 2	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler 11' Muscat 85' (pen.)	Report Summary	Caceres 40' Despotovski 56'	Attendance: 17,960 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 3

9 September 2005	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	1 – 0	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Brain 1' Alagich 15'	Report Summary		Attendance: 8,785 Referee: Peter O'Leary

10 September 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	2 – 1	Queensland Roar	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:35 UTC+8	Despotovski 54', 72'	Report Summary	Moon 76'	Attendance: 8,509 Referee: Simon Przydacz

10 September 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	0 – 2	New Zealand Knights	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:35 UTC+10		Report Summary	Yeo 69' Devine 80'	Attendance: 5,261 Referee: Ben Williams

11 September 2005	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	2 – 1	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+10	Milicic 6' Johnson 18' Corbo 39', 70'	Report Summary	Yorke 78' Corica 70'	Attendance: 9,127 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 4

16 September 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	2 – 3	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10	Packer 13' Yorke 72'	Report Summary	Petrie 20' (pen.) Gumprecht 35' Spencer 90+1'	Attendance: 15,614 Referee: Peter O'Leary

17 September 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	1 – 2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:35 UTC+8	Valkanis 20' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Aloisi 32' Qu 65' Beltrame 67'	Attendance: 8,052 Referee: Matthew Breeze

18 September 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 1	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
15:00 UTC+10	Baird 62' McKay 40'	Report Summary	Allsopp 88'	Attendance: 15,444 Referee: Ben Williams

18 September 2005	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	4 – 0	New Zealand Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+10	Haliti 12' Thompson 26' Musialik 37' Carle 70' (pen.)	Report Summary		Attendance: 7,495 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 5

22 September 2005	New Zealand Knights	0 – 1	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+12		Report Summary	Harnwell 68'	Attendance: 4,138 Referee: Neil Fox

23 September 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 3	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10	Timpano 50' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Corica 5', 67' McFlynn 68'	Attendance: 23,142 Referee: Matthew Breeze

25 September 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	1 – 0	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10	Thompson 68'	Report Summary		Attendance: 13,831 Referee: Craig Zetter

25 September 2005	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
17:00 UTC+9:30	Valkanis 34'	Report Summary	Kwasnik 19'	Attendance: 7,013 Referee: Angelo Nardi

Round 6

30 September 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1 – 2	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+10	Heffernan 33'	Report Summary	Thompson 73' Leijer 81'	Attendance: 9,313 Referee: Ben Williams

1 October 2005	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:35 UTC+10	Carle 31'	Report Summary	Moon 68' McKay 59', 80'	Attendance: 7,436 Referee: Strebre Delovski

1 October 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	1 – 2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:35 UTC+8	Despotovski 40'	Report Summary	Petrovski 48' Yorke 65'	Attendance: 13,157 Referee: Matthew Breeze

2 October 2005	New Zealand Knights	1 – 2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
18:00 UTC+12	Yeo 44', 64'	Report Summary	Dodd 34' Qu 81'	Attendance: 3,558 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 7

7 October 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10	Seo 57'	Report Summary	Spencer 41'	Attendance: 13,195 Referee: Perry Mur

8 October 2005	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	1 – 5	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:30 UTC+10	Parisi 72'	Report Summary	Mori 33', 62' Harnwell 46' Despotovski 52' Sekulovski 80'	Attendance: 5,868 Referee: James Lewis

9 October 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	2 – 1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Carney 54' Petrovski 88'	Report Summary	Valkanis 51'	Attendance: 18,276 Referee: Mark Shield

10 October 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	3 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler 23' Muscat 62' Diaco 64'	Report Summary		Attendance: 11,010 Referee: Peter Green

Round 8

14 October 2005	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	2 – 4	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Valkanis 38' Corbo 67' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Kemp 12' (o.g.) Carle 22', 89' Zelic 68'	Attendance: 13,182 Referee: Mark Shield

16 October 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	5 – 0	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
13:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler 34' Muscat 53' (pen.), 78' (pen.) Thompson 57', 69'	Report Summary	Talay 58'	Attendance: 18,206 Referee: Matthew Breeze

16 October 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	4 – 0	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+10	Petrie 14', 48' Heffernan 85' Spencer 90+3'	Report Summary		Attendance: 6,494 Referee: Ben Williams

16 October 2005	New Zealand Knights	0 – 2	Queensland Roar	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
18:00 UTC+12		Report Summary	Seo 8' Baird 57'	Attendance: 4,182 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 9

21 October 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	2 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10	Petrovski 10' Carney 30'	Report Summary		Attendance: 11,836 Referee: Ben Williams

22 October 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:30 UTC+10	Brownlie 76'	Report Summary	Fernando 59' Pantelis 89'	Attendance: 15,181 Referee: Peter O'Leary

23 October 2005	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	1 – 0	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Energy Australia Stadium
17:00 UTC+10	Parisi 88'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,371 Referee: Matthew Breeze

23 October 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	2 – 1	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+8	Deane 22' Sekulovski 55'	Report Summary	Thompson 39'	Attendance: 12,312 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 10

28 October 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	0 – 1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Veart 83'	Attendance: 16,201 Referee: Matthew Breeze

29 October 2005	Queensland Roar	0 – 0	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:30 UTC+10		Report Summary		Attendance: 13,685 Referee: Simon Przydacz

29 October 2005	New Zealand Knights	1 – 3	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+12	Yeo 7' (pen.)	Report Summary	Heffernan 4' Petrie 49', 72' (pen.)	Attendance: 2,583 Referee: Neil Fox

30 October 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Carney 73'	Report Summary	Milicic 77'	Attendance: 9,132 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 11

4 November 2005	New Zealand Knights	2 – 4	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Brockie 71', 77'	Report Summary	Milicic 18', 28', 56' Thompson 21'	Attendance: 2,561 Referee: Matthew Breeze

4 November 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	0 – 1	Queensland Roar	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Claeys 86' Muscat 58', 61'	Report Summary	McKay 15'	Attendance: 13,239 Referee: Mark Shield

5 November 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1 – 5	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson 40'	Report Summary	Yorke 9' (pen.) Talay 14' Petrovski 23', 68', 83'	Attendance: 10,529 Referee: Simon Przydacz

6 November 2005	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	2 – 4	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+10:30	Veart 13' (pen.) Rees 53'	Report Summary	Mori 9', 34', 45+1' Despotovski 39' (pen.)	Attendance: 10,868 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 12

11 November 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	3 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+8	Ward 69' Sekulovski 25' Despotovski 12'			Attendance: 9,667 Referee: Craig Zetter

11 November 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	0 – 0	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 12,407 Referee: Simon Przydacz

13 November 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1 – 2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
15:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson 12'		Rech 90' Dodd 85'	Attendance: 5,467 Referee: Peter O'Leary

13 November 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	1 – 0	Queensland Roar	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Zdrillic 54'			Attendance: 13,030 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 13

18 November 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	0 – 2	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11			Heffernan 75' Hutchinson 38'	Attendance: 13,892 Referee: Ben Williams

19 November 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	0 – 0	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 16,242 Referee: Matthew Breeze

20 November 2005	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	1 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+10.30	Qu 38'			Attendance: 9,676 Referee: Angelo Nardi

20 November 2005	Queensland Roar	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10			Thompson 34'	Attendance: 13,004 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 14

25 November 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	2 – 2	Queensland Roar	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Heffernan 89' Osman 56'		Brosque 7', 78' Baird 75'	Attendance: 5,194 Referee: Matthew Breeze

25 November 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+8			Coveny 47'	Attendance: 7,921 Referee: Simon Przydacz

26 November 2005	New Zealand Knights	2 – 3	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Devine 40' (pen.) Christie 30'		Kitzbichler 43', 73' Muscat 28' (pen.)	Attendance: 1,922 Referee: Peter O'Leary

27 November 2005	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	3 – 2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+10.30	Rech 4', 84' Veart 14'		Miura 33', 76'	Attendance: 14,068 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 15

1 December 2005	Queensland Roar	1 – 1	New Zealand Knights	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Brownlie 28'		Yeo 44'	Attendance: 8,607 Referee: James Lewis

2 December 2005	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	1 – 2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	Johnson 59'		Brain 79' Veart 75'	Attendance: 10,132 Referee: Simon Przydacz

3 December 2005	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	2 – 1	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11	Carney 81' Corica 24'		Allsopp 88'	Attendance: 17,272 Referee: Matthew Breeze

4 December 2005	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	2 – 2	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
16:00 UTC+8	Ishida 65' Ward 54'		Petrie 12' Hutchinson 8'	Attendance: 7,428 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 16

29 December 2005	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	2 – 2	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Allsopp 45' Thompson 23'		Ward 67' Mori 5'	Attendance: 14,754 Referee: Peter O'Leary

30 December 2005	New Zealand Knights	2 – 2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Brockie 86' Devine 3'		Yorke 45' (pen.) Carney 6'	Attendance: 4,212 Referee: Peter Green

31 December 2005	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	4 – 1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson 71', 82' Brown 30' Gumprecht 3'		Coveny 85' Corbo 56'	Attendance: 11,612 Referee: Mark Shield

1 January 2006	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	4 – 2	Queensland Roar	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+10.30	Rech 40', 63' Qu 30' Veart 29'		Baird 83' Brosque 11'	Attendance: 8,426 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 17

5 January 2006	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	1 – 0	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10.30	Dodd 14'			Attendance: 13,427 Referee: Mark Shield

6 January 2006	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	0 – 0	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 15,211 Referee: Matthew Breeze

7 January 2006	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	0 – 2	Queensland Roar	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+8			Baird 80' Reinaldo 10'	Attendance: 11,087 Referee: Peter Green

8 January 2006	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1 – 0	New Zealand Knights	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11	Heffernan 90'			Attendance: 7,257 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 18

12 January 2006	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	1 – 2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+8	Ward 86'		Aloisi 71' Qu 3'	Attendance: 5,033 Referee: Matthew Breeze

13 January 2006	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	3 – 0	New Zealand Knights	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	Haliti 86', 90' Milicic 19'			Attendance: 6,862 Referee: Perry Mur

14 January 2006	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11	Carney 61'		Pondeljak 52'	Attendance: 15,977 Referee: Ben Williams

15 January 2006	Queensland Roar	0 – 1	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10			Thompson 56'	Attendance: 12,710 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 19

19 January 2006	New Zealand Knights	1 – 4	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Emblen 7'		Harnwell 78' Coyne 14' Sekulovski 11', 42'	Attendance: 3,024 Referee: Neil Fox

20 January 2006	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	1 – 1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10.30	Veart 50' (pen.)		Kwasnik 54'	Attendance: 13,008 Referee: Mark Shield

21 January 2006	Queensland Roar	2 – 1	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Brosque 60', 70'		Petrovski 85'	Attendance: 13,302 Referee: Simon Przydacz

22 January 2006	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	1 – 0	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Coveny 36'			Attendance: 9,073 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 20

26 January 2006	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	0 – 5	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11			Murdocca 90' McKay 83' Brosque 52' Richter 44' Reinaldo 10'	Attendance: 10,271 Referee: Peter O'Leary

27 January 2006	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	3 – 1	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Heffernan 88' Spencer 28', 62'		Ferrante 13'	Attendance: 11,945 Referee: Simon Przydacz

28 January 2006	New Zealand Knights	1 – 1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+13	Zhang 71'		Brain 21'	Attendance: 3,079 Referee: Perry Mur

29 January 2006	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	1 – 2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
16:00 UTC+8	Despotovski 53'		Zadkovich 23' Rudan 14'	Attendance: 12,796 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 21

3 February 2006	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	2 – 1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11	Ceccoli 71' Yorke 48' (pen.)		Qu 90'	Attendance: 25,557 Referee: Mark Shield

4 February 2006	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	2 – 1	New Zealand Knights	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+11	Muscat 21' (pen.) Byrnes 2'		Brockie 90'	Attendance: 10,078 Referee: Angelo Nardi

4 February 2006	Queensland Roar	2 – 2	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Baird 60' Brosque 3'		O'Sullivan 81' Petrie 33'	Attendance: 13,641 Referee: Ben Williams

5 February 2006	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	1 – 3	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Coveny 34'		Mori 71' Picken 58' (o.g.) Ward 9'	Attendance: 9,232 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Finals series

After the home and away season, the finals series began, with the top four teams. The finals series used a modified Page playoff system, with the difference that each first round game would be played over two legs. The winner of the finals series, Sydney FC !Sydney FC was crowned as the A-League champion. Adelaide United !Adelaide United, as the holder of the top position on the league ladder, were named the 2005–06 premiers.

Standard cup rules – such as the away goals rule (two-leg ties only), extra time and penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn games.

Semi Finals				Preliminary Final			Grand Final
		L1	L2
	February 10 & 17
1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	2	1					5 March
2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	2	2		26 February		2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	1
				1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	0	3	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	0
	February 12 & 19			3	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1
3	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1	1
4	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	0	1

10 February 2006 Minor Semi-Final Leg 1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11			Osman 76'	Attendance: 10,236 Referee: Ben Williams

12 February 2006 Major Semi-Final Leg 1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	2 – 2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
17:00 UTC+10.30	Rech 34' Dodd 31'		Petrovski 39' Corica 9'	Attendance: 15,104 Referee: Matthew Breeze

17 February 2006 Minor Semi-Final Leg 2	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Heffernan 79'		Thompson 28'	Attendance: 17,429 Referee: Simon Przydacz

19 February 2006 Major Semi-Final Leg 2	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	2 – 1	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Rudan 76' Petrovski 29'		Qu 60'	Attendance: 30,377 Referee: Mark Shield

26 February 2006 Preliminary Final	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	0 – 1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
17:00 UTC+10.30			Pondeljak 7'	Attendance: 11,405 Referee: Matthew Breeze

5 March 2006 Grand Final	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	1 – 0	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Corica 62'			Attendance: 41,689 Referee: Mark Shield

AFC Champions League

Although Australia became a member of the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, Australian teams were not invited to participate in the 2006 AFC Champions League competition.

The AFC later determined that qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League would be based on the 2005–06 A-League competition, despite that ACL matches will commence after the completion of the A-League 2006–07 season. Adelaide as Premiers and Sydney as Champions represented Australia.

Attendance

Team	Hosted	Average	High	Low	Total
Sydney FC !Sydney FC	13	19,648	25,557	9,132	255,421
Queensland Roar	11	14,785	23,142	8,607	162,636
Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	10	14,158	18,026	10,078	141,578
Adelaide United !Adelaide United	12	11,332	14,068	7,013	135,982
Perth Glory !Perth Glory	11	9,734	13,157	5,033	107,075
Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	12	9,022	13,000	5,868	108,263
Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	11	8,765	17,429	5,194	96,418
New Zealand Knights	10	3,909	9,900	1,922	39,086
{{ALeague {{{T9}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{ALeague {{{T10}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{ALeague {{{T11}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{ALeague {{{T12}}}}}	0	0	0	0	0
League total	90	11,627	25,557	1,922	1,046,459

Highest attendance

41,689: Sydney FC !Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners, 5 March 2006 (Grand Final)
30,377: Sydney FC !Sydney FC vs Adelaide United !Adelaide United, 19 February 2006 (Semi-final L2)
25,557: Sydney FC !Sydney FC vs Adelaide United !Adelaide United, 3 February 2006 (Round 21)
25,208: Sydney FC !Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory, 28 August 2005 (Round 1)
23,142: Queensland Roar vs Sydney FC !Sydney FC, 23 September 2005 (Round 5)
20,725: Queensland Roar vs New Zealand Knights, 28 August 2005 (Round 1)
18,276: Sydney FC !Sydney FC vs Adelaide United !Adelaide United, 9 October 2005 (Round 7)
18,206: Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC !Sydney FC, 16 October 2005 (Round 8)
17,960: Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory !Perth Glory, 4 September 2005 (Round 2)

League records

The following league records are from the regular season only. It does not include records from the finals series.

Awards

Award	Recipient
Johnny Warren Medal (Player's Player of the Year)	Bobby Despotovski (Perth Glory !Perth Glory)
Reebok Golden Boot Award (Top Goalscorer)	Four players (see below)
Hyundai Rising Star Award (U-20 Player of the Year)	Nick Ward (footballer) (Perth Glory !Perth Glory)
Hyundai A-League Coach of the Year	Lawrie McKinna (Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners)
Zurich Referee of the Year	Mark Shield
Joe Marston Medal (Best player in Grand Final)	Dwight Yorke (Sydney FC !Sydney FC)

Leading goalscorers

Further information: A-League top scorers

Total	Player		Team	Goals per Round
Total	Player		Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
8		Alex Brosque	Brisbane Roar !Brisbane Roar	1													2		1			2	1	1
		Bobby Despotovski	Perth Glory !Perth Glory		1	2			1	1				1	1								1
		Archie Thompson	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	1				1	1		2	1							1		1
		Stewart Petrie	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners		1		1				2		2					1						1
7		Carl Veart	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	1									1	1			1	1	1			1
		Dean Heffernan	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners						1		1		1			1	1			1			1
		Dwight Yorke	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	1		1	1		1					1					1					1
		Ante Milicic	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets		1	1							1	3							1
		Sasho Petrovski	Sydney FC !Sydney FC						1	1		1		3								1
		Damian Mori	Perth Glory !Perth Glory							2				3					1					1

Fouls conceded

Player	Team	Fouls Conceded
Stewart Petrie	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	60
Ross Aloisi	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	50
Andrew Clark	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	49
Sasho Petrovski	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	49
Steve Pantelidis	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	47
Terry McFlynn	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	42
Noel Spencer	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	41
Carl Veart	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	40
Richard Johnson	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	40
Travis Dodd	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	39

Disciplinary records

Player	Team	Yellow	2YC	Red
Terry McFlynn	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	7	0	0
Matt McKay	Queensland Roar	3	1	1
Kevin Muscat	Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	4	1	0
Ross Aloisi	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	6	0	0
Remo Buess	Queensland Roar	6	0	0

Biggest victories

5 goals

	Score		Date	Round
Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory	5–0	Sydney FC !Sydney FC	16 Oct 2005	8
Queensland Roar	5–0	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	26 Jan 2006	20

4 goals

	Score		Date	Round
Perth Glory !Perth Glory	5–1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	8 Oct 2005	7
Sydney FC !Sydney FC	5–1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	5 Nov 2005	11
Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	4–0	New Zealand Knights	18 Sep 2005	4
Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	4–0	Perth Glory !Perth Glory	8 Oct 2005	8

Highest aggregate scores

	Score		Date	Round
Perth Glory !Perth Glory	5–1	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	8 Oct 2005	7
Sydney FC !Sydney FC	5–1	Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners	5 Nov 2005	11
Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	4–2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	14 Oct 2005	8
Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	4–2	New Zealand Knights	4 Nov 2005	11
Perth Glory !Perth Glory	4–2	Adelaide United !Adelaide United	6 Nov 2005	11
Adelaide United !Adelaide United	4–2	Queensland Roar	1 Jan 2006	16

Honours

First goal – Carl Veart (Adelaide United !Adelaide United vs Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets, Round 1)
First hat trick – Ante Milicic (Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets vs New Zealand Knights, Round 11)
First red card – Richie Alagich (Adelaide United !Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory, Round 3)

External links

A-League official website, including fixtures

A-League

Seasons	2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Grand Finals	2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Current clubs	Adelaide United Brisbane Roar Central Coast Mariners Melbourne City Melbourne Victory Newcastle Jets Perth Glory Sydney FC Wellington Phoenix Western Sydney Wanderers

Former clubs	Gold Coast United New Zealand Knights North Queensland Fury

Proposed clubs	Canberra South Coast Sydney Rovers Tasmanian

Rivalries	The Big Blue F3 Derby Melbourne Derby Sydney Derby

Competition	Players (Foreign) Head coaches Records (All-time table Golden Boot Coach of the Year Young Footballer of the Year Goalkeeper of the Year Hat-tricks Highest scoring games Attendance Clubs in Asia) Honours Stadiums Expansion

Associated competitions	W-League National Youth League National Premier Leagues AFC Champions League FFA Cup Pre-Season Challenge Cup (defunct) All Stars Game

Soccer in Australia

Football Federation Australia

National teams	Men's Men's U-23 Men's U-20 Men's U-17 Men's Beach Men's Paralympic Women's Women's U-20 Women's U-17

Current competitions	A-League Youth League W-League National Premier Leagues FFA Cup FFA State Institute Challenge Kanga Cup

Defunct competitions	National Soccer League NSL Cup National Youth League (1984–2004) Women's National Soccer League Australia Cup

Lists	Clubs Venues (stadiums by capacity) Champions

Other	League system Professional Footballers Australia Football Hall of Fame Women's soccer in Australia

2005–06 in Australian soccer

« 2004–05

2006–07 »

Domestic leagues

A-League (Pre-Season Challenge Cup, Grand Final)

International competitions

National team

Men's	Results ('05, '06) 2006 FIFA World Cup (Group F)

Women's	2006 AFC Women's Asian Cup

Club seasons

A-League

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