2006 A-League Grand Final

The 2006 A-League Grand Final, the first edition of the A-League grand final was played between Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners to decide the champion of the 2005–06 season. The Grand Final took place at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney on 5 March 2006 after Sydney FC won the ground advantage after defeating Adelaide United in the major semi-final.

2006 A-League Grand Final

Event	2005–06 A-League
Sydney FC Central Coast Mariners 1 0
Date	5 March 2006
Venue	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Man of the Match	Dwight Yorke, Sydney FC
Referee	Mark Shield
Attendance	41,689
← 2004 (NSL) 2007 →

In the Grand Final, a goal from Steve Corica in the second half secured the premiership for Sydney. As the winners of the Grand Final, Sydney qualified through to the 2007 AFC Champions League joining Adelaide United who were the minor premiers.

Road to the final

See also: 2005–06 A-League

	Semifinals						Preliminary final					Final
	Adelaide United		2	1								Sydney FC		1
	Sydney FC		2	2								Central Coast Mariners		0
							Adelaide United		0
							Central Coast Mariners		1
	Central Coast Mariners		1	1
	Newcastle Jets		0	1

Match

Details

5 March 2006
17:00 AEDT

Sydney FC	1–0	Central Coast Mariners
Corica 62'	Reports[1]

Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 41,689

Referee: Mark Shield

Sydney FC

Central Coast Mariners

GK 1 Clint Bolton DF 3 Alvin Ceccoli DF 4 Mark Rudan  72' DF 8 Matthew Bingley MF 10 Steve Corica FW 11 Sasho Petrovski  90' MF 12 David Carney MF 14 Andrew Packer MF 15 Terry McFlynn DF 17 Jacob Timpano  81' FW 19 Dwight Yorke (c) Substitutes: GK 20 Justin Pasfield DF 2 Iain Fyfe  72' MF 7 Robbie Middleby  90' FW 23 Ruben Zadkovich  81' Manager: Pierre Littbarski

GK 20 Danny Vukovic DF 2 Wayne O'Sullivan MF 4 Noel Spencer (c)  57' DF 5 Michael Beauchamp MF 6 Andre Gumprecht DF 8 Dean Heffernan MF 10 Tom Pondeljak MF 11 Damien Brown  68' FW 12 Stewart Petrie  73' FW 15 Andrew Clark DF 18 Alex Wilkinson  84' Substitutes: GK 30 Matthew Trott DF 17 Matthew Osman  68' MF 3 Paul O'Grady  84' FW 19 Adam Kwasnik  73' Manager: Lawrie McKinna

Joe Marston Medal: Dwight Yorke (Sydney FC) Assistant referees: Fourth official:

Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.

A-League 2006 Champions
Sydney FC First Title

Statistics

	Sydney	Central Coast
Attempts at goal	15	15
Attempts on target	6	5
Attempts off target	9	10
Attempts - Woodwork	0	0
Keeper saves	4	3
Ball possession	50%	50%
Corners	4	9
Fouls committed	20	16
Offsides	4	3
Yellow cards	0	1
Red cards	0	0

See also

• 2005–06 A-League
• List of A-League honours