2008–09 A-League

The 2008–09 A-League was the 32nd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fourth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Two new clubs, North Queensland Thunder and Gold Coast Galaxy^[1][2] had received tentative licences from the FFA but these were revoked for the 2008–09 season on 12 March 2008.^[3] Expansion plans are on hold until the 2009–10 season. Based on their 2007–08 performances, the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets competed in the 2009 AFC Champions League for the first time.

A-League

Season	2008–09
Dates	15 August 2008 – 28 February 2009
Champions	Melbourne Victory (2nd title)
Premiers	Melbourne Victory (2nd title)
AFC Champions League	Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United
Matches played	84
Goals scored	249 (2.96 per match)
Top goalscorer	Shane Smeltz (12 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Eugene Galekovic
Highest attendance	31,564
Lowest attendance	4,433
Average attendance	12,180 ( 2430)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Changes to the league included:

• The introduction of both a youth league and women's league aligned with A-League clubs.^[4]
• An increase in the salary cap to A$1.9 million.^[5]
• The addition of a Junior Marquee player. (A player under the age of 23 who has up to A$150,000 of his salary outside of the cap.^[5]
• Injury replacement players can only match the injured players' salary, or have any excess included within the total Salary Cap.^[5]

Clubs

Adelaide United

Central Coast Mariners

Melbourne Victory

Newcastle Jets

Queensland Roar

Perth Glory

Sydney FC

Wellington Phoenix

Further information: A-League § Clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Adelaide United	Adelaide	Hindmarsh Stadium	17,000
Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Bluetongue Stadium	20,119
Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Telstra Dome	56,347
Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Energy Australia Stadium	26,164
Perth Glory	Perth	Members Equity Stadium	18,156
Queensland Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Sydney FC	Sydney	Aussie Stadium	42,500
Wellington Phoenix	Wellington	Westpac Stadium	34,500

Foreign players

Club	Visa 1	Visa 2	Visa 3	Visa 4	Non-Visa foreigner(s)	Former player(s)
Adelaide United	Alemão	Cássio	Cristiano	Diego Walsh	Jonas Salley1
Central Coast Mariners	André Gumprecht				Andrea Merenda3 John Hutchinson2
Melbourne Victory	Ney Fabiano	Carlos Hernández	José Luis López		Grant Brebner1
Newcastle Jets	Jesper Håkansson	Song Jin-hyung				Edmundo Zura
Perth Glory	Adrian Trinidad	Amaral	James Robinson	Eugène Dadi	Victor Sikora3
Queensland Roar	Reinaldo	Sergio van Dijk	Charlie Miller		Henrique3 Seo Hyuk-su1
Sydney FC	Bobby Petta	Terry McFlynn	Michael Enfield
Wellington Phoenix	Daniel	Gao Leilei	Chris Greenacre		Manny Muscat2	Fred4

The following do not fill a Visa position:
¹Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian Residency (and New Zealand Residency, in the case of Wellington Phoenix);
²Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team;
³Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players;
⁴Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games)

Salary cap exemptions and captains

Club	Marquee	Junior Marquee	Captain	Vice-Captain
Adelaide United	Paul Agostino[6]	None	Travis Dodd[7]	Lucas Pantelis[7]
Central Coast Mariners	None	None	Alex Wilkinson[8]	None
Melbourne Victory	Archie Thompson[9][10]	Nick Ward[11][12][13]	Kevin Muscat[14][15]	None
Newcastle Jets	Edmundo Zura[16][note 1]	Adam D'Apuzzo[12]	Jade North[18] Matt Thompson[note 2][19]	Ante Covic[citation needed] Adam Griffiths[citation needed]
Perth Glory	None	Nikita Rukavytsya[20]	Jamie Coyne[21]	None
Queensland Roar	Craig Moore[22]	None	Craig Moore[23]	None
Sydney FC	John Aloisi[24]	Mark Bridge[12]	Steve Corica[25]	None
Wellington Phoenix	None	None	Andrew Durante[26]	Tim Brown[26] Jon McKain[26][27] Richard Johnson[26]

Pre-season Challenge Cup

Main article: 2008 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup

All A-League clubs played the pre-season cup competition held in July and August, and were drawn into two groups. Group A consisted of Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory. Group B was Central Coast Mariners, Queensland Roar, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix.

The winner of each group, Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix, met in Wellington on 6 August 2008 for the Pre-Season Cup Final.^[28] With the score at 0–0 after 90 minutes, the game went to penalties, Melbourne Victory eventually prevailing 8–7, thus becoming the first team in A-League history to claim all three available trophies, after winning the Premiership and Championship in the 2006–07 season.

Regular season

The 2008–09 A-League season was played over 21 rounds, followed by a finals series.^[29]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Melbourne Victory (C)	21	12	2	7	39	27	+12	38	Qualification for 2010 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series
2	Adelaide United	21	11	5	5	31	19	+12	38
3	Queensland Roar	21	10	6	5	36	25	+11	36	Qualification for Finals series
4	Central Coast Mariners	21	7	7	7	35	32	+3	28
5	Sydney FC	21	7	5	9	33	32	+1	26
6	Wellington Phoenix	21	7	5	9	23	31	−8	26
7	Perth Glory	21	6	4	11	31	44	−13	22
8	Newcastle Jets	21	4	6	11	21	39	−18	18

Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Results

Round 1

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners

15 August 2008	Newcastle Jets	1–1	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10	J. Griffiths 90+1' (pen.)	Report Summary	Simon 87'	Attendance: 16,022 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory

16 August 2008	Sydney FC	0–0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary		Attendance: 16,227 Referee: Mark Shield

Wellington Phoenix v Queensland Roar

17 August 2008	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Queensland Roar	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12	Smeltz 51'	Report Summary	Miller 46'	Attendance: 10,516 Referee: Ben Williams

Adelaide United v Perth Glory

17 August 2008	Adelaide United	1–0	Perth Glory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+9:30	T. Dodd 41'	Report Summary		Attendance: 10,510 Referee: Peter Green

Round 2

Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets

22 August 2008	Perth Glory	3–3	Newcastle Jets	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
19:00 UTC+8	Trinidad 35' (pen.) Dadi 58' Rukavytsya 81'	Report Summary	J. Griffiths 20' (pen.) Coyne 49' (o.g.) North 90+5'	Attendance: 8,876 Referee: Craig Zetter

Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC

23 August 2008	Central Coast Mariners	2–3	Sydney FC	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+10	Petrovski 13' (pen.), 67'	Report Summary	Corica 6', 14' Cole 81'	Attendance: 10,932 Referee: Ben Williams

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory

24 August 2008	Wellington Phoenix	2–4	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12	Smeltz 29', 65' (pen.)	Report Summary	Allsopp 16', 35' Ney Fabiano 47' K. Muscat 68' (pen.)	Attendance: 6,110 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Queensland Roar v Adelaide United

24 August 2008	Queensland Roar	1–1	Adelaide United	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
17:00 UTC+10	Miller 47'	Report Summary	T. Dodd 8' (pen.)	Attendance: 12,761 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 3

Melbourne Victory v Newcastle Jets

29 August 2008	Melbourne Victory	5–0	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+10	Hernández 41' A. Thompson 45+2' Allsopp 61', 64' Brebner 90'	Report Summary		Attendance: 22,589 Referee: Mark Shield

Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix

30 August 2008	Adelaide United	3–0	Wellington Phoenix	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+9:30	Pantelis 15' Cristiano 49', 60'	Report Summary		Attendance: 7,832 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Sydney FC v Perth Glory

31 August 2008	Sydney FC	5–2	Perth Glory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
15:00 UTC+10	Brosque 3' Corica 21' (pen.) Bridge 39' Cole 43' Topor-Stanley 88' (o.g.)	Report Summary	Dadi 12', 67' (pen.)	Attendance: 11,732 Referee: Peter Green

Queensland Roar v Central Coast Mariners

31 August 2008	Queensland Roar	2–4	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
17:00 UTC+10	Miller 69' van Dijk 73' (pen.)	Report Summary	Simon 31' Jedinak 48' Macallister 64', 71'	Attendance: 12,185 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 4

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

12 September 2008	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+10	K. Muscat 64'	Report Summary		Attendance: 24,812 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC

13 September 2008	Newcastle Jets	0–0	Sydney FC	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary		Attendance: 11,535 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Perth Glory v Queensland Roar

14 September 2008	Perth Glory	0–3	Queensland Roar	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8		Report Summary	Moore 14' McKay 23' Miller 45+2'	Attendance: 8,203 Referee: Ben Williams

Wellington Phoenix v Central Coast Mariners

14 September 2008	Wellington Phoenix	0–0	Central Coast Mariners	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12		Report Summary		Attendance: 6,928 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 5

Queensland Roar v Newcastle Jets

19 September 2008	Queensland Roar	0–1	Newcastle Jets	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	J. Griffiths 83'	Attendance: 12,103 Referee: Craig Zetter

Sydney FC v Adelaide United

20 September 2008	Sydney FC	3–0	Adelaide United	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	McFlynn 2' Brosque 34' Santalab 79'	Report Summary		Attendance: 12,462 Referee: Ben Williams

Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory

20 September 2008	Central Coast Mariners	2–2	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+10	Simon 12', 84'	Report Summary	A. Thompson 16', 90+4'	Attendance: 9,010 Referee: Peter Green

Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix

21 September 2008	Perth Glory	1–0	Wellington Phoenix	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8	Dadi 79' (pen.)	Report Summary		Attendance: 4,433 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 6

Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory

26 September 2008	Central Coast Mariners	4–1	Perth Glory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+10	Petrovski 9' Jedinak 29' Caceres 45' Osman 64'	Report Summary	Rukavytsya 63'	Attendance: 8,016 Referee: Mark Shield

Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets

27 September 2008	Adelaide United	2–0	Newcastle Jets	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+9:30	Cristiano 72', 89'	Report Summary		Attendance: 8,111 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Wellington Phoenix v Sydney FC

28 September 2008	Wellington Phoenix	2–1	Sydney FC	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12	Smeltz 42' Brown 76'	Report Summary	Brosque 20'	Attendance: 6,729 Referee: Chris Beath

Melbourne Victory v Queensland Roar

28 September 2008	Melbourne Victory	0–2	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	Minniecon 83' Zullo 90+4'	Attendance: 22,266 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 7

Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners

3 October 2008	Adelaide United	3–3	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	T. Dodd 7' (pen.) Cornthwaite 19' Cristiano 50'	Report Summary	Jedinak 66' (pen.), 76' Simon 84'	Attendance: 9,074 Referee: Ben Williams

Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory

4 October 2008	Melbourne Victory	4–0	Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10	Brebner 25' Allsopp 39', 71' Vargas 46'	Report Summary		Attendance: 18,036 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Sydney FC v Queensland Roar

4 October 2008	Sydney FC	1–1	Queensland Roar	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10	Musialik 90+3'	Report Summary	Miller 49'	Attendance: 12,403 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix

6 October 2008	Newcastle Jets	2–2	Wellington Phoenix	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
15:00 UTC+11	T. Elrich 59' Patafta 68'	Report Summary	Smeltz 52' (pen.), 89' (pen.)	Attendance: 8,492 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 8

Queensland Roar v Adelaide United

17 October 2008	Queensland Roar	0–1	Adelaide United	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:30 UTC+10		Report Summary	Cornthwaite 60'	Attendance: 11,117 Referee: Mark Shield

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory

18 October 2008	Newcastle Jets	1–0	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+11	Jesic 85'	Report Summary		Attendance: 11,384 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix

19 October 2008	Central Coast Mariners	0–1	Wellington Phoenix	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
15:00 UTC+11		Report Summary	K. Dodd 53'	Attendance: 9,011 Referee: Ben Williams

Perth Glory v Sydney FC

19 October 2008	Perth Glory	2–1	Sydney FC	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
14:00 UTC+8	Harnwell 5', 47'	Report Summary	Santalab 11'	Attendance: 7,759 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 9

Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets

24 October 2008	Central Coast Mariners	1–0	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Macallister 33'	Report Summary		Attendance: 10,710 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC

25 October 2008	Melbourne Victory	0–2	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11		Report Summary	Bridge 20' Aloisi 62'	Attendance: 31,564 Referee: Ben Williams

Adelaide United v Perth Glory

26 October 2008	Adelaide United	2–1	Perth Glory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
16:30 UTC+10:30	Alemão 80' T. Dodd 82' (pen.)	Report Summary	Rukavytsya 55'	Attendance: 10,126 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Wellington Phoenix v Queensland Roar

26 October 2008	Wellington Phoenix	0–1	Queensland Roar	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+13		Report Summary	McCloughan 40'	Attendance: 6,543 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 10

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

31 October 2008	Adelaide United	2–3	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30	T. Dodd 28' (pen.) Cássio 67'	Report Summary	K. Muscat 55' (pen.), 81' (pen.) Celeski 84'	Attendance: 13,191 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners

1 November 2008	Sydney FC	3–3	Central Coast Mariners	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11	Bridge 28' Casey 39' McFlynn 57'	Report Summary	Simon 63', 81' Mrdja 78'	Attendance: 18,251 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Newcastle Jets v Queensland Roar

2 November 2008	Newcastle Jets	1–2	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	J. Griffiths 23'	Report Summary	McKay 24' Miller 35'	Attendance: 10,507 Referee: Craig Zetter

Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix

2 November 2008	Perth Glory	2–0	Wellington Phoenix	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+9	Rukavytsya 15', 70'	Report Summary		Attendance: 7,228 Referee: Chris Beath

Round 11

Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix

7 November 2008	Sydney FC	1–2	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+11	Musialik 77'	Report Summary	Bertos 34' Smeltz 89' (pen.)	Attendance: 12,856 Referee: Craig Zetter

Queensland Roar v Melbourne Victory

8 November 2008	Queensland Roar	0–1	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10		Report Summary	A. Thompson 71'	Attendance: 12,022 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets

9 November 2008	Perth Glory	2–2	Newcastle Jets	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+9	Rukavytsya 27' Dadi 90+2' (pen.)	Report Summary	J. Griffiths 17' T. Elrich 45'	Attendance: 7,837 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Central Coast Mariners v Adelaide United

15 November 2008	Central Coast Mariners	3–0	Adelaide United	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:30 UTC+11	Simon 18' Petrovski 44' Caceres 50'	Report Summary		Attendance: 7,865 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 12

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners

21 November 2008	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Pondeljak 37' A. Thompson 60'	Report Summary	Hutchinson 34'	Attendance: 21,455 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Adelaide United v Sydney FC

22 November 2008	Adelaide United	2–0	Sydney FC	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+10:30	Ognenovski 45+2' T. Dodd 78'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,509 Referee: Ben Williams

Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets

23 November 2008	Wellington Phoenix	2–0	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
18:00 UTC+13	Smeltz 79' Hearfield 86'	Report Summary		Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Queensland Roar v Perth Glory

23 November 2008	Queensland Roar	4–1	Perth Glory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
17:00 UTC+10	van Dijk 45+1' (pen.) Minniecon 45+3' Miller 55' Nichols 82'	Report Summary	Harnwell 57'	Attendance: 9,118 Referee: Peter Green

Round 13

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory

28 November 2008	Wellington Phoenix	2–1	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+13	Brown 21' Smeltz 58'	Report Summary	Allsopp 20'	Attendance: 7,953 Referee: Craig Zetter

Sydney FC v Queensland Roar

28 November 2008	Sydney FC	1–1	Queensland Roar	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
20:00 UTC+10	Corica 64'	Report Summary	McKay 12'	Attendance: 8,502 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners

29 November 2008	Perth Glory	2–2	Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
18:00 UTC+9	Rukavytsya 55', 62'	Report Summary	Jedinak 31' Petrovski 90+2'	Attendance: 6,496 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United

30 November 2008	Newcastle Jets	1–1	Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	M. Thompson 56'	Report Summary	Ognenovski 90+4'	Attendance: 7,136 Referee: Chris Beath

Round 14

Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix

5 December 2008	Adelaide United	6–1	Wellington Phoenix	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30	Ognenovski 21' Cristiano 43', 74' Cassio 57', 70' T. Dodd 90+1'	Report Summary	Fred 56'	Attendance: 9,442 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Central Coast Mariners v Queensland Roar

6 December 2008	Central Coast Mariners	1–1	Queensland Roar	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Gumprecht 83'	Report Summary	van Dijk 11'	Attendance: 8,995 Referee: Ben Williams

Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory

6 December 2008	Perth Glory	3–1	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
18:00 UTC+9	Dadi 19', 23' Pellegrino 79'	Report Summary	Ney Fabiano 55'	Attendance: 6,621 Referee: Peter Green

Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC

7 December 2008	Newcastle Jets	1–2	Sydney FC	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Wheelhouse 11'	Report Summary	Fyfe 15' Gan 78'	Attendance: 7,872 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 15

Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory

13 December 2008	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Perth Glory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:00 UTC+13	Brown 83'	Report Summary	Dadi 76'	Attendance: 6,362 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC

13 December 2008	Central Coast Mariners	2–1	Sydney FC	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+11	Macallister 11' Jedinak 90+1' (pen.)	Report Summary	Aloisi 65' (pen.)	Attendance: 11,220 Referee: Peter Green

Queensland Roar v Newcastle Jets

14 December 2008	Queensland Roar	2–1	Newcastle Jets	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10	Nichols 45+2' van Dijk 90+1'	Report Summary	J. Griffiths 26'	Attendance: 11,048 Referee: Ben Williams

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

6 January 2009[30]	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:30 UTC+11	Ward 58'	Report Summary		Attendance: 27,196 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 16

Wellington Phoenix v Central Coast Mariners

19 December 2008	Wellington Phoenix	1–0	Central Coast Mariners	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+13	Smeltz 2'	Report Summary		Attendance: 6,722 Referee: Chris Beath

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory

19 December 2008	Newcastle Jets	4–2	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	M. Thompson 16', 45', 49' Song 60'	Report Summary	Allsopp 66' Ney Fabiano 87'	Attendance: 6,268 Referee: Craig Zetter

Sydney FC v Perth Glory

21 December 2008	Sydney FC	1–4	Perth Glory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Musialik 61'	Report Summary	Pellegrino 11' Golec 36' (o.g.) Srhoj 49' Middleby 69' (o.g.)	Attendance: 12,165 Referee: Ben Williams

Adelaide United v Queensland Roar

14 January 2009[30]	Adelaide United	0–0	Queensland Roar	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30		Report Summary		Attendance: 14,450 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Round 17

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners

26 December 2008	Newcastle Jets	1–2	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	J. Griffiths 9' (pen.)	Report Summary	Petrovski 67' Simon 80'	Attendance: 11,413 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Perth Glory v Adelaide United

26 December 2008	Perth Glory	0–1	Adelaide United	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
20:00 UTC+9		Report Summary	Sarkies 40'	Attendance: 12,581 Referee: Craig Zetter

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC

27 December 2008	Melbourne Victory	3–2	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	A. Thompson 14' Ward 71' Ney Fabiano 80'	Report Summary	Cole 1' Gan 4'	Attendance: 25,398 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Queensland Roar v Wellington Phoenix

28 December 2008	Queensland Roar	3–2	Wellington Phoenix	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:00 UTC+10	McKay 39' van Dijk 48' Oar 90+1'	Report Summary	de Vere 11' (o.g.) Hearfield 46'	Attendance: 13,115 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 18

Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory

31 December 2008	Central Coast Mariners	1–0	Perth Glory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson 80'	Report Summary		Attendance: 15,546 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Melbourne Victory v Queensland Roar

2 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Allsopp 55' Vargas 67'	Report Summary	Moore 75'	Attendance: 23,447 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Adelaide United v Sydney FC

3 January 2009	Adelaide United	2–0	Sydney FC	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30	Cássio 45+1' Alemão 83'	Report Summary		Attendance: 23,002 Referee: Chris Beath

Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets

4 January 2009	Wellington Phoenix	3–0	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:00 UTC+13	Bertos 62' Smeltz 67', 86' (pen.)	Report Summary		Attendance: 7,520 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 19

Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets

9 January 2009	Adelaide United	2–0	Newcastle Jets	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30	Barbiero 23' Pantelis 74'	Report Summary		Attendance: 13,585 Referee: Peter Green

Central Coast Mariners v Queensland Roar

10 January 2009	Central Coast Mariners	3–4	Queensland Roar	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+11	Mrdja 5' Simon 55', 81'	Report Summary	van Dijk 43', 48' Minniecon 60' Porter 69' (o.g.)	Attendance: 11,454 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix

11 January 2009	Sydney FC	1–0	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
18:00 UTC+11	Danning 85'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,605 Referee: Ben Williams

Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory

11 January 2009	Perth Glory	3–2	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
18:00 UTC+9	Dadi 32', 76' Rukavytsya 36'	Report Summary	Allsopp 3' Ney Fabiano 48'	Attendance: 9,381 Referee: Chris Beath

Round 20

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners

16 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	3–0	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Allsopp 68' Hernández 71' A. Thompson 75'	Report Summary		Attendance: 24,003 Referee: Peter Green

Queensland Roar v Sydney FC

17 January 2009	Queensland Roar	3–1	Sydney FC	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	van Dijk 16', 28', 90+3'	Report Summary	Danning 25'	Attendance: 19,111 Referee: Craig Zetter

Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United

18 January 2009	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Adelaide United	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+13	Barbarouses 31'	Report Summary	Reid 9'	Attendance: 8,241 Referee: Chris Beath

Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory

18 January 2009	Newcastle Jets	2–1	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Kovacic 41' Milligan 55' (pen.)	Report Summary	Bulloch 65'	Attendance: 6,665 Referee: Kris Griffith-Jones

Round 21

Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix

23 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	2–0	Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	K. Muscat 40' (pen.) A. Thompson 90'	Report[permanent dead link] Summary		Attendance: 28,905 Referee: Strebre Delovski

Queensland Roar v Perth Glory

24 January 2009	Queensland Roar	4–2	Perth Glory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
20:00 UTC+10	Nichols 27' Tiatto 63' van Dijk 76' McCloughan 82'	Report Summary	Rukavytsya 21' Skorich 66'	Attendance: 17,367 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Sydney FC v Newcastle Jets

25 January 2009	Sydney FC	4–0	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Brosque 13', 41' Milligan 77' (o.g.) Bridge 86'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,551 Referee: Kevin Docherty

Central Coast Mariners v Adelaide United

25 January 2009	Central Coast Mariners	0–1	Adelaide United	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+11		Report Summary	Cristiano 82'	Attendance: 12,351 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Finals series

Bracket

	Semifinals							Preliminary final					Final
	2	Adelaide United	0	0	0								1	Melbourne Victory	1
	1	Melbourne Victory	2	4	6								2	Adelaide United	0
								2	Adelaide United	1
								3	Queensland Roar	0
	4	Central Coast Mariners	0	1	1
	3	Queensland Roar	2	2	4

Semi-finals

6 February 2009

20:00 UTC+11

Central Coast Mariners	0–2	Queensland Roar
	Report Summary	Nichols 30' van Dijk 54' (pen.)

Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford

Attendance: 9,514

Referee: Ben Williams

13 February 2009

19:30 UTC+10

Queensland Roar	2–1	Central Coast Mariners
Nichols 21' McKay 49'	Report Summary	Mrdja 64'

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Attendance: 23,705

Referee: Peter Green

Queensland Roar won 4–1 on aggregate.

---

7 February 2009

18:30 UTC+10:30

Adelaide United	0–2	Melbourne Victory
	Report Summary	Hernández 13' Allsopp 89'

Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide

Attendance: 14,119

Referee: Strebre Delovski

14 February 2009

19:30 UTC+11

Melbourne Victory	4–0	Adelaide United
Thompson 10' Hernández 24' Allsopp 44' Pondeljak 48'	Report Summary

Telstra Dome, Melbourne

Attendance: 34,736

Referee: Matthew Breeze

Melbourne Victory won 6–0 on aggregate.

Preliminary final

21 February 2009

18:30 UTC+10:30

Adelaide United	1–0	Queensland Roar
Barbiero 25'	Report Summary

Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide

Attendance: 8,472

Referee: Strebre Delovski

Grand Final

See also: 2009 A-League Grand Final

28 February 2009

19:30 UTC+11

Melbourne Victory	1–0	Adelaide United
Pondeljak 60'	Report Summary

Telstra Dome, Melbourne

Attendance: 53,273

Referee: Matthew Breeze

Statistics

Leading scorers

Further information: A-League Top scorers

Total	Player		Team	Goals per Round
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
12		Shane Smeltz	Wellington Phoenix	1	2				1	2				1	1	1			1		2
11		Matt Simon	Central Coast Mariners	1		1		2		1			2	1						1		2
11		Daniel Allsopp	Melbourne Victory		2	2				2						1			1		1	1	1
11		Sergio van Dijk	Queensland Roar			1									1		1	1		1		2	3	1
10		Eugène Dadi	Perth Glory		1	2		1						1			2	1				2
10		Nikita Rukavytsya	Perth Glory		1				1			1	2	1		2						1		1
8		Archie Thompson	Melbourne Victory			1		2						1	1					1			1	1
8		Cristiano	Adelaide United			2			2	1							2							1
8		Charlie Miller	Queensland Roar	1	1	1	1			1			1		1
7		Travis Dodd	Adelaide United	1	1					1		1	1		1		1
7		Joel Griffiths	Newcastle Jets	1	1			1					1	1				1		1
6		Mile Jedinak	Central Coast Mariners			1			1	2						1		1
6		Sasho Petrovski	Central Coast Mariners		2				1					1		1				1
5		Ney Fabiano de Oliveira	Melbourne Victory		1												1		1	1		1
5		Kevin Muscat	Melbourne Victory		1		1						2											1
5		Alex Brosque	Sydney FC			1		1	1															2
As of the end of the home and away season

	A goal was scored from a penalty kick
	Two goals were scored from penalty kicks

Attendance

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.

Team	Hosted	Average	High	Low	Total
Melbourne Victory	11	24,516	31,564	18,036	269,671
Queensland Roar	10	12,995	19,111	9,118	129,947
Sydney FC	10	12,375	18,251	8,502	123,754
Adelaide United	11	11,712	23,002	7,832	128,832
Central Coast Mariners	11	10,465	15,546	7,865	115,110
Newcastle Jets	10	9,729	16,022	6,268	97,294
Perth Glory	10	7,942	12,581	4,433	79,415
Wellington Phoenix	11	7,193	10,516	5,500	79,124
{{{T9}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T10}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T11}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T12}}}	0	0	0	0	0
League total	84	12,180	31,564	4,433	1,023,147

* Adelaide United played a one-off match at the Adelaide Oval against Sydney FC in their Round 18 match. This is why Adelaide United's highest single attendance exceeds the capacity of Hindmarsh Stadium.

Top 10 Attendances

Attendance	Round	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Weekday	Time of Day
53,273	Grand Final	28 February 2009	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome	Saturday	Night
34,736	Major SF (L2)	14 February 2009	Melbourne Victory	4–0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome	Saturday	Night
31,654	Round 9	25 October 2008	Melbourne Victory	0–2	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome	Saturday	Night
28,905	Round 21	23 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	2–0	Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome	Friday	Night
27,196	Round 15	6 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome	Tuesday	Night
25,398	Round 17	27 December 2008	Melbourne Victory	3–2	Sydney FC	Telstra Dome	Saturday	Night
24,812	Round 4	12 September 2008	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Adelaide United	Telstra Dome	Friday	Night
24,003	Round 20	16 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	3–0	Central Coast Mariners	Telstra Dome	Friday	Night
23,705	Minor SF (L2)	13 February 2009	Queensland Roar	2–1	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium	Friday	Night
23,447	Round 18	2 January 2009	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome	Friday	Night

Awards

• The Premiers' Plate was awarded to the Melbourne Victory, who finished on top of the ladder after the regular season.
• The Johnny Warren Medal was awarded to Shane Smeltz from the Wellington Phoenix.
• The Coach of the Year was awarded to Aurelio Vidmar of Adelaide United.
• The Reebok Golden Boot was awarded to Shane Smeltz of the Wellington Phoenix (12 goals - regular season).
• The Rising Star award was awarded to Scott Jamieson of Adelaide United.
• The Fair Play Award was awarded to the Queensland Roar.
• Goalkeeper of the Year was awarded to Eugene Galekovic of Adelaide United.
• Referee of the Year was awarded to Matthew Breeze.
• Foreign Player of the Year was awarded to Charlie Miller of the Queensland Roar.

See also

• Adelaide United season 2008-09
• Central Coast Mariners season 2008-09
• Melbourne Victory season 2008-09
• Newcastle United Jets FC season 2008-09
• Perth Glory season 2008-09
• Queensland Roar season 2008-09
• Sydney FC season 2008-09
• Wellington Phoenix season 2008-09
• 2008 Australian football code crowds

Notes

1. Zura's contract was mutually terminated part-way through his marquee deal on 2 November 2008.^[17]
2. Thompson replaced North as captain mid-season