Melbourne Rectangular Stadium interior 2

The 2020–21 A-League was the 44th season of national level

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in Australia, and the 16th since the establishment of the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

in 2004. The season was started on 28 December 2020 and concluded with the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

on 27 June 2021. The start of the season was later than previous seasons as a result of both the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and as part of a gradual shift to move the competition from summer to winter.

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

played the majority of their home matches at Wollongong Showground in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

due to international travel restrictions.

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

were the defending champions and premiers, having won their record fifth and fourth titles respectively the previous season. Melbourne City won their first premiership and championship title, leaving Sydney FC in second on both.

Clubs

There were 12 clubs participating in this season.

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under Professional sports league organi ...

made their A-League debut this season.

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Foreign players

The following do not fill a Visa position:
¹Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian citizenship (or New Zealand citizenship, in the case of

);
²Australian citizens (or New Zealand citizens, in the case of

) who have chosen to represent another national team;
³Injury replacement players, or National team replacement players;
⁴Guest players (eligible to play a maximum of fourteen games)

Salary cap exemptions and captains

Transfers

Regular season

The regular season commenced on 28 December 2020 and ended on 10 June 2021.

League table

Fixtures and results

Finals series

Elimination-finals

Semi-finals

Grand Final

Statistics

Top scorers

''Including Finals matches''

Hat-tricks

Awards

Annual awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2020–21 Dolan Warren Awards night on 23 June 2021. *

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new na ...

–

Ulises Dávila Ulises Alejandro Dávila Plascencia (born 13 April 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who last played as an attacking midfielder for A-League club Macarthur FC. Club career Guadalajara Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Dávila was champion ...

Miloš Ninković Miloš Ninković ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Нинковић; born 25 December 1984) is a Serbian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Čukarički At a young age, Ninković joined FK Čukarički's youth academy and la ...

* NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Joel King,

* Nike Golden Boot Award –

Jamie Maclaren Jamie Maclaren (born 29 July 1993) is an Australian professional association football, soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan Super Giants, Mohun Bagan and the Austr ...

, Melbourne City (25 goals) * Goalkeeper of the Year –

Mark Birighitti Mark Romano Birighitti (born 17 April 1991) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for A-League Men side Perth Glory. Born in Perth, Birighitti played youth football at the Australian Institute of Sport before makin ...

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

& Andrew Redmayne,

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

– Patrick Kisnorbo, Melbourne City * Fair Play Award –

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

* Referee of the Year – Chris Beath * Goal of the Year – Andy Keogh,

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

(

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

, 16 May 2021)

Team of the season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 A-League

A League, 2021 A-League Men seasons