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A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level
professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
men's
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competition for the sport. A-League Men was established in 2004 as the A-League by the
Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
(FFA) as a successor to the National Soccer League (NSL) and competition commenced in August 2005. The
league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...
is currently are administered by the
Australian Professional Leagues The Australian Professional Leagues, commonly abbreviated to the APL, and sometimes referred to as the A-Leagues, are the governing body for the A-League Men, A-League Women, A-League Youth and E-League. Since their formation, they have been m ...
(APL), contested by twelve teams; eleven based in Australia and one based in New Zealand. The men's,
women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
and
youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...
leagues have now been brought together under a unified A-Leagues banner. Seasons run from October to May and include a 26-round
regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
followed by a Finals Series
playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
involving the six highest-placed teams, culminating in a
grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") 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. Sy ...
match. The winner of the regular season tournament is dubbed the 'Premier' while the winner of the grand final is the season's 'Champion'. This differs from the other major football codes in Australia, where 'premier' refers to the winner of the grand final and the winner of the regular season is the ' minor premier'. Successful A-League Men clubs gain qualification into the Asian continental club competitions, the AFC Champions League (ACL) and the AFC Cup. In 2014, the
Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...
became the first and only winning Australian club. Similar to the United States and Canada's
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
, as well as other professional sports leagues in Australia, A-League Men does not practice
relegation and promotion In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
.


History


Origins

A national
round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...
existed in various forms prior to the formation of the A-League, with the most notable being the National Soccer League (NSL). The formation of the NSL came after
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
's qualification for the
1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...
, which led to discussion of a national league, with 14 teams eventually chosen to participate in the inaugural season of the NSL in 1977. Under the guidance of the then-governing body, the Australian Soccer Federation (later Soccer Australia), the NSL flourished through the 1980s and early 1990s but then fell into decline with the increasing departure of Australian players to overseas leagues, a disastrous television deal with the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
and the resulting lack of sponsorship. Few clubs continued to grow with Sydney Olympic, Perth Glory, and the newly established
Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...
the exception in a dying league. In April 2003, the
Australian Federal Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
initiated the Independent Soccer Review Committee to investigate the governance and management of the sport in Australia, including that of the NSL. In December 2003, the Crawford Report found that the NSL was financially unviable, and in response the chairman of the sports new governing body,
Frank Lowy Sir Frank P. Lowy ( ; born 22 October 1930) is an Australian people, Australian-Israeli people, Israeli businessman of Jewish Slovakian-Hungarian origins and the former long-time Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre comp ...
of the
Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
, announced that a task force would be formed to create a new national competition as a successor to the NSL which dissolved at the conclusion of the 2003–04 season after 27 years of operation.


Foundations

The A-League was announced in April 2004, as a successor to the NSL. Eight teams would be part of the new national competition, with one team from each city of Sydney,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
,
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, plus a New Zealand team and one from a remaining expressions of interest from either Melbourne or Sydney. The competition start date was set for August 2005. By June of that year, 20 submissions had been received and a month later 12 consortiums sent in their final bids for the eight spots. Three bids were received from Melbourne, two each from Sydney and Brisbane, one from each of the remaining preferred cities and a bid from the
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
Central Coast city of
Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...
. Over the next three months, each bid was reviewed and on 1 November 2004, the eight successful bidders and the major sponsor were revealed, for what would be known as the Hyundai A-League, with the
Hyundai Motor Company Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...
unveiled as the official naming rights sponsor for the league. The eight founding teams for the league were
Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...
, the
Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...
, the
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
, the
Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...
, the
New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-Leagu ...
, the Perth Glory, the
Queensland Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisb ...
, and Sydney FC, with four former NSL clubs taking part, those being Adelaide United, the Newcastle Jets, and the Perth Glory, as well as the Queensland Lions who withdrew their first team from the Queensland State League and entered it in to the competition as the Queensland Roar plus the New Zealand Knights who were formed from the New Zealand Football Kingz. Each club was given a five-year exclusivity deal in its own market as part of the league's "one-city, one-team" policy. This was intended to allow clubs to grow and develop an identity in their respective region without local competition.


Initial seasons

On 26 August 2005, 16 months after the demise of the NSL, the inaugural season of the A-League began. The first season would see Adelaide United win the premier's plate by seven points over Sydney FC with Central Coast and Newcastle filling the final two spots in the final series. In the final series, it was Sydney that took out the title after they defeated Central Coast by a
Steve Corica Stephen Christopher Corica ( born 24 March 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Australian club Sydney FC. A technically gifted and skillful attacking midfielder during his playing ...
goal to claim the first title on 5 March 2006. The following season saw
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
claim the A-League premiers plate when they smashed
Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...
6–0 in the final at the
Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and w ...
with
Archie Thompson Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professional association football, footballer. He also is serving as a club ambassador for Melbourne Victory FC. Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at the N ...
scoring five goals in the rout. But the season wasn't without a change with the
New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-Leagu ...
being replaced by the
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
after the Knights were taken over by New Zealand Football after the team only won six times in forty-two games and selected overseas talent instead of local.


Development and reforms

Both
Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...
and the
North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...
joined the league in the 2009–10 season. On 12 June 2009,
Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...
was awarded a licence to join the 2010–11 season. On 1 March 2011
North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...
's A-League licence was revoked for financial reasons. On 29 February 2012,
Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...
also had its licence revoked. On 4 April 2012, it was announced that a new Western Sydney-based club,
Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...
, would join the league for the 2012–13 season. In January 2014, Melbourne Heart was acquired by the
City Football Group City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations; of which 81% is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, 18% by the American firm Si ...
and was renamed Melbourne City ahead of the 2014–15 season. In February 2018, officials announced that the league would expand to 12 teams for the 2019–20 season. Later that year, the league announced that
Western United FC Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the regi ...
would join the competition in 2019–20 and Macarthur would enter the following season (2020–21). In the lead-up to the expansion announcements in 2019, club stakeholders entered into discussions with
Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
(FFA) to take over ownership of the competition. The league had been created and operated by the FFA since its inception in 2004, though by 2018 the FFA and clubs were at loggerheads over the permanent ownership structure of the league. A
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
-backed congress review working group issued a sweeping 100-page report in August 2018, recommending an expanded domestic congress and an independent A-League, controlled and operated by the clubs. On 1 July 2019, the FFA and Australian Professional Football Clubs Association (the body representing the A-League clubs) announced an agreement had been reached for the FFA to relinquish control of the league to the clubs by the following month, in time for the start of the 2019–20 season. The agreement brought the sport in line with the governance structure utilised in most
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
leagues. The new ownership body is called the
Australian Professional Leagues The Australian Professional Leagues, commonly abbreviated to the APL, and sometimes referred to as the A-Leagues, are the governing body for the A-League Men, A-League Women, A-League Youth and E-League. Since their formation, they have been m ...
, a consortium of the A-League clubs and their owners, with certain rights held by the FFA, and a capital investment & ownership stake held by American firm Silver Lake. In 2020, soccer experts concluded A-League is entering a new crisis era, due to lack of major competitiveness and that total reforms must be done to improve the league, including the introduction of promotion and relegation system, and this has started to be debated. In response, A-League officials in May 2021 announced that the league will align to the Domestic Match Calendar to avoid clashing with FIFA Days, as well as introducing Domestic Transfer System and National Club Licensing frameworks.


Competition format


Regular season

The regular season runs mainly during the Australian summer, from early October to April of the following year. The competition consists of 26 rounds, with each team playing every other team two or three times. The teams allotted two home matches against an opponent in one season are allotted one home match against that opponent in the following season. Each match sees the winning team awarded three competition points, with one point each for a
draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
. The club at the top of this ladder is crowned A-League Premiers, and since the 2005–06 season has been entered into the AFC Champions League. The Premier is presented with a trophy known as the Premier's Plate. At the completion of the regular season the top six placed teams on the league table progress to the finals series. The position of each team is determined by the highest number of points accumulated during the regular season. If two or more teams are level on points, the following criteria are applied in order until one of the teams can be determined as the higher ranked: # Highest goal difference; # Highest number of goals scored; # Highest number of points accumulated in matches between the teams concerned; # Highest goal difference in matches between the teams concerned; # Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams concerned; # Lowest number of red cards accumulated; # Lowest number of yellow cards accumulated; # Toss of a coin.


Finals series

The top six clubs at the conclusion of the regular season progress to the finals series. The finals series culminates to the A-League grand final, where the winner is crowned A-League champion and receives a place in the AFC Champions League. The club that wins the grand final is presented with the A-League Champions Trophy. The finals series consists of six teams who are placed by rank, as determined at the end of the regular season. The finals series runs over four weeks. In the first week of fixtures, the third-through-sixth ranked teams play a single-elimination match, with the two winners of those matches joining the first and second ranked teams in two-legged ties played over two weeks. The two winners of those matches meet in the grand final. This method was initially adopted for the 2021–22 season. Up until 2022, between the two grand finalists, the team that finished higher on the ladder at the conclusion of the regular season hosted the grand final. The only exception to this was if the FA deemed that team's
home ground In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a team sport. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as sch ...
to be an inappropriate venue. For example, in 2008,
Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...
(as the higher-placed team) hosted the grand final against the
Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...
at
Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...
, due to FFA deciding that Central Coast Mariners' home stadium,
Central Coast Stadium Central Coast Stadium (known originally as Grahame Park), known commercially as Industree Group Stadium is a sports venue in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The stadium is home to the Central Coast Mariners asso ...
with a capacity of 20,000, was too small for the event. On 12 December 2022, the
Australian Professional Leagues The Australian Professional Leagues, commonly abbreviated to the APL, and sometimes referred to as the A-Leagues, are the governing body for the A-League Men, A-League Women, A-League Youth and E-League. Since their formation, they have been m ...
announced that the grand finals for the
2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
, 2023–2024 and 2024–25 seasons would be hosted in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, a move which received considerable backlash. Grand final host stadium


Continental qualification

In 2004–05, Australia was still a part of the
Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...
and Sydney FC won the right to compete in the
Oceania Club Championship The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...
after defeating the
Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...
in a qualifying tournament. A-League clubs are eligible for participation in the AFC Champions League competition each season since the 2007 edition of the tournament.
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
are not eligible to compete in the Asian Champions League, nor do they compete in the
OFC Champions League The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...
. The only Australian side to win the Asian Champions League are the
Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in ...
. Qualification is determined by league finishing positions and the winner of the Australia Cup Final, with the number of positions determined by the Asian Football Confederation club competition ranking.


Other competitions

Since 2014 clubs compete in the annual Australia Cup knock-out tournament (previously known as the FFA Cup). Since 2021, the top eight teams qualify for the competition's Round of 32, while the bottom four teams play-off against each other for the final two slots. Between 2005 and 2008 clubs participated in the
A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup The A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup competition was an annual soccer tournament held for all A-League clubs 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. ...
prior to each A-League regular season. In 2013 and 2014 an A-League All Stars Game was also played as a pre-season
friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States ...
between the league's finest players and a high-profile international team. Most A-League Men clubs have teams in the
A-League Youth A-League Youth, formerly known as the National Youth League and Y-League, is an Australian national soccer youth developmental and under-21s league, founded by Football Federation Australia and now run by the Australian Professional Leagues. ...
competition, which runs in conjunction with the A-League Men as a national youth developmental and reserve league. All players in the youth teams are between the ages of 16 and 21 as of the start of the calendar year for each new season, while four over-age players from each of the senior teams also allowed to be selected. In addition, the A-League Women operates as the top division of women's league with affiliations to the men's competition. In response to the debate about the development of a new professional second division, the
Australian Championship The National Second Division (NSD) – also referred to under the working title The Championship – is a proposed Australian national second-tier men's, soccer league, to be run by Football Australia and the Association of Australian Football ...
has been proposed to support the A-League, with the aim to avoid the American franchise-based system and to put in line with European football leagues.


Clubs

The A-League Men is currently contested by 12 teams: eleven from
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and one from
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. A total of 15 teams have competed at some stage in the league's short history. Only four of these clubs –
Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...
, the
Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...
(as the Queensland Lions), the
Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...
, and the Perth Glory – existed before the A-League was formed in 2004.
Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...
, the
New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-Leagu ...
, and the
North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...
have formerly competed in the league. Unlike most leagues from across the world, there is no system for
relegation and promotion In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
of teams. The A-Leagues system thus shares some
franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...
elements with most other professional leagues in Australia,
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
, and other major Northern American-based sports leagues.


Timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:2005 till:2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member id:Former value:rgb(0.4,0.80,0.67) # Use this color to denote a team that is a former league member id:Future value:rgb(0.5,0.7,0.95) PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Adelaide United (2005/06–present) bar:2 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Queensland Roar (2005/06–2008/09), then Brisbane Roar (2009/10–present) bar:3 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Central Coast Mariners (2005/06–present) bar:4 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Melbourne Victory (2005/06–present) bar:5 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Newcastle Jets (2005/06–present) bar:6 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Perth Glory (2005/06–present) bar:7 color:Full from:2005 till:end text:Sydney FC (2005/06–present) bar:8 color:Former from:2005 till:2007 text:New Zealand Knights (2005/06–2006/07) bar:9 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Wellington Phoenix (2007/08–present) bar:10 color:Former from:2009 till:2012 text:Gold Coast United (2009/10–2011/12) bar:11 color:Former from:2009 till:2011 text:North Queensland Fury (2009/10–2010/11) bar:12 color:Full from:2010 till:end text:Melbourne Heart (2010/11–2013/14), then Melbourne City (2014/15–present) bar:13 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:Western Sydney Wanderers (2012/13–present) bar:14 color:Full from:2019 till:end text:Western United (2019/20–present) bar:15 color:Full from:2020 till:end text:Macarthur FC (2020/21–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:2005 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:


Expansion

While making a relatively modest start to ensure future stability, both the FFA and the soccer media indicated significant interest in expanding the league. The eight foundation clubs had exclusivity clauses for their respective cities valid for five years, but this did not exclude teams from other areas joining the league. Before the introduction of the A-League, FFA chairman
Frank Lowy Sir Frank P. Lowy ( ; born 22 October 1930) is an Australian people, Australian-Israeli people, Israeli businessman of Jewish Slovakian-Hungarian origins and the former long-time Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre comp ...
speculated that he hoped to expand the league into other cities, mentioning
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
,
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
,
Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, 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 wate ...
,
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
,
Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...
,
Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
,
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
,
Albury–Wodonga Albury–Wodonga is the broad settlement incorporating the twin Australian cities of Albury and Wodonga, which are separated geographically by the Murray River and politically by a state border: Albury on the north of the river is part of New So ...
, Launceston,
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
,
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, Sunshine Coast and possibly Darwin and later
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. In February 2018, officials announced that the league would expand to 12 teams for the 2019–20 season. In December 2018, the FFA announced they accepted the bids of
Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...
who joined the league in the 2019–20 season and of
Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). On 1 ...
, who joined the league in the 2020–21 season. In 2021, further steps were taken in an attempt to expand from the recent 12 clubs, with goals being set to get 14 clubs in 2022–23 and a potential 16 clubs in 2023–24.


Rivalries

There are several key rivalries and local derbies that have formed in the A-League, including: ''" Melbourne Derby" – Melbourne City v
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
''
The two Melbourne clubs first met on 8 October 2010 in a lively game at AAMI Park in front of 25,897 fans. Melbourne City (known at the time as Melbourne Heart) came out on top with a 2–1 victory. A significant narrative in derby history is the role of Melbourne Victory as a more successful club both on and off the field, having joined the A-League five years earlier than City. The rivalry is one of the most intense and well respected in the A-League, producing noticeable atmosphere and some of the largest attendances in the league. ''" The Original Rivalry" –
Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...
v
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
''
The rivalry stems from the traditional cross-border rivalry between sporting teams from South Australia and Victoria but was strengthened by multiple incidents in the 2006–07 season, such as the confrontation between Melbourne Victory captain
Kevin Muscat Kevin Vincent Muscat (born 7 August 1973) is an Australian former association football player and the current manager of Yokohama F. Marinos. As a player, he represented the Australia national team at international level winning 46 caps and sco ...
and Adelaide United coach
John Kosmina Alexander John Kosmina (born 17 August 1956), known as John Kosmina, is an Australian former football (soccer) player and manager, most recently being the Senior Head Coach of Brisbane Strikers. He is a member of the Football Federation Austral ...
. The two clubs contested the 2007 and 2009 A-League Grand Finals, with Melbourne winning the 2009 Grand Final 1–0 against a 10-man Adelaide United side. The two clubs were also involved in the first and only occasion in the A-League during the 2008–09 A-League season, where they both finished on the top of the ladder equal on both points and goal difference. ''" Sydney Derby" – Sydney FC v
Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...
''
The derby was contested for the first time in the 2012–13 season with the introduction of the second Sydney-based club, Western Sydney Wanderers, into the league. Sydney FC grabbed bragging rights by winning the first derby 1–0 at
Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...
, however Western Sydney Wanderers won the return match at Allianz Stadium 2–0. A Sydney Derby held early in the 2015 season broke the Allianz Stadium record for attendance during a regular season in any football code, dating back to the stadium's opening in 1988. A match in 2016 between the two teams broke the record A-League crowd with 61,880 fans attending the match at
ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...
. Sydney Derby is intensified by the geographic distinction between the two clubs within Sydney, as well as historical grievances related to the foundation of Sydney FC. ''"
The Big Blue ''The Big Blue'' (released in some countries under the French title ''Le Grand Bleu'') is a 1988 film in the French ''Cinéma du look'' visual style, made by French director Luc Besson. It is a heavily fictionalized and dramatized story of th ...
" –
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
v Sydney FC''
This match is so named because blue is the main colour of both teams' playing kits, and is also Australian slang for a fight or a contest. The rivalry has emerged as a result of a number of spiteful encounters between the teams in recent years, and due to the longstanding rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities. The teams have competed against each other in three grand finals; in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
& 2017, with Sydney winning 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw on both occasions and in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
, with Victory winning 3–0. In 2010, Sydney FC won the A-League Premiership on the final day of the season by defeating Victory 2–0. A Big Blue match is traditionally played on
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...
each year. ''" The F3 Derby" –
Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...
v
Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...
''
Named after the former name of the freeway that connects the cities of Newcastle and Gosford, this match features the only two clubs in the A-League that are not based in state capital cities. The two teams' stadiums are just one hour apart, and the derby was intensified when they competed against each other for the premiership in the 2007–08 A-League season and eventually met in the
Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") 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. Sy ...
, which was won 1–0 by the Jets. ''" The Westgate Derby / The Battle of the Bridge" –
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
v
Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...
''
Upon joining the A-League in the 2019–20 season as the 3rd club in Victoria, Western United has developed a rivalry with Melbourne Victory. Despite the rivalry's short existence, it has garnered a reputation for producing talking points, controversy, tension, goals and drama. In the team's first meeting, in November 2019 at Marvel Stadium, Western United won 3–2 despite going 2–0 down within the first 7 minutes. In February 2021 at Marvel Stadium, despite conceding the first goal of the match and despite being reduced to 10 men for the final half-hour of the match, Western United won 4–3, with Victor Sanchez scoring in the final minute of stoppage time. After keeping the Victory winless for the first 5 matches of the rivalry (4 wins, 1 draw), Melbourne Victory ended their losing run in emphatic fashion on 28 May 2021, beating Western United 6–1 at AAMI Park.


Organisation


Logo and trophies

The current A-League logo was unveiled in January 2017 by
Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
. The logo formed part of a wider rebranding branding of the A-League and its subsidiary competitions, the W-League and Youth League. The logo design was "inspired by football's three outstanding features – atmosphere, diversity and unity" and has colour alterations tailored to each of the 12 A-League clubs. The changes came into effect before the 2017/18 season. The original A-League logo was designed by Coast Design Sydney. It was the inaugural logo of the league. The two-toned
ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
colours represented the sun, earth and desert while the 'glow' emanating from the centre of the logo depicted the playing season's spring and summer time span. The eight 'A' figures that made up the ball shape represented the eight foundation clubs of the league. A-league decided to rebrand with a new logo in 2021 designed by R/GA, a creative agency in Sydney, leading to a major controversy and narrowly avoided legal trouble with building company in Adelaide over design similarities. The A-League has two trophies which are competed for during the season: the Premier's Plate and the A-League Trophy. The Premier's Plate is awarded to the A-League Premiers, the regular season winners, and the A-League Trophy is awarded to the A-League Champions, the winner of the Grand Final. Both pieces of silverware were designed by Sydney design company D3 Design. The A-League Trophy is nicknamed the "Toilet Seat" due to its shape. Where as the Premier's Plate follows a traditional trophy design, the A-League Trophy differs. In 2005, John O'Neill, FFA CEO commented during the unveiling of the A-League Trophy, "We have a new national league and we feel it is important to re-define the conventional view of a trophy to reflect this". Clive Solari of D3 Design explained the trophy's design, saying "We wanted our trophy concept to embody the historical significance of sport in a contemporary design. So we looked to history to see how great achievements have been rewarded across all types of games for thousands of years. The winners of the world's original sporting competition, the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, were presented with a
laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a s ...
on their heads. We used this model as a basis for a unique, cutting-edge design – our trophy is a modern and versatile translation of the wreath. The winners can hold it above their heads as a symbol of success".


Squad formation and salary cap

The A-League match-day squad includes the typical 11 players, and five substitutes of which one must be a goalkeeper. Prior to the 2013–14 season, just four substitutes including one goalkeeper were allowed to be named in the starting line-ups for the teams. An A-League squad must comprise a minimum of 20 players with a maximum of 26, subject to several limitations. Within the squad, there can be a maximum of five "foreign" or "
Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...
" players, from outside Australia (and New Zealand, in the case of
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
), that hold a temporary working-visa. Three players in the squad must also be under 20 years of age. In addition to these three under 20 players, clubs are allowed to sign an additional three youth players onto full-time contracts at a lower pay rate than the rest of the squad. The A-League had initially proposed that the quota of five visa players per A-League club be reduced to four in the 2015–16 season, with the limit of four possibly become "3+1", which means three imports from anywhere and one from Asia (following regulations in the AFC Champions League). However, after opposition to the proposal by both players and managers, the move was placed on hold. Although A-League clubs have restricted salaries (
salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
), the league allows each club to have two "marquee" players whose salaries are exempt from the cap, plus a number of other 'exemptions' or 'allowances' to incentivise clubs to spend in specific areas. Guest players are also excluded for up to a maximum of 14 league matches. From the formation of the league, clubs have been allowed to sign one international marquee player. From the 2008–09 season, A-League clubs have been permitted a junior marquee player; one that is under the age of 23. Now known as the 'Homegrown Player allowance', clubs can spend up to a collective $150,000 on three Australian players aged 23 or younger that have come through the club's youth system. On 19 April 2010, the A-League announced that, in addition to the international marquee and junior marquee, clubs would be allowed an Australian marquee player from the 2010–11 season. Notable marquee and guest players in the A-League have included
Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit fo ...
,
William Gallas William Eric Gallas (born 17 August 1977) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played most of his footballing career in France and England before finishing his career in Australia with A-League club Perth Glo ...
,
Dwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former professional footballer and current manager of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester Uni ...
,
Keisuke Honda is a Japanese professional football manager and former player. he is the current general manager & head coach of the Cambodia U-23. A versatile player, Honda usually played as an attacking midfielder, but could also play as a winger, a f ...
,
Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his pro ...
,
Emile Heskey Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women. Playing as a striker, he made more than 500 appearances in the Foo ...
, Robbie Fowler,
Shinji Ono is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for J1 League club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. Career Urawa Reds Ono grew up in the Shizuoka Prefecture and began his professional career with Urawa Reds in the J1 League in 1998. ...
,
David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish strikers of all time. ...
and former
FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representati ...
Romário. Famous Australian Marquees include
Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F ...
,
John Aloisi John Aloisi () (born 5 February 1976) is an Australian former soccer player and current head coach of A-League club Western United. In a professional career that spanned 20 seasons, with league totals of 459 games and 127 goals, he was the firs ...
,
Brett Emerton Brett Michael Emerton (born 22 February 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played for Sydney Olympic, Sydney FC, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Blackburn Rovers and the Australia national team. Able to play as a wide midfielder or ...
,
Joshua Kennedy Joshua Blake Kennedy (born 20 August 1982) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a striker for the Australia national soccer team. Kennedy is known by Australian fans as "Jesus" due to his apparent resemblance to tradi ...
and
Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his a ...
. From the 2021–22 A-League Men season, the league added a designated player slot, whose salary is exempt from the cap, but must be $300,000–$600,000 per season. The following season, the league added a second designated player slot for each club. Commencing in the 2015–16 season, players who have played at their club for 5–10 years will be covered by a "loyalty player allowance", allowing up to $200,000 of their salary to be exempted from the cap. Additionally, clubs are now permitted a mature-age rookie whose wages are outside the salary cap. The 2016–17 season saw the introduction of a third 'Full Season Guest Marquee' spot, designed to attract high-profile players on short-term deals. The salary cap for A-League clubs is $2.1 million for the 2020–21 season. In the case for
Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...
and debuting
Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). On 1 ...
, they are entitled to a $333,000 allowance thus increasing their salary cap to $2.433 million. Clubs must spend at least the salary floor which is $1.7 million. The salary cap applies to the 18 to 23 players that clubs have registered to their A-League player roster, the top 2 highest-paid players (Designated Players) don't count in the cap. Unless specifically exempt, all payments and benefits (e.g. cars, accommodation, etc.) provided by a club to a player are included in the club's salary cap. Players registered at a club for more than 4 consecutive years as a professional are considered as Loyalty Players and have the following amounts exempt from a club's salary cap; Year 4 – 12.5%, Year 5 – 25%, and 5% increments after that up until a max of 50%. Teams can spend an unlimited amount on 4 U-23 Australian players who have come from the youth team, called Homegrown Players. Teams can sign up to 9 U-20 players on minimum wage called Scholarship Players who don't count in the squad unless they are one of the 3 U21's in the squad, any payments above the national minimum wage to these Players are included in the club's Salary Cap.


Stadiums

A-League games have been played in 33 stadiums since the inaugural season of the A-League in 2005.
Dolphin Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I colleg ...
, the home of
Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...
, is currently the smallest used in the A-League, with a capacity of 11,500.


Sponsorship

Since its formation, the A-League has been sponsored by an official naming rights partner. In 2004, the
Hyundai Motor Company Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...
was announced as the sponsor for the first three seasons of the league, known for commercial purposes as the "Hyundai A-League". In 2008, Hyundai renewed its initial contract with FFA for another four seasons until 2012, and that contract was further extended by four seasons until 2016. This sponsorship deal was then further extended to the end of the 2019–20 A-League season. On 23 December 2020, it was announced that the new major sponsor of the A-League and W-League would be home improvement store
Bunnings Warehouse Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...
. On October 6, 2021, Isuzu
UTE Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...
was announced as the naming rights partner of the A-League Men in a 3-year deal, with the league known as the Isuzu UTE A-League Men. *
Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...
: 2005/062019/20 *
Bunnings Warehouse Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...
: 2020/21 * Isuzu
UTE Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...
: 2021/22


League championships

As of the 2021–22 season, 14 different clubs have competed in the league, with eight having won the trophy, and eight winning at least one premier's plate.


Records

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...
hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in the competition with 36 league matches without defeat.
Besart Berisha Besart Berisha (born 29 July 1985) is a Kosovan retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Youth and Hamburger SV Berisha began his youth career at German side Berliner VB 49 academies at age of 9. He then moved to var ...
holds the record for the greatest number of A-League goals, with 142 goals, playing for Brisbane Roar,
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
and
Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...
. The A-League record for most goals in a single match is held by
Archie Thompson Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professional association football, footballer. He also is serving as a club ambassador for Melbourne Victory FC. Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at the N ...
, scoring 5 goals against
Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...
on 18 February 2007, during the 2007 A-League Grand Final; and
Jamie Maclaren Jamie Maclaren (born 29 July 1993) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker for A-League club Melbourne City. He has also previously played for Darmstadt 98, Perth Glory, Brisbane Roar and Hibernian. Maclaren initi ...
who scored 5 goals against
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
on 17 April 2021.
Jamie Maclaren Jamie Maclaren (born 29 July 1993) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker for A-League club Melbourne City. He has also previously played for Darmstadt 98, Perth Glory, Brisbane Roar and Hibernian. Maclaren initi ...
has scored the most A-League hat-tricks with 6.
Shane Smeltz Shane Edward Smeltz (born 29 September 1981) is a New Zealand Australian footballer. He plays as a striker for Guiseley AFC in the Northern Premier League, the 7th tier of English football. Smeltz had spent much of his early career playing in ...
and Bobô are the only players to have scored hat-tricks in consecutive matches. Henrique was the first, and so far only, player to score a hat-trick coming on as a substitute, for Brisbane Roar against
Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...
. In 2015, Austrian striker
Marc Janko Marc Janko (born 25 June 1983) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Janko was a successful goal-scorer, particularly during his time at Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg, where he scored 75 league goa ...
broke the record for scoring in consecutive matches when he scored in seven games for Sydney FC.


Media coverage


In Australia

From the start of the 2005–06 season to the 2012–13 season, television coverage of the A-League in Australia had been restricted to the subscription-only
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
channel, to which only 7% of Australian residents had access. On 19 November 2012,
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
Australian
public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...
SBS secured the shared rights, alongside long-time A-League broadcasters Fox Sports, to the A-League from the 2013–14 season with a A$160 million four-year broadcast deal. SBS's coverage ended in the 2016–17 season, with
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
securing
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
broadcast rights. Ten simulcasted the
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
coverage of the Saturday night fixture on its digital multichannel One. From the 2019–20 season, ABC TV has broadcast one game a weekend (Saturday 5pm) live on its primary channel. It also has the right to broadcast delayed coverage of some finals matches and the Grand Final. Fox Sport's contract with the A-League, which was renegotiated in June 2020 amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, concluded in July 2021. Since August 2021, as part of a five-year deal with
ViacomCBS Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. It ...
, the A-Leagues are being broadcast by
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
and Paramount+ streaming service. Initially one A-League Men match per weekend was broadcast on Ten's main channel and all matches were streamed on Paramount. As of the 2022–23 season, Paramount streams all matches and two matches per weekend are broadcast on 10 Bold.


Other countries

In New Zealand the league has been broadcast on Sky Sport since its inaugural season. In the 2019–20 season, the league also broadcast on Qatari
beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef O ...
after
Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
ink four-year partnership for extensive soccer coverage, especially the A-league. The growth of coverage of the A-League outside Australia saw the league broadcast in 65 countries around the world in 2013/14. Full match broadcasts are available in the United States, China, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Canada, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Singapore and Myanmar. In addition to the full match broadcasts, highlights of A-League matches can be viewed in 53 countries throughout Asia and the Middle East, including Japan and South Korea. In 2014, a three-season deal with
Sony TEN Sony Sports Network, formerly Sony Pictures Sports Network, and also known as Sony TEN, is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Culver Max Entertainment (formerly Sony Pictures Networks India). The original TEN Sports chan ...
allowed the league to be broadcast live in Asian nations including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Every A-League match is also
live streamed Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but ...
globally, allowing games to be viewed online through a subscription service provided in a partnership with the FFA. All games also broadcast live in the United States on
ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. Most games in the United Kingdom are broadcast by
BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...
but use Fox Sports' live feed for every live game. For the 2014–15 Season, the A-League was broadcast in 173 countries.


Promotion

The A-League has been promoted using a number of different advertising slogans and strategies since its inception. At the start of the inaugural season, a 3 million dollar advertising campaign was launched, with the television and film advertisements produced by
Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
's production company
Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is an independent film and television production company founded in 1970 by filmmakers and brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. They formed the feature film development company Percy Main Productions in 1980, naming the ...
. The theme for the campaign was: "Football, but not as you know it". A new television advertisement was created for the start of the 2007–08 season, which debuted on Foxtel's program Total Football. It was filmed at Bob Jane Stadium in Melbourne. Other campaigns include the "90 minutes, 90 emotions", which was used for two seasons from 2007 to 2009 and was accompanied by the music track "My People" from Australian act
The Presets The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton (vocals, keyboards) and Kim Moyes (drums, keyboards). Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs ('' Blow Up'', '' Girl and the Sea'') in a ...
.


Current broadcasters

Broadcasters as of the 2021–22 season are as follows:


Logos

File:Hyundai A-League logo (2004–2017).svg, Hyundai A-League logo (2004–2017) File:Hyundai A-League logo (2017–2020).svg, Hyundai A-League logo (2017–2021) File:Isuzu_UTE_A-League_Men.svg, Isuzu UTE A-League Men logo (since 2021)


See also

*
Australian soccer league system The Australian soccer league system is the league structure for soccer clubs in Australia. The league system in Australia since 1977 has involved one top divisional league controlled by Football Australia and many leagues run within each stat ...
* A-League Women *
A-League Youth A-League Youth, formerly known as the National Youth League and Y-League, is an Australian national soccer youth developmental and under-21s league, founded by Football Federation Australia and now run by the Australian Professional Leagues. ...
*
E-League ''ELeague'', shortened as ''EL'', and stylized as ''ΞLEAGUE'' is an esports league and American television show that airs on TBS. It was announced in September 2015 as a partnership between Turner Broadcasting and talent agency WME/IMG. Th ...
*
List of A-League head coaches The A-League Men is a Professional sports#Association football, professional soccer league in Australia which is at the top of the Australian soccer league system, Australian league system. The league was formed in 2005–06 A-League, 2005 as a r ...


Notes


References


External links

* {{Sports leagues of Australia 2004 establishments in Australia Football Federation Australia Multi-national professional sports leagues Professional sports leagues in Australia Silver Lake (investment firm) companies 1 Sports leagues established in 2004 Summer association football leagues
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...