2010-11 League Preview: A-League

Now that the World Cup is kaput, club football is just around the corner. In addition to the usual EPL previews, this year we at UF are going to be examining some of the other leagues around the world!

Today we’re turning to the Western edge of the Pacific…

Countries: Australia and New Zealand

Populations: 22,000,000 (Australia) and 4,400,000 (New Zealand)

Official League Name: Hyundai A-League

International Cups: AFC Champions League (2 spots, although Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand are not eligible to play internationally… Because the world hates New Zealand.)

Average Attendance Last Season: 9,500

Largest Stadium:

Eithad Stadium aka Docklands Stadium (Melbourne Victory) – 56,000

A multi-use facility built in 2000, the Eithad Stadium is the home to the Australian Rules Football as well as five rugby teams in addition to the Melbourne Victory. Added bonus: a retractable roof, which is rarely used.

Smallest Stadium:

Hindmarsh Stadium (Adelaide United) – 17,000

Completely rebuilt for the 2000 Olympics. Added bonus: that crazy terrace!

2010-11 Teams:
Adelaide United
Brisbane Roar
Central Coast Mariners
Gold Coast United
Melbourne Heart
Melbourne Victory
Newcastle Jets
Queensland Fury
Perth Glory
Sydney FC
Wellington Phoenix
(Some of these make me feel much less embarrassed about MLS team names.)

Parity: Much like MLS, the A-League employs a playoff system. Since the league was founded in 2005, three teams have been crowned the A-League champion and four teams have finished at the top of the table. Not bad for a league that is only entering its sixth season and features less than a dozen teams.

Relegation/League Structure: Again, much like MLS, the A-League does not have a relegation/promotion system and is instead a single, self-contained league. Two teams were added in 2009 (Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury), Melbourne Heart joins this year, and the Sydney Rovers will start next season.

In terms of crowning champions, the team that finishes the season at the top of the table is crowned the premier champion and earns on of the two spots in the AFC Champions League. The A-League also employs a playoff system to crown its eventual champions, with six teams entering the home-and-away style tournament (with the grand championship held at a neutral site).

Finally, the A-League has a salary cap of a paltry AU$2.5m per season, although each team is permitted one “Marquee Player” (similar to MLS’s designated player) and one “Junior Marquee Player,” who is under 23 and has his salary subsidized by the league. Examples of Marquee Players have included Dwight Yorke and Robbie Fowler. Make your own joke here.

One oddity about the A-League: teams are only permitted four players on the bench (although they can make three subs). Those Aussies… Always doing things differently just to be different.

Drama: The A-League’s biggest name and biggest draw continues to be Robbie Fowler, who moved from the North Queensland Fury to the Perth Glory (again, those names!) this off-season. Not surprisingly, the two teams squared off in the league’s first round of matches in front of 16,000 fans. Fowler’s stint with the Fury ended badly, with Fowler refusing to come off the bench and suing for breach of contract. But, he indicated that he has enjoyed his time in Australia and has signed on with Perth. He’s a big name and a big personality, even if God is at the end of his career.

Elsewhere, with the addition of the Melbourne Heart, the A-League will have its first cross-city rivalry against last year’s champs the Melbourne Victory. In addition, the league has had a recent influx of European coaches, including the Dutchman Rini Coolen taking over this year with Adelaide United.

Question Marks: Although Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory have emerged as the two stronger teams in the A-League, having won two championships each, the race for the title this year remains quite wide open. Newcomer the Melbourne Heart (again, those names!) looked good in the preseason, looking respectable in a 2-0 loss to Everton, but then went out and lost 1-0 to Central Coast Mariners in front of 10,000+ for their first league match ever. Perth Glory look to be in the ascendancy and, with the addition of Fowler, are the team with the best chance of knocking Sydney FC and the Victory to the title.

Key Transfers: It’s all a bit of transfer madness in the Hyundai A-League. As mentioned, Fowler from North Queensland to Perth is the big one. North Queensland Fury and Sydney FC essentially lost large chunks their teams and have obviously been busy this summer. Youngsters Thomas Oar, Michael Zullo and Adam Sarota all moved from the Brisbane Roar to Utrecht FC. Talented Dutch striker Sergio van Dijk moved from Brisbane Roar to Adelaide United. Sydney FC captain Steve Corica retired at the ripe age of 37. Talented young Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Mitch Langerak is now with Borussia Dortmund. Australian defender Jon McKain is now with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, players coming in from abroad include Nick Carle going from Crystal Palace to Sydney FC, Australian international Jade North going from Tromsø to Wellington Phoenix, and English defender John Curtis — who was last with Northampton but spent time with Man U, Blackburn and Nottingham Forest earlier in his career — joins Gold Coast United. There was lots, and lots more but now I’m starting to get tired!

Get to Know the Gaffers:

Vitezslav Lavicka – To the victor goes the weird round-shaped trophy

Czech coach Vitezslav Lavicka made a name for himself in his first year in the A-League by guiding Sydney FC to the championship last season.  Lavicka tends to employ an organized, counterattacking style that lacks flair but has been quite effective indeed.

Ernie Merrick – Oh so THAT'S what the trophy is for! It's a necklace!

Ernie Merrick has been at the helm of the Melbourne Victory since the A-League was formed in 2005, and the Scotsman continues to be a stalwart in a league with a very high turnover of managers.

Key Players: Yes, there’s Robbie Fowler. Last season’s player of the year was Carlos Valverde, a Costa Rican international who scored 13 in 28 games for the Melbourne Victory. Shane Smeltz was the Golden Boot winner last season, and also scored that big goal for New Zealand against Italy in South Africa, making him the first A-League player to score a goal at the World Cup. And then the other designated Marquee Players include Paul Ifill, who spent the first 11 years of his career in England’s Championship; Gerald Sibon, who just signed with the Melbourne Heart after a successful spell with Heerenveen; and Jason Culina, a rightback who regularly has a place in the Australian national side.

American Rooting Interest? Thanks to a restriction of foreign players, there are no Americans in the A-League at the moment. At best, the U.S.’s rooting interest is the question: which league is worse, MLS or the A-League?

Prediction: The A-League is due for back-to-back champions eventually, so I’ll go with Sydney FC to repeat. Also, I predict that Robbie Fowler will remain the league’s biggest name.