2012–13 A-League

The 2012–13 A-League was the 36th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the eighth season of the Australian A-League since its establishment in 2004. The 2012–13 season saw the introduction of a new Western Sydney-based team, the return of Newcastle Jets FC after their A-League licence was returned by FFA, and the end of Gold Coast United after they were removed from the competition at the end of the previous season. This season was also the last A-League season to be broadcast exclusively on paid television, after SBS obtained the rights to a live Friday night game each week of the A-League season, and all A-League finals games on a one-hour delay, on a $160 million four-year broadcast deal, effective from the 2013–14 A-League season onwards.

Clubs

Team City Home ground Capacity Adelaide United Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 17,000 Brisbane Roar Brisbane Suncorp Stadium 52,500 Central Coast Mariners Gosford Bluetongue Stadium 20,119 Melbourne Heart Melbourne AAMI Park 30,050 Melbourne Victory Melbourne Etihad StadiumAAMI Park 56,34730,050 Newcastle Jets Newcastle Hunter Stadium 33,000 Perth Glory Perth NIB StadiumPatersons Stadium 20,50043,500 Sydney FC Sydney Allianz Stadium 45,500 Wellington Phoenix Wellington Westpac Stadium 36,000 Western Sydney Wanderers Sydney Parramatta Stadium 21,487

Personnel and kit specifications Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Kit partnerAdelaide United Michael Valkanis Eugene GalekovićKappaUnleash SolarBrisbane Roar Mike Mulvey Matt SmithPumaThe Coffee ClubCentral Coast Mariners Graham Arnold John HutchinsonKappaMasterfoodsMelbourne Heart John Aloisi FredKappaWestpacMelbourne Victory Ange Postecoglou Adrian LeijerAdidasAdeccoNewcastle Jets Gary van Egmond Ruben ZadkovichISCHunter PortsPerth Glory Alistair Edwards Jacob BurnsX-bladesQBE InsuranceSydney FC Frank Farina Terry McFlynnAdidasWebjetWellington Phoenix Chris Greenacre Andrew DuranteAdidasSonyWestern Sydney Wanderers Tony Popovic Michael BeauchampNikeNRMA Insurance

Transfers

Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointment Melbourne Heart Mutual termination 1 February 2012Pre-season 8 May 2012 Sydney FC Contract expired 3 February 2012 14 May 2012 Melbourne Victory Contract expired 1 April 2012 26 April 2012 Western Sydney WanderersInaugural 4 April 2012 17 May 2012 Brisbane Roar Resigned 24 April 2012 25 April 2012Sydney FCResigned11 November 20128th28 November 2012Brisbane RoarMutual Consent19 December 20129th19 December 2012Adelaide UnitedResigned28 January 20134th28 January 2013 Perth Glory Termination 11 February 2013 10th 11 February 2013 Wellington Phoenix Resigned 26 February 2013 10th 26 February 2013

Foreign players Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s) Adelaide United Marcelo Carrusca Jerónimo Sergio van Dijk Iain Ramsay2 Fábio Ferreira Cássio1 Sergio van Dijk Brisbane Roar Besart Berisha Henrique Thomas Broich Stef Nijland Do Dong-Hyun Jack Hingert2 Central Coast Mariners Patrick Zwaanswijk Michael McGlinchey Nick Montgomery John Hutchinson2 Brad McDonald2 Melbourne Heart Jonatan Germano Fred Josip Tadic Patrick Gerhardt Marcel Meeuwis Melbourne Victory Marcos Flores Guilherme Finkler Adama Traore Jonathan Bru Marco Rojas Newcastle Jets Bernardo Ribeiro Michael Bridges Emile Heskey Dominik Ritter Tiago Perth Glory Matías Córdoba Liam Miller Ryo Nagai Steven McGarry Storm Roux2 Shane Smeltz2 Ndumba Makeche1 Billy Mehmet Sydney FC Fabio Kruno Lovrek Alessandro Del Piero Pascal Bosschaart Yairo Yau Tiago3 Vedran Janjetović1 Ali Abbas1 Terry McFlynn1 Wellington Phoenix Paul Ifill Stein Huysegems Benjamin Totori Dani Sánchez Alex Smith Manny Muscat2 Western Sydney Wanderers Dino Kresinger Mateo Poljak Jérome Polenz Iacopo La Rocca Youssouf Hersi Shinji Ono5 Kwabena Appiah2 The following do not fill a Visa position: 1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian Residency (and New Zealand Residency, in the case of Wellington Phoenix); 2Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team; 3Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players; 4Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games) 5Additional Expansion Club Visa Player

Salary cap exemptions and captains Club Australian Marquee International Marquee Captain Vice-Captain Adelaide United Dario Vidosic Sergio van Dijk Eugene Galekovic Cássio Brisbane Roar None Thomas Broich Matt Smith Shane Stefanutto Central Coast Mariners None None John Hutchinson Patrick Zwaanswijk Melbourne Heart None Fred Fred Matt Thompson Melbourne Victory Archie Thompson Marcos Flores Adrian Leijer Mark Milligan Newcastle Jets None Emile Heskey Jobe Wheelhouse Ruben Zadkovich Ryan Griffiths Perth Glory None Shane Smeltz Jacob Burns Michael Thwaite Sydney FC Brett Emerton Alessandro Del Piero Terry McFlynn Alessandro Del Piero Brett Emerton Wellington Phoenix None None Andrew Durante Ben Sigmund Western Sydney Wanderers None Shinji Ono Michael Beauchamp Tarek Elrich Nikolai Topor-Stanley

Regular season

League table

Home and away season The 2012–13 season sees each team play 27 games, kicking off on 5 October 2012, and concluding on 31 March 2013.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Week 18

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21

Week 22

Week 23

Week 24

Week 25

Week 26

Week 27

Table of results

Finals series In its eighth season the A-League has adopted a new knock-out format for the finals with six teams competing over a three-week series climaxing in the decider. As a result, the play-offs have been reduced from four to three weeks and the top two teams no longer receive a double chance. Instead they will get the opening week of the final series off and will only need to win one game to make the grand final.

Elimination-finals

Semi-finals

Grand Final

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals1 Daniel McBreenCentral Coast Mariners172 Jeremy BrockieWellington Phoenix163 Marco RojasMelbourne Victory154 Besart BerishaBrisbane Roar14 Alessandro Del PieroSydney FC6 Mark BridgeWestern Sydney Wanderers117 Ryan GriffithsNewcastle Jets9 Emile HeskeyNewcastle Jets Dario VidošićAdelaide United10 Mark MilliganMelbourne Victory8 Archie ThompsonMelbourne Victory

Own goals

PlayerTeamAgainstWeek Patrick Gerhardt Melbourne Heart Western Sydney Wanderers 5 Sebastian Ryall Sydney FC Central Coast Mariners 5 Michael Beauchamp Western Sydney Wanderers Melbourne Victory 8 Andrew Durante Wellington Phoenix Melbourne Heart 13 Scott Jamieson Perth Glory Melbourne Victory 17 Sebastian Ryall Sydney FC Melbourne Victory 18 Trent Sainsbury Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Victory 22

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

Updated to 3 February 2013

Top 10 Season Attendances Attendance Round Date Home Score Away Venue Weekday Time of Day 42,102 GF 21 April 2013 Western Sydney Wanderers 0–2 Central Coast Mariners Allianz Stadium Sunday Afternoon 42,032 1 5 October 2012 Melbourne Victory 1–2 Melbourne Heart Etihad Stadium Friday Night 41,203 19 2 February 2013 Melbourne Victory 2–1 Melbourne Heart Etihad Stadium Saturday Night 35,419 2 13 October 2012 Sydney FC 2–3 Newcastle Jets Allianz Stadium Saturday Dusk 26,882 18 26 January 2013 Melbourne Victory 3–1 Sydney FC AAMI Park Saturday Dusk 26,457 12 22 December 2012 Melbourne Heart 1–2 Melbourne Victory AAMI Park Saturday Night 26,176 11 15 December 2012 Sydney FC 0–2 Western Sydney Wanderers Allianz Stadium Saturday Night 22,970 7 16 November 2012 Brisbane Roar 4–2 Sydney FC Suncorp Stadium Friday Night 22,902 EF 5 April 2013 Melbourne Victory 2–1 Perth Glory Etihad Stadium Friday Night 22,518 27 29 March 2013 Newcastle Jets 0–3 Western Sydney Wanderers Hunter Stadium Friday Dusk

Discipline The Fair Play Award will go to the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season.

Current as of 5 January 2013 Notes

Brisbane Roar's Thomas Broich was given a straight red card that was later rescinded by the Match Review Panel.

Awards

End-of-season awards Johnny Warren Medal – Marco Rojas, Melbourne Victory NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Marco Rojas, Melbourne Victory Nike Golden Boot Award – Daniel McBreen, Central Coast Mariners, 17 Goals Goalkeeper of the Year – Ante Covic, Western Sydney Wanderers Manager of the Year – Tony Popovic, Western Sydney Wanderers Fair Play Award – Brisbane Roar Referee of the Year – Peter Green Goal of the Year – Marcos Flores, Melbourne Victory (Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix, 05-Nov-12)

Team of the season Formation: 4–3–3

PositionNameClub GK Ante Covic Western Sydney Wanderers RB Jérome Polenz Western Sydney Wanderers CB Trent Sainsbury Central Coast Mariners CB Nikolai Topor-Stanley Western Sydney Wanderers LB Adama Traoré Melbourne Victory RM Shinji Ono Western Sydney Wanderers CM Mark Milligan (Captain) Melbourne Victory LM Michael McGlinchey Central Coast Mariners RF Jeremy Brockie Wellington Phoenix ST Alessandro Del Piero Sydney FC LF Marco Rojas Melbourne Victory Coach Tony Popovic Western Sydney WanderersSubstitutes: GK Eugene Galekovic Adelaide United CB Michael Thwaite Perth Glory CM Marcelo Carrusca Adelaide United ST Archie Thompson Melbourne Victory ST Daniel McBreen Central Coast Mariners

2012–13 A-League

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