2021–22 A-League Men

45th season of top-tier soccer league in Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2021–22 A-League Men, known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 45th season of national level men's soccer in Australia, and the 17th since the establishment of the competition as the A-League in 2004.

Season2021–22
Dates19 November 2021 – 28 May 2022
ChampionsWestern United (1st title)
PremiersMelbourne City (2nd title)
Quick facts Season, Dates ...
A-League Men
Season2021–22
Dates19 November 2021 – 28 May 2022
ChampionsWestern United (1st title)
PremiersMelbourne City (2nd title)
Matches163
Goals473 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorerJamie Maclaren
(regular season, 15 goals)
Jamie Maclaren
(overall, 16 goals)
Biggest home winWestern United 6–0 Perth Glory
(16 April 2022)
Biggest away winWellington Phoenix 0–6 Melbourne City
(2 April 2022)
Highest scoringNewcastle Jets 6–1 Perth Glory
(10 April 2022)
Longest winning run5 matches
Adelaide United
Central Coast Mariners
Longest unbeaten run15 matches
Melbourne Victory
Longest winless run16 matches
Perth Glory
Longest losing run6 matches
Perth Glory
Highest attendance23,118
WSW 0–0 Sydney FC
(20 November 2021)
Lowest attendance38
Wellington Phoenix 3–0 Brisbane Roar
(16 February 2022)
Average attendance5,602[1] ( 143)
(Note: Longest runs only include regular season results)
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Melbourne City were the defending champions and premiers, having won their first titles respectively the previous season. They retained the premiership, but lost the Grand Final to first-time grand finalists Western United.

Clubs

Twelve clubs participated in the 2021–22 season.

More information Club, City ...
Club City Home ground Capacity
Adelaide United Adelaide Coopers Stadium 16,500
Brisbane Roar Brisbane Moreton Daily Stadium 11,500
Central Coast Mariners Gosford Central Coast Stadium 20,059
Mudgee Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium 10,000
Macarthur FC Sydney Campbelltown Stadium 20,000
BlueBet Stadium 22,500
Newcastle McDonald Jones Stadium 33,000
Melbourne City Melbourne AAMI Park 30,050
Melbourne Victory Melbourne AAMI Park 30,050
Newcastle Jets Newcastle McDonald Jones Stadium 33,000
Perth Glory Perth HBF Park 20,500
Launceston UTAS Stadium 19,000
Sydney Netstrata Jubilee Oval 20,500
Sydney FC Sydney Netstrata Jubilee Oval 20,500
Leichhardt Oval 20,000
Wellington Phoenix Auckland Eden Park 50,000
Gosford Central Coast Stadium 20,059
Sydney Netstrata Jubilee Oval 20,500
Leichhardt Oval 20,000
Campbelltown Stadium 20,000
Endeavour Field 22,000
Wellington Sky Stadium 34,500
Wollongong WIN Stadium 23,000
Western Sydney Wanderers Sydney CommBank Stadium 30,000
Western United Ballarat Mars Stadium 11,000
Morshead Park 8,500
Geelong GMHBA Stadium 26,000[a]
Launceston UTAS Stadium 19,000
Melbourne AAMI Park 30,050
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Personnel and kits

More information Team, Manager ...
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Kit sponsor
Adelaide United Australia Carl Veart Australia Craig Goodwin UCAN[5] Flinders University[6][7]
Australian Outdoor Living[note 1][8][9]
Brisbane Roar Australia Warren Moon Scotland Tom Aldred New Balance[10] ActronAir[11]
Central Coast Mariners Scotland Nick Montgomery Australia Oliver Bozanic Paladin Sports[12] MATE[13]
Macarthur FC Australia Ante Milicic Mexico Ulises Dávila Macron[14] Wisdom Homes[15]
Melbourne City Australia Patrick Kisnorbo Australia Scott Jamieson Puma[16] Etihad Airways[17][18]
Melbourne Victory Australia Tony Popovic Australia Joshua Brillante Macron[19] Metricon[20]
Newcastle Jets Australia Arthur Papas Australia Matthew Jurman VIVA[21] Port of Newcastle[21]
Ampcontrol[note 2][22]
Perth Glory Australia Ruben Zadkovich Australia Brandon O'Neill Macron[23] BHP[24]
Sydney FC Australia Steve Corica Australia Alex Wilkinson Under Armour[25] The Star[26]
Wellington Phoenix Australia Ufuk Talay New Zealand Alex Rufer Paladin Sports[27] Spark[28]
Oppo[note 3][28]
Western Sydney Wanderers Australia Marko Rudan Australia Rhys Williams Kappa[29] Voltaren[30]
Turner Freeman Lawyers[note 4][31]
Western United Australia John Aloisi Italy Alessandro Diamanti Kappa[32] Simonds Homes[32]
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Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position on table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Melbourne Victory Scotland Steve Kean (caretaker) End of contract 10 June 2021 Pre-season Australia Tony Popovic 22 April 2021[33]
Newcastle Jets Australia Craig Deans Resigned[34] 3 June 2021 Australia Arthur Papas 28 June 2021[35]
Western United Australia Marko Rudan Sacked[36] 8 June 2021 Australia John Aloisi 15 July 2021[37]
Central Coast Mariners Australia Alen Stajcic Resigned[38] 17 June 2021 Scotland Nick Montgomery 2 July 2021[39]
Western Sydney Wanderers Wales Carl Robinson Sacked[40] 30 January 2022 11th Australia Marko Rudan 31 January 2022[41]
Perth Glory Australia Richard Garcia Sacked[42] 20 March 2022 12th Australia Ruben Zadkovich (caretaker) 20 March 2022[42]
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Foreign players

More information Club, Visa 1 ...
Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-visa foreigner(s) Former player(s)
Adelaide United Denmark Michael Jakobsen England Zach Clough Japan Hiroshi Ibusuki Spain Juande Spain Javi López Spain Isaías1
Brisbane Roar Argentina Juan Lescano Germany Matti Steinmann Republic of Ireland Jay O'Shea Japan Ryo Wada Scotland Tom Aldred Afghanistan Rahmat Akbari2
Sri Lanka Jack Hingert2		 New Zealand Aidan Munford2
Central Coast Mariners Brazil Moresche Costa Rica Marco Ureña France Béni Nkololo Germany Nicolai Müller Japan Cy Goddard Fiji Dan Hall2
New Zealand Storm Roux2
Scotland Jason Cummings2
Macarthur FC England Jordon Mutch England Craig Noone Jamaica Adrian Mariappa Mexico Ulises Dávila Poland Filip Kurto Cyprus Antonis Martis2
Melbourne City England Carl Jenkinson France Florin Berenguer Italy Manuel Pucciarelli Japan Tsubasa Endoh Portugal Nuno Reis North Macedonia Stefan Colakovski2
Melbourne Victory Croatia Ivan Kelava Italy Francesco Margiotta New Zealand Marco Rojas Portugal Roderick Miranda Spain Rai Marchán Kenya William Wilson2
Newcastle Jets Brazil Daniel Penha Cameroon Olivier Boumal Georgia (country) Beka Mikeltadze Greece Savvas Siatravanis Spain Mario Arqués New Zealand Dane Ingham2
South Sudan Valentino Yuel2
Perth Glory Curaçao Darryl Lachman England Daniel Sturridge Japan Kosuke Ota Spain Adrián Sardinero Burundi Pacifique Niyongabire2
Republic of Ireland Andy Keogh1
Serbia Darko Stanojević2
Sydney FC Brazil Bobô England Adam Le Fondre Netherlands Luciano Narsingh New Zealand Kosta Barbarouses Serbia Miloš Ninković Burundi Elvis Kamsoba2
Wellington Phoenix England David Ball England Gary Hooper England Scott Wootton Mexico Gael Sandoval North Macedonia Matthew Bozinovski2
Western Sydney Wanderers England Jack Rodwell Israel Tomer Hemed Japan Keijiro Ogawa Scotland Ziggy Gordon Spain Tomás Mejías Ivory Coast Adama Traoré1
Western United Italy Alessandro Diamanti Japan Tomoki Imai Serbia Aleksandar Prijović Slovenia Rene Krhin Switzerland Léo Lacroix England Jamie Young2
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The following do not fill a Visa position:
1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian citizenship (or New Zealand citizenship, in the case of Wellington Phoenix);[43]
2Australian citizens (or New Zealand citizens, 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 fourteen games)

Salary cap exemptions and captains

More information Club, First Marquee ...
Club First Marquee Second Marquee Designated Player Captain Vice-captain
Adelaide United None None None Australia Stefan Mauk[44][note 5]
Australia Craig Goodwin[note 6][46]		 Australia Ryan Kitto[46]
Spain Isaías[46]
Brisbane Roar None None None Scotland Tom Aldred[47] None
Central Coast Mariners None None None Australia Oliver Bozanic[48] None
Macarthur FC None None None Mexico Ulises Dávila[49] None
Melbourne City Australia Jamie Maclaren[50] None None Australia Scott Jamieson[51] None
Melbourne Victory New Zealand Marco Rojas[52] Australia Chris Ikonomidis[52] Portugal Roderick Miranda[53] Australia Joshua Brillante[54] Portugal Roderick Miranda[55]
Newcastle Jets None None Georgia (country) Beka Mikeltadze[53] Australia Matthew Jurman[56] None
Perth Glory England Daniel Sturridge[57] Australia Bruno Fornaroli[58] Spain Adrián Sardinero[53] Australia Brandon O'Neill[59] None
Sydney FC None None None Australia Alex Wilkinson[60] None
Wellington Phoenix None None None New Zealand Alex Rufer[61] New Zealand Oliver Sail[61]
Western Sydney Wanderers None None None Australia Rhys Williams[62] None
Western United Italy Alessandro Diamanti[63] None None Italy Alessandro Diamanti[63] Australia Josh Risdon[63]
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Transfers

Further information: A-League Men transfers for 2021–22 season

Regular season

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Melbourne City 26 14 7 5 55 33 +22 49 Qualification for finals series and 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage[b]
2 Melbourne Victory 26 13 9 4 42 25 +17 48 Qualification for finals series[c]
3 Western United (C) 26 13 6 7 40 30 +10 45
4 Adelaide United 26 12 7 7 38 31 +7 43
5 Central Coast Mariners 26 12 6 8 49 35 +14 42
6 Wellington Phoenix[d] 26 12 3 11 34 49 −15 39
7 Macarthur FC 26 9 6 11 38 47 −9 33
8 Sydney FC 26 8 7 11 37 44 −7 31
9 Newcastle Jets 26 8 5 13 45 43 +2 29 Qualification for 2022 Australia Cup play-offs[e]
10 Western Sydney Wanderers 26 6 9 11 30 38 −8 27
11 Brisbane Roar 26 7 5 14 29 39 −10 26
12 Perth Glory 26 4 6 16 20 43 −23 18
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Source: A-Leagues
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Points per game; 5) Least red cards; 6) Least yellow cards; 7) Toss of a coin in an event of a tie of two clubs.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. [a]
    GMHBA Stadium was undergoing construction during the season, which reduced the stadium's capacity to around 26,000.[2][3] The stadium had a capacity of 40,000 after construction was complete.[4]
  2. [b]
    Determined by which of the Premiers for the 2021–22 or 2022–23 seasons accrued the most combined points over both seasons.[64] Melbourne City qualified as they were Premiers in both seasons.
  3. [c]
    The top two teams enter the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the finals series at the elimination-finals.
  4. [d]
    Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.
  5. [e]
    The top 8 teams qualify for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participate in a play-off round.[65]

Fixtures and results

More information Home \ Away, ADE ...
Home \ Away ADE BRI CCM MAC MCY MVC NEW PER SYD WEL WSW WUN ADE BRI CCM MAC MCY MVC NEW PER SYD WEL WSW WUN
Adelaide United 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–2 1–2 2–1 2–0 1–2 4–0 1–2 2–1 2–2 0–1
Brisbane Roar 0–0 0–2 3–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 3–1 2–1 3–0 2–3 1–3 0–3
Central Coast Mariners 3–0 2–1 3–3 1–3 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 5–0 2–0 1–0 4–2 0–5
Macarthur FC 4–1 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–4 2–1 4–2 0–3 1–1 3–1 2–2 0–3 1–1
Melbourne City 1–2 2–1 3–2 3–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 4–0 2–1 3–3 0–1 1–1 2–2
Melbourne Victory 1–1 3–0 1–0 3–1 3–0 1–2 0–3 2–2 3–1 1–1 3–1 0–0 1–1
Newcastle Jets 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–2 2–4 1–2 6–1 2–0 4–0 1–0 1–1 2–4 4–0
Perth Glory 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 1–4
Sydney FC 2–3 1–1 3–2 0–1 1–2 1–4 2–2 1–2 2–1 3–2 1–1 2–2 3–0
Wellington Phoenix 1–1 3–0 2–1 3–1 0–6 1–0 3–2 2–1 1–1 0–2 2–1 0–4 1–0
Western Sydney Wanderers 0–0 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–3 2–0 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–1 3–2 2–0
Western United 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–4 3–2 2–2 6–0
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Source: A-League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

AFC Champions League qualification

Due to the re-formatting of the AFC Champions League to have an inter-year schedule from September (northern hemisphere autumn-to-spring) instead of an intra-year schedule (northern hemisphere spring-to-autumn),[66] the qualification for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League was changed. The single qualification spot for this competition goes to whichever of which of the Premiers for the current season or the following season accrues the most combined points over both seasons.[67] Melbourne City won the Premiership in both the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons,[68] thereby automatically qualifying for the Champions League.

Finals series

Main article: 2022 A-League Men finals series

Format

The finals series, which ran over three weeks, consisted of the top six teams from the regular season. In the first week of fixtures, the third-through-sixth ranked teams played a single-elimination match, with the two winners of those matches joining the first and second ranked teams in two-legged semi-final ties. The first and second placed teams chose whether they would play home or away in the first leg.[69] The two winners of those matches meet in the Grand Final.[70] This season was the first to use this format.

Elimination-finals Semi-finals Grand Final
4 Adelaide United 0 1 1
4 Adelaide United 3 1 Melbourne City (a.e.t.) 0 2 2
5 Central Coast Mariners 1 1 Melbourne City 0
3 Western United 2
3 Western United 0 4 4
3 Western United 1 2 Melbourne Victory 1 1 2
6 Wellington Phoenix 0

Elimination-finals

More information Western United, 1–0 ...
Western United1–0Wellington Phoenix
 Report
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Attendance: 3,376
Referee: Alex King
More information Adelaide United, 3–1 ...
Adelaide United3–1Central Coast Mariners
 Report
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Attendance: 10,113
Referee: Daniel Elder

Semi-finals

Summary

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Melbourne City 2–1 Adelaide United 0–0 2–1 (a.e.t.)
Melbourne Victory 2–4 Western United 1–0 1–4
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Matches

More information Western United, 0–1 ...
Western United0–1Melbourne Victory
Report
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Attendance: 7,295
More information Melbourne Victory, 1–4 ...
Melbourne Victory1–4Western United
 Report
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Attendance: 15,349
Referee: Alex King

Western United won 4–2 on aggregate.

More information Adelaide United, 0–0 ...
Adelaide United0–0Melbourne City
Report
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Attendance: 9,279
Referee: Chris Beath
More information Melbourne City, 2–1 (a.e.t.) ...
Melbourne City2–1 (a.e.t.)Adelaide United
 Report
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Attendance: 9,347

Melbourne City won 2–1 on aggregate.

Grand Final

Main article: 2022 A-League Men Grand Final
More information Melbourne City, 0–2 ...
Melbourne City0–2Western United
Report
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Attendance: 22,495
Referee: Chris Beath

Regular season statistics

Top scorers

More information Rank, Player ...
RankPlayerClubGoals[71]
1 Australia Jamie Maclaren Melbourne City 15
2 Georgia (country) Beka Mikeltadze Newcastle Jets 13
3 Scotland Jason Cummings Central Coast Mariners 10
Australia Nicholas D'Agostino Melbourne Victory
Serbia Aleksandar Prijović Western United
Australia Craig Goodwin Adelaide United
7 Australia Mathew Leckie Melbourne City 9
8 Australia Bruno Fornaroli Perth Glory 8
9 Mexico Ulises Dávila Macarthur FC 7
England Adam Le Fondre Sydney FC
France Beni Nkololo Central Coast Mariners
Costa Rica Marco Ureña Central Coast Mariners
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Hat-tricks

Main article: List of A-League Men hat-tricks
More information Player, For ...
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef.
England Adam Le FondreSydney FCCentral Coast Mariners5–0 (A)9 April 2022[72]
Georgia (country) Beka MikeltadzeNewcastle JetsPerth Glory6–1 (H)10 April 2022[73]
Australia Lachlan WalesWestern UnitedPerth Glory6–0 (H)16 April 2022[74]
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More information Key, (A) ...
Key
(A) Away team
(H) Home team
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Clean sheets

More information Rank, Player ...
RankPlayerClubClean sheets[75]
1 England Jamie Young Western United 10
2 Australia Mark Birighitti Central Coast Mariners 9
3 Croatia Ivan Kelava Melbourne Victory 7
4 Australia Tom Glover Melbourne City 6
5 New Zealand Oliver Sail Wellington Phoenix 5
6 Australia Jack Duncan Newcastle Jets 4
Australia Joe Gauci Adelaide United
Poland Filip Kurto Macarthur FC
Australia Liam Reddy Perth Glory
Australia Andrew Redmayne Sydney FC
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Awards

Annual awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2021–22 Dolan Warren Awards night on 26 May 2022.[76]

More information Award, Winner ...
Award Winner Club
Johnny Warren Medal Australia Jake Brimmer Melbourne Victory
Young Footballer of the Year Australia Angus Thurgate Newcastle Jets
Golden Boot Award Australia Jamie Maclaren Melbourne City
Goalkeeper of the Year Australia Mark Birighitti Central Coast Mariners
Coach of the Year Australia Tony Popovic Melbourne Victory
Goal of the Year Australia Ben Garuccio Western United
Referee of the Year Australia Alex King
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Team of the season

More information Team of the season, Goalkeeper ...
Team of the season[77]
Goalkeeper Australia Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners)
Defenders Australia Jason Geria (Melbourne Victory) Switzerland Léo Lacroix (Western United) Australia Curtis Good (Melbourne City) Australia Jason Davidson (Melbourne Victory)
Midfielders France Florin Berenguer (Melbourne City) Australia Joshua Brillante (Melbourne Victory) Australia Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United)
Forwards Australia Nick D'Agostino (Melbourne Victory) Australia Jake Brimmer (Melbourne Victory) Australia Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City)
Substitutes England Jamie Young (Western United) Australia Ben Garuccio (Western United) Spain Javi López (Adelaide United) Australia Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City) Mexico Ulises Dávila (Macarthur FC) Brazil Daniel Penha (Newcastle Jets) Australia Neil Kilkenny (Western United)
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See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    Away kit
  2. [2]
    Away kit
  3. [3]
    Away kit
  4. [4]
    Away kit
  5. [5]
    Mauk was captain of Adelaide United until his transfer to Fagiano Okayama on 27 February 2022.[45]
  6. [6]
    Goodwin replaced Mauk as captain of Adelaide United on 5 March 2022.

References

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