2012–13 A-League

Matches played135Goals scored370 (2.74 per match)Top goalscorerDaniel McBreen
(19 goals)Best goalkeeperAnte CovicBiggest home winSydney FC 7–1 Wellington Phoenix
(19 January 2013)Biggest away winNewcastle Jets 0–3 Wellington Phoenix
(18 November 2012)
Newcastle Jets 0–3 Western Sydney Wanderers
(29 March 2013)Highest scoringCentral Coast Mariners 7–2 Sydney FC
(3 November 2012)Longest winning runWestern Sydney Wanderers (10)Longest unbeaten runWestern Sydney Wanderers (13)Longest winless runPerth Glory (8)Longest losing runHighest attendance42,032Lowest attendance3,060Average attendance12,341 ( 1,853)

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.^[1][2][3] 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.^[4][5]

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 Stadium AAMI Park	56,347 30,050
Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Hunter Stadium	33,000
Perth Glory	Perth	NIB Stadium Patersons Stadium	20,500 43,500
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 partner
Adelaide United	Michael Valkanis	Eugene Galeković	Kappa	Unleash Solar
Brisbane Roar	Mike Mulvey	Matt Smith	Puma	The Coffee Club
Central Coast Mariners	Graham Arnold	John Hutchinson	Kappa	Masterfoods
Melbourne Heart	John Aloisi	Fred	Kappa	Westpac
Melbourne Victory	Ange Postecoglou	Adrian Leijer	Adidas[6]	Adecco
Newcastle Jets	Gary van Egmond	Ruben Zadkovich	ISC	Hunter Ports
Perth Glory	Alistair Edwards	Jacob Burns	X-blades	QBE Insurance
Sydney FC	Frank Farina	Terry McFlynn	Adidas	Webjet
Wellington Phoenix	Chris Greenacre	Andrew Durante	Adidas	Sony
Western Sydney Wanderers	Tony Popovic	Michael Beauchamp	Nike[7]	NRMA Insurance

Transfers

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Melbourne Heart	John van 't Schip	Mutual termination	1 February 2012[8]	Pre-season	John Aloisi	8 May 2012[9]
Sydney FC	Vitezslav Lavicka	Contract expired	3 February 2012[10]		Ian Crook	14 May 2012[11]
Melbourne Victory	Jim Magilton	Contract expired	1 April 2012[12]		Ange Postecoglou	26 April 2012[13]
Western Sydney Wanderers	Inaugural		4 April 2012[3]		Tony Popovic	17 May 2012[14]
Brisbane Roar	Ange Postecoglou	Resigned	24 April 2012[15]		Rado Vidošić	25 April 2012[16]
Sydney FC	Ian Crook	Resigned	11 November 2012	8th	Frank Farina	28 November 2012[17]
Brisbane Roar	Rado Vidošić	Mutual Consent	19 December 2012	9th	Mike Mulvey	19 December 2012[18]
Adelaide United	John Kosmina	Resigned	28 January 2013	4th	Michael Valkanis	28 January 2013[18]
Perth Glory	Ian Ferguson	Termination	11 February 2013[19]	10th	Alistair Edwards	11 February 2013[19]
Wellington Phoenix	Ricki Herbert	Resigned	26 February 2013[20]	10th	Chris Greenacre	26 February 2013[20]

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	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[21]	Sergio van Dijk[22][note 1]	Eugene Galekovic[24]	Cássio[24]
Brisbane Roar	None	Thomas Broich[25]	Matt Smith[26]	Shane Stefanutto[26]
Central Coast Mariners	None	None	John Hutchinson[27]	Patrick Zwaanswijk[27]
Melbourne Heart	None	Fred[28]	Fred[28]	Matt Thompson[29]
Melbourne Victory	Archie Thompson[30][31]	Marcos Flores[32]	Adrian Leijer[33]	Mark Milligan[34]
Newcastle Jets	None	Emile Heskey[35]	Jobe Wheelhouse[36] Ruben Zadkovich[note 2][38]	Ryan Griffiths[citation needed]
Perth Glory	None	Shane Smeltz[39]	Jacob Burns[40]	Michael Thwaite[41]
Sydney FC	Brett Emerton[42]	Alessandro Del Piero[43]	Terry McFlynn[44]	Alessandro Del Piero[45] Brett Emerton[45]
Wellington Phoenix	None	None	Andrew Durante[46]	Ben Sigmund[47]
Western Sydney Wanderers	None	Shinji Ono[48]	Michael Beauchamp[49]	Tarek Elrich[50] Nikolai Topor-Stanley[51]

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Western Sydney Wanderers	27	18	3	6	41	21	+20	57	Qualification for 2014 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series
2	Central Coast Mariners (C)	27	16	6	5	48	22	+26	54
3	Melbourne Victory	27	13	5	9	48	45	+3	44	Qualification for 2014 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off and finals series[a]
4	Adelaide United	27	12	5	10	38	37	+1	41	Qualification for Finals series
5	Brisbane Roar	27	10	5	12	33	29	+4	35
6	Perth Glory	27	9	5	13	29	31	−2	32
7	Sydney FC	27	9	5	13	41	51	−10	32
8	Newcastle Jets	27	8	7	12	30	45	−15	31
9	Melbourne Heart	27	8	3	16	31	40	−9	27
10	Wellington Phoenix[b]	27	7	6	14	31	49	−18	27

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.^[52]

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

Abbreviation and Colour Key: Adelaide United – AU Brisbane Roar – BR Central Coast Mariners – CCM Melbourne Heart – MH Melbourne Victory – MV Newcastle Jets – NJ Perth Glory – PG Sydney FC – SFC Wellington Phoenix – WP Western Sydney Wanderers – WSW Win Loss Draw Home
Club	Match
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Adelaide United	NUJ	WSW	MV	WP	BR	PG	MH	SFC	CCM	MV	WP	WSW	BR	SFC	NUJ	PG	MH	CCM	WSW	MV	SFC	WP	BR	MH	NUJ	CCM	PG
	0–2	1–0	2–1	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	4–2	3–1	6–1	0–1	3–0	0–0	3–2	2–0	3–1	2–4	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	|	|	|
Brisbane Roar	PG	MV	WP	WSW	AU	MH	SFC	CCM	NUJ	WSW	MV	PG	AU	WP	MH	NUJ	WSW	PG	CCM	SFC	WP	NUJ	AU	MV	CCM	MH	SFC
	1–0	5–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	4–1	4–2	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	2–1	3–2	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	3–1	|	|	|
Central Coast Mariners	WSW	PG	NUJ	MH	SFC	WP	MV	BR	AU	NUJ	MH	WP	SFC	PG	WSW	MV	NUJ	AU	BR	WP	PG	MV	WSW	SFC	BR	AU	MH
	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	7–2	0–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–1	0–0	3–1	2–2	5–0	2–1	6–2	0–1	2–0	1–0	0–2	2–1	|	|	|
Melbourne Heart	MV	WP	PG	CCM	WSW	BR	AU	NUJ	SFC	PG	CCM	MV	WP	NUJ	BR	SFC	AU	WSW	MV	PG	NUJ	SFC	WP	AU	WSW	BR	CCM
	1–2	1–1	2–0	0–1	2–1	4–1	1–0	3–3	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–2	3–2	2–1	3–2	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	0–2	1–3	2–0	2–1	|	|	|
Melbourne Victory	MH	BR	AU	NUJ	WP	SFC	CCM	WSW	PG	AU	BR	MH	NUJ	WSW	WP	CCM	PG	SFC	MH	AU	WSW	CCM	NUJ	BR	SFC	PG	WP
	1–2	5–0	2–1	2–1	3–2	2–3	2–2	0–2	1–0	4–2	1–1	1–2	3–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–2	6–2	5–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	|	|	|
Newcastle Jets	AU	SFC	CCM	MV	PG	WSW	WP	MH	BR	CCM	PG	SFC	MV	MH	AU	BR	CCM	WP	SFC	WSW	MH	BR	WP	MV	PG	AU	WSW
	0–2	2–3	2–1	2–1	3–2	1–2	0–3	3–3	1–0	0–2	3–0	2–1	3–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–2	5–0	1–2	1–1	0–3	|	|	|
Perth Glory	BR	CCM	MH	SFC	NUJ	AU	WSW	WP	MV	MH	NUJ	BR	WSW	CCM	SFC	AU	MV	BR	WP	MH	CCM	WSW	SFC	NUJ	WP	MV	AU
	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	3–2	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	3–2	0–1	0–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	2–3	1–1	|	|	|
Sydney FC	WP	NUJ	WSW	PG	CCM	MV	BR	AU	MH	WP	WSW	NUJ	CCM	AU	PG	MH	WP	MV	NUJ	BR	AU	MH	PG	CCM	MV	WSW	BR
	2–0	2–3	0–1	2–1	7–2	2–3	4–2	1–2	0–0	1–2	0–2	2–1	1–0	3–0	2–2	2–1	7–1	3–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	3–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	|	|	|
Wellington Phoenix	SFC	MH	BR	AU	MV	CCM	NUJ	PG	WSW	SFC	AU	CCM	MH	BR	MV	WSW	SFC	NUJ	PG	CCM	BR	AU	NUJ	MH	WSW	PG	MV
	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	3–2	0–1	0–3	1–1	1–0	1–2	3–1	1–1	3–2	2–1	2–0	0–2	7–1	1–1	1–0	5–0	2–0	2–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–3	|	|	|
Western Sydney Wanderers	CCM	AU	SFC	BR	MH	NUJ	PG	MV	WP	BR	SFC	AU	PG	MV	CCM	WP	BR	MH	AU	NUJ	MV	PG	CCM	WP	MH	SFC	NUJ
	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	0–2	6–1	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–2	1–2	1–0	2–4	2–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–3	1–1	0–3	|	|	|

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
					Western Sydney Wanderers	2
	Adelaide United	1			Brisbane Roar	0
	Brisbane Roar	2							Western Sydney Wanderers	0
									Central Coast Mariners	2
					Central Coast Mariners	1
	Melbourne Victory (a.e.t.)	2			Melbourne Victory	0
	Perth Glory	1

Elimination-finals

---

Semi-finals

---

Grand Final

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of matches played on 31 March 2013

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Daniel McBreen	Central Coast Mariners	17
2	Jeremy Brockie	Wellington Phoenix	16
3	Marco Rojas	Melbourne Victory	15
4	Besart Berisha	Brisbane Roar	14
	Alessandro Del Piero	Sydney FC
6	Mark Bridge	Western Sydney Wanderers	11
7	Ryan Griffiths	Newcastle Jets	9
	Emile Heskey	Newcastle Jets
	Dario Vidošić	Adelaide United
10	Mark Milligan	Melbourne Victory	8
	Archie Thompson	Melbourne Victory

Own goals

Player		Team	Against	Week
	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.

Team	Hosted	Average	High	Low	Total
Melbourne Victory	14	21,885	42,032	16,839	306,396
Sydney FC	13	18,637	35,419	12,425	242,278
Brisbane Roar	13	13,417	22,970	9,282	174,415
Newcastle Jets	13	13,388	22,518	8,310	174,043
Western Sydney Wanderers	14	12,466	19,585	6,755	174,520
Central Coast Mariners	13	9,921	18,721	6,081	128,974
Adelaide United	14	9,592	14,115	6,878	134,287
Perth Glory	14	8,819	16,707	4,821	123,466
Melbourne Heart	13	8,560	26,457	4,505	111,284
Wellington Phoenix	14	6,882	12,057	3,060	96,342
{{{T11}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T12}}}	0	0	0	0	0
League total	135	12,341	42,032	3,060	1,666,005

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.

1 point		Yellow Card
2 points		Second Caution Red Card
3 points		Direct Red Card

Team				Points
Adelaide United	32	0	0	32
Brisbane Roar	30	1	0	32
Central Coast Mariners	30	2	1	37
Melbourne Heart	37	0	1	40
Melbourne Victory	43	1	1	48
Newcastle Jets	44	2	1	51
Perth Glory	40	2	1	47
Sydney FC	45	1	0	47
Wellington Phoenix	29	1	1	34
Western Sydney Wanderers	35	1	2	43
Melbourne Heart	0	0	0	0
Sydney Rovers	0	0	0	0
Totals	365	11	8

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.^[53]

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^[54]

See also

Notes

References