| Adelaide United | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Adelaide United Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Reds, United | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide (Capacity 16,500) |
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| Chairman |  Dario Fontanarosa |
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| Manager | Aurelio Vidmar |
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| League | A-League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–07 | 2nd (premiership) 2nd (championship) |
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Adelaide United Football Club are an Australian professional association football club based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. They currently participate in the A-League as the sole team from the state of South Australia. The club was founded in 2003, to fill the place vacated by Adelaide City Force in the former National Soccer League (NSL). They were minor premiers in the inaugural 2005-2006 A-League season, finishing 7 points clear of the rest of the competition, before finishing 3rd in the finals, The Reds were also Grand Finalists in the 2006-2007 A-League season. The 2006/07 Season saw Brazilian international Romario join the club for a four-game stint. AUFC have the best winning record of all clubs in the Hyundai A-League. They are the only A-League club to be present at the Asian Champions League more than once.
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History
National Soccer League
In August 2003, Adelaide City withdrew from the National Soccer League, leaving Adelaide with no NSL presence for the first time since the beginning of the league in 1977. In response, Adelaide United was created in September 2003, and a team was scraped together within a couple of weeks. In October, Adelaide United won its first NSL match, against the Brisbane Strikers 1-0 in front of a crowd in excess of 16,000 people. After an impressive home-and-away season, including a seven-match unbeaten streak during November and December 2003, Adelaide United reached the NSL preliminary final, losing to Perth Glory. The NSL came to an abrupt close at the end of the 2003-04 season.
A-League
Adelaide United were announced as one of eight teams to compete in the first season of the Hyundai A-League, and are, along with the Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets, one of only three teams to survive from the National Soccer League's last season. United began preparation earlier than most of the other clubs and had announced two thirds of the 20 man squad before February 2005. The club focused on bringing several Adelaide born players back to South Australia, such as Angelo Costanzo, Travis Dodd and Lucas Pantelis, who had previously played for Adelaide City SC in the NSL. Shengqing Qu was signed from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua as the clubs "marquee" signing (a ruling allowing each club one player to be paid outside the salary cap) in March 2005. Aurelio Vidmar announced his retirement before the A-League had even started. He was replaced before the fifth round by striker Fernando from Brazil, a former 'player of the year' in the old NSL. By moving to Adelaide, he was reunited with former coach John Kosmina who introduced him to Australian audiences at the Brisbane Strikers. Adelaide United established links with American club Miami FC, setting up a 'sister club' relationship, with whom they played a number of friendlies and leading to signing Diego Walsh from them. The team also signed Brazilian legend Romario for a 4 game guest stint in November/December 2006. Adelaide United advanced to the 2006-07 Grand Final at after winning 4-3 on penalties (1-1 AET) against Newcastle Jets. Adelaide United played Melbourne at the Telstra Dome in the 2006-2007 A-League Grand Final on 18 February 2007 losing 6-0 whilst playing most of the game with only 10 men after captain Ross Aloisi was sent off for his second bookable offense. Melbourne had the game easily won at half time due to Adelaide's unbelieveably poor defesive capabilities and Archie Thompson's magic. This was the second successive season Adelaide had choaked during the finals series after losing both stages of the finals in the 2005-2006 season. After a controversial post grand final interview, Ross Aloisi was sacked as Captain of Adelaide United, and now plays for Wellington Phoenix FC and replaced by Angelo Costanzo on 22 February 2007. At the same as this announcement was made, it was also announced that John Kosmina would be sacked. It was widely speculated that Kosmina had been told to resign by the board of Adelaide United the Thursday after the grand final.[1][2] Assistant Coach Aurelio Vidmar was appointed interim coach. On October 22, 2007, former Adelaide United coach John Kosmina took up the role as the new head coach of United's rival Sydney FC, the same club that defeated Adelaide 2-1 in the 2005-6 A-league Semi-finals. For the upcoming 2007-08 season AUFC have recruited ex-Socceroo Paul Agostino, Ivorian Jonas Salley and current Olyroo Kristian Sarkies.[3] They are also in talks with Issy Erdogan of Preston Lions. But have more recently signed former Flamengo FC player Cássio on a free transfer from Brazilian club Santa Cruz FC, and also Shaun Ontong and Matthew Mullen from the AIS,to replenish their defensive stocks after the departure of Kristian Rees, Adam van Dommele and Aaron Goulding and Adam Lee
AFC Champions League
Adelaide United were selected, along with Sydney FC, as the first Australian representatives to play in the 2007 AFC Champions League. They received an Asian berth as named 2005-06 premiers. Adelaide was drawn into Group G with Chinese champion Shandong Luneng, Korean champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Vietnamese champions Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An.
2007 Campaign
Adelaide suffered a 1-0 defeat by Shandong Luneng Taishan, defeated Đồng Tâm Long An F.C.2-0, drew with Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 2-2, suffered a 1-0 defeat by Seongnam and just recently, breaking Shandong Luneneg's winning streak by drawing 2-2 after a perfect penalty by Fernando and a delightful goal by Burns. Adelaide finished its campaign with a 3-0 win over Gach Dong Tam Long An, thanks to a hat trick from Travis Dodd. This match marked the last Adelaide United appearances of Fernando Rech and Carl Veart but the 1-0 defeat by Seongyam has left Adelaide's dreams of making it through to the next round in tatters. Adelaide has finished 3rd in its group, ahead of 4th placed Đồng Tâm Long An F.C.and behind 2nd placed Shandong Luneng and 1st placed Seongnam Ilhwa. Travis Dodd netted on 4 occasions, Fernando Rech 3 times, and Olyroos Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns one a piece.
2008 Campaign
Adelaide United will also participate in the 2008 AFC Champions League finishing runner-up in the League and Finals Series after Melbourne Victory took out the first double Championship/Premiership double in A-League history.
Colours and badge
Adelaide United's kits are sponsored by Reebok, as are the rest of the A-League teams. Their home strip uses the South Australian state colours, and is all-red with gold and blue trim on the sleeves and sides. The away strip is all-white, with red sleeves and gold trim. The badge also uses the state colours in a stylized swoosh, above what appears to be a football made with the Southern Cross, as opposed to the traditional hexagons. The Adelaide United badge is a far cry from some other teams, such as Queensland Roar, by taking the form of a traditional football badge.
Stadium
Adelaide United play their home matches at Hindmarsh Stadium, the largest purpose-built football venue in Australia. The stadium seating capacity is 15,500, although several times in the A-League this has been stretched and standing room has had to be used, increasing capacity by 1,000. The South Australian Government has said to Adelaide United that if crowds can be drawn to games constantly exceeding 14,000 and often reaching full capacity (16,500), plans will be made to adequately increase the size of the ground. Adelaide United's average was 10,947 in 2005-06 and 12,162 in 2006-07. After the first nine home games in 2007-08 the average attendance was 12,907. The club's highest attendance of 25,039 was recorded at a one-off game played at Adelaide Oval on December 28 2007 vs Sydney FC - significantly higher than their record Hindmarsh Stadium crowd of 16,378 on December 1 2006 vs Melbourne Victory. On December 28 2007, Adelaide United played their match against Sydney FC at Adelaide Oval, to attract more ticket sales. Even though Adelaide lost 3-1, it was the biggest SA soccer crowd in history, with 25,039 people filling the stands.
Rivalries
Adelaide's two main rivals are Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory: Sydney and Adelaide were two of the leading teams in the 2005/2006 season (Sydney finished as champions, Adelaide as premiers) and Melbourne and Adelaide were two of the leading teams in the 2006/2007 season (Melbourne and Adelaide played each other in the grand final).
Current squad
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Transfers In
- Kristian Sarkies - Melbourne Victory
- Matthew Mullen - AIS
- Paul Agostino - 1860 Munich
- Shaun Ontong - AIS
- Issy Erdoğan - Preston Lions
Cássio - Santa Cruz
Jonas Salley - Sunshine George Cross FC- Scott Higgins - Maccabi Herzliya
- Milan Šušak - Free
- Tomi Milardovic - St Albans Saints
- Eugene Galekovic - Melbourne Victory
Transfers Out
- Aaron Goulding - Para Hills Knights
- Adam van Dommele - South Melbourne FC
- Carl Veart - Retired
- Kristian Rees - Wellington Pheonix
- Matthew Kemp - Melbourne Victory
- Ross Aloisi - Released to Wellington Phoenix
- Fernando - Released
Qu Shengqing - Released- Greg Owens - Central Coast Mariners
Notable former players
Club officials
Football Department
- Manager: Aurelio Vidmar
- Assistant Coach: Phil Stubbins
- Goalkeeping Coach: Peter Blazincic
- Football Director: Michael Petrillo
- Football Operations Manager: Ryan Peremiczko
- Sports Science Consultant: Michael Nunan
- Performance & Conditioning Manager: Carlos Ohanian
- Property Steward: Jurgen Sanger
- Gear Steward: John Brannigan
Medical Staff
- Club Doctor: James Ilic
- Head Trainer: Peter Duke
- Club Physiotherapist:
Glenn Dods - Strength & Conditioning Manager: Peter Janicki
- Chiropractor: Margie Barry
- Dietician: Anthony Mead
- Sports Psychologist: Matti Clements
- Rehabilitation Coordinator: Tim Kreis
- Masseur: Paul Scott
Managers
- John Kosmina (2003-2007)
- Aurelio Vidmar (2007-present)
Affiliated Clubs
Adelaide United league history
Brackets indicate stat including finals.
| Season | P | W | D | L | F | A | Teams | Minor Ladder Position |
Final Ladder Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 21 (25) | 10 (10) | 3 (5)^ | 8 (10) | 32 (34) | 27 (36) | 8 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 2005-06 | 21 (24) | 13 (13) | 4 (5) | 4 (6) | 33 (36) | 25 (30) | 8 | 1st | 3rd |
^Second finals draw went to a penalty shoot-out which AU won 4-3 which then led to a Grand Final berth.
| Season | P | W | D | L | F | A | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 3 (5) | 1 (3) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) | 6 (11) | 3 (6) | 8 |
| 2006 | 4 (6) | 1 (2) | 2 (3)^ | 1 (1) | 1 (4) | 2 (4) | 8 |
| 2005 | 3 (3) | 0 (0) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) | 3 (3) | 3 (3) | 8 |
^The finals draw went to a penalty shoot-out which AU won 5-4 to be crowned Pre-Season Champions 2006
Honours
- A-League Premiership:
- Premiers (1): 2005-06
- Runner-up (1): 2006-07
- A-League Championship:
- Runner-up (1): 2006-07
- A-League Pre-Season Premiers:
- Winners (2): 2006, 2007
- A-League Finalists:
- Finalists (2): 2005-06, 2006-07
- AFC Champions League:
- Qualification (2): 2007, 2008
- NSL Finalists:
- Finalists (1): 2003-04
Records
- Record Victory: 5 - 1 vs Newcastle Jets, September 8 2006
- Record Defeat: 0 - 6 vs Melbourne Victory, February 18 2007
- Undefeated Streak: 9, November 13 2005 – January 28 2006
- Most Wins in a Row: 7, November 13 2005 – January 12 2006
- Record High Attendance (Home Ground): 25,039 vs Sydney FC, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, December 28 2007
- Record Low Attendance (Home Ground): 7,013 vs Central Coast Mariners, Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, September 25 2005
- Highest Season Average Attendance: 12,187 - A-League 2006-07
- All-time Leading Goal Scorer: Carl Veart - 23 goals (as of February 14 2007)
- Longest Period Without Conceding a Goal: 291 minutes, August 26 2005 - September 17 2005
References
- ^ Kosmina takes a dive, The Age
- ^ Adelaide coach quits after A-League final loss, Soccor Net on ESPN
- ^ Sarkies joins United, A-League Official News
External links
- http://www.adelaideunited.com.au/ Official club website
- http://www.gateaufc.com/forum/ Fans Forum
- http://www.oztifo.com/gallery/v/adelaideunited/ Adelaide United fans pictures
| Preceded by Inaugural Premier |
A-League Premiers 2005/06 |
Succeeded by Melbourne Victory |
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| Aussie Rules (AFL) | Adelaide Crows · Port Adelaide |
| Basketball (NBL) | Adelaide 36ers |
| Cricket | Southern Redbacks |
| Association football (A-League) | Adelaide United |
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