Wikipedia

2008–09 Melbourne Victory FC season

The 2008-09 Hyundai A-League season was Melbourne Victory's fourth season. They finished top of the table at the end of the regular season and defeated Adelaide United in the Grand Final to take their second A-League title.

Melbourne Victory
2008–2009 season
ManagerErnie Merrick
A-League Championship1st
Pre-Season Challenge CupChampions
A-League Premiership1st
Top goalscorerDaniel Allsopp (13)
Highest home attendance53,273 vs Adelaide United (28 February 2009)
Lowest home attendance18,036 vs Perth Glory (4 October 2008)
Average home league attendance24,516

Season summary edit

The 2008–09 season brought the start of the A-League Youth League and the introduction of the W-League with Melbourne fielding teams in both competitions. Melbourne actively recruited, bringing in Socceroo Michael Thwaite on a one-year loan,[1] Costa Rican World Cup player José Luis López,[2] as well as Ney Fabiano from Asian Champions League rivals Chonburi FC.[3]

Melbourne's season got off to an optimal start, winning the Pre-Season Challenge Cup. A 0–0 draw resulted in a penalty shoot-out, with Victory winning 8–7 on penalties against Wellington Phoenix.[4]

After winning the pre-season cup, the Victory were held to a 0–0 draw away against Sydney FC.[5] They reinforced their premiership favouritism by coasting to 4–2 and 5–0 victories against Wellington Phoenix and the Newcastle Jets respectively.[6][7] Despite this, they succumbed 0–2 to an undermanned Sydney side at the Telstra Dome in front of 31,564 fans.[8]

On 6 December 2008, Melbourne Victory became the first A-League club to amass total crowd figures of 1,000,000 after their away match against Perth Glory.

On 24 January 2009, Melbourne Victory won its final game of the season against Wellington Phoenix.[9] The 2–0 win in front of 28,905 fans placed Victory ahead of Adelaide United on goals scored for the premiership title, a margin United failed to achieve in its 1–0 win over the Central Coast Mariners.

The Victory kicked off their finals campaign on 7 February 2009 in the major semi-final first leg against bitter rival Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium, a game which was won courtesy of goals from Carlos Hernández and Danny Allsopp.[10] In the second leg Melbourne defeated Adelaide United 4–0 with goals from Archie Thompson, Hernandez, Allsopp and Tom Pondeljak, granting Melbourne passage to the Grand Final on a 6–0 aggregate.[11]

Adelaide then defeated Queensland Roar to set up a rematch with Melbourne in the Grand Final,[12] which the Victory won 1–0 with Tom Pondeljak scoring in the 59th minute to regain the A-League Championship and becoming the first A-League team to win their second championship,[13] a feat since achieved by Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar.

Players edit

First team squad edit

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   AUS Michael Theoklitos
2 MF   AUS Kevin Muscat (captain)
3 DF   AUS Michael Thwaite (loan)
4 DF   AUS Steven Pace
5 DF   AUS Sebastian Ryall (youth)
6 DF   AUS Steve Pantelidis
7 DF   AUS Matthew Kemp
8 MF   SCO Grant Brebner
9 FW   AUS Danny Allsopp
10 FW   AUS Archie Thompson (marquee)
11 FW   BRA Ney Fabiano
No. Pos. Nation Player
12 DF   AUS Rodrigo Vargas
13 FW   AUS Nathan Elasi (youth)
14 MF   AUS Billy Celeski
15 MF   AUS Tom Pondeljak
16 MF   CRC Carlos Hernández (loan)
17 MF   CRC José Luis López
18 MF   AUS Leigh Broxham
19 MF   AUS Evan Berger
20 GK   AUS Mitchell Langerak
21 DF   AUS Daniel Vasilevski
22 MF   AUS Nick Ward (marquee youth)

Transfers edit

In

Player From League Fee Date
  Billy Celeski Perth Glory   A-League – February 2008
  Tom Pondeljak Central Coast Mariners   A-League – February 2008
  Nathan Elasi Marconi Stallions   New South Wales Premier League – February 2008
  Steve Mautone* Retired   None – February 2008
  Ney Fabiano[14] Chonburi FC   Thailand Premier League US$13,500 1 July 2008
  Michael Thwaite SK Brann   Norwegian Premier League Loan 1 July 2008
  José Luis López Deportivo Saprissa   Primera División de Costa Rica Loan 14 July 2008

* Steve Mautone is the current Melbourne Victory Goalkeeping coach and was named as the third choice goalkeeper for the AFC Champions League

Out

Player To League Fee Date
  Ljubo Milicevic Released   – – February 2008
  Steve Mautone Retired   – – June 2008
  Adrian Caceres Central Coast Mariners   A-League – July 2008
  Daniel Piorkowski Released   – – July 2008
  Leandro Love Vissel Kobe (loan ended)   J.League – July 2008
  Kaz Patafta[15] Newcastle Jets   A-League – July 2008

Matches edit

2008 Pre-Season Cup fixtures edit

Group A
Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
Melbourne Victory 3 2 0 1 3 2 +1 6 Advances to final
Adelaide United 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
Newcastle Jets 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
Perth Glory 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
Source: [citation needed]
20 July 2008 Group Stage Melbourne Victory   1 : 2   Adelaide United Aurora Stadium, Launceston
13:00 UTC+10 Fabiano   8' Report   33', 90' Cristiano Attendance: 4,720
Referee: Ben Williams
26 July 2008 Group Stage Perth Glory   0 : 1   Melbourne Victory Members Equity Stadium, Perth
15:00 UTC+8 Report   11' M. Thwaite Attendance: 3,020
2 August 2008 Group Stage Newcastle Jets   0 : 1   Melbourne Victory Port Macquarie Regional Stadium, Port Macquarie
14:30 UTC+10 Report   82' T. Pondeljak Attendance: 3,133
6 August 2008 Final Wellington Phoenix   0 : 0   Melbourne Victory Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+12 (7–8 PSO)
Report		 Attendance: 9,208
Referee: Peter O'Leary

2008-09 Hyundai A-League fixtures edit

16 August 2008 Round 1 Sydney FC   0 : 0   Melbourne Victory Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10 Report Attendance: 16,227
Referee: Mark Shield
24 August 2008 Round 2 Wellington Phoenix   2 : 4   Melbourne Victory Westpac Stadium, Wellington
17:00 UTC+12 Smeltz   29',   65' (Pen) Report Allsopp   16',   35'
Ney Fabiano   47'
Muscat   68' (Pen)		 Attendance: 6,110
Referee: Strebre Delovski
29 August 2008 Round 3 Melbourne Victory   5 : 0   Newcastle Jets Telstra Dome, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+10 Hernández   41'
A. Thompson   45+2'
Allsopp   61'   64'
Brebner   90'		 Attendance: 22,589
Referee: Mark Shield
12 September 2008 Round 4 Melbourne Victory   1 : 0   Adelaide United Telstra Dome, Melbourne
18:00 UTC+10 Ney Fabiano   29'
Muscat   64'		 Attendance: 24,812
Referee: Matthew Breeze
20 September 2008 Round 5 Central Coast Mariners   2 : 2   Melbourne Victory Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
19:00 UTC+10 Simon   12'   84' Report
Summary		 A. Thompson   16'   90+4'
Theoklitos   57'		 Attendance: 9,009
Referee: Peter Green
28 September 2008 Round 6 Melbourne Victory   0 : 2   Queensland Roar Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10 Hernández   48'   58' Report
Summary		 Minniecon   83'
Zullo   90+4'		 Attendance: 22,266
Referee: Ben Williams
4 October 2008 Round 7 Melbourne Victory   4 : 0   Perth Glory Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10 Brebner   25'
Allsopp   39'   71'
Vargas   46'		 Attendance: 18,036
Referee: Srebre Delovski
18 October 2008 Round 8 Newcastle Jets   1 : 0   Melbourne Victory EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
19:00 UTC+11 Jesic   85' A. Thompson   58' Attendance: 11,384
Referee: Matthew Breeze
25 October 2008 Round 9 Melbourne Victory   0 : 2   Sydney FC Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11 Summary Bridge   20'
Aloisi   62'		 Attendance: 31,654
Referee: Ben Williams
31 October 2008 Round 10 Adelaide United   2 : 3   Melbourne Victory Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+10:30 Travis Dodd   28' (Pen)
Cássio   67'		 Report
Summary		 Muscat   55' (Pen)
Muscat   81' (Pen)
Billy Celeski   84'		 Attendance: 13,191
Referee: Matthew Breeze
8 November 2008 Round 11 Queensland Roar   0 : 1   Melbourne Victory Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10 Summary Thompson   71' Attendance: 12,022
Referee: Peter O'Leary
21 November 2008 Round 12 Melbourne Victory   2 : 1   Central Coast Mariners Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11 Tom Pondeljak   37'
A. Thompson   60'		 Report
Summary		 John Hutchinson   34' Attendance: 21,455
Referee: Srebre Delovski
28 November 2008 Round 13 Wellington Phoenix   2 : 1   Melbourne Victory Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:30 UTC+13 Brown   21'
Smeltz   58'		 Allsopp   20' Attendance: 7,593
Referee: Craig Zetter
6 December 2008 Round 14 Perth Glory   3 : 1   Melbourne Victory Members Equity Stadium, Perth
18:00 UTC+9 Dadi   19',   23'
Pellegrino   79'		 Report
Summary		 Ney Fabiano   55' Attendance: 6,621
Referee: Peter Green
19 December 2008 Round 15 Newcastle Jets   4 : 2   Melbourne Victory EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11 M. Thompson   16',   45',   49'
Song   60'		 Report
Summary		 Allsopp   66'
Ney Fabiano   87'		 Attendance: 6,268
Referee: Craig Zetter
27 December 2008 Round 16 Melbourne Victory   3 : 2   Sydney FC Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11 Thompson   14'
Ward   71'
Ney Fabiano   80'		 Report
Summary		 Cole   1'
Gan   4'		 Attendance: 25,395
Referee: Matthew Breeze
2 January 2009 Round 17 Melbourne Victory   2 : 1   Queensland Roar Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11 Allsopp   55'
Vargas   67'		 Summary
Report		 Moore   75' Attendance: 23,447
Referee: Peter O’Leary
6 January 2009[16] Round 18 Melbourne Victory   1 : 0   Adelaide United Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:30 UTC+11 Ward   58' Report
Summary		 Attendance: 27,196
Referee: Matthew Breeze
11 January 2009 Round 19 Perth Glory   3 : 2   Melbourne Victory Members Equity Stadium, Perth
18:00 UTC+9 Dadi   32',   76'
Rukavytsya   36'		 Summary Allsopp   3'
Ney Fabiano   48'
Kemp   33'   88'		 Attendance: 9,381
Referee: Chris Beath
16 January 2009 Round 20 Melbourne Victory   3 : 0   Central Coast Mariners Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11 Allsopp   68'
Hernández   71'
A. Thompson   75'		 Summary Heffernan   87' Attendance: 24,003
Referee: Peter Green
23 January 2009 Round 21 Melbourne Victory   2 : 0   Wellington Phoenix Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11 K. Muscat   40' (pen.)
A. Thompson   90'		 Report[permanent dead link]
Summary		 Attendance: 28,905
Referee: Srebre Delovski

2008-09 finals series edit

7 February 2009 Major Semi Final Leg 1 Adelaide United   0 : 2   Melbourne Victory, Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
18:30 UTC+10:30

  Adelaide Starting XI
 S. Ognenovski   5'
S. Jamieson   35'



 
 
 
 
 
 
Adelaide
 (0:1)
Report
Summary
Man of the Match:
  Carlos Hernández
 
   13' C. Hernández
  51' N. Ward
  54' K. Muscat
  89' D. Allsopp

 
 
 
 
 
 
Melbourne
 Attendance: 14,119
Referee:   Srebre Delovski
  Melbourne Starting XI
14 February 2009 Major Semi Final Leg 2 Melbourne Victory   4 : 0   Adelaide United Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:30 UTC+11:30

  Melbourne Starting XI
 A. Thompson   10'
C. Hernández   24'
D. Allsopp   44'
T. Pondeljak   48'
Nick Ward   51'
 
 
 
 
 
 
Melbourne
 (3:0)
Report
Summary
Man of the Match:
  Carlos Hernández
 
   30' S. Ognenovski
  53' R. Griffiths
  62'   81' Cássio
      88' T. Dodd

 
 
 
 
 
 
Adelaide
 Attendance: 34,736
Referee:   Matthew Breeze
  Adelaide Starting XI
28 February 2009 Grand Final Melbourne Victory   1 : 0   Adelaide United Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:30 UTC+11

  Melbourne Starting XI
 T. Pondeljak   60'   61'
D. Allsopp   65'




 
 
 
 
 
 
Melbourne
 (0:0)Report
Summary
Joe Marston Medal:
  Tom Pondeljak		   10' Cristiano
  37' S. Ognenovski
  56' S. Jamieson
  64' F. Barbiero
  81' R. Cornthwaite
  90' T. Dodd (c)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Adelaide
 Attendance: 53,273
Referee: Matthew Breeze
  Adelaide Starting XI

Statistics edit

Goals edit

Total Player Goals per Round
 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 S1 S2 GF
13   Daniel Allsopp 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
9   Archie Thompson 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
5   Ney Fabiano 1 1 1 1 1
5   Kevin Muscat 1 1 2 1
4   Carlos Hernández 1 1 1 1
3   Tom Pondeljak 1 1 1
2   Grant Brebner 1 1
2   Rodrigo Vargas 1 1
2   Nick Ward 1 1
1   Billy Celeski 1
  A goal was scored from a penalty kick
  Two goals were scored from penalty kicks

A-League edit

Ladder edit

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Melbourne Victory (C) 21 12 2 7 39 27 +12 38 Qualification for 2010 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series
2 Adelaide United 21 11 5 5 31 19 +12 38
3 Queensland Roar 21 10 6 5 36 25 +11 36 Qualification for Finals series
4 Central Coast Mariners 21 7 7 7 35 32 +3 28
5 Sydney FC 21 7 5 9 33 32 +1 26
6 Wellington Phoenix 21 7 5 9 23 31 −8 26
7 Perth Glory 21 6 4 11 31 44 −13 22
8 Newcastle Jets 21 4 6 11 21 39 −18 18
Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Finals series edit

2008–09 Awards edit

W-League edit

2008–09 Westfield W-League fixtures edit

25 October 2008 Melbourne Victory 2 : 0 Central Coast Mariners Telstra Dome
16:00 UTC+10 Marlies Oostdam   52'
Rebecca Tegg   60'		 Report Referee: Lee Corey
1 November 2008 Sydney FC 2 : 1 Melbourne Victory Parramatta Stadium
14:00 UTC+10 Nicole Bulger   55'
Leena Khamis   82'		 Report Sarah Groenewald   24' Referee: Jacqui Melksham
8 November 2008 Melbourne Victory 3 : 0 Perth Glory Bob Jane Stadium
14:00 UTC+10 Kal Tarp   47' (Pen)
Carys Hawkins   75' (o.g.)
Louisa Bisby   82'		 Report Referee: Kate Jacewicz
15 November 2008 Melbourne Victory 0 : 1 Canberra United Bob Jane Stadium
19:00 UTC+10 Report Sasha McDonnell   24' Referee: Kate Jacewicz
22 November 2008 Queensland Roar 2 : 0 Melbourne Victory Ballymore Stadium
19:00 UTC+10 Courtney Beutel   33'
Tameka Butt   57'		 Report Referee: Lee Corey
29 November 2008 Adelaide United 0 : 3 Melbourne Victory Hindmarsh Stadium
14:00 UTC+9.5 Report Selin Kuralay   36',   70'
Daniela Digiammarco   64'
6 December 2008 Melbourne Victory 1 : 0 Newcastle Jets Epping Stadium
19:00 UTC+10 Brittany Timko   82' Report Referee: Sara Hodson
13 December 2008 Melbourne Victory 1 : 3 Queensland Roar Epping Stadium
14:00 UTC+10 Brittany Timko   26' Report Courtney Beutel   10'
Alicia Ferguson   23'
Tameka Butt   55'		 Referee: Kate Jacewicz
20 December 2008 Canberra United 3 : 2 Melbourne Victory McKellar Park
18:00 UTC+10 Ellie Brush   35'
Kara Mowbray   83'
Amy Chapman   93'		 Report Sarah Groenewald   82'
Marlies Oostdam   85'		 Referee: Lee Corey
28 December 2008 Central Coast Mariners 2 : 0 Melbourne Victory Parramatta Stadium
16:00 UTC+10 Jenna Kingsley   89'
Elizabeth O'Reilly   93'		 Report Referee: Kate Jacewicz

References edit

  1. ^ "Thwaite Signs For Victory". FourFourTwo Australia. Haymarket Group. 19 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Pupy Lopez Signs For Victory (At Last)". FourFourTwo Australia. Haymarket Group. 14 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  3. ^ Desira, Peter (24 May 2008). "Ney Fabiano signs two-year deal with Melbourne Victory". Herald Sun. Herald and Weekly Times. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Victory claim Pre-Season Cup". A-League Official Website. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  5. ^ "Sydney and Melbourne share honours". A-League Official Website. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Clinical Victory blasts past Phoenix". A-League Official Website. 24 August 2008. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  7. ^ "Victory run riot". A-League Official Website. 29 August 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Sydney's double bonus". A-League Official Website. 25 October 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  9. ^ "Victory get jump in premiers' race". A-League Official Website. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2011.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Goraya, Raman (7 February 2009). "Victory head home with hefty advantage". ABC News.
  11. ^ Maasdorp, James (14 February 2009). "Victory maul Adelaide en route to home final". ABC News. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  12. ^ "Adelaide earns shot at redemption". ABC News. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  13. ^ "Victory prevail in epic". A-League Official Website. 28 February 2009. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  14. ^ FIFA.com Fabiano leaves Chonburi for Victory Accessed 31 May 2008
  15. ^ a-league.com.au Patafta moves north to join Newcastle Archived 18 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 31 May 2008
  16. ^ Match rescheduled due to Adelaide's participation in FIFA Club World Cup

External links edit

Preceded by A-League Premiers
2008–09 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by A-League Champions
2006–07 		Succeeded by
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