The 2007–08 A-League was the 31st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the third season of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

competition since its establishment in 2004.

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only estab ...

hoped to build on the success of the previous two seasons and on the interest generated by

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was ...

and

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

playing in the

2007 AFC Champions League The 2007 AFC Champions League was the 26th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 5th edition under the current AFC Champions League title. Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds became champions for the first time, beating ...

, and the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated ...

competing in the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its ...

. Based on their

A-League 2006-07 A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

season performances

and

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victo ...

competed in the

2008 AFC Champions League The 2008 AFC Champions League was the 27th AFC Champions League, the top-level Asian club football tournament, and the 6th under the current AFC Champions League title. It was the last AFC Champions League before the competition expanded to 32 t ...

, making it two consecutive seasons in the competition for

. Based on the 2007–08 season of the A-League, the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The ...

and

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

qualified for the

2009 AFC Champions League The 2009 AFC Champions League was the 28th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 7th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National ...

, as the competition's Premiers and Champions respectively. Changes included: *The New Zealand Knights, who folded at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season, were replaced by

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

. *An increase of the squad size, from 20 to 23 players, increasing the

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

from A$1.6 million to A$1.8 million.

Clubs

Foreign players

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

);
²Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, in the case of

) 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)

Salary cap exemptions and captains

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

The pre-season cup competition was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The opening round began on 14 July 2007. The competition featured a group stage, with three regular rounds, followed by a two-week finals playoff. The pre-season cup was won by

at the final on 12 August 2007.

Regular season

The league season took a triple round-robin format over 21 rounds between 24 August 2007 and 20 January 2008 with each team playing the other seven teams three times.Hyundai A-League 2007–08 Season Draw

, 23 April 2007.

League table

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Finals series

Semi-finals

Preliminary-final

Grand Final

Season statistics

Leading scorers

Attendance

The attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season, does not include finals series attendances. * Adelaide United played a one off match at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

against Sydney FC in their Round 18 match. This is why Adelaide United's Highest single attendance exceeds the capacity of

Hindmarsh Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from Adelaide-based company Coopers Brewery) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Australi ...

Top 10 attendances

Disciplinary

The Fair Play Award was awarded to Newcastle Jets, the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season.

Awards

*The Premiers' Plate was awarded to

, who finished on top of the ladder after 21 rounds. *The Championship Trophy was awarded to the

. *The Johnny Warren Medal was awarded to Joel Griffiths from the

for the best player in the league. *The Coach of the Year was awarded to

Gary van Egmond Gary Rudy Peter van Egmond (born 29 June 1965) is an Australian former soccer player and former head coach of Newcastle Jets in the A-League. Playing career Van Egmond began his playing career with APIA Leichhardt in 1982. It was not until h ...

of the

. *The

Wooden Spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) ** Australian rugby league wooden spooners ** County Championship Wooden Spoons ** List of Australian Football League wooden spoons The wooden spoon is the imaginar ...

was awarded to

, who finished last on the ladder after 21 rounds. *The

Joe Marston Medal The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League award given to the player of the match in the A-League Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The medal is ...

was awarded to

Andrew Durante Andrew James Durante (born 3 May 1982 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a retired New Zealand international footballer. He is currently the Player Welfare and Development Manager at Western United while also working as a Senior Academy Assistant ...

. *The Reebok Golden Boot was awarded to Joel Griffiths of

for scoring twelve goals at the end of the home and away season. *The Rising Star award was awarded to

Bruce Djite Bruce José Djité (French pronunciation: ; born 25 March 1987) is an Australian executive and former association football (soccer) player. As a player, Djite is known for his speed, strength and good height with ball heading skills and pr ...

. *The Fair Play Award was awarded to the

for the lowest number of yellow, direct red and 2nd caution red cards accumulated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 A-League A-League Men seasons Aus 1 1

Clubs

Foreign players

Salary cap exemptions and captains

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

Regular season

League table

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Finals series

Semi-finals

Preliminary-final

Grand Final

Season statistics

Leading scorers

Attendance

Top 10 attendances

Disciplinary

Awards

See also

References