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2021–22 A-League Men
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.
| Season |
|---|
| 19 November 2021 – 28 May 2022 |
| Western United (1st title) |
| Melbourne City (2nd title) |
| 163 |
| 473 (2.9 per match) |
| Jamie Maclaren(regular season, 15 goals)Jamie Maclaren(overall, 16 goals) |
| Western United 6–0 Perth Glory(16 April 2022) |
| Wellington Phoenix 0–6 Melbourne City(2 April 2022) |
| Newcastle Jets 6–1 Perth Glory(10 April 2022) |
| 5 matchesAdelaide UnitedCentral Coast Mariners |
| 15 matchesMelbourne Victory |
| 16 matchesPerth Glory |
| 6 matchesPerth Glory |
| 23,118WSW 0–0 Sydney FC(20 November 2021) |
| 38Wellington Phoenix 3–0 Brisbane Roar(16 February 2022) |
| 5,602 ( 143) |
| ← 2020–21 2022–23 → |
| (Note: Longest runs only include regular season results) |
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.
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.
Twelve clubs participated in the 2021–22 season.
| 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 | |
| Launceston | UTAS Stadium | 19,000 | |
| Melbourne | AAMI Park | 30,050 |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide United | Carl Veart | Craig Goodwin | UCAN | Flinders UniversityAustralian Outdoor Living |
| Brisbane Roar | Warren Moon | Tom Aldred | New Balance | ActronAir |
| Central Coast Mariners | Nick Montgomery | Oliver Bozanic | Paladin Sports | MATE |
| Macarthur FC | Ante Milicic | Ulises Dávila | Macron | Wisdom Homes |
| Melbourne City | Patrick Kisnorbo | Scott Jamieson | Puma | Etihad Airways |
| Melbourne Victory | Tony Popovic | Joshua Brillante | Macron | Metricon |
| Newcastle Jets | Arthur Papas | Matthew Jurman | VIVA | Port of NewcastleAmpcontrol |
| Perth Glory | Ruben Zadkovich | Brandon O'Neill | Macron | BHP |
| Sydney FC | Steve Corica | Alex Wilkinson | Under Armour | The Star |
| Wellington Phoenix | Ufuk Talay | Alex Rufer | Paladin Sports | Spark Oppo |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Marko Rudan | Rhys Williams | Kappa | Voltaren Turner Freeman Lawyers |
| Western United | John Aloisi | Alessandro Diamanti | Kappa | Simonds Homes |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position on table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Victory | Steve Kean (caretaker) | End of contract | 10 June 2021 | Pre-season | Tony Popovic | 22 April 2021 |
| Newcastle Jets | Craig Deans | Resigned | 3 June 2021 | Arthur Papas | 28 June 2021 | |
| Western United | Marko Rudan | Sacked | 8 June 2021 | John Aloisi | 15 July 2021 | |
| Central Coast Mariners | Alen Stajcic | Resigned | 17 June 2021 | Nick Montgomery | 2 July 2021 | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Carl Robinson | Sacked | 30 January 2022 | 11th | Marko Rudan | 31 January 2022 |
| Perth Glory | Richard Garcia | Sacked | 20 March 2022 | 12th | Ruben Zadkovich (caretaker) | 20 March 2022 |
| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Visa 5 | Non-visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide United | Michael Jakobsen | Zach Clough | Hiroshi Ibusuki | Juande | Javi López | Isaías1 | |
| Brisbane Roar | Juan Lescano | Matti Steinmann | Jay O'Shea | Ryo Wada | Tom Aldred | Rahmat Akbari2 Jack Hingert2 | Aidan Munford2 |
| Central Coast Mariners | Moresche | Marco Ureña | Béni Nkololo | Nicolai Müller | Cy Goddard | Dan Hall2 Storm Roux2 Jason Cummings2 | |
| Macarthur FC | Jordon Mutch | Craig Noone | Adrian Mariappa | Ulises Dávila | Filip Kurto | Antonis Martis2 | |
| Melbourne City | Carl Jenkinson | Florin Berenguer | Manuel Pucciarelli | Tsubasa Endoh | Nuno Reis | Stefan Colakovski2 | |
| Melbourne Victory | Ivan Kelava | Francesco Margiotta | Marco Rojas | Roderick Miranda | Rai Marchán | William Wilson2 | |
| Newcastle Jets | Daniel Penha | Olivier Boumal | Beka Mikeltadze | Savvas Siatravanis | Mario Arqués | Dane Ingham2 Valentino Yuel2 | |
| Perth Glory | Darryl Lachman | Daniel Sturridge | Kosuke Ota | Adrián Sardinero | Pacifique Niyongabire2 Andy Keogh1 Darko Stanojević2 | ||
| Sydney FC | Bobô | Adam Le Fondre | Luciano Narsingh | Kosta Barbarouses | Miloš Ninković | Elvis Kamsoba2 | |
| Wellington Phoenix | David Ball | Gary Hooper | Scott Wootton | Gael Sandoval | Matthew Bozinovski2 | ||
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Jack Rodwell | Tomer Hemed | Keijiro Ogawa | Ziggy Gordon | Tomás Mejías | Adama Traoré1 | |
| Western United | Alessandro Diamanti | Tomoki Imai | Aleksandar Prijović | Rene Krhin | Léo Lacroix | Jamie Young2 |
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);
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)
| Club | First Marquee | Second Marquee | Designated Player | Captain | Vice-captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide United | None | None | None | Stefan Mauk Craig Goodwin | Ryan Kitto Isaías |
| Brisbane Roar | None | None | None | Tom Aldred | None |
| Central Coast Mariners | None | None | None | Oliver Bozanic | None |
| Macarthur FC | None | None | None | Ulises Dávila | None |
| Melbourne City | Jamie Maclaren | None | None | Scott Jamieson | None |
| Melbourne Victory | Marco Rojas | Chris Ikonomidis | Roderick Miranda | Joshua Brillante | Roderick Miranda |
| Newcastle Jets | None | None | Beka Mikeltadze | Matthew Jurman | None |
| Perth Glory | Daniel Sturridge | Bruno Fornaroli | Adrián Sardinero | Brandon O'Neill | None |
| Sydney FC | None | None | None | Alex Wilkinson | None |
| Wellington Phoenix | None | None | None | Alex Rufer | Oliver Sail |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | None | None | None | Rhys Williams | None |
| Western United | Alessandro Diamanti | None | None | Alessandro Diamanti | Josh Risdon |
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), 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. Melbourne City won the Premiership in both the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons, thereby automatically qualifying for the Champions League.
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. The two winners of those matches meet in the Grand Final. This season was the first to use this format.
Summary
| 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 |
Matches
Western United won 4–2 on aggregate.
Melbourne City won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City | 15 |
| 2 | Beka Mikeltadze | Newcastle Jets | 13 |
| 3 | Jason Cummings | Central Coast Mariners | 10 |
| Nicholas D'Agostino | Melbourne Victory | ||
| Aleksandar Prijović | Western United | ||
| Craig Goodwin | Adelaide United | ||
| 7 | Mathew Leckie | Melbourne City | 9 |
| 8 | Bruno Fornaroli | Perth Glory | 8 |
| 9 | Ulises Dávila | Macarthur FC | 7 |
| Adam Le Fondre | Sydney FC | ||
| Beni Nkololo | Central Coast Mariners | ||
| Marco Ureña | Central Coast Mariners |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Le Fondre | Sydney FC | Central Coast Mariners | 5–0 (A) | 9 April 2022 | |
| Beka Mikeltadze | Newcastle Jets | Perth Glory | 6–1 (H) | 10 April 2022 | |
| Lachlan Wales | Western United | Perth Glory | 6–0 (H) | 16 April 2022 |
| Key |
|---|
| Away team |
| Home team |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Young | Western United | 10 |
| 2 | Mark Birighitti | Central Coast Mariners | 9 |
| 3 | Ivan Kelava | Melbourne Victory | 7 |
| 4 | Tom Glover | Melbourne City | 6 |
| 5 | Oliver Sail | Wellington Phoenix | 5 |
| 6 | Jack Duncan | Newcastle Jets | 4 |
| Joe Gauci | Adelaide United | ||
| Filip Kurto | Macarthur FC | ||
| Liam Reddy | Perth Glory | ||
| Andrew Redmayne | Sydney FC |
The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2021–22 Dolan Warren Awards night on 26 May 2022.
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Warren Medal | Jake Brimmer | Melbourne Victory |
| Young Footballer of the Year | Angus Thurgate | Newcastle Jets |
| Golden Boot Award | Jamie Maclaren | Melbourne City |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Mark Birighitti | Central Coast Mariners |
| Coach of the Year | Tony Popovic | Melbourne Victory |
| Goal of the Year | Ben Garuccio | Western United |
| Referee of the Year | Alex King |
| Team of the season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Birighitti (Central Coast Mariners) | ||||||
| Jason Geria (Melbourne Victory) | Léo Lacroix (Western United) | Curtis Good (Melbourne City) | Jason Davidson (Melbourne Victory) | |||
| Florin Berenguer (Melbourne City) | Joshua Brillante (Melbourne Victory) | Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United) | ||||
| Nick D'Agostino (Melbourne Victory) | Jake Brimmer (Melbourne Victory) | Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) | ||||
| Jamie Young (Western United) | Ben Garuccio (Western United) | Javi López (Adelaide United) | Connor Metcalfe (Melbourne City) | Ulises Dávila (Macarthur FC) | Daniel Penha (Newcastle Jets) | Neil Kilkenny (Western United) |
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