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

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

First team squad

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

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

2008 Pre-Season Cup fixtures
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:
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
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
Summary		 Attendance: 28,905
Referee: Srebre Delovski

2008-09 finals series
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

Goals
Total Player Goals per Round
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718192021S1S2GF
13Daniel Allsopp2221111111
9Archie Thompson12111111
5Ney Fabiano11111
5Kevin Muscat1121
4Carlos Hernández1111
3Tom Pondeljak111
2Grant Brebner11
2Rodrigo Vargas11
2Nick Ward11
1Billy Celeski1
  A goal was scored from a penalty kick
  Two goals were scored from penalty kicks

A-League

Ladder
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Melbourne Victory (C) 21 12 2 7 39 27 +12 38 Finals Series and 2010 AFC Champions League Group stage
2 Adelaide United 21 11 5 5 31 19 +12 38
3 Queensland Roar 21 10 6 5 36 25 +11 36 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) Champion

Finals series
  Semi Finals Preliminary Final Grand Final
    L1 L2    
                           
1 Melbourne Victory 2 4    
2 Adelaide United 0 0             Melbourne Victory 1
      Adelaide United 1     Adelaide United 0
      Queensland Roar 0  
3 Queensland Roar 2 2
4 Central Coast Mariners 0 1  

2008–09 Awards

W-League

2008–09 Westfield W-League fixtures
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 Selin Kuralay 36', 70'
Daniela Digiammarco 64'		 Report
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
  1. "Thwaite Signs For Victory". FourFourTwo Australia. Haymarket Group. 19 June 2008. 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.
  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 re-scheduled due to Adelaide's participation in FIFA Club World Cup
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