2009–10 A-League

The 2009–10 A-League was the 33rd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fifth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. The season marked the addition of two new teams from Queensland. Gold Coast United FC and the North Queensland Fury FC made their A-League debuts at the start of the season. Because of this, Queensland Roar were renamed to Brisbane Roar, as they were no longer the only A-League club from Queensland. With the inception of the two new clubs, many club transfers took place both within Australia and New Zealand, and around the world.
The length of the regular season was longer than in previous years, with 27 rounds rather than 21, plus finals. The season began on 6 August, with Melbourne hosting the Central Coast at home. As well as these major changes to the league, the Pre-Season Challenge Cup was no longer held as part of the 2009–10 season due to a busier regular season schedule, and clubs attracting higher profile pre-season friendlies. The Premiership and Championship double was completed by Sydney FC with victory over Melbourne in the final match of the regular season and on penalties in the Championship Grand Final.

Clubs

Team	City	Home Ground	Capacity
Adelaide United	Adelaide	Hindmarsh Stadium	17,000
Brisbane Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Bluetongue Stadium	20,119
Gold Coast United	Gold Coast	Skilled Park	27,400
Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	56,347
Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Energy Australia Stadium	26,164
North Queensland Fury	Townsville	Dairy Farmers Stadium	26,500
Perth Glory	Perth	ME Bank Stadium	20,500
Sydney FC	Sydney	Sydney Football Stadium	45,500
Wellington Phoenix	Wellington	Westpac Stadium	36,000

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 ;

²Australian residents who have chosen to represent another national team;

³Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players;

⁴Guest Players

Regular season

League table

Home and away season

The 2009–10 A-League season was played over 27 rounds, followed by a finals series.

Round 8

Round 16

Round 24

Finals series

Bracket

Elimination finals

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Semi-finals

Major semi-final

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''Melbourne Victory won 4–3 on aggregate.''

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank

Player

Club

Goals

Attendance

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.

Top 10 Attendances

Attendance	Round	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Weekday	Time of Day
44,560	Grand Final	20 March 2010	Melbourne Victory	1–1	Sydney FC	Etihad Stadium	Saturday	Evening
32,792	Finals Wk 2	7 March 2010	Wellington Phoenix	3–1	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium	Sunday	Afternoon
30,668	10	9 October 2009	Melbourne Victory	0–3	Sydney FC	Etihad Stadium	Friday	Night
27,344	20	19 December 2009	Melbourne Victory	0–0	Sydney FC	Etihad Stadium	Saturday	Evening
25,407	27	14 February 2010	Sydney FC	2–0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium	Sunday	Evening
24,278	Finals Wk 1	21 February 2010	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Perth Glory	Westpac Stadium	Sunday	Evening
23,818	Final Wk 2	7 March 2010	Sydney FC	2–2	Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium	Sunday	Evening
22,726	26	5 February 2010	Melbourne Victory	2–0	North Queensland Fury	Etihad Stadium	Friday	Night
21,182	12	24 October 2009	Melbourne Victory	3–1	Adelaide United	Etihad Stadium	Saturday	Evening
20,537	16	28 November 2009	Melbourne Victory	4–0	Gold Coast United	Etihad Stadium	Saturday	Evening

Discipline

The Fair Play Award will go to the team with the lowest points on the fair play ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season. It was awarded to Premiers Sydney FC who scraped in by 4 points from rivals Melbourne Victory.
* The Newcastle Jets' Tarek Elrich received a direct red card in their round 7 fixture against Sydney FC. However, this was successfully appealed by the club and expunged from Elrich and the team's records.

* Adelaide United's Iain Fyfe received a direct red card in their round 19 fixture against Perth Glory. However, this was overruled by the match review panel and expunged from Fyfe and the team's records.