2005–06 A-League

The 2005–06 A-League was the 29th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the inaugural season of the A-League. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition since the close of the 2003–04 National Soccer League season, the first match in the A-League was played on 26 August 2005. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.
Of the eight participants, four came from the National Soccer League : Perth Glory, New Zealand Knights, Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United. New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but were significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977 to 1988 and had competed in the Queensland State League since then as Brisbane Lions.
Adelaide United were named Premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league. The first A-League Grand Final took place on 5 March 2006, with Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural Champions, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1–0.

Clubs

Team	City	Home Ground	Capacity
Adelaide United	Adelaide	Hindmarsh Stadium	17,000
Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Bluetongue Stadium	20,119
Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Olympic Park Stadium	18,500
Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Energy Australia Stadium	26,164
New Zealand Knights	Auckland	North Harbour Stadium	25,000
Perth Glory	Perth	nib Stadium	20,500
Queensland Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Sydney FC	Sydney	Aussie Stadium	42,500

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

Preliminary Competitions

Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season.

Oceania Club Championship Qualification

This three-round competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for the 2005 season of the Oceania Club Championship. It consisted of all Australian A-League clubs and granted Perth Glory – the reigning NSL champions – a bye into the semi-finals.
Sydney FC qualified for and subsequently won the 2005 Oceania Club Championship entitling it to a place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship to be played in Tokyo.

Pre-Season Challenge Cup

The inaugural pre-season cup was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Commentators did not give much weight to the competition as a guide for performance during the season proper, as injuries or club strategic policy ruled that many teams did not use their best players and often used experimental tactics.

Finals

The Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners.

Regular season

The A-League season commenced on 26 August 2005 with two Friday night fixtures. Games each round were held throughout the weekend, though certain rounds also featured Thursday night games. As there was no concurrent cup competition, midweek fixtures were uncommon unless they were held on Australian public holidays. A three-week break was also scheduled in December to coincide with the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo.

League table

Results

Round 8

Round 16

Finals series

After the home and away season, the finals series began, with the top four teams. The finals series used a modified Page playoff system, with the difference that each first-round game would be played over two legs. The winner of the finals series, Sydney FC was crowned as the A-League champion. Adelaide United, as the holder of the top position on the league ladder, were named the 2005–06 premiers.
Standard cup rules – such as the away goals rule, extra time and penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn games.

Semi-finals

Sydney FC won 4–3 on aggregate.
''Central Coast Mariners won 2–1 on aggregate.''

Statistics

Attendance

Highest attendance

41,689: Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners, 5 March 2006
30,377: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 19 February 2006
25,557: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 3 February 2006
25,208: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, 28 August 2005
23,142: Queensland Roar vs Sydney FC, 23 September 2005
20,725: Queensland Roar vs New Zealand Knights, 28 August 2005
18,276: Sydney FC vs Adelaide United, 9 October 2005
18,206: Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC, 16 October 2005
17,960: Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory, 4 September 2005

Biggest victories

	Score		Date	Round
Melbourne Victory	5–0	Sydney FC	16 Oct 2005	8
Queensland Roar	5–0	Newcastle Jets	26 Jan 2006	20
Perth Glory	5–1	Newcastle Jets	8 Oct 2005	7
Sydney FC	5–1	Central Coast Mariners	5 Nov 2005	11
Newcastle Jets	4–0	New Zealand Knights	18 Sep 2005	4
Central Coast Mariners	4–0	Perth Glory	8 Oct 2005	8

Other honours

First goal – Carl Veart
First hat trick – Ante Milicic
First red card – Richie Alagich

AFC Champions League

Although Australia became a member of the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, Australian teams were not invited to participate in the [AFC List of A-League champions|Champions League 2006|2006 AFC Champions League competition].
The AFC later determined that qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League would be based on the 2005–06 A-League competition, despite that ACL matches will commence after the completion of the 2006–07 A-League season. Adelaide as Premiers and Sydney as Champions were the representatives.