Adelaide United FC
Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues.
Established in 2003, the club was formed to compete in the final season of the National Soccer League after the withdrawals of West Adelaide and Adelaide City, in 1999 and 2003 respectively, left South Australia without representation in the competition. Since its formation, it has remained the only professional soccer club from South Australia. Adelaide United's home ground is at Coopers Stadium in the inner north-western suburb of Hindmarsh. Adelaide United won their first silverware in 2006, when they became premiers of the inaugural A-League season, finishing top of the ladder over Sydney FC by seven points. In 2008, the club became the first Australian side to reach the final of the AFC Champions League, being defeated by Gamba Osaka 0–5 across two legs and finishing in fifth place in the 2008 Club World Cup. The club won the first edition of the FFA Cup in 2014 with a 1–0 win at home over Perth Glory. Their first A-League title would come in 2016, defeating Western Sydney Wanderers 3–1 at Adelaide Oval in front of 50,119 spectators, the largest home crowd the club has played a competitive match in front of. Adelaide would become the first club to win back-to-back FFA Cups, defeating Sydney FC 2–1 in 2018 and Melbourne City 4–1 in 2019. The club remains the most successful team to ever play in the competition.
Adelaide United has a rivalry with Melbourne Victory, stemming from numerous altercations between players and coaches, as well as the two clubs' competitiveness in the early seasons of the A-League, culminating with Grand Final clashes in 2007 and 2009, both of which went the way of Victory. Adelaide United formerly held the record for the largest winning margin in an A-League Men match, having defeated North Queensland Fury 8–1 at home on 21 January 2011. The game was also the first and only instance where two players from the same team, Marcos Flores and Sergio van Dijk, achieved hat-tricks in a single match. They later matched their own record when they beat Newcastle Jets 7–0 at home almost exactly four years later.
In recent years, Adelaide United has grown a reputation of developing young players and selling them to overseas clubs. Notable examples include Nestory Irankunda's sale to Bayern Munich for a league record fee, Archie Goodwin, Joe Gauci, Musa Toure, Steven Hall, and Riley McGree, all on transfer fees. They've also facilitated moves overseas for Louis D'Arrigo and Mohamed Toure. According to the International Centre for Sports Studies, in 2024, the club ranked 43rd in the world and second in the AFC for minutes given to under-21 players.
History
2003–2005: Beginnings
In August 2003, Adelaide City withdrew from the National Soccer League, leaving Adelaide with no NSL presence for the first time since the league's inception in 1977. West Adelaide had previously withdrawn from the NSL in 1999. In response, Adelaide United was created on 12 September 2003, with real estate businessman Gordon Pickard funding the new club and former Soccer Australia and FIFA executive Basil Scarsella as chairman.On 13 September, former Brisbane Strikers and Newcastle Breakers manager John Kosmina was officially announced as the manager. Within a few weeks, a team was assembled, mostly with the remnants of the Adelaide City squad to compete in the clubs inaugural season. On 17 October 2003, Adelaide United won its first NSL match against Brisbane Strikers, with a score of 1–0.
After a successfulhome-and-away season, including an unbeaten seven-match streak during November and December 2003, Adelaide United reached the NSL preliminary final, ultimately losing to Perth Glory. The NSL concluded at the end of the 2003–04 season after 28 seasons, with The Reds only participating in the final season. The governing body, Australian Soccer Association, shut down the league in preparation for the launch of the fully professional A-League almost 12 months later, on 26 August 2005.
2005–2010: Early days in the A-League
Adelaide United was announced as one of eight teams to compete in the first season of the A-League, and along with the Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets, one of only three teams to survive from the National Soccer League's last season. United began preparation earlier than most of the other clubs and had announced two-thirds of the 20-man squad before February 2005.The club focused on bringing several Adelaide-born players back to South Australia, such as Angelo Costanzo, Travis Dodd, and Lucas Pantelis, who had previously played for Adelaide City SC in the NSL. Shengqing Qu was signed by Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua as the club's "marquee" signing in March 2005.
Aurelio Vidmar announced his retirement before the A-League had even started. He was replaced before the fifth round by striker Fernando from Brazil, a former 'player of the year' in the old NSL. By moving to Adelaide, he was reunited with former coach John Kosmina who introduced him to Australian audiences at the Brisbane Strikers.
Adelaide United Director Mel Patzwald established links with American club Miami FC, setting up a 'sister club' relationship—the first of its kind for an A-League club—with whom they played a number of friendlies and leading to the signings of several players. The club signed Diego Walsh and later Brazilian legend Romário for a five-game guest stint in November/December 2006. Cassio then signed with Adelaide and the club won the 2008 AFC Champions League and played in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup, where they finished fifth. Patzwald also created a sister club relationship with the then Asian Champions Shandong Luneng which was an integral part of the state government's ties with Shandong Province in a mutually beneficial partnership. Education SA in particular was a beneficiary with thousands of students from Shandong Province choosing Adealide as their preferred location to study. Adelaide's youth team was invited to participate in the Weifang Cup as a result of the relationship.
Adelaide United finished as premiers in the inaugural season of the Hyundai A-League. However they lost to Sydney FC in the two-leg semi-final and then Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the preliminary final at Hindmarsh.
Adelaide United started the season well by winning the A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup, beating reigning champions Central Coast Mariners 5–4 on penalties after 1–1 at the end of extra time. In the premiership season, they finished runners-up to Melbourne Victory. After a successful finals campaign, they advanced to the 2006–07 Grand Final, after winning 4–3 on penalties against the Newcastle Jets. Adelaide United played Melbourne Victory at the Telstra Dome in the Grand Final on 18 February 2007 losing 6–0. Coach John Kosmina was sacked the following wee owing to the poor performance at the grand final as well as for alleged abuse of two Channel 10 reporters.
The 2006–07 season also saw Brazilian international player Romário join the club for a four-game guest player stint.
Adelaide United was selected, along with Sydney FC, as the first Australian representative to play in the 2007 AFC Champions League. They received their Asian berth as A-League premiers. Adelaide was drawn into Group G with Chinese champion Shandong Luneng Taishan, Korean champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Vietnamese league and Super Cup champions Gach Dong Tam Long An. Adelaide finished 3rd in its group.
The Reds launched into the season by winning the A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup, beating Perth Glory 2–1 at Hindmarsh Stadium. The club finished 6th place in the A-League, missing out on a final place as they concentrated their energies on maintaining a successful AFC Champions League campaign.
Adelaide United participated in the 2008 AFC Champions League after finishing runner-up in the 2006–07 regular season and finals series to Melbourne Victory. Adelaide was drawn into Group E, along with V-League and Super Cup winners Bình Dương, CSL champions Changchun Yatai, and K-League winners Pohang Steelers.
Adelaide became the first Australian team to progress to the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League. Adelaide drew 2007 Uzbek League Runners-up Bunyodkor in the semi-final after the Uzbeks knocked out Saipa in their quarter-final. In the first leg of the semi-final, Adelaide won 3–0 with Diego, Barbiero, and Cristiano scoring. The match was witnessed by 16,998 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium. In the second leg of the semi-finals, Adelaide United lost 1–0 to FC Bunyodkor but went through to the final 3–1 on aggregate.
In the two-legged final, they took on Japanese team Gamba Osaka who deposed 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds in the other semi-final. Adelaide lost heavily over two legs to Gamba Osaka. The score was 3–0 to Gamba Osaka away and 2–0 to Osaka at home in Adelaide, the Japanese club winning 5–0 on aggregate.
This result ensured that Adelaide would participate in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup either as the AFC representative or as the highest-placed non-Japanese team – as the rules do not allow more than one Japanese team to participate.
The off-season saw the departure of Socceroo Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns. By the end of round 27, Adelaide had drawn level for first, equalling Melbourne's 38 points on the ladder. Needing to win 2–0 against the Central Coast Mariners away to win the premiership, The Reds only managed to secure a 1–0 win. Adelaide was pushed down to second because of the goal difference. The Reds, along with Melbourne Victory, Queensland Roar, and Central Coast Mariners, proceeded to the finals. In the Grand Final at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Adelaide United lost 1–0 to Melbourne Victory. The match was marred by the controversial 10th-minute sending off of Cristiano which ultimately contributed to the loss.
An early highlight for the season was Adelaide's run to the final of the AFC Champions League against Gamba Osaka. Gamba Osaka entered the FIFA Club World Cup as the winner of the AFC Champion's League, freeing up the tournament's Japanese host position; Adelaide United, as runners-up of the AFC Champion's League, filled this position. Their first match was a play-off against 2007–08 OFC Champions League champions Waitakere United from New Zealand. The Reds defeated Waitakere 2–1 via two set plays from Paul Reid to secure a rematch with ACL rivals Gamba Osaka on 14 December – the third meeting between the two sides in three weeks. The Reds fought valiantly and created many opportunities, in particular Travis Dodd, but lost 0–1 after a 23rd minute shot by Gamba midfielder, Yasuhito Endō. On 18 December, Adelaide played in the fifth-place play-off match against Egyptian club Al Ahly SC, defeating them 1–0 to be rewarded the fifth-place prize of US$1.5 million. Adelaide United were awarded the Fair Play award upon the completion of the tournament, and Cristiano's goal in the fifth-place play-off was selected as goal of the tournament.
File:2010 AFC Champions League Adelaide United vs Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.jpg|thumb|right|333px|Adelaide United playing against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the AFC Champions League in 2010.
After a stellar season in the A-League and internationally, Adelaide United began its pre-season without a financial owner; Nick Bianco relinquished his A-League license back to Football Federation Australia. Regardless of this situation, the FFA ensured that Adelaide would have the funds available to recruit in the off-season and to maintain the club, whilst they would negotiate the new ownership deals. This, however, was still not enough to lift the club up from its 2009–10 wooden spoon status – the club's worst performing season in its short history.
Adelaide competed in the ACL Champions League in 2010 after finishing second on the 2008–09 A-League league table, and runner-up in the Finals series to cross-border rivals, Melbourne Victory. Adelaide were drawn into Group H alongside 2009 Asian Champions Pohang Steelers, Chinese sister club Shandong Luneng and Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Adelaide United managed to hold on to the top spot of Group H, resulting in a home match in Round 16. In an exciting, nerve-racking match, Adelaide lost to Jeonbuk Motors 3–2. Adelaide came back twice in the game, including a goal in the final seconds of the match. Jeonbuk won the match with a goal in the second half of extra time.