Blog

Well, 29 weeks later and we come to the end of another A-League season. And, likewise, that means we have also come to the end of our Ultimate A-League Tipping and Fantasy competitions for 2011/12, proudly sponsored by Pelé Sports. Now, firstly, we’d like to thank everyone who took part in the fantasy and tipping competitions this season, and for reading our weekly fantasy wraps. Secondly, we’d like to thank Pele Sports for their involvement this season, without whom both competitions wouldn’t have been anywhere near as fun and competitive.

Fantasy Week 29 winner
Ok, before we announce our grand prize winners, we need to announce the winner of the weekly fantasy prize for Grand Final week. So, congratulations to Loretta Hutcheson who topped everyone in Grand Final week with an impressive 44 points. To claim your prize, Loretta, please send an email to enquiries@ultimatealeague.com.

Previous weekly winners
Some winners of the weekly competitions haven’t yet claimed their Pelé Sports prize! So, if … Continue Reading

Now that the 2011/12 A-League season has come to an end, we here at Ultimate A-League are beginning our planning for the 2012/13 season. So what does that mean? Well, we’d love to hear your feedback on our website, apps and social media so we can improve them before next season. So, if you have a spare 30 seconds, we’d really love if you could fill in this very simple 5 question survey (we promise it won’t take more than 30 seconds).

Of course, you can always email us at enquiries [at] ultimatealeague.com, or send us a tweet at @ultimatealeague if you’d like to tell us what you think.

Enjoy the off-season, and bring on October!

Position: 2nd
(defeated Perth 2-1 in the Grand Final)

Change in position from 2010/11: ↓ 1

Win-draw-loss record: 14-7-6
(50 goals scored, 28 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Besart Berisha (21)

Average attendance: 15,963

Looking to become the first club to successfully defend their A-League championship, the Roar’s pre-season got off to a shaky start, losing captain Matt McKay and striker Kosta Barbarouses to overseas clubs. Undeterred, manager Ange Postecogolou brought in Canadian midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran and Albanian striker Besart Berisha to plug the holes left by those departing players. And from week 1 of the 2011/12 season, it looked like nothing had changed at the Roar, as they went undefeated through the first eight weeks of the competition to set a new Australian domestic sporting record, with 36 games unbeaten on the trot.

But, from there, the Roar stuttered, losing the next 5 league games and managing to score just two goals in the process. Fortunately for their fans, it was just a small stutter, with the Roar losing just … Continue Reading

I wish to start this article with a disclaimer – I’m a Perth Glory fan, and i’m still hurting. This is a retrospective of the Grand Final through the eyes of a football journalist and a fan in one.

I was not one of the lucky ones who managed to attend the grand final, perhaps the most controversial of all time, and can only feel for the thousand strong who made the journey over.

The Grand Final this year provided us with the perfect story – Heroes, Villains, Controversy – it had it all, and this article is intended to take a look in more detail at some of these things.

Let’s start with the good.

—

The Heroes – Perth Glory’s Fans, Shane Smeltz

“We’re gonna win the league, We’re gonna win the league, and no you don’t believe us, and no you don’t believe us, and no you don’t believe us, we’re going to win the league” – Perth Glory … Continue Reading

2011/12 Hyundai A-League Grand Final
Brisbane Roar vs Perth Glory
Sunday 22nd April. 4pm AEST
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Broadcast: Live on Fox Sports 2/2HD

How they got there – Brisbane

Brisbane finished the regular season with a record of 14 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses, leaving them in second place on 49 points, two behind premiers Central Coast. In the two-legged major semi final against the Mariners, Brisbane took out the first leg 2-0 at home in front of 15,000 raucous fans, before travelling to Gosford a week later in the return leg to win 3-2, and 5-2 on aggregate. As the winner of the major semi final, Brisbane had the third week of the finals off, and qualified directly through to the Grand Final where they will host the match at Suncorp Stadium for the second consecutive season.

How they got there – Perth

Perth finished third on the A-League table with 13 wins, 4 draws and … Continue Reading

Position: 1st
(knocked out of the finals by Perth 1-1 (5-3 on penalties))

Change in position from 2010/11: ↑ 1

Win-draw-loss record: 15-6-6
(40 goals scored, 24 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Bernie Ibini-Isei, Matt Simon and Patrick Zwaanswijk (7)

Average attendance: 9,505

2011/12 was another fruitful and successful season for the Central Coast Mariners, going on to win their second premiership plate in club history. Behind the guidance of coach Graham Arnold, the Mariners were just as good as they were in 2010/11, going one step further and beating out Brisbane Roar in a tight race for top spot on the standings table.

Coming into this season, Arnold had retained the core of the team that heartbreakingly lost in a thrilling grand final the previous season. The defensive trio of Ryan, Wilkinson and Zwaasnwijk were back, as were the two full backs Rose and Bojic. A few new players were brought in to strengthen the squad, with Bernie Ibini being promoted from the youth team, Adriano Pellegrino being … Continue Reading

Week 28, otherwise known as Preliminary Final week, was a quiet and low-scoring week for the fantasy manager. One game and only two goals to go around didn’t help matters, with defenders unable to keep clean sheets, and only two forwards able to make a difference on the scoreboard. Thus, a score of just 39 was enough to top our league this week. Now, the fantasy competition has just one week to go, and once again you have unlimited trades to make this week. Keep in mind that you can only have a maximum of 8 players from any one team for the Grand Final, so make sure to trade out your Central Coast players for a smattering of ones from Perth and Brisbane.

Danny Vukovic was the best of the two goalkeepers from last week’s preliminary final, making 10 saves in total to rack up 5 points, ahead of Matt Ryan on just 2 points. This … Continue Reading

With the A-League finals series drawing towards a conclusion this weekend, it struck me that an interesting pattern has emerged over the first seven seasons of the A-League in regards to the finals system. Taking into account this weekend’s Brisbane vs Perth match, the seven grand finals since the inaugural season in 2005-06 have always been fought out between two top-3 teams:

You can see below that over the history of the league, no team who qualified for the finals in 4th place or below has ever gone on to compete in the Grand Final. Which, when you think about it, is a fair reflection and result. The top two (or even three) teams should be the best in the league that year, and so it makes sense that they are always the teams fighting it out in the Grand Final. Of course, this raises the ire of traditionalists who argue then that what is the point … Continue Reading

Position: 4th
(knocked out of the finals by Perth 3-2)

Change in position from 2010/11: ↑ 2

Win-draw-loss record: 12-4-11
(34 goals scored, 32 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Paul Ifill (8)

Average attendance: 8,780

Off the park, the Wellington Phoenix’s 2011/12 season couldn’t have got off to a worse start. Owner Terry Serepisos was forced to sell the club due to financial issues, new owners stepped in just weeks before the season kicked off, and the playing squad was barely reaching the minimum required size with a matter of days before their season opener against Gold Coast United. A pre-season knee injury to new signing Lucas Pantelis exacerbated the squad issue, with the former Adelaide midfielder confirming he was to miss the entire season. However, the last minute signings of American midfidler Alex Smith and ex-Phoenix player Nick Ward pushed the squad up to the acceptable size, just in time for the season to begin.

On the park, and the Nix’s season didn’t get off to a … Continue Reading

Position: 6th
(knocked out of the finals by Perth 3-0)

Change in position from 2010/11: ↑ 2

Win-draw-loss record: 9-10-8
(35 goals scored, 34 goals conceded)

Highest goalscorer: Eli Babalj (9)

Average attendance: 9,082

With the aim of making the A-League finals for the first time in their short history, the Heart began their pre-season in subdued fashion, taking a back seat to the Harry Kewell saga that was taking place across town. The signing of Fred was the Heart’s biggest drawcard going into the 2011/12 season, with attack-minded players like Germano, Maycon and Williams brought in to shore up a forward structure that had lost Aloisi, Skoko and Sibon from the previous season. With youngster Mate Dugandzic signing from cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory, and former Victory championship player Fred being handed the captain’s armband, there was a storm of anticipation hanging over a city desperately waiting for week 1 of the 2011/12 season to start.

Once the season proper kicked off, however, it was anything but smooth sailing … Continue Reading