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2012/13 A-League Semi Final
Western Sydney Wanderers vs Brisbane Roar
Friday 12th April. 7:30pm AEST
Venue: Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta
Referee: Alan Milliner
Broadcast: Live on Fox Sports 1/1HD

How they got there – Western Sydney

Western Sydney finished top of the table during the A-League regular season, taking home the premiers plate in their debut season. As such, they earned a week off during the first week of the finals, as well as the right to host a semi final this week.

How they got there – Brisbane

The Roar overpowered Adelaide United last week at Hindmarsh Stadium, holding on in the dying moments for a 2-1 away win. With Melbourne Victory beating Perth last Friday, Brisbane were the lower ranked winning team in week 1 of the finals, and as a result, were drawn to face Western Sydney in Parramatta.

The statistical breakdown

Head to Head: Western Sydney 3 wins, Brisbane Roar 0 wins,0 draws.
Head to Head (Previous 5): Western Sydney 3 wins, Brisbane Roar 0 wins, … Continue Reading

2012/13 A-League Elimination Final
Adelaide United vs Brisbane Roar
Sunday 7th April. 5:00pm AEDT
Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Referee: Chris Beath
Broadcast: Live on Fox Sports 2/2HD

How they got there – Adelaide

Adelaide managed a 1-1 draw in Perth in week 27, and coupled with the Victory’s late win in Wellington, the Reds were resigned to taking 4th spot on the A-League ladder and a home final in week 1 of the 2012/13 A-League finals.

How they got there – Brisbane

The Roar took 10 points from their last 5 matches to turn their season around, including a 3-1 win over Sydney last Thursday. That win sealed 5th spot on the ladder for the back-to-back reigning champions, and an away final in week 1 of the finals.

The statistical breakdown

Head to Head: Adelaide United 9 wins, Brisbane Roar 8 wins, 8 draws.
Head to Head (Previous 5): Adelaide United 1 wins, Brisbane Roar 2 wins, 2 draws.
At Hindmarsh Stadium: Adelaide United 6 wins, Brisbane Roar 6 wins, 3 draws.
This … Continue Reading

Seven – The title defence.

Getting to the top is easy, staying there is the hard part. It’s an old saying that has an all too familiar truth for A-League clubs. Only once in the competition’s history has a club managed to successfully defend its title.

Brisbane Roar achieved the feat with successive Grand Final victories in 2011 and 2012, playing an impressive brand of football that would also set a new benchmark for performance and style, whilst accumulating an Australian record of 36 matches unbeaten along the way. The mastermind behind Brisbane’s A-League dominance, Ange Postecoglou, has since left the club, choosing to return to his home city and join Melbourne Victory as their new head coach.

The reigns have been handed to Rado Vidosic, who has been the clubs’ assistant coach since the Roar’s inaugural season in 2005. Vidosic has managed to retain the bulk of the Championship winning side, with last seasons Golden Boot winner, Albanian … Continue Reading

Rado Vidosic steps into the Brisbane top job, with some big shoes to fill. Replacing Ange Postecoglou is no mean feat, given the obvious influence he has had in overhauling the club both stylistically and structurally. The challenge for Vidosic will be to live up to the expectations that are now clearly established at Brisbane. Fortunately, his job will be made easier by the work of his predecessor.

Firstly, Postecoglou has laid the foundations for a system to be completely integrated and established into the culture of Brisbane Roar. The short passing and high pressing system that has become the hallmark of the champions is geared for success, and no tactical innovation is required in terms of playing style. This was by and large acknowledged by Vidosic himself yesterday in an interview with The World Game.
“It would be suicidal to change anything,” he said.

“The club does not want to make changes to our playing style and that is the … Continue Reading

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

I’m not a Brisbane Roar supporter. I’ve never cheered for FC Koln or Borussia Monchengladbach. Nor do I have an affinity for German football, outside of a natural respect and admiration for the quality of their players and their league.

So, usually, the idea of sitting down and watching a biography of the life of a German footballer who plays for a team other than my own would not be something I would consider on a quiet Saturday night. But when the footballer in question is someone so atypical to the idea of the ‘normal’ footballer as Thomas Broich clearly is, that documentary should be expected to be equally as atypical. And, in that sense, it is. So on Saturday night, after watching the free-flowing Brisbane Roar come from behind to score two goals in the dying seconds of a match against Sydney FC, where Broich had a significant impact on his return from injury, I decided to pop in … Continue Reading

Turn the clock back to March, where a resolute North Queensland Fury seemed to have enough funding to at least secure a place for the next season in the Hyundai A-League. Benny and his crew rolled up in Townsville in their suits and blue ties to assess the criteria they had placed on the Fury and decide whether or not they would remain in the competition. Many believed the decision was made long before meeting with the Fury hierachy but still, the verdict was such – to the FFA, the Fury were not viable enough to ‘prop up’ and had to go.

Fast forward four months – the North Queensland fire sale seems to be nearing its end, as the more skillful players found homes at greener pastures, the FFA-Owned Brisbane Roar are currently undisputed champions of Australia and football seems stable enough – especially with the expected ACL cash windfall for the Roar making them … Continue Reading

The FFA has a dilemma on its hands. No, it’s nothing to do with the expansion of the A-League. And no, it’s nothing to do with the salary cap either. It’s to do with one solitary match this year, one match out of the 135 matches that will make up the 2011-12 A-League season.

On December 14 this year, the Wellington Phoenix will play reigning champions Brisbane Roar, in one of the league’s ‘regional matches’, at a venue to be decided. And that’s the kicker. Because no stadium has been allocated to this fixture as yet, and because neither club has rights to the match as a home game, two towns (one in New Zealand, and one in Queensland) have put their hands up to host it.

Let’s meet the contestants…

Contestant number one is Dunedin, New Zealand. A South Island city with a population of roughly 125,000 people, Dunedin has the distinction of … Continue Reading