History of the A-League

The A-League is a competition that was formed in 2004 as the successor to the National Soccer League in Australia.

With eight teams announced upon its inception, the A-League was able to create a number of new clubs to battle it out to win the competition as the football fans of Australia were treated to a brand new competition as newbettingsites.com.au recalls the history.

It seemed to take an eternity for the A-League to fully replace the now defunct National Soccer League, with 16 months elapsing between the final ball being kicked in the NSL, and the first ball being kicked in the A-League, which officially began on August 26th in 2005.

The very first season saw Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, New Zealand Knights, Queensland Roar (now Brisbane Roar), Perth Glory and Sydney FC all battling for the title. In that first season, it was Sydney FC who went onto win the Grand Final despite Adelaide United finishing at the top of the table in the regular season.

The Knights were part of the first two campaigns but were eventually rebranded as the Wellington Phoenix for the start of the 2007/08 season. Following this change, the league then expanded to include Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury in 2009, with Melbourne Heart then joining a year later.

This expansion was seen as a very positive step at the time, but North Queensland were to leave the league after two seasons with the Gold Coast only managing one more season than their newly founded counterparts.

Sydney FC were given a new rival in 2012 as Western Sydney Wanderers were added to the league, with the latter going onto win the competition in their first season. Expansion of the league had to wait almost a decade though, with Western United and Macarthur FC joining in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons respectively.

The format of the competition sees the regular season run across the Australian summer, meaning most games are played between October to April. With 26 rounds of football each campaign, every team will play every other side two times plus four teams three times in a season.

The top six sides at the end of the season then progress to the Finals Series. This Finals Series ends in the A-League Grand Final, with the winner of this match clinching a place in the AFC Champions League, whilst also lifting the A-League Champions Trophy too.

Sydney FC are the most successful side in the competition’s history, being crowned champions on five different occasions, while they have four Premierships in this time too. Closest to Sydney are Melbourne Victory, who have been champions four time and have scooped three Premiers.

The A-League constitutes an exceptionally exciting footballing competition that brings together great rivalries and a system that allows any teams in the top six at the conclusion of the regular season the chance to win the competition at the end of the season. With Sydney FC still the side to beat, can any side overthrow them?