2007–08 Melbourne Victory FC season

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Chonburi FC
(21 May 2008)
Average home league attendance24,439

Season summary

Looking to capitalise on their successful 2006–07 campaign, Melbourne made some strong off-season signings including Costa Rican international Carlos Hernández to cover the hole left by the departure of Fred to MLS club D.C. United.[1] Again with the league's largest crowds and a record membership of over 20,000,[2] Melbourne were undefeated after 7 rounds but the season slipped away with some poor home performances and a mounting injury list. A late season rally gave Melbourne a hope of making the finals up to the second last round but they finished 5th, 4 points out of the finals.

Players

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS
Michael Theoklitos
2 MF Australia AUS Kevin Muscat (captain)
3 DF Australia AUS Daniel Piorkowski
5 DF Australia AUS Ljubo Milicevic
6 DF Australia AUS Steve Pantelidis
7 DF Australia AUS
Matthew Kemp
8 MF Scotland SCO Grant Brebner
9 FW Australia AUS
Daniel Allsopp
10 FW Australia AUS Archie Thompson
11 DF England ENG Joe Keenan
12 DF Australia AUS Rodrigo Vargas
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 MF Australia AUS Kaz Patafta
14 MF Australia AUS Adrian Caceres
15 FW Brazil BRA
Leandro Love
16 MF Costa Rica CRC
Carlos Hernández
17 MF Australia AUS Daniel Vasilevski
18 MF Australia AUS Leigh Broxham
19 MF Australia AUS Evan Berger
20 GK Australia AUS Eugene Galekovic
21 DF Australia AUS Sebastian Ryall
30 GK Australia AUS Mitchell Langerak

Transfers

In
Player From League Date
Australia Mitchell Langerak AIS
VPL
 23 February 2007
Australia Ljubo Milicevic BSC Young Boys Switzerland Swiss Super League 20 February 2007
England Joe Keenan Willem II Netherlands Eredivisie 30 March 2007
Matthew Kemp
Adelaide United
A-League
 11 April 2007
Australia Evan Berger
Marconi Stallions
NSWPL
 29 May 2007
Carlos Hernández
LD Alajuelense
Primera División de Costa Rica
 12 June 2007
Australia Kaz Patafta Benfica
Portuguese Liga
 20 June 2007
Leandro Love
 Vissel Kobe
J-League
 25 July 2007
Australia Sebastian Ryall AIS
VPL
 28 August 2007
Australia Steven Pace
Preston Lions
VPL
 30 October 2007
Nick Ward
 Queens Park Rangers
Football League Championship
 5 December 2007
Out
Player To League Date
Australia Michael Ferrante
Wellington Phoenix
A-League
 1 March 2007
Australia Mark Byrnes released - 1 March 2007
Fred
 D.C. United United States MLS 30 March 2007
James Robinson
Perth Glory
A-League
 17 March 2007
Australia Vince Lia
Wellington Phoenix
A-League
 21 March 2007
Australia Simon Storey Partick Thistle F.C.
Scottish First Division
 21 March 2007
Australia Kristian Sarkies
Adelaide United
A-League
 30 March 2007
Australia Adrian Leijer Fulham F.C. England Premier League 4 August 2007
Australia Eugene Galekovic
Adelaide United
A-League
 30 October 2007

Matches

Pre-season matches

30 May 2007
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 43,357
6 June 2007
Kevin Bartlett Reserve, Melbourne
13 June 2007
Oakleigh Cannons Australia
2 : 3 Australia Melbourne Victory Jack Edwards Reserve, Melbourne
South Melbourne Australia v Australia Melbourne Victory
20 June 2007
Bob Jane Stadium, Melbourne
4 July 2007 China  1 : 0 Australia Melbourne Victory Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Hong Kong
7 July 2007
TEDA Football Stadium, Tianjin
(5–6 pen.)
  • The match against China was played over three 30-minute periods.

2007 Pre-Season Cup

Group A
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Adelaide United 3 1 2 0 6 3 +3 3 8
2 Perth Glory 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 1 8
3 Newcastle Jets 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 0 3
4 Melbourne Victory 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 0 1
Source: [citation needed]
15 July 2007 Group Stage
Aurora Stadium, Launceston
Attendance: 8,061
22 July 2007 Group Stage Melbourne Victory 0 : 1 Newcastle Jets Skilled Stadium, Geelong
Attendance: 8,500
28 July 2007 Group Stage
Darwin
Attendance: 2,700
4 August 2007 Play-offs Melbourne Victory 1 : 2 Wellington Phoenix Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
Attendance: 4,100
11 August 2007 Seventh Place Play-off Melbourne Victory 0 : 1 Sydney FC Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
Attendance: 3,400

2007-08 Hyundai A-League fixtures

25 August 2007 Round 1
UTC+12
 Daniel 79'
Smeltz 84'
Allsopp
60'		 Attendance: 14,421
Referee: Mark Shield
1 September 2007 Round 2
UTC+10
 Attendance: 31,545
Referee: Peter O'Leary
7 September 2007 Round 3
UTC+9:30
 Dodd 83' (pen) Vargas 80' Attendance: 13,231
Referee: Peter Green
16 September 2007 Round 4
UTC+10
 Vidmar Red card 90+2' Attendance: 27,351
Referee: Mark Shield
21 September 2007 Round 5
UTC+10
 A Griffiths 5'
Musialik 21'		 Thompson 65'
Caceres 83'		 Attendance: 11,179
Referee: Matthew Breeze
28 September 2007 Round 6
UTC+10
 Muscat 68' (pen)
Thompson 85'		 Attendance: 25,622
Referee: Ben Williams
6 October 2007 Round 7
UTC+10
 Corica Red card 25' Allsopp 82' Attendance: 18,436
Referee: Mark Shield
12 October 2007 Round 8
UTC+9:30
 Milicevic 14' (o.g.)
Dodd 15', 54'
Pantelis 90+2'		 Thompson 45+2' Attendance: 13,372
Referee: Mark Shield
21 October 2007 Round 9
UTC+10
Hernandez 24'
Thompson
34'		 Harnwell 42' Attendance: 25,598
Referee: Simon Przydacz
26 October 2007 Round 10
UTC+10
 Pantelidis Red card 66' A. Griffiths 8'
J. Griffiths 88'		 Attendance: 27,123
Referee: Matthew Breeze
4 November 2007 Round 11
UTC+11
 Petrovski 83', Yellow card 73' Yellow-red card 90'
Pondeljak 88'
Hernández 77'
Vargas
Red card 90'		 Attendance: 11,354
Referee: Mark Shield
10 November 2007 Round 12
UTC+11
 Attendance: 31,884
Referee: Mark Shield
16 November 2007 Round 13
UTC+10
 Kruse 10' Attendance: 17,207
Referee: Ben Williams
24 November 2007 Round 14
UTC+11
Allsopp
43'		 Lia 58' Attendance: 20,938
Referee: Peter Green
2 December 2007 Round 15
UTC+9
 Harnwell 18'
Rukavytsya 27' 46'		 Caceres 38' Attendance: 8,030
Referee: Ben Williams
8 December 2007 Round 16
UTC+11
 Muscat 71' (pen)
Alagich 90+2' (o.g.)		 Agostino 18' 50' Attendance: 22,466
Referee: Peter Green
16 December 2007 Round 17
UTC+11
Hernández
11'
Denni 41'
J. Griffiths
54' 76'		 Attendance: 22,626
Referee: Matthew Breeze
31 December 2007 Round 18
UTC+11
 Jedinak 32'
J.Aloisi 63'		 Caceres 4'
Allsopp 23' 61'
Thompson 36'
Muscat 43' (pen)		 Attendance: 18,686
Referee: Mark Shield
5 January 2008 Round 19
UTC+10
Marcinho
73'
Allsopp 56'
Thompson
63'		 Attendance: 21,475
Referee: Matthew Breeze
11 January 2008 Round 20
UTC+11
Ward 35'
Patafta
88'		 Attendance: 25,489
Referee: Peter Green
20 January 2008 Round 21
UTC+11
 Corica 4'
Brosque 62'		 (Report)
(Summary)		 Milligan 46' (o.g.)
Allsopp 76'		 Attendance: 33,458
Referee: Peter O'Leary

Ladder

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Central Coast Mariners 21 10 4 7 30 25 +5 34 Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series[a]
2 Newcastle Jets (C) 21 9 7 5 25 21 +4 34
3 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 28 24 +4 32 Qualification for 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship and Finals series
4 Queensland Roar 21 8 7 6 25 21 +4 31 Qualification for Finals series
5 Melbourne Victory 21 6 9 6 29 29 0 27
6 Adelaide United 21 6 8 7 31 29 +2 26
7 Perth Glory 21 4 8 9 27 34 −7 20
8 Wellington Phoenix[b] 21 5 5 11 25 37 −12 20
Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage.
    Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
  2. ^ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

2008 AFC Champions League

Warm-up matches

14 February 2008
Whittlesea Zebras Australia
1 : 3 Australia Melbourne Victory Epping Stadium, Melbourne
Melbourne Victory Australia v Australia Adelaide United
26 February 2008 Melbourne Victory Australia 2 : 1 Australia Adelaide United Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
4 March 2008 Adelaide United Australia 1 : 1 Australia Melbourne Victory Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide

Matches

Main article: 2008 AFC Champions League § Group stage

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Japan Gamba Osaka 6 4 2 0 14 8 +6 14
Australia Melbourne Victory 6 2 1 3 10 11 −1 7
South Korea Chunnam Dragons 6 1 3 2 8 10 −2 6
Chonburi
 6 1 2 3 7 10 −3 5
Source: [citation needed]
12 March 2008
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 23,356
19 March 2008
Chonburi FCThailand
3 : 1 Australia Melbourne Victory Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 10,000
Melbourne Victory Australia v Japan Gamba Osaka
9 April 2008
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 23,857
23 April 2008
Suita
Attendance: 8,132
7 May 2008
Gwang-Yang Stadium, Gwangyang
Attendance: 3,000
21 May 2008
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 9,558

References

  1. ^ "Victory sign Costa Rican star". The Australian. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  2. Haymarket Group. Archived from the original
    on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
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