Adelaide United FC

Adelaide United
	MelbournHeartLogo.png ‎(283 × 434 pixels, file size: 69 KB, MIME type: image/png)
Full name	Adelaide United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Reds, United
Founded	2003
Ground	Hindmarsh Stadium
Capacity	17,000
Chairman	Greg Griffin
Head Coach	Josep Gombau
League	A-League
2012–13	A-League, 4th
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Adelaide United Football Club is a professional football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It participates in the A-League as the sole team from the state of South Australia. Adelaide is one of the most successful clubs in the A-League.^{[citation needed]} The club's home ground is Hindmarsh Stadium. The club was founded in 2003 to fill the place vacated by Adelaide City in the former National Soccer League (NSL). Adelaide United were premiers in the inaugural 2005–06 A-League season, finishing 7 points clear of the rest of the competition, before finishing 3rd in the finals, The Reds were also Grand Finalists in the 2006–07 and 2008–09 seasons, but failed to win either of the grand finals.

The 2009–10 season proved to be a disaster as the club's poor form continued throughout the season with the club ending the season at the bottom of the premiership table for the first time since inception. As of 2012, Adelaide is the only A-League club to be present at the AFC Champions League on four occasions, and progressing past the group stage on three occasions, making them the most successful Australian club in Asia. Adelaide United hold the record for the largest win in an A-League game and the most goals scored in one game. Adelaide defeated North Queensland Fury eight goals to one at Hindmarsh Stadium on 21 January 2011 in front of 10,829 fans. The team was also the first in the league to host two hattricks – one to Marcos Flores and the other to Sergio van Dijk.

History

National Soccer League

In August 2003, Adelaide City withdrew from the National Soccer League (NSL), leaving Adelaide with no NSL presence for the first time since the beginning of the league in 1977. In response, Adelaide United was created in September 2003, and a team was cobbled together within a couple of weeks mostly with the remnants of the Adelaide City squad. On 17 October 2003, Adelaide United won its first NSL match, against the Brisbane Strikers 1–0 in front of a crowd in excess of 16,000 people. After an impressive home-and-away season, including a seven-match unbeaten streak during November and December 2003, Adelaide United reached the NSL preliminary final, losing to Perth Glory. The NSL came to an abrupt end at the completion of the 2003–04 season as governing body Football Federation Australia (FFA) shut down the league in preparation for the launch of the fully professional Hyundai A-League almost 12 months later on 26 August 2005.

A-League

Adelaide United were announced as one of eight teams to compete in the first season of the A-League, and are, 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 from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua as the clubs "marquee" signing (a ruling allowing each club one player to be paid outside the salary cap) 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 established links with American club Miami FC, setting up a 'sister club' relationship, with whom they played a number of friendlies and leading to signing Diego from them. The team also signed Brazilian legend Romario for a 5 game guest stint in November/December 2006.

2005–06 season

Continuing their good form from the final season of the NSL, Adelaide United finished minor premier in the inaugural Season One of the Hyundai A-League. Qu Shengqing, Fernando Rech and Carl Veart shared the goal scoring with 7 a piece.

The Reds were bundled out of the finals race in straight sets losing to Sydney FC in the two leg semi final and then Central Coast Mariners 1-0 in the preliminary final at Hindmarsh.

2006–07 season

Adelaide United advanced to the 2006–07 Grand Final after winning 4–3 on penalties (1–1 AET) against the Template:ALeague NUJ. Adelaide United played Template:ALeague MV at the Telstra Dome in the Grand Final on 18 February 2007 losing 6–0 whilst playing most of the game with only 10 men after captain Ross Aloisi was sent off for his second bookable offense. Following a controversial post grand final interview, Ross Aloisi was sacked as captain of Adelaide United, and left the club to move to Template:ALeague WP. He was replaced as captain by Angelo Costanzo on 22 February 2007. At the same as this announcement was made, it was also announced that coach John Kosmina would be sacked. It was widely speculated that Kosmina had been told to resign by the board of Adelaide United the Thursday after the grand final.^[1]^[2] Assistant Coach Aurelio Vidmar was appointed interim coach. On 22 October 2007, former Adelaide United coach John Kosmina took up the role as the new head coach of Sydney FC.

The 2006–07 season also saw Brazilian international Romario join the club for a four-game guest player stint.

2007–08 season

For the 2007–08 season Adelaide recruited ex-Socceroo Paul Agostino "marquee", Ivorian Jonas Salley and ex-Olyroo Kristian Sarkies.^[3] They also signed Issy Erdogan of Preston Lions. One of the success stories of the season was the signing of former Flamengo FC player Cássio on a free transfer from Brazilian club. Cássio, who joined from Santa Cruz FC, won the Club Champion award in his first season.Shaun Ontong and Matthew Mullen from the AIS, were also signed to replenish their defensive stocks after the departure of Kristian Rees, Adam van Dommele and Aaron Goulding.

The 2007–08 season was a season to forget for Adelaide as they battled a huge amount of player injury throughout the season. This effectively ended their finals hopes and it was the first time Adelaide had failed to make the top two in A-League history.

2008–09 season

For the 2008–09 season, Adelaide United made some significant signings to strengthen the squad, most notably striker Cristiano from Willem II for two years on a free transfer. Another key signing to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Richie Alagich was Alemão formerly of CA Juventus. Saša Ognenovski joined the club from Queensland Roar to help shore up the defence, midfielder Paul Reid joined from Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., while promising youngsters Scott Jamieson, Daniel Mullen, Mark Birighitti and Robert Younis also signed. Bobby Petta, Shaun Ontong, Milan Susak, Dez Giraldi and Robert Bajic were all released, Bruce Djite was sold for an A-League record of A$850,000 to Genclerbirligi, whilst Nathan Burns also transferred to pursue his European dreams, joining Greek first division outfit AEK Athens^[4] for A$500,000.^[5] Kristian Sarkies, Lucas Pantelis and Fabian Barbiero all had their contracts renewed.

This season, Adelaide United passed the one millionth spectator milestone of total crowds since the inception of the A-League. They reached this achievement when their 7,052nd fan passed through the gate, for the Round 3 match against Wellington. Adelaide United are only the third A-League club to do so thus far, the other two being Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.^[6]

The round 18 A-League match against Template:ALeague SFC at the Adelaide Oval saw $23,002 donated to the Starlight Foundation as $1 from every ticket sold for the match went to the charity.^[7]

By the end of round 27, Adelaide had drew level for first, equaling Melbourne's 38 points on the ladder, having needed to win 2–0 against the Central Coast Mariners away to win the premiership and only securing a 1–0 win. Adelaide was pushed down to second because of goal difference. The Reds, along with Melbourne, the Queensland Roar and Central Coast, proceeded to the finals where they lost 1–0 against Melbourne Victory in the grand final at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne.

2009–10 season

After a stellar season in the A-League and internationally, Adelaide United began its pre-season without a financial owner; Nick Bianco relinquishing his A-League license back to Football Federation Australia (FFA).^[8] 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. Adelaide United managed to secure major sponsors Modern Solar as well as Jim's Plumbing for their 2009–10 season.

Adelaide made a number of signings to replace the players which left in the off-season, most notably the departure of Saša Ognenovski to K-League side Seongnam Ilhwa. To fill the void, Adelaide signed former Sydney FC defenders, Iain Fyfe and Mark Rudan, Korean youngster Inseob Shin and former Drogheda United midfielder Adam Hughes. Arguably the biggest off-season signing was former Cheltenham Town and Brentford striker, Lloyd Owusu, a capped Ghanaian international. The Reds also elevated a handful of players from their Youth squad to the senior team, namely Francesco Monterosso, Michael Marrone and Joe Costa.

After making a rather average start to the 2009–10 season, the Reds made their final signing in promising young Bulleen Lions winger, Mathew Leckie prior to the Round 5 clash against Wellington Phoenix.^[9] Leckie made an immediate impression, and scored his first goal in his second game off the bench against North Queensland Fury and would soon become a fan favourite.

With two rounds to go, and Adelaide sitting at the base of the table, the Reds made a surprise announcement that Argentine playmaker, Marcos Flores, who had signed on for 2 years starting with the club's third AFC Champions League venture, was to make his debut as an injury replacement for fellow import Cristiano. The South American made his presence felt in the final two games of the regular season, and helped Adelaide United finish the season with two consecutive wins.^[10]^[11] 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.

2010–11 season

For the first time in the club's history, the Adelaide United was to be managed by an international manager in Rini Coolen,^[12] moving away from the Adelaide United tradition of local coaches seen in its prior seasons.

As of 9 September 2010, Adelaide United had made Australian football history by becoming the first team to climb from the bottom of the table to the top, whilst the 2009–10 premiers and champions, Template:ALeague SFC, remained rooted at the bottom.^[13] Adelaide United also claimed the record for longest undefeated streak in A-League history with their win over Template:ALeague WP in Week 11 of the league, consisting of thirteen games stretching back to the penultimate round of the 2009–10 A-League season. This surpassed Template:ALeague CCM's previous record of twelve games undefeated set back in the 2005–06 A-League season. Unfortunately for Adelaide United, Template:ALeague BR surpassed this newly set record, when the Roar comprehensively won their Week 16 fixture against Template:ALeague CCM at Bluetongue Stadium.

Following 18 months under Football Federation Australia (FFA) financial administration, it was announced on 8 November 2010 that a South Australian consortium had taken over ownership of the club with a ten-year license. New co-owner Greg Griffin steps in as Chairman of the club, whilst ex-North Adelaide Football Club CEO, Glenn Elliott replaces Sam Ciccarello, who now takes up a role at the FFA.^[14]^[15]^[16]

During the January 2011 transfer window, Coolen made a move to strengthen United's squad by signing former Uruguayan youth international Francisco Usúcar, and former Dutch international Andwélé Slory. Both signed until the end of the season and replaced former imports Lloyd Owusu and Inseob Shin, whose contracts were mutually terminated to allow the transfers to occur early in the year. Cameron Watson was also signed on as a mainstay squad member after his injury replacement contract expired at the end of December. Iain Fyfe, arguably Adelaide's most consistent defender in the season transferred to K-League outfit Busan I'Park for an undisclosed transfer fee, where he joined up with former team-mate Shin. As a replacement, Coolen brought in former Croatian youth international Dario Bodrušić to cover in defensive duties.

On 9 January 2011, Adelaide broke its longest winless streak against its rival club Template:ALeague MV by posting a 4–1 away win in Melbourne at AAMI Park. Adelaide United then went on to make A-League history by recording the highest winning margin in the league's history with an 8–1 win over Template:ALeague NQF on 21 January 2011. This also marked the first time two players from the same side scored hat-tricks in one game (Sergio van Dijk and Marcos Flores), and matched the all-time highest match aggregate score of 9 goals scored in one match.

After a form slump in the second half of the season, United saw itself lose 10 of its last 19 games, but rebounded well in the final week of competition by winning 2–1 at Adelaide Oval against Template:ALeague MV in front of 21,038 spectators – the club's largest crowd of the season. This ensured the club third place in overall standings at the end of the season, and hosting rights for at least the first week of the knock-out Finals Series.

Adelaide United went on to defeat Template:ALeague WP in the first week of the Finals under torrential rain, but succumbed to Template:ALeague GCU in the second week and were knocked out of the competition on the back of a 2–3 home loss.

2011–12 season

As of 1 April 2011, all A-League clubs were able to negotiate new kit supplier deals as the previous contract with Reebok had elapsed and as such, Adelaide United negotiated a three-year deal with Erreà.[1]

Off-season transfers marked the departure of long serving players Travis Dodd, Lucas Pantelis and Robert Cornthwaite, and of fan favourites Mathew Leckie and Marcos Flores to overseas clubs. In a coup for the club and the A-League, Rini Coolen managed to secure the signatures of Socceroos Bruce Djite, Jon McKain and Dario Vidošić; with the latter being offered the Australian marquee player status at the club for the season. The signing of Ukrainian international, Evgeniy Levchenko completed Adelaide's foreign player quota.

It was announced at the season launch gala dinner on 26 August that the club's captain for the season would be Jon McKain, with Cássio and Eugene Galeković named as vice-captains.[2]

During the last weeks of the off-season in September, Adelaide recruited its final players to complete the squad for the season. Ricardo Da Silva was scouted and signed from local South Australian Super League outfit, Adelaide City, whilst double-winning defenders Milan Susak and Antony Golec were signed to add extra depth to the squad.

On 30 September 2011, the club announced its intention to purchase the Veneto Club complex located in Beverley, South Australia for an estimated $4 million and rename it the "Reds Centre". It is proposed that the refurbished facilities will be used as the club's permanent training venue for the players as well as for hosting post-match gatherings.[3] On 12 December 2011 it became evident that the deal had fallen through due to unacceptable changes made to the contract between land owners and the club.[4] The Veneto Centre was soon thereafter sold to Royal Park Salvage, despite the final sale not being announced.

On 18 December 2011 it was announced that head coach Rini Coolen had been sacked and replaced by former coach John Kosmina as caretaker coach for the rest of the season, including the AFC Champions League group stage of 2012.[5] As part of Kosmina's takeover of the head coaching position, Eugene Galeković was named club captain on 28 December 2011, replacing Jon McKain.[6]

AFC Champions League

2007 campaign

Adelaide United were selected, along with Sydney FC, as the first Australian representatives 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 lost to Shandong 1–0, defeated Long An 2–0, drew with Seongnam 2–2, then lost to the Korean team 1–0. The Reds broke Shandong's winning streak in a 2–2 draw, before finishing its campaign with a 3–0 win over Long An, thanks to a hat trick from Travis Dodd. This match marked the last Adelaide United appearances of Fernando Rech and Carl Veart as the 1–0 loss to Seongyam knocked Adelaide out of Quarter Finals contention. Adelaide finished 3rd in its group, ahead of Long An and behind Shandong; with group winner Seongnam making the semi-finals. Dodd scored on 4 occasions, Rech 3 times, and Olyroos players Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns one a piece.

2008 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 F.C., CSL champions Changchun Yatai, and K-League winners Pohang Steelers.

In their opening match of the 2008 campaign, Adelaide United defeated Pohang 2–0 in Korea. United drew against Changchun 0–0 in their second game, defeated Bình Dương 2–1 in Vietnam and followed this up with a 4–1 victory in the return leg. In their final group tie at home, Adelaide defeated Pohang 1–0, setting up a deciding away tie against Changchun to determine the Group E winner. In Changchun, Adelaide withstood considerable pressure to achieve an historic 0–0 draw, thus becoming the first Australian team to ever progress to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League.

Adelaide drew J-League and Emperor's Cup champions Kashima Antlers in a two legged Quarter final starting in Japan, where they managed a 1–1 draw. Adelaide captain Travis Dodd scored first in the opening half, but right before halftime the Japanese side were gifted an equaliser when Robert Cornthwaite scored passed his own goalkeeper. In the return leg at the Hindmarsh Stadium a week later, Adelaide became the first Australian team to progress to the semifinals of the competition with a 1–0 win. Cornthwaite redeemed himself from his own goal in the first leg by scoring the only goal of the game midway through the second half.

Adelaide drew 2007 Uzbek League Runners-up FC Bunyodkor in the semi-final, after the Uzbeks knocked out Saipa F.C. in their quarter-final. In the first leg of the semi-final, Adelaide won 3–0 with Diego, Barbiero, and Cristiano (via a penalty) scoring. The match was witnessed by 16,998 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium.^[17]

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.^[18] Thus they became the first Australian team to make it to the final of Asia's premier club competition.^[19] In the two legged final, they took on Japanese team Gamba Osaka who deposed 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds in the other semifinal.^[20]

This result ensured that Adelaide would participate in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup either as the AFC representatives or as the highest placed non-Japanese team – as the rules do not allow more than one Japanese team to participate.^[21]

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.^[22]

2010 campaign

Adelaide competed in the 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.^[23] This will mark the return of Adelaide United to the continental club champions' tournament after a 1 year absence.

On 7 December 2009, Adelaide were drawn into Group H of the Champions League alongside 2009 Asian Champions Pohang Steelers, Chinese sister club Shandong Luneng and the winners of the 2009 Japanese Emperor's Cup.^[24] Because Gamba Osaka, the winner of the Emperor's Cup, had already qualified through league placing, 4th placed Sanfrecce Hiroshima became Adelaide United's final opponent in Group H of the Champions League.^[25]

In Adelaide's first match of the campaign played on 24 February against Pohang Steelers, Adelaide secured an important victory at Hindmarsh Stadium winning 1–0 courtesy of a fantastic individual effort by youngster Mathew Leckie on the stroke of half-time. They then continued their winning form by beating Shandong Luneng 2–0 and then coming from a 1–2 deficit to beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–2. Despite not quite playing to the standard set in their opening three matches, Adelaide United managed to hold on to top spot in the group by securing a 0–0 draw against Pohang in Korea in between narrow 1–0 losses to Hiroshima in Hiroshima and then to Shandong Luneng at Hindmarsh in Adelaide.

Other results fell Adelaide's way and they finished on top of Group H resulting in a home match in the Round of 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.^[26]

2012 campaign

Their fourth appearance in the competition - more times than any other Australian club - Adelaide qualified for the 2012 AFC Champions League playoff round by finishing third in the 2010–11 A-League. Originally Adelaide had to go through the play-off stage to get through to the group stage, but following the withdrawal of Chinese club Liaoning Whowin and Indonesian club Persipura Jayapura, Adelaide was given direct entry to the Group Stage. They were placed in Group E, quickly dubbed the 'Group of Death' by numerous commentators. Coincidentally, Adelaide was drawn along with Uzbek side Bunyodkor, whom Adelaide knocked out of the 2008 Asian Champions League to subsequently progress to the final, and Gamba Osaka, the club that Adelaide faced in that 2008 final. The last place in Group E was given to Pohang Steelers, who won the play-off tie against the winner of the 2011 Thai FA Cup, Chonburi FC.

On 2 May, Adelaide qualified through to the Round of 16 for a third time after playing out a 0–0 draw with FC Bunyodkor. They then went on to qualify for the quarter finals with a 1–0 win at home against Nagoya Grampus. A fortnight later on 14 June, Adelaide was drawn with FC Bunyodkor for the quarter-finals, with the first leg at Hindmarsh Stadium on 19 September.

This first leg saw Adelaide surrender a 2-0 lead, with Bunyodkor clawing back two goals to end the home leg 2-2. The return leg in Tashkent on 3 October was again locked at 2-2 after 90 minutes of play, requiring the game to go to extra time and possible penalties thereafter. Despite an Iain Ramsay goal in the third minute opening scoring to give Adelaide the lead, Bunyodkor eventually eliminated Adelaide by scoring in added extra time. In this match Jeronimo Neumann scored his first goal for the club, coming off the bench in the 61st minute and scoring within forty seconds. Adelaide ended the match with nine men, having Iain Fyfe and Fabian Barbiero both sent off after receiving two yellow cards.

FIFA Club World Cup

2008

Because of their performance in the 2008 AFC Champions League, Adelaide United filled the position of the Japanese host team in the 2008 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup. 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.^[27] After a third meeting in three weeks, Adelaide came up against Gamba Osaka yet again at Toyota Stadium. The Reds fought valiantly and created many opportunities, in particular Travis Dodd,^[28] but ultimately lost 0–1 after a 23rd minute shot by Gamba midfielder, Yasuhito Endō.^[29] On 18 December, Adelaide played in the fifth-place match against Egyptian club Al Ahly SC, defeating them 1–0 to be rewarded the Club World Cup's fifth-place winnings of US$1.5 million.^[30] Adelaide United were also awarded the Fair Play award upon the completion of the tournament.^[31]

Colours and badge

The Adelaide United badge, used from the club's foundation in 2003 to 2005

Adelaide United's original strip was made using the three South Australian state colours: red, blue and yellow. The shirt was mainly red with a large yellow stripe down both sleeves with blue being used for the short colour and the stripe running down each side of the top. The badge also uses the state colours in a stylized swoosh, above what appears to be a football made with the Southern Cross, as opposed to the traditional hexagonal panels of a football.

Since their inception into the A-League, Adelaide United's kits, along with the rest of the league, have been manufactured by Reebok. United's kit has moved towards a predominately all-red kit, both top and shorts, with black trim. Originally, the away strip was predominantly white, with red sleeves and yellow trim however in 2009 the club launched a predominantly black 'clash' strip.

The launch of the new national league also saw Adelaide launch a new badge; while keeping a similar look and feel as its predecessor the new badge takes the form of more traditional football badge with its shield like border.

Adelaide United's 2009/10 playing kit didn't feature a sponsor on the front of their kit. Towards the end of the season, United signed a deal with Jim's Group which saw the Jim's Plumbing logo feature on the front of United's home and away kits. The deal only lasted for the remainder of the season as the logo isn't displayed on Adelaide's home or away kits in the 2010/11 season.

On 16 December 2010, Coopers Brewery announced that their logo would feature on the front of the jersey for the remainder of the season, in a deal worth to be around $200,000.

As of 1 April 2011, all A-League clubs were able to negotiate new kit supplier deals as the previous contract with Reebok had elapsed and as such, Adelaide United negotiated a 3 year deal with Erreà.^[32]

On 2 March 2012, the club announced Legea as the official kit suppliers for their 2012 Asian Champions League campaign. Legea are exclusively supplying all of the team's authentic on-field and off-field apparel for the clubs 6 ACL group-stage matches.^[33]

Adelaide United is most commonly referred to as "The Reds" because of their predominantly red playing kit. In February 2009 the clubs head coach, Aurelio Vidmar referred to the City of Adelaide as a "Pissant Town" after suffering a heartbreaking loss. The club's supporters eventually utilised the name "Pissant's" as a term of endearment and it became an unofficial nickname of the club between its supporters.

Years	Kit manufacturer	Major sponsor(s)
2005–06	Reebok	Fairmont Homes, Bianco
2007–08		Sakai, Club Financial
2008–09		Sakai, Bianco
2009–10		Jim's Plumbing, Modern Solar
2010–11		Coopers Brewery, Stratco
2011–12	Erreà
2012	Legea
2012–13	Kappa	Unleash Solar

Stadium

Adelaide United play their home matches at Hindmarsh Stadium with the exceptions being when they played two games a year at Adelaide Oval, one against interstate rivals Melbourne Victory and traditional rivals Sydney FC. Even though Adelaide lost the first of these two encounters 3–1, it was South Australia's largest football crowd in history with 25,039 people filling the stands, many others turning away at the gate.^[34] The second match in 2009 saw 23,002 people attend the game.^[7]

Hindmarsh Stadium seating capacity is 17,000. Adelaide United's first home game in the now defunct National Soccer League saw over 15,000 supporters watch Adelaide win 1–0 over the Brisbane Strikers.^[35]

A-League crowds have averaged 10,947 in 2005–06 and over 12,000 supporters attending in both 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons. Despite a lack of on-field success, crowds at United's games remained healthy during the 2009–10 season relative to other clubs, largely due to the club's strong community-based initiatives.^[36] The record attendance for Hindmarsh Stadium was a full house of 17,000 on 12 November 2008 against Gamba Osaka in the historic second leg of the ACL final.^[37]

Rivalries

Adelaide United's rivals are Melbourne Victory. Adelaide was again one of two of the leading teams in the 2006–07 season this time against Melbourne what saw an altercation between John Kosmina, the Adelaide United manager, and Kevin Muscat after the Victory captain knocked Kosmina over after entering the technical area to retrieve a ball. Kosmina then jumped up and grabbed Muscat around the throat for a few seconds.^[38] Season events culminated in the year's grandfinal that saw Adelaide captain, Ross Aloisi, sent off and Melbourne winning 6–0. The rivalry went beyond extreme after Melbourne defeated Adelaide United 1–0 in the 2008/09 grand final with United imported striker, Cristiano, given a controversial straight red card . The rivalry then went even further when Adelaide United defeated Melbourne 4–1 at AAMI Park, after United had been suffering a record-breaking 10-game losing streak against the Victory.^[39] (see Adelaide-Melbourne rivalry).

Affiliated clubs

Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Adelaide United Director Mel Patzwald signed a 'sister' club relationship in November 2006 which includes access to Miami's 'academy' Desportivo Brasil.^[40] The deal saw a friendly take place at Hindmarsh Stadium along with the transfer of Diego and Romario to Adelaide.^[41]

Shandong Luneng

Adelaide United Director Mel Patzwald signed a 'sister' club relationship with Chinese Super League Club and triple AFC Champions Shandong Luneng in early December 2008 with the agreement lasting until 2012.^[42]

Current squad

Senior squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUS	Eugene Galeković (captain)
2	MF	AUS	Osama Malik
3	DF	AUS	Nigel Boogaard
4	DF	AUS	Jon McKain
5	DF	AUS	Iain Fyfe
6	DF	BRA	Cássio (vice-captain)
8	MF	ARG	Marcelo Carrusca
10	MF	AUS	Dario Vidošić
11	FW	AUS	Bruce Djite
12	DF	AUS	Antony Golec


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	AUS	Cameron Watson
16	DF	AUS	Daniel Bowles
19	MF	AUS	Jake Barker-Daish (Youth)
20	GK	AUS	Paul Izzo (Youth)
21	FW	ARG	Jerónimo Neumann
22	MF	POR	Fábio Ferreira
24	FW	AUS	Awer Mabil (Youth)
––	DF	AUS	Jordan Elsey
––	MF	AUS	Jacob Melling
––	FW	AUS	Teeboy Kamara

Internationally Capped Players

Player	Country	Caps	Goals	Years Active
Eugene Galeković	Australia	6	(0)	2009–
Jonathan McKain	Australia	16	(0)	2004-
Dario Vidošić	Australia	14	(1)	2009-
Bruce Djite	Australia	9	(0)	2008-
Fabian Barbiero	Australia	1	(0)	2009

Youth squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
–	GK	AUS	John Hall
–	GK	AUS	Issac Carmody
–	DF	AUS	Stefan Cali
–	DF	AUS	Shaun Harvey
–	DF	AUS	Scott Nagel
–	DF	AUS	Daniel Pritchard


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
–	MF	AUS	Thomas Briscoe
–	MF	AUS	Jake Monaco
–	MF	AUS	Brennen Martin
–	FW	AUS	John Karatzas
–	FW	AUS	Nikola Mileusnic
–	FW	AUS	Anthony Trimboli

Club officials

Sporting staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Josep Gombau
Assistant Coach	Pau Marti
Assistant Coach	Michael Valkanis
Goalkeeping Coach	Peter Blazincic
Youth Team Coach	Angelo Costanzo
High Performance Coach	Sean Tagg

Managers

Name	From	To	Managed	Won	Drawn	Lost
John Kosmina	Sep 2003	Feb 2007	86	38	25	23
Aurelio Vidmar	Feb 2007	Jun 2010	107	42	23	42
→ Phil Stubbins (Caretaker)	Jun 2010	Jul 2010	0	0	0	0
Rini Coolen	Jul 2010	Dec 2011	32	16	5	11
John Kosmina	Dec 2011	Jan 2013	43	18	10	15
→ Michael Valkanis (Interim)	Jan 2013	April 2013	10	2	3	5
Josep Gombau	July 2013	Present	0	0	0	0

Honours

Domestic

A-League

Premiers (1): 2005–06

Runners-Up (2): 2006–07, 2008–09

A-League Finals Series

Champions (0):