2005–06 Melbourne Victory season

Melbourne Victory

2005–06 season
Manager	Ernie Merrick
A-League	7th
Pre-Season Challenge Cup	Semi-Final
Top goalscorer	Archie Thompson (8)
Highest home attendance	18,260 vs Sydney FC (16 October 2005)
Lowest home attendance	10,078 vs New Zealand Knights (4 February 2006)
Average home attendance	14,158
← first 2006–07 →

Melbourne Victory were considered to be one of the future "powerhouse" football clubs in Australia prior to the 2005/06 A-League season, with Socceroos Kevin Muscat and Archie Thompson returning to Melbourne from successful club careers in Europe. It was widely believed that they would be contenders for the A-League championship. However, the team ended up finishing a disappointing seventh and missed out on the finals.

Players

First team squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Michael Theoklitos 2 MF Kevin Muscat (captain) 3 DF Daniel Piorkowski 4 DF Mark Byrnes 5 DF Geoffrey Claeys 6 DF Steve Pantelidis 7 FW Michael Ferrante 8 MF Andy Vlahos 9 FW Daniel Allsopp 10 FW Archie Thompson 11 MF Vince Lia 12 MF Carl Recchia

No. Position Player 13 MF Kristian Sarkies 15 DF Adrian Leijer 16 DF Simon Storey 17 MF Richard Kitzbichler 18 MF Chris Tadrosse 19 FW Ricky Diaco 20 GK Eugene Galeković

Transfers

In

Player	From	Country/State & League From	Date
Michael Theoklitos	Bulleen Zebras	VPL
Kevin Muscat	Millwall	English Championship
Daniel Piorkowski	Melbourne Knights	VPL
Mark Byrnes	FC Hameenlinna	Finnish First Division
Geoffrey Claeys	Excelsior Mouscron	Jupiler League
Steve Pantelidis	Heidelberg United FC	VPL
Michael Ferrante	Fawkner Blues	VPL
Andy Vlahos	Cercle Brugge	Jupiler League
Danny Allsopp	Hull City	English Championship
Archie Thompson	Lierse SK	Jupiler League
Vince Lia	Fawkner Blues	VPL
Carl Recchia	South Melbourne FC	VPL
Kristian Sarkies	South Melbourne FC	VPL
Adrian Leijer	Melbourne Knights	VPL
Simon Storey	Altona Magic	VPL
Richard Kitzbichler	Austria Wien	Austrian Bundesliga
Chris Tadrosse	Blacktown City FC	NSW Premier League
Ricky Diaco	Bulleen Zebras	VPL
Eugene Galekovic	SC Beira-Mar	Primeira Liga

Matches

2005-06 Hyundai A-League fixtures

Round 1 28 August 2005	Sydney FC	1 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+10	Yorke  44'		Thompson  73'	Attendance: 25,208 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 2 4 September 2005	Melbourne Victory	2 : 2	Perth Glory	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler  11' Muscat  85' (pen)		Caceres  40' Despotovski  56'	Attendance: 17,960 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 3 9 September 2005	Adelaide United	1 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Brain  1' Alagich  15'			Attendance: 8,785 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 4 18 September 2005	Queensland Roar	1 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
15:00 UTC+10	Baird  62' McKay  40'		Allsopp  88'	Attendance: 15,444 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 5 25 September 2005	Melbourne Victory	1 : 0	Newcastle Jets	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10	Thompson  68'			Attendance: 13,831 Referee: Craig Zetter

Round 6 30 September 2005	Central Coast Mariners	1 : 2	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+10	Heffernan  33'		Thompson  73' Leijer  81'	Attendance: 9,313 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 7 10 October 2005	Melbourne Victory	3 : 0	New Zealand Knights	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler  23' Muscat  62' Diaco  64'			Attendance: 11,010 Referee: Peter Green

Round 8 16 October 2005	Melbourne Victory	5 : 0	Sydney FC	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
13:00 UTC+10	Kitzbichler  34' Muscat  53'  78' Thompson  57'  69'		Talay  58'	Attendance: 18,206 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 9 23 October 2005	Perth Glory	2 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+8	Deane  22' Sekulovski  55'		Thompson  39'	Attendance: 12,312 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 10 28 October 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 : 1	Adelaide United	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10			Veart  83'	Attendance: 16,201 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 11 4 November 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 : 1	Queensland Roar	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11			Matt McKay  15'	Attendance: 13,239 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 12 11 November 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 : 0	Newcastle Jets	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 12,407 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 13 18 November 2005	Melbourne Victory	0 : 2	Central Coast Mariners	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11			Hutchinson  38' Heffernan  75'	Attendance: 13,892 Referee: Ben Williams

Round 14 28 November 2005	New Zealand Knights	2 : 3	Melbourne Victory	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
20:00 UTC+11	Christie  31' Devine  41' (pen)		Muscat  41' (pen) Kitzbichler  44' Kitzbichler  75'	Attendance: 1,922 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 15 3 December 2005	Sydney FC	2 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Aussie Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+11	Corica  24' Carney  81'		Allsopp  88'	Attendance: 17,272 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 16 29 December 2005	Melbourne Victory	2 : 2	Perth Glory	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Thompson  23' Allsopp  45'		Mori  24' Ward  67'	Attendance: 14,754 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Round 17 5 January 2006	Adelaide United	1 : 0	Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
20:00 UTC+11	Dodd  14'			Attendance: 13,427 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 18 15 January 2006	Queensland Roar	0 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+11			Thompson  55'	Attendance: 12,710 Referee: Mark Shield

Round 19 21 January 2006	Newcastle Jets	1 : 0	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+11	Coveny  36'			Attendance: 9,073 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Round 20 27 January 2006	Central Coast Mariners	3 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
20:00 UTC+11	Spencer  28' Spencer  63' Heffernan  88'		Michael Ferrante  13'	Attendance: 11,925 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Round 21 3 February 2006	Melbourne Victory	2 : 1	New Zealand Knights	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+11	Byrnes  2' Muscat  21' (pen)		Brockie  90'	Attendance: 10,078 Referee: Angelo Nadi

Ladder

#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Adelaide United	21	13	4	4	35	25	+10sm=n	43
2	Sydney FC	21	10	6	5	35	28	+7sm=n	36
3	Central Coast Mariners	21	8	8	5	33	28	+5sm=n	32
4	Newcastle Jets	21	9	4	8	27	29	-2sm=n	31
5	Perth Glory	21	8	5	8	34	29	+5sm=n	29
6	Queensland Roar	21	7	7	7	27	22	+5sm=n	28
7	Melbourne Victory	21	7	5	9	26	24	+2sm=n	26
8	New Zealand Knights	21	1	3	17	15	47	-32sm=n	6

2005/06 end-of-season awards

• Player of the Year (Victory Medal)
  • Kevin Muscat
• Clubman of the Year
  • Adrian Leijer
• Players' Player of the Year
  • Adrian Leijer
• Golden Boot
  • Archie Thompson
• Union Supporters Fans' Player of the Year
  • Richard Kitzbichler