2007–08 Melbourne Victory FC season

Melbourne Victory
2007–08 season
ManagerErnie Merrick
A-League5th
Pre-Season Challenge Cup8th
AFC Champions LeagueGroup Stage (2nd)
Top goalscorerLeague:
Daniel Allsopp (7)
All:
Daniel Allsopp (9)
Highest home attendance31,884 vs Sydney FC (10 November 2007)
Lowest home attendance14,558 vs 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  AUS Michael Theoklitos
2 MF  AUS Kevin Muscat (captain)
3 DF  AUS Daniel Piorkowski
5 DF  AUS Ljubo Milicevic
6 DF  AUS Steve Pantelidis
7 DF  AUS Matthew Kemp
8 MF  SCO Grant Brebner
9 FW  AUS Daniel Allsopp
10 FW  AUS Archie Thompson
11 DF  ENG Joe Keenan
12 DF  AUS Rodrigo Vargas
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 MF  AUS Kaz Patafta
14 MF  AUS Adrian Caceres
15 FW  BRA Leandro Love
16 MF  CRC Carlos Hernández
17 MF  AUS Daniel Vasilevski
18 MF  AUS Leigh Broxham
19 MF  AUS Evan Berger
20 GK  AUS Eugene Galekovic
21 DF  AUS Sebastian Ryall
30 GK  AUS Mitchell Langerak

Transfers
In
Player From League Date
Mitchell LangerakAIS VPL23 February 2007
Ljubo MilicevicBSC Young Boys Swiss Super League20 February 2007
Joe KeenanWillem II Eredivisie30 March 2007
Matthew KempAdelaide United A-League11 April 2007
Evan BergerMarconi Stallions NSWPL29 May 2007
Carlos HernándezLD Alajuelense Primera División de Costa Rica12 June 2007
Kaz PataftaBenfica Portuguese Liga20 June 2007
Leandro LoveVissel Kobe J-League25 July 2007
Sebastian RyallAIS VPL28 August 2007
Steven PacePreston Lions VPL30 October 2007
Nick WardQueens Park Rangers Football League Championship5 December 2007
Out
Player To League Date
Michael FerranteWellington Phoenix A-League1 March 2007
Mark Byrnesreleased-1 March 2007
FredD.C. United MLS30 March 2007
James RobinsonPerth Glory A-League17 March 2007
Vince LiaWellington Phoenix A-League21 March 2007
Simon StoreyPartick Thistle F.C. Scottish First Division21 March 2007
Kristian SarkiesAdelaide United A-League30 March 2007
Adrian LeijerFulham F.C. Premier League4 August 2007
Eugene GalekovicAdelaide United A-League30 October 2007

Matches

Pre-season matches
30 May 2007 Melbourne Victory 1 : 4 JuventusTelstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 43,357
6 June 2007 Richmond Eagles 0 : 1 Melbourne VictoryKevin Bartlett Reserve, Melbourne
13 June 2007 Oakleigh Cannons 2 : 3 Melbourne VictoryJack Edwards Reserve, Melbourne
20 June 2007 South Melbourne 1 : 5 Melbourne VictoryBob Jane Stadium, Melbourne
4 July 2007 China PR 1 : 0 Melbourne VictorySiu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Hong Kong
7 July 2007 Tianjin Teda 1 : 1 Melbourne VictoryTEDA 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:
15 July 2007 Group StageMelbourne Victory 1 : 1 Adelaide UnitedAurora Stadium, Launceston
Attendance: 8,061
22 July 2007 Group StageMelbourne Victory 0 : 1 Newcastle JetsSkilled Stadium, Geelong
Attendance: 8,500
28 July 2007 Group StagePerth Glory 2 : 1 Melbourne VictoryDarwin Football Stadium, Darwin
Attendance: 2,700
4 August 2007 Play-offsMelbourne Victory 1 : 2 Wellington PhoenixOlympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
Attendance: 4,100
11 August 2007 Seventh Place Play-offMelbourne Victory 0 : 1 Sydney FCOlympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
Attendance: 3,400

2007-08 Hyundai A-League fixtures
25 August 2007 Round 1Wellington Phoenix 2 : 2 Melbourne VictoryWestpac Stadium, Wellington
16:00 UTC+12 Daniel  79'
Smeltz  84'		 Muscat  19' (pen)
Allsopp  60'		 Attendance: 14,421
Referee: Mark Shield
1 September 2007 Round 2Melbourne Victory 0 : 0 Perth GloryTelstra Dome, Melbourne, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10 Attendance: 31,545
Referee: Peter O'Leary
7 September 2007 Round 3Adelaide United 1 : 1 Melbourne VictoryHindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30 Dodd  83' (pen) Vargas  80' Attendance: 13,231
Referee: Peter Green
16 September 2007 Round 4Melbourne Victory 0 : 0 Central Coast MarinersOlympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10 Vidmar  90+2' Attendance: 27,351
Referee: Mark Shield
21 September 2007 Round 5Newcastle Jets 2 : 2 Melbourne VictoryEnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10 A Griffiths  5'
Musialik  21'		 Thompson  65'
Caceres  83'		 Attendance: 11,179
Referee: Matthew Breeze
28 September 2007 Round 6Melbourne Victory 2 : 0 Queensland RoarTelstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10 Muscat  68' (pen)
Thompson  85'		 Attendance: 25,622
Referee: Ben Williams
6 October 2007 Round 7Sydney FC 0 : 1 Melbourne VictorySydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10 Corica  25' Allsopp  82' Attendance: 18,436
Referee: Mark Shield
12 October 2007 Round 8Adelaide United 4 : 1 Melbourne VictoryHindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 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 9Melbourne Victory 2 : 1 Perth GloryTelstra Dome, Melbourne
16:30 UTC+10 Hernandez  24'
Thompson  34'		 Harnwell  42' Attendance: 25,598
Referee: Simon Przydacz
26 October 2007 Round 10Melbourne Victory 0 : 2 Newcastle JetsTelstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10 Pantelidis  66' A. Griffiths  8'
J. Griffiths  88'		 Attendance: 27,123
Referee: Matthew Breeze
4 November 2007 Round 11Central Coast Mariners 2 : 1 Melbourne VictoryBluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11 Petrovski  83',  73'  90'
Pondeljak  88'		 Keenan  22'
Hernández  77'
Vargas  90'		 Attendance: 11,354
Referee: Mark Shield
10 November 2007 Round 12Melbourne Victory 0 : 0 Sydney FCTelstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11 Attendance: 31,884
Referee: Mark Shield
16 November 2007 Round 13Queensland Roar 1 : 0 Melbourne VictorySuncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10 Kruse  10' Attendance: 17,207
Referee: Ben Williams
24 November 2007 Round 14Melbourne Victory 1 : 1 Wellington PhoenixTelstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11 Muscat  34'  35'
Allsopp  43'		 Lia  58' Attendance: 20,938
Referee: Peter Green
2 December 2007 Round 15Perth Glory 3 : 1 Melbourne VictoryMembers Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+9 Harnwell  18'
Rukavytsya  27'  46'		 Caceres  38' Attendance: 8,030
Referee: Ben Williams
8 December 2007 Round 16Melbourne Victory 2 : 2 Adelaide UnitedTelstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11 Muscat  71' (pen)
Alagich  90+2' (o.g.)		 Agostino  18'  50' Attendance: 22,466
Referee: Peter Green
16 December 2007 Round 17Melbourne Victory 1 : 3 Newcastle JetsTelstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+11 Hernández  11' Denni  41'
J. Griffiths  54'  76'		 Attendance: 22,626
Referee: Matthew Breeze
31 December 2007 Round 18Central Coast Mariners 2 : 5 Melbourne VictoryBluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 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 19Queensland Roar 1 : 2 Melbourne VictorySuncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10 Marcinho  73' Allsopp  56'
Thompson  63'		 Attendance: 21,475
Referee: Matthew Breeze
11 January 2008 Round 20Melbourne Victory 3 : 0 Wellington PhoenixTelstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11 Hernández  31'
Ward  35'
Patafta  88'		 Attendance: 25,489
Referee: Peter Green
20 January 2008 Round 21Sydney FC 2 : 2 Melbourne VictorySydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 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 or relegation
1 Central Coast Mariners 21 10 4 7 30 25 +5 34 Finals Series and 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2 Newcastle Jets (C) 21 9 7 5 25 21 +4 34
3 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 28 24 +4 32 Finals Series and 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship
4 Queensland Roar 21 8 7 6 25 21 +4 31 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[lower-alpha 2] 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) Champion.
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 1 : 3 Melbourne VictoryEpping Stadium, Melbourne
26 February 2008 Melbourne Victory 2 : 1 Adelaide UnitedOlympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
4 March 2008 Adelaide United 1 : 1 Melbourne VictoryHindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide

Matches
Main article: 2008 AFC Champions League § Group stage
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Gamba Osaka 6 4 2 0 14 8 +6 14
Melbourne Victory 6 2 1 3 10 11 −1 7
Chunnam Dragons 6 1 3 2 8 10 −2 6
Chonburi 6 1 2 3 7 10 −3 5
Source:
12 March 2008 Melbourne Victory 2 : 0 Chunnam DragonsTelstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 23,356
19 March 2008 Chonburi FC3 : 1 Melbourne VictorySuphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 10,000
9 April 2008 Melbourne Victory 3 : 4 Gamba OsakaTelstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 23,857
23 April 2008 Gamba Osaka 2 : 0 Melbourne VictoryOsaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita
Attendance: 8,132
7 May 2008 Chunnam Dragons 1 : 1 Melbourne VictoryGwang-Yang Stadium, Gwangyang
Attendance: 3,000
21 May 2008 Melbourne Victory 3 : 1 Chonburi FCTelstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 9,558
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References
  1. "Victory sign Costa Rican star". The Australian. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  2. Ormond, Aidan (31 August 2007). "Victory Hits The Magic 20K Mark". FourFourTwo Australia. Haymarket Group. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
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