2007–08 Melbourne Victory FC season

Melbourne Victory
2007–08 season
Manager	Ernie Merrick
A-League	5th
Pre-Season Challenge Cup	8th
AFC Champions League	Group Stage (2nd)
Top goalscorer	League: ; Daniel Allsopp (7); All: ; Daniel Allsopp (9)
Highest home attendance	31,884 vs Sydney FC (10 November 2007)
Lowest home attendance	14,558 vs Chonburi FC (21 May 2008)
Average home league attendance	24,439
File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Home colours	File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Away colours
	← 2006–07 2008–09 →

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	Australia 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
Australia Matthew Kemp	Adelaide United	Australia A-League	11 April 2007
Australia Evan Berger	Marconi Stallions	Australia NSWPL	29 May 2007
Costa Rica Carlos Hernández	LD Alajuelense	Costa Rica Primera División de Costa Rica	12 June 2007
Australia Kaz Patafta	Benfica	Portugal Portuguese Liga	20 June 2007
Brazil Leandro Love	Vissel Kobe	Japan J-League	25 July 2007
Australia Sebastian Ryall	AIS	Australia VPL	28 August 2007
Australia Steven Pace	Preston Lions	Australia VPL	30 October 2007
Australia Nick Ward	Queens Park Rangers	England Football League Championship	5 December 2007

Out

Player	To	League	Date
Australia Michael Ferrante	Wellington Phoenix	Australia A-League	1 March 2007
Australia Mark Byrnes	released	-	1 March 2007
Brazil Fred	D.C. United	United States MLS	30 March 2007
England James Robinson	Perth Glory	Australia A-League	17 March 2007
Australia Vince Lia	Wellington Phoenix	Australia A-League	21 March 2007
Australia Simon Storey	Partick Thistle F.C.	Scotland Scottish First Division	21 March 2007
Australia Kristian Sarkies	Adelaide United	Australia A-League	30 March 2007
Australia Adrian Leijer	Fulham F.C.	England Premier League	4 August 2007
Australia Eugene Galekovic	Adelaide United	Australia A-League	30 October 2007

Matches

Pre-season matches

30 May 2007	Melbourne Victory Australia	1 : 4	Italy Juventus	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 43,357

6 June 2007

Richmond Eagles Australia

0 : 1

Australia Melbourne Victory

Kevin Bartlett Reserve, Melbourne

13 June 2007

Oakleigh Cannons Australia

2 : 3

Australia Melbourne Victory

Jack Edwards Reserve, Melbourne

20 June 2007

South Melbourne Australia

1 : 5

Australia Melbourne Victory

Bob Jane Stadium, Melbourne

4 July 2007

China File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg

1 : 0

Australia Melbourne Victory

Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Hong Kong

7 July 2007	Tianjin Teda China	1 : 1	Australia Melbourne Victory	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 v t e	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	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	1 : 1	File:AdelaideUnitedColours.png Adelaide United	Aurora Stadium, Launceston
				Attendance: 8,061

22 July 2007 Group Stage	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	0 : 1	File:NewcastleJetsColours.png Newcastle Jets	Skilled Stadium, Geelong
				Attendance: 8,500

28 July 2007 Group Stage	Perth Glory File:PerthGloryColours.png	2 : 1	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Darwin Football Stadium, Darwin
				Attendance: 2,700

4 August 2007 Play-offs	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	1 : 2	File:WellingtonPhoenixColours.png Wellington Phoenix	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
				Attendance: 4,100

11 August 2007 Seventh Place Play-off	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	0 : 1	File:SYDicon.png Sydney FC	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
				Attendance: 3,400

2007-08 Hyundai A-League fixtures

1 September 2007 Round 2	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	0 : 0	File:PerthGloryColours.png Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+10				Attendance: 31,545 Referee: Peter O'Leary

7 September 2007 Round 3	Adelaide United File:AdelaideUnitedColours.png	1 : 1	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Dodd File:Soccerball shade.svg 83' (pen)		Vargas File:Soccerball shade.svg 80'	Attendance: 13,231 Referee: Peter Green

16 September 2007 Round 4	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	0 : 0	File:CentralCoastColours 2.png Central Coast Mariners	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+10			Vidmar Red card 90+2'	Attendance: 27,351 Referee: Mark Shield

28 September 2007 Round 6	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	2 : 0	File:BrisbaneRoarColours.png Queensland Roar	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10	Muscat File:Soccerball shade.svg 68' (pen) Thompson File:Soccerball shade.svg 85'			Attendance: 25,622 Referee: Ben Williams

6 October 2007 Round 7	Sydney FC File:SYDicon.png	0 : 1	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
19:00 UTC+10	Corica Red card 25'		Allsopp File:Soccerball shade.svg 82'	Attendance: 18,436 Referee: Mark Shield

21 October 2007 Round 9	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	2 : 1	File:PerthGloryColours.png Perth Glory	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
16:30 UTC+10	Hernandez File:Soccerball shade.svg 24' Thompson File:Soccerball shade.svg 34'		Harnwell File:Soccerball shade.svg 42'	Attendance: 25,598 Referee: Simon Przydacz

26 October 2007 Round 10	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	0 : 2	File:NewcastleJetsColours.png Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+10	Pantelidis Red card 66'		A. Griffiths File:Soccerball shade.svg 8' J. Griffiths File:Soccerball shade.svg 88'	Attendance: 27,123 Referee: Matthew Breeze

10 November 2007 Round 12	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	0 : 0	File:SYDicon.png Sydney FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11				Attendance: 31,884 Referee: Mark Shield

16 November 2007 Round 13	Queensland Roar File:BrisbaneRoarColours.png	1 : 0	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Kruse File:Soccerball shade.svg 10'			Attendance: 17,207 Referee: Ben Williams

24 November 2007 Round 14	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	1 : 1	File:WellingtonPhoenixColours.png Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	Muscat Yellow card 34' Yellow-red card 35' Allsopp File:Soccerball shade.svg 43'		Lia File:Soccerball shade.svg 58'	Attendance: 20,938 Referee: Peter Green

2 December 2007 Round 15	Perth Glory File:PerthGloryColours.png	3 : 1	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
17:00 UTC+9	Harnwell File:Soccerball shade.svg 18' Rukavytsya File:Soccerball shade.svg 27' File:Soccerball shade.svg 46'		Caceres File:Soccerball shade.svg 38'	Attendance: 8,030 Referee: Ben Williams

16 December 2007 Round 17	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	1 : 3	File:NewcastleJetsColours.png Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
17:00 UTC+11	Hernández File:Soccerball shade.svg 11'		Denni File:Soccerball shade.svg 41' J. Griffiths File:Soccerball shade.svg 54' File:Soccerball shade.svg 76'	Attendance: 22,626 Referee: Matthew Breeze

5 January 2008 Round 19	Queensland Roar File:BrisbaneRoarColours.png	1 : 2	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
19:00 UTC+10	Marcinho File:Soccerball shade.svg 73'		Allsopp File:Soccerball shade.svg 56' Thompson File:Soccerball shade.svg 63'	Attendance: 21,475 Referee: Matthew Breeze

11 January 2008 Round 20	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	3 : 0	File:WellingtonPhoenixColours.png Wellington Phoenix	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
20:00 UTC+11	Hernández File:Soccerball shade.svg 31' Ward File:Soccerball shade.svg 35' Patafta File:Soccerball shade.svg 88'			Attendance: 25,489 Referee: Peter Green

Ladder

Pos	Team v t e	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^{[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	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^{[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) Champions
Notes:

↑ 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.
↑ 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

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

Team v t e	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
Thailand Chonburi	6	1	2	3	7	10	−3	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

12 March 2008	Melbourne Victory Australia	2 : 0	South Korea Chunnam Dragons	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 23,356

19 March 2008	Chonburi FCThailand	3 : 1	Australia Melbourne Victory	Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok
				Attendance: 10,000

9 April 2008	Melbourne Victory Australia	3 : 4	Japan Gamba Osaka	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 23,857

23 April 2008	Gamba Osaka Japan	2 : 0	Australia Melbourne Victory	Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita
				Attendance: 8,132

7 May 2008	Chunnam Dragons South Korea	1 : 1	Australia Melbourne Victory	Gwang-Yang Stadium, Gwangyang
				Attendance: 3,000

21 May 2008	Melbourne Victory Australia	3 : 1	Thailand Chonburi FC	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
				Attendance: 9,558

References

↑ "Victory sign Costa Rican star". The Australian. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
↑ 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.

[table_note_res_GS0.55647487638354-3] 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.

[table_note_WP0.55647487638354-4] Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

[1] "Victory sign Costa Rican star". The Australian. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

[Victory20k-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.

[1]

[2]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

25 August 2007 Round 1	Wellington Phoenix File:WellingtonPhoenixColours.png	2 : 2	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
16:00 UTC+12	Daniel File:Soccerball shade.svg 79' Smeltz File:Soccerball shade.svg 84'		Muscat File:Soccerball shade.svg 19' (pen) Allsopp File:Soccerball shade.svg 60'	Attendance: 14,421 Referee: Mark Shield

21 September 2007 Round 5	Newcastle Jets File:NewcastleJetsColours.png	2 : 2	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10	A Griffiths File:Soccerball shade.svg 5' Musialik File:Soccerball shade.svg 21'		Thompson File:Soccerball shade.svg 65' Caceres File:Soccerball shade.svg 83'	Attendance: 11,179 Referee: Matthew Breeze

12 October 2007 Round 8	Adelaide United File:AdelaideUnitedColours.png	4 : 1	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
19:30 UTC+9:30	Milicevic File:Soccerball shade.svg 14' (o.g.) Dodd File:Soccerball shade.svg 15', File:Soccerball shade.svg 54' Pantelis File:Soccerball shade.svg 90+2'		Thompson File:Soccerball shade.svg 45+2'	Attendance: 13,372 Referee: Mark Shield

4 November 2007 Round 11	Central Coast Mariners File:CentralCoastColours 2.png	2 : 1	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
17:00 UTC+11	Petrovski File:Soccerball shade.svg 83', Yellow card 73' Yellow-red card 90' Pondeljak File:Soccerball shade.svg 88'		Keenan Red card 22' Hernández File:Soccerball shade.svg 77' Vargas Red card 90'	Attendance: 11,354 Referee: Mark Shield

8 December 2007 Round 16	Melbourne Victory File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png	2 : 2	File:AdelaideUnitedColours.png Adelaide United	Telstra Dome, Melbourne
19:00 UTC+11	Muscat File:Soccerball shade.svg 71' (pen) Alagich File:Soccerball shade.svg 90+2' (o.g.)		Agostino File:Soccerball shade.svg 18' File:Soccerball shade.svg 50'	Attendance: 22,466 Referee: Peter Green

2007–08 Melbourne Victory FC season

Contents

Season summary

Players

First team squad

Transfers

Matches

Pre-season matches

2007 Pre-Season Cup

2007-08 Hyundai A-League fixtures

Ladder

2008 AFC Champions League

Warm-up matches

Matches

References

Navigation menu

Page actions

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Personal tools

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In other languages

31 December 2007 Round 18	Central Coast Mariners File:CentralCoastColours 2.png	2 : 5	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Jedinak File:Soccerball shade.svg 32' J.Aloisi File:Soccerball shade.svg 63'		Caceres File:Soccerball shade.svg 4' Allsopp File:Soccerball shade.svg 23' File:Soccerball shade.svg 61' Thompson File:Soccerball shade.svg 36' Muscat File:Soccerball shade.svg 43' (pen)	Attendance: 18,686 Referee: Mark Shield

20 January 2008 Round 21	Sydney FC File:SYDicon.png	2 : 2	File:MelbourneVictoryColours.png Melbourne Victory	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
17:00 UTC+11	Corica File:Soccerball shade.svg 4' Brosque File:Soccerball shade.svg 62'	(Report) (Summary)	Milligan File:Soccerball shade.svg 46' (o.g.) Allsopp File:Soccerball shade.svg 76'	Attendance: 33,458 Referee: Peter O'Leary

v t e Melbourne Victory Football Club
Head coaches Men Women Seasons Men Women Current season Men Women
Teams	Melbourne Victory FC Women Youth AWT
Home grounds	Men Olympic Park Stadium (2005–2007) Marvel Stadium (2007–2021) AAMI Park (2010–present) Women Marvel Stadium (2008–2020) Lakeside Stadium (2008–2020) Epping Stadium (2008–2022) David Barro Stadium (2011–2015) Wembley Park (2012) Kingston Heath Soccer Complex (2013–2014) John Ilhan Memorial Reserve (2014–2015) CB Smith Reserve (2021–2023) AAMI Park (2010–present) The Home of the Matildas (2023–present)
Honours	Men Women Youth
Players	Men Women Player of the Season
Rivalries	League record by opponent Melbourne Derby The Big Blue The Original Rivalry Western United rivalry
Media	Dream Big (TV series)
Related articles	Songs and Chants (Stand By Me Seven Nation Army Freed from Desire) Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory (17 December 2022)
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