A-League

The A-League is the premier club football competition in Australasia and is run by Football Federation Australia. The league is sponsored by motor company Hyundai and is thus known as the Hyundai A-League.

Ten teams compete in the league, nine are based in mainland Australia and one is based in New Zealand.

Two more teams are set to join in the next two seasons. In the 2010/11 season a new team from Victoria will join and will probably be known as Melbourne Heart F.C.  West Sydney were given a licence to have a team in the league as well, the team will be known as Sydney Rovers F.C.

The A-League competition isn’t very old, with the inaugural season taking place in 2005/06. The most successful side in the league are Melbourne Victory who have won two regular season titles and two Grand Finals.

The regular season of the A-League runs mainly during the Australian summer between August and February each season. The competition consists of 27 match weeks, with each team playing each other team three times – twice at one team’s home stadium and once at the other’s. The teams which are allotted two home matches against an opponent in one season are allotted one home match against that opponent in the following season.

The team that finishes top of the league in the regular season is awarded the title of A-League Premiers.

The top six-ranked teams at the end of the regular season are entered into a finals series. The top two ranked teams in the regular season compete over two legs (with ties decided by the away goals rule). The winner of this match progresses straight to the Grand Final.

On the same weekend, the third and sixth ranked teams play against each other as well as the fourth and fifth ranked teams. The winner of each of these matches play against each other in another match. Then, the winner of which goes ahead to play in a Preliminary Final against the loser of the two-legged match between the top two teams. The winner of this match progresses to the Grand Final.

The winner of the play off between the top two teams also wins the right to host the final at their home ground.

It is possible to bet on A-League matches and the outcome of both the regular season and the Grand Final.

A-League betting