Melbourne Victory season 2005-06

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.

Premiership season

Melbourne Victory had a steady start to the season with a run of draws to sit mid-table after four matches. The side then embarked on a streak of four wins in a row, peaking with a 5-0 thrashing of eventual champions Sydney FC. Soon after this result, the Victory fell into a poor run of form, earning only one point from a possible 15, and scoring only one goal in five consecutive matches, including four matches at home.

Melbourne then won away against bottom-of-the-table New Zealand Knights FC on 26 November, and supporters hoped this would mean a return to form for the fledgling club. However, Melbourne then lost away to Sydney FC in the following match. After the mid-season break Melbourne drew and lost their first and second matches respectively. Facing Queensland Roar FC in a do-or-die clash at Suncorp Stadium on January 15 2006, Melbourne kept their finals hopes alive by winning the match 1-0.

That ultimately proved to be a sad day for Melbourne, as their star striker Archie Thompson played his last game for the club before leaving on a six month loan to Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven.

During negotiations with PSV Eindhoven, Melbourne took a very strict approach and did their best to get the most out of the deal, determined not to be pushed around by the European giants. Because of this there was media speculation the deal would not go ahead, resulting in Thompson lashing out at the club, accusing them of ruining his chance to play for a top European club. He also said he couldn't see himself coming back to the club if the loan to PSV Eindhoven didn't go ahead. The next day Thompson held a press conference and apologised for what he had said just 24 hours earlier. The loan to PSV Eindhoven went ahead soon after.

Melbourne finished in seventh place out of eight teams in the inaugural A-League season, missing out on a finals berth by five points. Interestingly, they still managed to maintain the second best defensive record in the league, superior even to the eventual champions.

At the end of the season, Melbourne said goodbye to fans favourite and former Austrian international Richard Kitzbichler, who returned home to a player/coach role with Austria Salzburg. Original squad members Andy Vlahos, Ricky Diaco and Carl Recchia were also released. Chris Tadrosse was allowed to sign for then German Regionalliga club KFC Uerdingen.

A-League fixtures and results

Home and away season

Round 1

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = August 28, 2005
17:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague SFC
score = 1 – 1
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Yorke goal|44
goals2 = Thompson goal|73
stadium = Aussie Stadium
attendance = 25,208
referee = Mark Shield

Round 2

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = September 4, 2005
17:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 2 – 2
team2 = ALeague PG
goals1 = Kitzbichler goal|11|
Muscat goal|85|pen
goals2 = Caceres goal|40
Despotovski goal|56
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 17,960
referee = Matthew Breeze

Round 3

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = September 9, 2005
19:30
team1 = ALeague AU
score = 1 – 0
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Brain goal|1
Jeremiah Chayan sent off|0|15
goals2 =
stadium = Hindmarsh Stadium
attendance = 8,785
referee = Peter O'Leary

Round 4

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = September 18, 2005
15:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague QR
score = 1 – 1
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Baird goal|62
McKay sent off|0|40
goals2 = Allsopp goal|88
stadium = Suncorp Stadium
attendance = 15,444
referee = Ben Williams

Round 5

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = September 25, 2005
17:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 1 – 0
team2 = ALeague NUJ
goals1 = Chayan goal|68
goals2 =
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 13,831
referee = Craig Zetter

Round 6

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = September 30, 2005
20:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague CCM
score = 1 – 2
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Heffernan goal|33
goals2 = Thompson goal|73
Leijer goal|81
stadium = Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium
attendance = 9,313
referee = Ben Williams

Round 7

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = October 10, 2005
19:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 3 – 0
team2 = ALeague NZK
goals1 = Kitzbichler goal|23
Muscat goal|62
Diaco goal|64
goals2 =
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 11,010
referee = Peter Green

Round 8

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = October 16, 2005
13:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 5 – 0
team2 = ALeague SFC
goals1 = Kitzbichler goal|34
Muscat goal|53 goal|78
Thompson goal|57 goal|69
goals2 = Talay sent off|0|58
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 18,206
referee = Matthew Breeze

Round 9

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = October 23, 2005
17:00 UTC+8
team1 = ALeague PG
score = 2 – 1
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Deane goal|22
Sekulovski goal|55
goals2 = Thompson goal|39
stadium = Members Equity Stadium
attendance = 12,312
referee = Mark Shield

Round 10

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = October 28, 2005
20:00 UTC+10
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 0 – 1
team2 = ALeague AU
goals1 =
goals2 = Veart goal|83
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 16,201
referee = Matthew Breeze

Round 11

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = November 4, 2005
20:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 0 – 1
team2 = ALeague QR
goals1 =
goals2 = Matt McKay goal|15
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 13,239
referee = Mark Shield

Round 12

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = November 11, 2005
20:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 0 – 0
team2 = ALeague NUJ
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 12,407
referee = Simon Przydacz

Round 13

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = November 18, 2005
20:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 0 – 2
team2 = ALeague CCM
goals1 =
goals2 = Hutchinson goal|38
Heffernan goal|75
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 13,892
referee = Ben Williams

Round 14

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = November 28, 2005
20:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague NZK
score = 2 – 3
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Christie goal|31
Devine goal|41|pen
goals2 = Muscat goal|41|pen
Kitzbichler goal|44
Kitzbichler goal|75
stadium = North Harbour Stadium
attendance = 1,922
referee = Peter O'Leary

Round 15

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = December 3, 2005
19:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague SFC
score = 2 – 1
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Corica goal|24
Carney goal|81
goals2 = Allsopp goal|88
stadium = Aussie Stadium
attendance = 17,272
referee = Mark Shield

Round 16

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = December 29, 2005
20:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 2 – 2
team2 = ALeague PG
goals1 = Thompson goal|23
Allsopp goal|45
goals2 = Mori goal|24
Ward goal|67
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 14,754
referee = Peter O'Leary

Round 17

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = January 5, 2006
20:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague AU
score = 0 – 1
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Dodd goal|14
goals2 =
stadium = Hindmarsh Stadium
attendance = 13,427
referee = Mark Shield

Round 18

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = January 15, 2006
19:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague QR
score = 0 – 1
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 =
goals2 = Thompson goal|55
stadium = Suncorp Stadium
attendance = 12,710
referee = Mark Shield

Round 19

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = January 21, 2006
17:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague NUJ
score = 1 – 0
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Coveny goal|36
goals2 =
stadium = Energy Australia Stadium
attendance = 9,073
referee = Matthew Breeze

Round 20

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = January 27, 2006
20:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague CCM
score = 3 – 1
team2 = ALeague MV
goals1 = Spencer goal|28
Spencer goal|63
Heffernan goal|88
goals2 = Michael Ferrante goal|13
stadium = Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium
attendance = 11,925
referee = Simon Przydacz

Round 21

----footballbox
bg = #eeeeee
date = February 3, 2006
17:00 UTC+11
team1 = ALeague MV
score = 2 – 1
team2 = ALeague NZK
goals1 = Byrnes goal|2
Muscat goal|21|pen
goals2 = Brockie goal|90
stadium = Olympic Park Stadium
attendance = 10,078
referee = Angelo Nadi

League table

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