Who are the best and worst clubs in the A-League?
Several weeks ago, Mike Tuckerman claimed that the A-League had come of age.
While I don’t agree entirely with that sentiment, I certainly feel that season eight will mark a turning point in the evolving history of the competition.
With that in mind, I thought it might be time to look at which clubs have been the most successful, and which have not, through the history of the A-League to date.
With only one or two seasons each, I’ve thought it best to exclude Wanderers, North Queensland Fury and New Zealand Knights from these figures.
I have also excluded finals figures, so this is only based on the home and away rounds.
So which team has the most wins in the history of the A-League? Central Coast Mariners come out best with 85, closely followed by 83 each for the Victory and the Roar.
These three also top the win percentage ratio at about 42-43 percent.
With only 25 wins from 84 games at 30 percent, the Heart props up the bottom of the table, and Newcastle, with 61 wins at 31%, isn’t a whole lot better.
Do you expect to see your team win at home? Well then you should also expect to be disappointed.
CCM with 48 wins from 96 games at exactly 50 percent are the only team to have won at least half their games on their own turf, though the Victory come close with 49 from 99.
The most regularly disappointed fans are in Newcastle having lost 34 games from 96 at just over 35 percent. If you are a Jets fan, expect to lose every third time you go to the ground.
Roar are the best travellers of the comp with 39 wins at 40 percent on the road, followed by the Mariners with 37.
In fact, with a 39-30-28 and 37-30-32 record respectively, they are also the only two teams to win more on the road than they lose.
Apparently Kiwis really can’t fly as Phoenix have lost a massive 60 percent of their games on the road, with Perth only marginally better at 59 percent.
Do you like to see goals? Then watch Melbourne Victory. Their 310 goals at 1.59 per game has them 18 goals ahead of Central Coast Mariners, while Heart have managed only 1.15 per game in their three year history.
161 of Melbourne Victory’s goals have come at home for 1.63 per game, while Melbourne Heart are better at home, boosting their average to 1.29, but are still the worst of any team. Melbourne Victory also top the away goals table with 136, marginally ahead of Roar on 133.
Defensively, the Mariners and the Roar are head and shoulders above everyone else conceding a miserly 216 and 220 respectively at 1.11 and 1.13.
The Perth keeper needs to check the size of his goal posts regularly having given away 291 goals at 1.49.
At home, Gold Coast United were toughest to breach, conceding only 0.82 per match, while away, the Mariners and the Roar proved their consistency with only 1.12 and 1.21 each.
Positions on goal difference then go to Central Coast Mariners on +73 and Brisbane Roar on +66. The team least likely to reach the finals on GD is the Jets with -48.
Finally, and in what many might consider a huge upset, the dirtiest team in the competition with 186 bookings at 2.21 per match is Heart, putting them a long way ahead of Phoenix at only 1.92.
For those who thought it might have been the Victory, they hold the overall record at 331 but only 1.7 per game.
Fear not Kevin Muscat fans, Victory do have the most reds with 22 at a table topping .11 per match.
Patrick Hargreaves
Roar Guru
Rival Melbourne in the derby? Heart have won more derbies than Victory...
Ian
Guest
what's wrong with ange's work? these games happened. its not rocket science that those two seasons changed the average for the roar. 2 seasons out of 7 is 28% (excluding season just finished). hardly a one off event.
Ballymore
Guest
"I’d suggest Ange’s work at the roar has bumped there club statistics right up over the past couple of years". I'd say Ange's efforts massively distorted the data in our favour. Geez, if it was work I'd alomost ignore the outlier of the AP era.
nordster
Guest
Good management in getting a sweet stadium deal...thats now expired though...
albatross
Roar Pro
Perhaps the Mariners should "come out".
West
Roar Pro
Good management - Heart turned a profit with the lowest attendances in the league. Imagine if they can make the finals, increase their player support and merchandising with a big name marquee and really rival MV in the Melb derby, the potential is there for a healthy increase in profits and probably why they didn't sell shares to SM.
Bondy
Its nice to read those stats , I'd suggest Ange's work at the roar has bumped there club statistics right up over the past couple of years, he's impact there was great. I couldn't agree more with the home teams struggling to win in the HAL, I generally got 3-5 in tipping each week and rarely got full rounds,its rarely like man utd or barca at home to lowly ranked squads. Just seen an interview with the gay basketballer, he'll make an absolute fortune now.. Mariners keep humming along. Great atmosphere in the bernabeua this morning.
Bondy
Those clubs should possibly amalgamate, worst case scenario sth mlb are somebody to fall back on as backers in case. Its nice to see the Heart turn a little profit.
Stevo
Guest
Spot the link in all thee SBS stories Midfielder? Les Murray was part of the original Southern Cross bid. Notice that these exclusives never have a name attached to them.
Midfielder
Guest
Says it all .... SBS again being the trustworthy reporter of Football facts... At times SBS does worry me.... is it just me or do others see SBS of at times having a ethnic NSL want that is deeply rooted in its soul and it does affect their reporting at times [ever seen a SBS reflection for the Blacktown Demons] .... I have seen SBS report a number of times in TWG about the Lakeside developments which are shared as I understand it with other sports but never seen an SBS crew film the COE and what is happening their ... yet an independent football media organisation comes out and makes a 8 part doco about the Mariners and bases it a lot around the same COE ... ie the Code shown on Fox .. OK rant over... BUT SBS HHHHHMMMMM come on guys the phoney war with Fox is over ....
Kasey
Guest
Scott Munn has just tweeted that it was rejected(for the 2nd time) search twitter #MHFC. So that leaves a once proud SMFC acting like the vultures waiting for a HAL club to fall over so it can slide into the League so many of its fans call BS and plastic and predicted would last 3 years tops. Scott Munn @scott_munn @Tommyatthedoor article factually incorrect. Have received offer and rejected outright.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Statement from Melbourne Heart: http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/news-display/Melbourne-Heart-FC-Statement/66386
Midfielder
Guest
Maybe they want for money ....
Johnno
Guest
News just in via twitter, Melb Heart have received and rejected South Melbourne's offer. So that was that, damn.
Midfielder
Guest
Johnno & Fuss Sounds to me it could be a great move and heal a lot of wounds nation wide ... lets face it PG where from the NSL.. AU was from the NSL... Newcastle was from the NSL... Believe it or not the Mariners where from the NSL [Northern Spirit ] ... The management team is the single most important thing in this... can they re brand and promote the new team as being an all inclusive team ... but be different to MV.... I love the idea of playing out of a small stadium with say derby matches away...this club would make money ... but as i said do they have the board who know who to appoint and how to promote ... out of left field Ben Buckley could be an excellent choice as CEO ... understands Melbourne is not from old soccer... understands how FFA work...
Johnno
Guest
he he yes agree with that last point, I am an old NSL biter, from way back. But on a serious point fuss and others, my worry is what will the team be called. South Melb FC, have a team if they buy the heart then what do they do . Pointless having 2 teams. Do they call themselves South Melb southern cross, or what will they do, South Melb Heart doesn't feel right either. It's as if they are buying nothing, they get an A-league licence but what then do they lose there club's indignity in the process. It's seems they are buying nothing in reality.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Middy, there wouldn't be any "geographical identity" associated with Heart/SMFC. However, such an entity could definitely create a cultural identity that is distinct from MVFC. I sort of alluded to it a few weeks ago that Melbourne Heart should try to create a culture that embraces all the aspects of the ex-NSL clubs that were positive, including: * playing out of a smaller boutique stadium * catering that is not tied up to the big national companies: real souvlakis, gyros, tyropita .. ouzo & maybe some home-made tsipouro. Of course, the pumpkin seed seller outside the stadium will return. ;-) And, the biggest positive will be ... a significant portion of bitter ex-NSL fans will finally stop whinging & trying to undermine the A-League ... keep your friends close; and your enemies closer!
Ian
Guest
yeah winning more away than home doesn't keep the crowd average up. perhaps a comparison of average goals let in across the A-League compared to global standards is requried.
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss Would a SM team be more like the Drive Byes in the sense that the Smurfs and the Driver Byes represent totally different parts of Sydney... Lakeside stadium ... 15K with 7K seated sounds like a great size as they own it I think ... but Lakeside is an oval shape... On the MV forum they say Heart have rejected the offer .... Rambling I know but love so more info...
Midfielder
Guest
SBS reported a little while back the Mariners were going to sell to SM.... will believe it when I see it... as for having SM back great news they where the most ready of the former NSL clubs to enter the A-League they had the highest crowd average in the NSL .... the big issue do they have the skill to reinvent themselves as a non ethnic team.... I think they do as they were close to doing in the NSL environment...