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A-League ladder explained
The current system sees each team play each other three times, resulting in a 27-game season. A win gets you three premiership points, a draw gets you one, and you get nothing for a loss. The team that finishes on top of the ladder is crowned A-League premiers.
Teams are ranked based on points earned, not necessarily games won, with goal difference being the tiebreaker if two or more teams finish on the same points total.
The season culminates in a finals series, contested by the top six teams at the end of the regular season. The top two teams receive byes into the semi-finals, so the first week has the team that finished third playing the team that finished sixth, and the team that finished fourth playing the team that finished fifth.
The finals are played over three stages, with each match winner progressing to the next stage, eventually leading to the grand final between the two remaining teams.
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The main goal for every club is the A-League grand final, where the winners are crowned champions and receive a place in the AFC Asian Champions League.
In all finals matches, the higher-ranked team gets home ground advantage.
A-League ladder history
Melbourne Victory have finished premiers the most times (three) and have appeared in the most grand finals (four).
The Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory have both failed to win a grand final despite both boasting appearances in the season decider.
While the A-League season only has 27 rounds, teams can play a great many more fixtures if they play finals football and make a run in one (or more) of the cup competitions on offer for Australian sides. If a team was to win the FFA Cup, Asian Champions League, Premier’s Plate and Grand Final, they would play 46 games in that season.
