Few days on the football calendar get fans’ pulses racing quite like transfer deadline day as clubs race against the clock to sign new players before the window closes. But how does it all work? To find out more, aleagues.com.au went behind the scenes as the deals were coming in.
It’s a question often asked by fans and pundits alike; “Why are they leaving it until the last day to sign players?!” The answer to that question isn’t always obvious.
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For some clubs it’s a game of cat and mouse as they battle to make the financials of a deal work, other clubs are forced into the market due to a player departure while some are simply ready to pounce when the opportunity arises.
Either way, it always makes for great drama as fans wait with bated breath to see just who their club will recruit in the final hours of a window that’s been open since June, 24 2025.
In total there were 56 deals registered on transfer deadline day, 19 of which were players signing a professional contract.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty though, these are a few of the basics around Deadline Day in the Isuzu UTE A-League:
- FIFA’s 12-week period for player registration runs from June 24 – September 15.
- The Isuzu UTE A-League window officially closes at 11:59pm (AEST) – although clubs are encouraged to submit all documentation to Australian Professional Leagues (APL) before 10pm (AEST).
- Players can only be officially registered once all paperwork has been received by APL and then ratified by Football Australia (FA)
- Football Australia needs to approve all player registrations regardless of whether the signing is a domestic one or foreign (including NZ clubs)
- Players who are free agents are not bound by the transfer window and can sign with a club at any point
- Clubs are free to announce their newly registered players whenever they like – it doesn’t have to be on deadline day!
So when do the deals starting coming through? Well for Australian Professional Leagues (APL) duo Kaitlyn Manning and Angelica Georgopoulos it’s an early start to the day. In fact the process actually started over the weekend in the build-up to deadline day as conversations were had with all 12 Isuzu UTE A-League clubs regarding their current rosters and the minimum/maximum requirements.
In short, those roster requirements are as follows:
– A minimum 18 players and a maximum 23 players
– Within the 18-23 players that must be signed, clubs must have a minimum of two goalkeepers and a maximum of five foreign players
– This list doesn’t include scholarship players of which clubs can sign 16
– All players registered in the A-League men’s senior roster MUST be on professional terms.
So, once the coffee has been poured and the laptops are fired up the duo get down to business and begin working their way through the documentation supplied to them by the clubs.
Foreign stars and the documentation required
One deal submitted over the weekend that was then first cab off the rank on Monday was Sydney FC’s signing of Spanish forward Victor Campuzano, who joined the club on a two-year deal.
For a deal like this one involving a foreign player there’s plenty of documentation that needs to be submitted before he can officially be registered by Football Australia as a Sydney FC player.
As well as the standard requirements like passport details and registration forms clubs also need to submit a copy of the player’s contract. Roughly 40 pages in length, these documents are largely the same but details like start date, end date and salary package all need to be double-checked whilst things like ‘special conditions’ also need to be factored in when it comes to the salary cap.
Deadline Day Wrap: Every signing from a busy end to the Isuzu UTE A-League transfer window
- One example of a special condition within a contract (and one not relevant to Campuzano’s case) could be a bonus payment of say $20k after a player reaches X amount of games.
- Another example could be a player receiving a vehicle to use during the duration of their deal.
Furthermore, clubs also need to provide a statutory declaration confirming the player will receive no additional payment from the club outside of his contract.
But that’s not all; crucial to a deal such as this one is a valid visa. For Campuzano, Sydney FC are required to submit proof that a Subclass 408 Temporary Activity visa – a visa for individuals invited to play, coach, instruct, or undertake high-level sports training with an Australian sports organisation or team – has been granted or at least applied for, with a registration temporarily granted on receipt of the aforementioned visa.
Finally, APL also needs a copy of the player’s International Transfer Certificate (ITC) which can be obtained from the player’s former club or through FIFA.
The main purpose of an ITC is to confirm a player’s registration status with their former club but also confirm they aren’t serving a suspension and it is used for when players are moving between countries.
Domestic signings: A quicker process?
Arguably a more straightforward deal for the APL team to process is one where an Isuzu UTE A-League club signs a player from another side in the competition and a good example of this on Deadline Day was Melbourne City’s move for former Western United youngster Besian Kutleshi.
A free agent following the decision to place Western United into hibernation for the 2025-26 season, Kutleshi was able to sign for another side and ultimately decided to re-join his former club on a long-term contract.
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For a deal of this nature, City were required to submit all of the above paperwork that Sydney FC submitted for their new signing, minus the fact they don’t need to provide a visa!
An interesting difference though is the fact that City were required to submit a Domestic Transfer Certificate (DTC) rather than the aforementioned ITC in Campuzano’s case.
As is standard process with these deals, APL will cross-check all of the documents supplied to them by the club looking to register the player and once these details have been received and checked, a player’s registration will be confirmed.
A deadline day dash from the Sky Blues
Whilst Isuzu UTE A-League clubs can still sign free agents at any point before or during the season, there was still a clamour to tie down a few available players before Monday’s hard 23:59pm (AEST) deadline.
One of those players was former Western United winger Abel Walatee, who started the day as a free agent and ended it as a Sydney FC player having put pen to paper on a four-year deal.
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With Walatee being one of the most sought-after young players on the market there was no doubt plenty of competition for his signature and as such, his deal was the latest to be lodged on Deadline Day.
Submitted at around 8pm (AEST), the player’s documentation was checked and ratified well after 10:30pm (AEST) meaning Sydney FC received official confirmation they had their man registered and ready to go before the window closed!
Moving across the Tasman
Another team involved in a busy transfer Deadline Day was Wellington Phoenix, with the Kiwi side announcing the capture of two players.
The first of which was 27-year-old defender Dan Edwards, who signed his first professional contract with the Nix after joining from NPLM VIC side Avondale FC.
The second player to join the club was former Western United playmaker Ramy Najjarine, who signed for Giancarlo Italiano’s side ahead of the upcoming Isuzu UTE A-League campaign.
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Whilst the process for these deals is almost identical to the moves previously listed, a key difference for players signing for either Auckland FC or Wellington Phoenix is the fact that their registration must be lodged with both Football Australia AND New Zealand Football.
Furthermore, when it comes to Kiwi players moving across the Tasman, they are counted as foreign players for Australian teams unless they have Australian citizenship.
YDA’s – what are they?
Of the 56 deals to have been completed on Deadline Day, a vast number of those were Youth Development Agreements, or YDA’s for short.
Whilst Isuzu UTE A-League clubs are required to have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players, they are also obliged to have a youth roster consisting of at least nine players and a maximum of 23 and these squads are made up of either scholarship deals or YDA’s.
For a player to be eligible for a Youth Development Agreement they need to be born between 2005 and 2009, born in either Australia or New Zealand and those deals are only ever one year in length.
A crucial point here though is that YDA’s are amateur contracts and therefore do not count towards a club’s salary cap.
Closed for business
So with the FIFA transfer window officially closing at midnight the finals checks on deals were then made, a process which lasted until the early hours of Tuesday morning.
All in all there were 56 deals logged and registered on deadline day in the Isuzu UTE A-League, many of which are now being announced by their clubs as they continue their preparations ahead of the campaign.
Deals like former Sydney FC midfielder Jake Girdwood-Reich joining Auckland FC on loan, Brisbane Roar signing Costa Rican international Youstin Salas and Perth Glory snapping up former Western United defender Charbel Shamoon have all caught they eye.
However the headline-grabbing move of all them though was Melbourne Victory’s acquisition of Spanish World Cup winner Juan Mata, who joined the club from Western Sydney Wanderers ahead of the upcoming season.
But fear not Isuzu UTE A-League fans! Just because the transfer window is now closed doesn’t mean that’s it for your side when it comes to signing players.
Under FIFA law free agents are able to move as and when they choose given they aren’t registered to a side, so could we see a Mario Balotelli pop-up in the Isuzu UTE A-League at some point? Who knows.
CLICK HERE TO HEAD TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE TRANSFER CENTRE
