We ask, which teams had the oldest and youngest starting XI this Hyundai A-League Season? And what about the average age of starting XI sides across the competition?
Opta Data stats show that across the 2016/17 Hyundai A-League season, Sydney FC relied more heavily on their experienced players, compared to the other clubs.
Top XI missing from Finals Series
And the sides nearer the bottom of the table were more likely to give youngsters their chance.
Check out these starting 11 stats.
STARTING 11 AVERAGE AGE
Across this Hyundai A-League season, the average age of the Sydney FC starting 11 was 28.96 years.
That was older than any of the other nine clubs.
Next oldest on average was Brisbane Roar with 28.44.
The youngest average starting eleven was Central Coast with 24.77 years, followed by Newcastle with 25.05.
OUTFIELD PLAYERS
When goalkeepers (who can skew the average age due to their longevity) are removed, the Sky Blues still top the charts.
Their outfield average age this season was 28.76 years.
Melbourne City were next with an average outfield age of 27.84.
Central Coast Mariners (24.81) and Newcastle (25.21) were again the youngest.
OLDEST SIDE
On just two occasions this Hyundai A-League season were there starting elevens with an average age over 30.
Melbourne City’s starting side in their round 21 clash with Sydney FC had an average age of 30.36.
The side was: Sorensen, Rose, Franjic, Muscat, Kilkenny, Malik, Caceres, Brattan, Cahill, Fornaroli and Fitzgerald.
And in Sydney FC’s penultimate game of the season, they fielded an 11 against Wellington with an average age of 30.09 years.
The side was: Vukovic, Zullo, Grant, Wilkinson, Calver, Buijs, Dimitrijevic, Carney, Brosque, Bobo and Holosko.
YOUNGEST SIDE
In round nine, Central Coast coach Paul Okon fielded a starting side with an average age of just 22 years.
If we take out 31-year-old striker Roy O’Donovan, the average age drops to a mere 21.1 years!
The side was: Izzo, Ascroft, Galloway, Roux, McGing, Powell, Rose, Berry, O’Donovan, Pain and Buhagiar.
LEAGUE AVERAGE
Across the entire season, the average age of a starting Hyundai A-League player was 27.20 years.
The average age of a starting outfield player was 26.97 years.
TEAM AVERAGES
Here are the average ages of the starting elevens for each of the ten Hyundai A-League clubs during the 2016/17 season.
SFC 28.96
Brisbane 28.44
MCY 28.00
Glory 27.99
Phoenix 27.70
MVC 27.39
Adelaide 27.29
WSW 26.37
Jets 25.05
CCM 24.77
