The 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League is been in the books with records broken, hearts won and moments created that will last a lifetime.
Following an incredible season which saw new boys Auckland FC clinch the Premiers Plate and Melbourne City secure just their second Championship crown, aleagues.com.au takes a look back at how your club fared during the season that was in 2024-25.
In the first instalment of the our three-part series, aleagues.com.au kicks off with a look at the seasons that were for Adelaide United, Auckland FC, Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners.
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Adelaide United (6th place)
Season 2024-25 in the Isuzu UTE A-League certainly brought it’s challenges for Adelaide United and their long-serving head coach Carl Veart.
With teenage star Nestory Irankunda jetting off to Bayern Munich and veteran Japanese forward Hiroshi Ibusuki also among those to depart, Veart and Co looked to strengthen during the transfer window and did so by recruiting Dutch defender Bart Vriends and Newcastle Jets striker Archie Goodwin among others.
Kicking off their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Central Coast Mariners, the Reds would then go on an eight-game unbeaten run to catapult themselves into an early title race before finally suffering defeat against the Wanderers before the turn of the year.
Key to their blistering start was a club-record six-game unbeaten away run which saw them jostling with Auckland FC for top spot towards the end of January but a dramatic 2-2 draw against the Black Knights at home would prove to be a turning point in their season.
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While off-season recruit Goodwin was providing the goods in front of goal having scored seven times up until that point, the loss of first choice defender Panagiotis Kikianis, midfielder Johnny Yull and young striker Luka Jovanovic to national team duty with the victorious Australian U20 side at the AFC Asian Cup hit the Reds hard.
Following that draw with Auckland FC, the Reds would go through a real rough patch, winning just two of their final 12 games of the season – a run which ultimately led to the club deciding Veart’s five year tenure as head coach of Adelaide United would come to a close at the end of the campaign, regardless of whether they secured finals football.
As it so happened Adelaide’s 0-0 draw with Melbourne City in their final match of the regular season would prove to be enough to secure a spot in the finals as the Reds pipped Sydney FC to sixth spot in the league by just a point.
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Their finals campaign would be short-lived though as they faced an in-form Western United side without joint-Golden Boot winner Goodwin who was missing due to a hamstring injury, and they ultimately suffered a 3-2 loss, bringing about an end to their season and indeed Veart’s time in charge.
Qualifying for the finals after missing out last year should be seen as an improvement for the Reds and the emergence of more young talent including the impressive Kikianis and the brilliant goalscoring form of Goodwin are also real positives, especially given both are tied to long-term contracts.
RATING: 6/10
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Auckland FC (1st)
The Isuzu UTE A-League expanded out to 13 teams for the first time in competition history in the 2024-25 season as Auckland FC joined the party, and what a debut season it was for the Black Knights.
Having recruited Championship winning coach Steve Corica and a whole host of star talent including the likes of former Wellington Phoenix keeper Alex Paulsen and Japanese legend Hiroki Sakai, the competition’s new-boys took the league by storm.
In what would be a sign of things to come, the Black Knights secured a 2-0 opening day win over Brisbane Roar in front of a packed-out crowd at Go Media Stadium, a result which would spark a stunning six-game winning run to start their season.
A key part of that run came in Round Three when Auckland travelled south to face Kiwi rivals Wellington Phoenix for the very first time as a new rivalry was born and the Black Knights certainly established their dominance, securing a statement 2-0 win over the Nix at Sky Stadium.
But while that early win over Wellington Phoenix was no doubt a highlight there would be plenty more joy to come at the expense of their rivals throughout the season as Auckland not only defeated the Nix 2-1 at home in the return fixture but then demolished their rivals 6-1 in the third meeting between the two teams.
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Key to their brilliant form throughout the season was their defensive record with Corica’s side keeping five clean sheets in their opening seven matches and it would prove to be a theme throughout their season as they rarely put a foot wrong.
A fan favourite, left back Francis De Vries would prove to be one of the signings of the season while foreign recruits Guillermo May, Louis Verstraete and Neyder Moreno would also prove to be inspired pieces of transfer business as the Black Knights suffered just three losses on their way to clinching the Premiers Plate in their first season.
Having secured New Zealand’s first ever piece of A-Leagues silverware, the Black Knights then set about making it a double but their bubble was burst by Melbourne Victory in the semi-finals, bringing about a somewhat surprise end to what had been a stunning debut campaign.
So while there was no doubt plenty of frustration in Auckland about how their season finished, few teams have hit the ground running quite like Corica’s side did on the pitch in their debut season and when you throw in the introduction of the club’s fanatical fanbase off it, it’s been a magnificent introduction to the Isuzu UTE A-League for Auckland FC.
RATING: 9/10
Brisbane Roar (12th)
The 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season presented it’s problems for Brisbane Roar and their head coach Ruben Zadkovich.
Coming into the campaign having had a full pre-season under his belt and with a squad full of new faces, the expectations were that the Roar could potentially be a side knocking on the door of the top six come the end of the season.
Lebanese international Walid Shour was brought in to strengthen the midfield, defenders Hosine Bility, Ben Warland and Harry Van Der Saag came in to the bolster the defence and former Brisbane forward Ben Halloran returned to the club to add experience to the attack among a number of other recruits.
However their start to the season couldn’t have been much worse. 12 games into the new campaign and Zadkovich’s men had recorded 10 losses and two draws whilst conceding a whopping 27 goals in the process.
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The Roar recorded a memorable 4-3 away win over Sydney FC in Round 13 to end their barren run and while that result didn’t necessarily spark their season into life, it certainly eased some of the pressure on Zadkovich and his side.
Amassing that amount of losses so early in the campaign was always going to mean the Roar faced an uphill task to achieve anything of note come the end of the season, especially given academy product and star forward Thomas Waddingham was sold during the mid-season transfer window.
However, undoubtedly the highlights for the club during a rocky season came in January when fan favourite Henry Hore returned from a loan spell in Korea, exciting attacker Asumah Abubakar joined on loan for the remainder of the season and youngster Sam Klein emerged to form part of the first team picture.
Hitting the ground running on his return to Queensland, Hore contributed three goals and one assist during his 12 games, Abubakar netted four goals and added two assists in 11 matches whilst Klein finished as the club’s top scorer with five goals in his debut campaign.
Locked in a battle with Perth Glory to avoid the wooden spoon, Brisbane ultimately pulled clear of their rivals to finish 12th on the ladder after notching three wins from their final four matches before then announcing Zadkovich would be leaving his role as head coach with Michael Valkanis the man chosen to lead the club forward in season 2025-26.
RATING: 3/10
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Central Coast Mariners (11th)
Coming into the 2024-25 season having won the Premiership, Championship and AFC Cup treble last year, there was plenty of excitement around what the reigning Champions Central Coast Mariners would do this time around.
However, as is often the case with the Mariners, the off-season brought about plenty of change. Johnny Warren Medal winner Josh Nisbet joined Scottish side Ross County, midfield dynamo Max Balard signed for Eredivisie outfit NAC Breda, fan favourite Jacob Farrell joined English side Portsmouth, Championship winning defender Dan Hall moved to Auckland FC and legendary goalkeeper Danny Vukovic retired.
In came Northern Ireland international midfielder Alfie McCalmont and Brazilian winger Vitor Feijao while the club also announced the capture of former Mariner and 61-time Socceroo Trent Sainsbury who would take over the armband from the retiring Vukovic.
However the season would ultimately prove to be a challenging one for Mark Jackson and his coaching staff as his young squad battled on two fronts to defend their Premiership and Championship crowns while also taking on the best of the best in the AFC Champions League Elite.
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Heading into the Isuzu UTE A-League campaign off the back of two losses in their opening two ACL Elite matches, the Mariners were then rocked by the news Sainsbury would be out until the beginning of 2025 after suffering a pectoral injury in training.
To make matters worse, Jackson’s side then went four games without a win to start the regular season before finally picking up their first three points of the campaign with a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets in Unite Round.
Sadly for the Mariners and their fans though, that win over their rivals would be just one of five victories they’d go on to secure across the season as they often found themselves dominating matches but simply unable to put the ball in the back of the net with any regularity, going on to draw a league-high 11 matches.
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Coupled with an ACL Elite campaign which saw them lose seven of their eight matches it was certainly a rapid descent from their lofty heights of the 2023-24 season. However, their drop-off is understandable given the amount of quality players they lost heading into the season.
That said, there were a number of bright spots for the club this season and they were all young stars who grabbed the opportunities afforded to them.
Goalkeeper Dylan Peraic-Cullen (18) was a shock pick between the sticks for Round One but a series of top displays saw him secure the number one jersey. Centre-back Nathan Paull (21) put an injury-hit season behind him to really step up in the absence of Sainsbury, while young attackers Bailey Brandtman and Arthur De Lima showcased their talents throughout the season.
However the true standout for the Mariners was 17-year-old midfielder Haine Eames.
Trusted by Jackson to run things in the middle of the park Eames played beyond his years for the majority of the campaign and it’s no surprise to see clubs overseas are now looking at the prodigious young talent.
