2020–21 Adelaide United FC season

The 2020–21 Adelaide United FC season is the club's 17th season since its establishment in 2003. The club will participate in the A-League for the 16th time. The club will not compete in the 2020 FFA Cup due to the event being cancelled following the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.^[1]

Adelaide United

2020–21 season
Chairman	Piet van der Pol
Manager	Carl Veart
Stadium	Coopers Stadium
A-League	5th
A-League Finals	Semi-finals
FFA Cup	Cancelled
Top goalscorer	League: Tomi Juric (7) All: Tomi Juric (9)
Highest home attendance	10,106 (3 January 2021 vs. Melbourne City
Lowest home attendance	5,728 (5 February 2021 vs. Perth Glory
Average home league attendance	7,383
Home colours Away colours
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Players

Squad information

Further information: Adelaide United FC § Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUS James Delianov 2 DF  AUS Michael Marrone 3 DF  AUS George Timotheou 4 DF  AUS Ryan Strain 6 MF  AUS Louis D'Arrigo 7 DF  AUS Ryan Kitto 8 MF  AUS Stefan Mauk (captain) 9 FW  AUS Tomi Juric 11 MF  AUS Craig Goodwin (on loan from Al-Wehda) 15 DF  AUS Noah Smith (scholarship) 16 MF  AUS Nathan Konstandopoulos 17 FW  AUS Mohamed Toure (scholarship) 18 MF  AUS Joe Caletti 19 FW  AUS Yaya Dukuly (scholarship)

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 DF  ESP Javi López 22 DF  DEN Michael Jakobsen 23 DF  AUS Jordan Elsey 24 FW  AUS Pacifique Niyongabire 26 FW  AUS Ben Halloran 27 MF  AUS Josh Cavallo 28 MF  ESP Juande 29 FW  AUS Kusini Yengi 31 MF  AUS Bernardo (scholarship) 33 GK  AUS Dakota Ochsenham 34 DF  AUS Yared Abetew 35 FW  AUS Al Hassan Toure 40 GK  AUS Ethan Cox (scholarship) 46 GK  AUS Joe Gauci

Transfers

Transfers in

No.	Position	Name	From	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref
14	FW	Domenic Costanzo	Croydon Kings	Scholarship	1 year	5 October 2020	[2][3]
46	GK	Joe Gauci	Melbourne City	Scholarship	1 year	7 October 2020	[4]
18	MF	Joe Caletti	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	20 October 2020	[5]
19	FW	Yaya Dukuly	Melbourne City	Scholarship	1 year	27 October 2020	[6]
3	DF	George Timotheou	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	10 November 2020	[7]
1	GK	James Delianov	Western United	Free transfer	2 years	11 November 2020	[8]
21	DF	Javi López	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	25 November 2020	[9]
9	FW	Tomi Juric	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	26 November 2020	[10]
11	FW	Craig Goodwin	Al-Wehda	Loan	5 months	10 February 2021	[11]
27	MF	Josh Cavallo	Unattached	Free transfer	4 months	18 February 2021	[12]
28	MF	Juande	Kerala Blasters	Free transfer	3 months	26 March 2021	[13]
31	MF	Bernardo Oliveira	Melbourne City	Scholarship	2 years	12 April 2021	[14]

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
14	FW	George Blackwood	Oldham Athletic	Free transfer	26 August 2020	[15][16]
42	MF	Taras Gomulka	Unattached	Free transfer	11 September 2020	[17]
20	GK	Paul Izzo	Xanthi	Undisclosed	1 October 2020	[18]
17	FW	Nikola Mileusnic	Randers	Mutual contract termination	5 October 2020	[19]
18	MF	Lachlan Brook	Brentford	Undisclosed	6 October 2020	[20]
8	MF	Riley McGree	Charlotte FC	$820,000[21]	6 October 2020	[22]
11	FW	Kristian Opseth	Unattached	End of contract	6 October 2020	[23][24]
28	MF	Chen Yongbin	Unattached	End of contract	8 October 2020	[25]
10	MF	James Troisi	Western Sydney Wanderers	Mutual contract termination	14 December 2020	[26][27]
14	FW	Domenic Costanzo	Unattached	Mutual contract termination	10 June 2021	[28]

From youth squad

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Notes
15	DF		Noah Smith	19	1-year scholarship[29]
34	DF		Yared Abetew	21	[30]

Contract extensions

No.	Name	Position	Duration	Date	Notes
22	Michael Jakobsen	Centre-back	1 year	7 October 2020	[31]
27	Josh Cavallo	Central midfielder	2 years	11 May 2021	[32]
46	Joe Gauci	Goalkeeper	2 years	25 May 2021	[33]

Technical staff

Position	Name	Ref.
Head coach	Carl Veart	[34]
Assistant coach	Ross Aloisi	[35]
Assistant coach Head of Youth Football	Ayrton Andrioli	[36]
Director of Football	Bruce Djite	[37]
Goalkeeping coach	Eugene Galekovic	[38]
Strength and Conditioning Coach	Django Gentilcore	[39]

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss

Adelaide Blue Eagles v Adelaide United

4 November 2020	Adelaide Blue Eagles	0–2	Adelaide United	Adelaide, Australia
19:00 ACDT		Report	Yengi 9' M. Toure 87'	Stadium: Marden Sports Complex Referee: Daniel Elder

Para Hills Knights v Adelaide United

10 November 2020	Para Hills Knights	0–2	Adelaide United	Adelaide, Australia
19:00 ACDT		Report	Marrone 4' 49' (o.g.)	Stadium: The Paddocks Referee: Daniel Elder

Adelaide United v Adelaide Comets

3 December 2020	Adelaide United	8–0	Adelaide Comets	Adelaide, Australia
	Halloran 8', 87' Yengi 11', 37' (pen.), 59' Dukuly 42', 75' Strain 69'	Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Western Sydney Wanderers v Adelaide United

7 December 2020	Western Sydney Wanderers	0–2	Adelaide United	Sydney, Australia
17:30 AEDT		Report	Yengi 15' Konstandopoulos 90'	Stadium: Valentine Sports Park Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Macarthur FC v Adelaide United

10 December 2020	Macarthur FC	3–1	Adelaide United	Sydney, Australia
11:00 AEDT	Franjic 20' Najjar 43' Derbyshire 44'	Report	Mauk 47' (pen.)	Stadium: Valentine Sports Park Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors) Referee: Kurt Ams

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
A-League	28 December 2020	3 June 2021	Matchday 1	5th	26	11	6	9	39	41	−2	042.31
A-League Finals	13 June 2021	19 June 2021	Elimination-finals	Semi-finals	2	1	0	1	3	3	+0	050.00
Total					28	12	6	10	42	44	−2	042.86

Source: Soccerway

A-League

Main article: 2020–21 A-League

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
3	Central Coast Mariners	26	12	6	8	35	31	+4	42	Qualification for finals series[a]
4	Brisbane Roar	26	11	7	8	36	28	+8	40
5	Adelaide United	26	11	6	9	39	41	−2	39
6	Macarthur FC	26	11	6	9	33	36	−3	39
7	Wellington Phoenix[b]	26	10	8	8	44	34	+10	38

Source: A-Leagues
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Least red cards; 5) Least yellow cards; 6) Toss of a coin in an event of a tie of two clubs.
Notes:

1. The top two teams entered the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth entered the finals series at the elimination-finals.
2. Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
26	11	6	9	39	41	−2	39	7	4	2	18	13	+5	4	2	7	21	28	−7

Last updated: 3 June 2021.
Source: Ultimate A-League

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A
Result	D	W	W	L	W	D	D	D	L	W	W	W	L	W	W	D	L	W	L	L	L	D	L	W	L	W
Position	4	2	2	7	2	5	7	8	7	5	4	3	3	2	5	2	3	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	5

Updated to match(es) played on 3 June 2021. Source: Ultimate A-League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

On 24 November 2020, the A-League fixtures for the season were announced.^[40][41] Due to having 26 rounds in a 12 team league, Adelaide will play against Melbourne Victory, Perth Glory, Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers three times.

Western United v Adelaide United

28 December 2020 1	Western United	0–0	Adelaide United	Geelong
19:05 AEDT		Report		Stadium: GMHBA Stadium Attendance: 5,128 Referee: Shaun Evans

Adelaide United v Melbourne City

3 January 2021 (2021-01-03) 2	Adelaide United	2–0	Melbourne City	Adelaide
17:30 ACDT	Juric 66' Mauk 76'	Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 10,106 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Perth Glory v Adelaide United

20 January 2021 (2021-01-20) 4	Perth Glory	5–3	Adelaide United	Perth
18:20 AWST	Kilkenny 10' (pen.) D'Agostino 34', 60' Fornaroli 51' Armiento 84'	Report	Konstandopoulos 42' M. Toure 88' Halloran 90+3'	Stadium: HBF Park Attendance: 6,125 Referee: Adam Fielding

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

23 January 2021 (2021-01-23) 5	Adelaide United	1–0	Melbourne Victory	Adelaide
18:30 ACDT	M. Toure 53'	Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 8,133 Referee: Chris Beath

Brisbane Roar v Adelaide United

30 January 2021 (2021-01-30) 9	Brisbane Roar	3–1	Adelaide United	Redcliffe
20:15 AEST	Wenzel Halls 37', 78' O'Shea 45'	Report	Konstandopoulos 82'	Stadium: Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 8,747 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Adelaide United v Perth Glory

5 February 2021 (2021-02-05) 19	Adelaide United	1–2	Perth Glory	Adelaide
18:35 ACST	Mauk 20'	Report	Fornaroli 73' Stynes 83'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 5,728 Referee: Adam Kersey

Macarthur FC v Adelaide United

12 February 2021 (2021-02-12) 25	Macarthur FC	4–0	Adelaide United	Campbelltown
19:05 AEDT	Derbyshire 66', 73', 89' Milligan 83'	Report		Stadium: Campbelltown Stadium

Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners

19 February 2021 (2021-02-19) 24	Adelaide United	3–2	Central Coast Mariners	Adelaide
18:35 ACDT	Juric 34' (pen.), 70' (pen.), 85' (pen.)	Report	De Silva 15' Kuol 63'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 6,339 Referee: Adam Fielding

Western Sydney Wanderers v Adelaide United

27 February 2021 (2021-02-27) 3	Western Sydney Wanderers	2–3	Adelaide United	Parramatta
17:05 AEDT	Kamau 61' Duke 90'	Report	Goodwin 2' Mauk 44' M. Toure 82'	Stadium: Bankwest Stadium Attendance: 8,456 Referee: Adam Kersey

Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets

5 March 2021 (2021-03-05) 11	Adelaide United	2–1	Newcastle Jets	Adelaide
18:30 ACDT	D'Arrigo 6' Goodwin 77'	Report	O'Toole 22'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 7,350 Referee: Stephen Lucas

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

13 March 2021 (2021-03-13) 10	Melbourne Victory	1–3	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:10 AEDT	Brimmer 28'	Report	Mauk 37', 77' Yengi 61'	Stadium: Marvel Stadium Attendance: 5,217 Referee: Chris Beath

Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United

21 March 2021 (2021-03-21) 14	Newcastle Jets	1–4	Adelaide United	Newcastle
18:40 AEDT	Stamatelopoulos 69'	Report	Yengi 5' Mauk 11' Halloran 40' Goodwin 43' (pen.)	Stadium: McDonald Jones Stadium Attendance: 2,414 Referee: Jonathan Barreiro

Adelaide United v Sydney FC

28 March 2021 (2021-03-28) 15	Adelaide United	1–0	Sydney FC	Adelaide
17:40 ACDT	Goodwin 76' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 8,451 Referee: Shaun Evans

Central Coast Mariners v Adelaide United

1 April 2021 (2021-04-01) 13	Central Coast Mariners	2–1	Adelaide United	Gosford
19:40 AEDT	Bozanic 72' Kuol 76'	Report	Yengi 48'	Stadium: Central Coast Stadium Attendance: 5,053 Referee: Shaun Evans

Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers

10 April 2021 (2021-04-10) 16	Adelaide United	1–1	Western Sydney Wanderers	Adelaide
18:40 ACST	Juric 11'	Report	Cox 68'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 6,787 Referee: Daniel Elder

Adelaide United v Macarthur FC

14 April 2021 (2021-04-14) 18	Adelaide United	3–1	Macarthur FC	Adelaide
19:05 ACST	Juric 15' Goodwin 72' (pen.) Halloran 84'	Report	Derbyshire 33'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 7,184 Referee: Stephen Lucas

Sydney FC v Adelaide United

18 April 2021 (2021-04-18) 7	Sydney FC	2–2	Adelaide United	Sydney
16:05 AEST	Bobô 19', 51'	Report	Elsey 75' Juric 79'	Stadium: Leichhardt Oval Attendance: 7,718 Referee: Shaun Evans

Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United

25 April 2021 (2021-04-25) 20	Wellington Phoenix	2–1	Adelaide United	Wollongong
16:10 AEST	Waine 58' Hemed 90+7' (pen.)	Report	Mauk 51'	Stadium: WIN Stadium Attendance: 1,903 Referee: Adam Kersey

Adelaide United v Western United

30 April 2021 (2021-04-30) 6	Adelaide United	0–0	Western United	Adelaide
19:05 ACST		Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 7,699 Referee: Chris Beath

Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix

7 May 2021 (2021-05-07) 8	Adelaide United	0–0	Wellington Phoenix	Adelaide
19:35 ACST		Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 7,172 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Melbourne City v Adelaide United

13 May 2021 (2021-05-13) 17	Melbourne City	4–1	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:05 AEST	Jamieson 8' Galloway 45' Maclaren 72' (pen.), 82'	Report	Halloran 51'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 3,370 Referee: Alex King

Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar

16 May 2021 (2021-05-16) 12	Adelaide United	1–0	Brisbane Roar	Adelaide
18:10 ACST	Goodwin 23'	Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 6,723 Referee: Ben Abraham

Perth Glory v Adelaide United

19 May 2021 (2021-05-19) 23	Perth Glory	2–1	Adelaide United	Perth
21:20 AWST	Fornaroli 78' Ikonomidis 86'	Report	Yengi 28'	Stadium: HBF Park Attendance: 3,523 Referee: Shaun Evans

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

23 May 2021 (2021-05-23) 26	Melbourne Victory	0–1	Adelaide United	Melbourne
18:10 AEST		Report	Goodwin 39'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 5,413 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Adelaide United v Sydney FC

29 May 2021 (2021-05-29) 22	Adelaide United	1–4	Sydney FC	Adelaide
19:10 ACST	Dukuly 89'	Report	Le Fondre 6', 54' Bobô 58' Wood 71'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 8,198 Referee: Daniel Elder

Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers

3 June 2021 21	Adelaide United	2–2	Western Sydney Wanderers	Adelaide
19:35 ACDT	Gordon 11' (o.g.) Goodwin 56'	Report	Strain 22' (o.g.) Dorrans 30'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 6,103 Referee: Alex King

Finals series

Brisbane Roar v Adelaide United

13 June 2021 Elimination-final	Brisbane Roar	1–2	Adelaide United	Kippa-Ring
15:05 AEST	Parsons 56'	Report	Juric 15', 19'	Stadium: Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 7,782 Referee: Alex King

Sydney FC v Adelaide United

19 June 2021 Semi-final	Sydney FC	2–1	Adelaide United	Sydney
19:05 AEST	Le Fondre 24' (pen.) Bobô 43'	Report	Juande 64'	Stadium: Jubilee Stadium Referee: Alireza Faghani

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.^[42]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		A-League		A-League Finals
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	AUS	James Delianov	18	0	16	0	2	0
2	DF	AUS	Michael Marrone	7	0	3+3	0	0+1	0
3	DF	AUS	George Timotheou	14	0	11+3	0	0	0
4	DF	ENG	Ryan Strain	21	0	19	0	2	0
6	MF	AUS	Louis D'Arrigo	27	1	22+3	1	2	0
7	DF	AUS	Ryan Kitto	15	0	7+6	0	2	0
8	MF	AUS	Stefan Mauk	25	7	22+1	7	2	0
9	FW	AUS	Tomi Juric	18	9	14+2	7	2	2
11	FW	AUS	Craig Goodwin	18	8	18	8	0	0
15	DF	AUS	Noah Smith	9	0	9	0	0	0
16	MF	AUS	Nathan Konstandopoulos	7	2	2+5	2	0	0
17	FW	AUS	Mohamed Toure	15	3	2+12	3	0+1	0
18	MF	AUS	Joe Caletti	21	0	12+8	0	0+1	0
19	MF	AUS	Yaya Dukuly	10	1	6+4	1	0	0
21	DF	ESP	Javi López	14	0	8+4	0	2	0
22	DF	DEN	Michael Jakobsen	17	0	15	0	2	0
23	DF	AUS	Jordan Elsey	27	1	25	1	2	0
24	FW	AUS	Pacifique Niyongabire	18	0	1+15	0	0+2	0
26	FW	AUS	Ben Halloran	28	4	26	4	2	0
27	MF	AUS	Josh Cavallo	19	0	15+3	0	0+1	0
28	MF	ESP	Juande	12	1	9+2	0	1	1
29	FW	AUS	Kusini Yengi	16	4	7+9	4	0	0
34	MF	AUS	Yared Abetew	8	0	3+5	0	0	0
35	FW	AUS	Al Hassan Toure	18	0	4+13	0	0+1	0
37	MF	AUS	Jonny Yull	2	0	0+2	0	0	0
46	GK	AUS	Joe Gauci	10	0	10	0	0	0

• Source: Soccerway

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.^[42]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total			A-League			A-League Finals
6	MF	AUS	Louis D'Arrigo	6	1	0	5	1	0	1	0	0
23	DF	AUS	Jordan Elsey	4	1	0	4	1	0	0	0	0
4	DF	ENG	Ryan Strain	2	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
17	FW	AUS	Mohamed Toure	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
26	FW	AUS	Ben Halloran	7	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	AUS	Stefan Mauk	6	0	0	5	0	0	1	0	0
18	MF	AUS	Joe Caletti	6	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	ESP	Juande	5	0	0	4	0	0	1	0	0
9	FW	AUS	Tomi Juric	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
29	FW	AUS	Kusini Yengi	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	AUS	Noah Smith	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
21	DF	ESP	Javi López	3	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0
27	MF	AUS	Josh Cavallo	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
35	FW	AUS	Al Hassan Toure	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
11	FW	AUS	Craig Goodwin	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	DEN	Michael Jakobsen	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
34	MF	AUS	Yared Abetew	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
46	GK	AUS	Joe Gauci	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

• Source: Soccerway
• = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

Notes