List of A-League Men clubs

The following is a list of clubs who have played in the A-League Men since its formation in 2005 as the A-League to the current season.

Twelve of the fifteen clubs to have participated in the A-League Men are competing in the 2022-23 season. Seven (Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, Perth Glory and Sydney FC) have contested every season in the A-League Men.

Five clubs, Macarthur FC, Melbourne City, Wellington Phoenix, Western Sydney Wanderers and Western United are not founding members of the A-League Men, but have not been disbanded since their debuts.

Table

See also: Expansion of the A-League Men

All statistics here refer to time in the A-League Men only. A-League Men teams playing in the 2025–26 season are indicated in bold, while founding members of the A-League Men are shown in italics.

Club Location Total
seasons 		Seasons Highest
finish 		Most recent
finish
Adelaide United Adelaide 21 2005–present 1st 6th
Auckland FC Auckland 2 2024–present 1st 1st
Brisbane Roar Brisbane 21 2005–present 1st 12th
Central Coast Mariners Gosford 21 2005–present 1st 10th
Gold Coast United Gold Coast 3 2009–2012 3rd 10th
Macarthur FC Sydney
(Gregory Hills) 		6 2020–present 6th 8th
Melbourne City Melbourne
(Cranbourne) 		16 2010–present 1st 2nd
Melbourne Victory Melbourne
(Swan Street) 		21 2005–present 1st 5th
Newcastle Jets Newcastle 21 2005–present 2nd 9th
New Zealand Knights Auckland 2 2005–2007 8th 8th
North Queensland Fury Townsville 2 2009–2011 7th 11th
Perth Glory Perth 21 2005–present 1st 13th
Sydney FC Sydney
(Surry Hills) 		21 2005–present 1st 7th
Wellington Phoenix Wellington 19 2007–present 3rd 11th
Western Sydney Wanderers Sydney
(Rooty Hill) 		13 2012–present 1st 4th
Western United Tarneit 5 2019–2025 3rd 3rd

As of the 2007–08 season, New Zealand Knights were disbanded from the A-League, as they were replaced by the Wellington Phoenix.[1]

In 2009, the A-League marked the addition of two new teams both from Queensland which was the Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury who made their debuts for the 2009–10 season.[2]

In late 2009 Sydney Rovers FC were awarded the license rights to join the A-League provisionally for the 2011–12 season, which would have made them the 11th team in the league, with a 12th team license to be awarded at a later date to even the numbers of participants. One year later the Rovers license was withdrawn due to financial concerns.

The North Queensland Fury only lasted two seasons in the A-League and Gold Coast United lasted three. In Gold Coast's third and final season, new Melbourne club, Melbourne Heart joined the league which brought the total number of teams to 11. In 2012 Gold Coast United were disbanded after low crowds from the A-League and Clive Palmer withdrawing his funding from the team after clashing with the FFA.

New Sydney team Western Sydney Wanderers joined the league in 2012–13 season.[3]

The number of teams in the A-League stayed the same for six years until it was announced that Western United will play in the A-League in 2019 with Macarthur FC joining in 2020.[4][5]

Auckland will once again host an A-League team from 2024–25 onwards, with Bill Foley being awarded a licence to own the club in November 2023.[6] The Australian Professional Leagues also plans to introduce a Canberra team in the same season.[7] In June 2024, the APL announced that the Canberra team would not be ready for the 2024–25 season.[8]

On 13 February 2025, it was reported that the APL had delayed the introduction of Canberra to the 2025–26 season.[9]

On 8 August 2025, the Western United club's license to compete in the A-League Men and A-League Women competitions was stripped by Football Australia's independent first instance board, which oversees club licensing.[10][11][12] The club appealed the decision for the board to consider,[13] but was wound-up by the Federal Court of Australia on 28 August 2025, however the club have been granted a stay.[14][15] On 2 September, Football Australia's Appeals and Entry Control Body adjourned its decision on the withdrawal of Western United's licence until 9 September.[16] On 6 September 2025, the Western United club's A-Leagues participation was paused for the 2025–26 season, with the possibility of returning at a later date.[17]

Chart

Timeline

League member Former member

Location of all A-League Men clubs

References

General

  • "A-Leagues Clubs". A-Leagues.

Specific

  1. ^ "Kiwis alive as Townsville b pulls pin". Fox Sports. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  2. ^ "Gold Coast And Townsville Set For A-League". FourFourTwo. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  3. ^ "New Hyundai A-League club for Western Sydney". Football Federation Australia. 11 April 2012. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  4. ^ "FFA announce A-League expansion to 12 teams but clubs are wary of 'smokescreen'". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 February 2018.
  5. ^ Davutovic, David (5 December 2016). "A-League expansion plans revealed with two new teams to join in 2018-19". Herald Sun. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Auckland expansion team awarded full A-Leagues license". A-Leagues. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  7. ^ "A-Leagues set to expand to Canberra and Auckland for 2024-25 season". ABC News. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Update: Canberra expansion bid". A-Leagues. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Canberra A-League bid delayed again. Here's what that means for United". www.canberratimes.com.au. 13 February 2025. Archived from the original on 13 February 2025. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Football Australia withdraws Western United's A-League licence three years after winning title". ABC News. 8 August 2025. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  11. ^ Snape, Jack (8 August 2025). "A-League club Western United close to collapse after licence withdrawn". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  12. ^ Joey Lynch (8 August 2025). "Western United kicked out of A-League". espn.com.au.
  13. ^ Joey Lynch (11 August 2025). "A-League's latest crisis: Were Western United doomed from the start?". espn.com.au.
  14. ^ chloealsop (29 August 2025). "Western United FC Club Statement". Western United. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  15. ^ "A-Leagues' Western United wound up by courts". ESPN.com. 29 August 2025. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  16. ^ Monteverde, Marco (2 September 2025). "Western United licence decision pushed to next week". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  17. ^ "United to Build for Future, A-Leagues Participation Paused". Western United F.C. 6 September 2025.
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