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 15th 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
FFA Cup	Cancelled

Players

Squad information

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. 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 14 FW  AUS Domenic Costanzo (Scholarship) 15 DF  AUS Noah Smith (Scholarship) 16 MF  AUS Nathan Konstandopoulos 17 FW  AUS Mohamed Toure (Scholarship) 18 MF  AUS Joe Caletti

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  AUS Yaya Dukuly (Scholarship) 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 29 FW  AUS Kusini Yengi 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 (Scholarship)

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]

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
14	FW	George Blackwood	Oldham Athletic	Free transfer	26 August 2020	[11][12]
42	MF	Taras Gomulka	Unattached	Free transfer	11 September 2020	[13]
20	GK	Paul Izzo	Xanthi	Undisclosed	1 October 2020	[14]
17	FW	Nikola Mileusnic	Randers	Mutual contract termination	5 October 2020	[15]
18	MF	Lachlan Brook	Brentford	Undisclosed	6 October 2020	[16]
8	MF	Riley McGree	Charlotte	$900,000[17]	6 October 2020	[18]
11	FW	Kristian Opseth	Unattached	End of contract	6 October 2020	[19][20]
28	MF	Chen Yongbin	Unattached	End of contract	8 October 2020	[21]
10	MF	James Troisi	Western Sydney Wanderers	Mutual contract termination	14 December 2020	[22][23]

From youth squad

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Notes
15	DF		Noah Smith	19	1-year scholarship[24]
34	DF		Yared Abetew	21	[25]

Contract extensions

No.	Name	Position	Duration	Date	Notes
22	Michael Jakobsen	Centre-back	1 year	7 October 2020	[26]

Technical staff

Position	Name	Ref.
Head coach	Carl Veart	[27]
Assistant coach	Ross Aloisi	[28]
Assistant coach Head of Youth Football	Ayrton Andrioli	[29]
Director of Football	Bruce Djite	[30]
Goalkeeping coach	Eugene Galekovic	[31]
Strength and Conditioning Coach	Django Gentilcore	[32]

† = Scholarship or NPL/Y-League-listed player

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss

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

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

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)

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)

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	Record
	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
A-League	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1	050.00
Total	4	2	1	1	5	5	+0	050.00

Updated to match played 23 January 2021
Source: Competitions

A-League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Central Coast Mariners	6	4	0	2	9	5	+4	12	Qualification to Finals Series, 2021 FFA Cup round of 32, and 2022 AFC Champions League group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2	Brisbane Roar	4	3	0	1	8	4	+4	9	Qualification to Finals Series and 2021 FFA Cup round of 32[lower-alpha 1]
3	Perth Glory	5	3	0	2	15	12	+3	9
4	Western Sydney Wanderers	5	2	2	1	5	4	+1	8
5	Sydney FC	4	2	1	1	6	4	+2	7
6	Adelaide United	6	2	1	3	8	10	−2	7
7	Macarthur FC	5	2	1	2	4	7	−3	7	Qualification to 2021 FFA Cup round of 32[lower-alpha 2]
8	Melbourne City	5	2	0	3	6	9	−3	6
9	Western United	4	1	2	1	6	6	0	5
10	Wellington Phoenix[lower-alpha 3]	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4
11	Melbourne Victory	4	1	1	2	3	5	−2	4
12	Newcastle Jets	6	1	1	4	6	9	−3	4

Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2021. Source: A-League
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 enter the Finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the Finals series at the elimination-finals.
2. The top 8 teams qualify for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participate in a playoff round.[33]
3. Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

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
5	2	1	2	7	8	−1	7	2	0	0	3	0	+3	0	1	2	4	8	−4

Last updated: 23 January 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		L	W				L
Position

Updated to match(es) played on 30 January 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.[34][35] 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.

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

3 January 2021 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

20 January 2021 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

23 January 2021 5	Adelaide United	1–0	Melbourne Victory	Adelaide
18:30 ACDT	M. Toure  53'	Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Referee: Chris Beath

TBD[note 1] 3	Western Sydney Wanderers	Postponed	Adelaide United	Parramatta
				Stadium: Bankwest Stadium

30 January 2021 9	Brisbane Roar	3–1	Adelaide United	Redcliffe
20:15 AEST		Report		Stadium: Dolphin Stadium

5 February 2021 19	Adelaide United	v	Perth Glory	Adelaide
18:35 ACST				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

TBD 7	Sydney FC	Postponed	Adelaide United	Sydney
19:00 AEDT				Stadium: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium

12 February 2021 25	Macarthur FC	v	Adelaide United	Campbelltown
19:05 AEDT				Stadium: Campbelltown Stadium

TBD 8	Adelaide United	Postponed	Wellington Phoenix	Adelaide
18:30 ACDT				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

19 February 2021 24	Adelaide United	v	Central Coast Mariners	Adelaide
18:35 ACDT				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

24 February 2021 6	Adelaide United	v	Western United	Adelaide
18:35 ACDT				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

27 February 2021 10	Melbourne Victory	v	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:10 AEDT				Stadium: Marvel Stadium

5 March 2021 11	Adelaide United	v	Macarthur FC	Adelaide
18:30 ACDT				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

13 March 2021 12	Adelaide United	v	Brisbane Roar	Adelaide
16:30 ACDT				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

17 March 2021 13	Central Coast Mariners	v	Adelaide United	Gosford
19:00 AEDT				Stadium: Central Coast Stadium

21 March 2021 14	Newcastle Jets	v	Adelaide United	Newcastle
18:00 AEDT				Stadium: McDonald Jones Stadium

28 March 2021 15	Adelaide United	v	Sydney FC	Adelaide
17:30 ACDT				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

2 April 2021 16	Adelaide United	v	Western Sydney Wanderers	Adelaide
18:30 ACDT				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

10 April 2021 17	Melbourne City	v	Adelaide United	Melbourne
17:00 AEST				Stadium: AAMI Park

14 April 2021 18	Adelaide United	v	Newcastle Jets	Adelaide
18:30 ACST				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

25 April 2021 20	Wellington Phoenix	v	Adelaide United	Wollongong
16:00 AEST				Stadium: WIN Stadium

30 April 2021 21	Adelaide United	v	Western Sydney Wanderers	Adelaide
18:30 ACST				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

5 May 2021 22	Adelaide United	v	Sydney FC	Adelaide
18:30 ACST				Stadium: Coopers Stadium

9 May 2021 23	Perth Glory	v	Adelaide United	Perth
16:00 AWST				Stadium: HBF Park

28 May 2021 26	Melbourne Victory	v	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:00 AEST				Stadium: AAMI Park

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Players with no appearances not included in the list.

As of 30 January 2021

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	A-League		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		James Delianov	5	0	5	0
2	DF		Michael Marrone	1(2)	0	3	0
3	DF		George Timotheou	0(1)	0	1	0
4	DF		Ryan Strain	3	0	3	0
6	MF		Louis D'Arrigo	5	0	5	0
7	DF		Ryan Kitto	2	0	2	0
8	MF		Stefan Mauk	2(1)	1	3	1
9	FW		Tomi Juric	4	1	4	1
15	DF		Noah Smith	5	0	5	0
16	MF		Nathan Konstandopoulos	1(4)	2	5	2
17	FW		Mohamed Toure	2(3)	2	5	2
18	MF		Joe Caletti	5	0	5	0
19	FW		Yaya Dukuly	3(2)	0	5	0
21	DF		Javi Lopez	0(1)	0	1	0
22	DF		Michael Jakobsen	5	0	5	0
23	DF		Jordan Elsey	5	0	5	0
24	FW		Pacifique Niyongabire	0(4)	0	4	0
26	MF		Ben Halloran	5	1	5	1
29	FW		Kusini Yengi	1(2)	0	3	0
34	DF		Yared Abetew	1(1)	0	2	0
35	FW		Al Hassan Toure	0(1)	0	1	0
37	MF		Jonny Yull	0(1)	0	1	0

Goalscorers

As of 30 January 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	A-League	Total
1	16	MF		Nathan Konstandopoulos	2	2
	17	FW		Mohamed Toure	2	2
2	8	MF		Stefan Mauk	1	1
	9	FW		Tomi Juric	1	1
	26	MF		Ben Halloran	1	1
Total					7	7

Disciplinary record

As of 30 January 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	A-League		Total
1	18	MF		Joe Caletti	3	0	3	0
2	9	FW		Tomi Juric	2	0	2	0
	15	DF		Noah Smith	2	0	2	0
4	6	MF		Louis D'Arrigo	1	0	1	0
	22	DF		Michael Jakobsen	1	0	1	0
	23	DF		Jordan Elsey	1	0	1	0
Total					10	0	10	0

Clean sheets

As of 30 January 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	A-League	Total
1	1	GK		James Delianov	3	3
Total					3	3

Notes

1. The match was postponed due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in the Sydney area.

References

1. "Coronavirus forces FFA Cup to be cancelled". The World Game. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
2. "Domenic Costanzo signs deal with Reds". Adelaide United. 5 October 2020.
3. Radbourne, Lucas (5 October 2020). "A-League's Adelaide sign 18-year-old 'revelation'". FTBL.
4. "Reds sign Gauci ahead of 2020/21 Season". Adelaide United. 7 October 2020.
5. "A-League's Adelaide sign Olyroo midfielder". FTBL. 20 October 2020.
6. "Reds sign Yaya Dukuly ahead of 2020/21 season". Adelaide United. 27 October 2020.
7. "Reds capture Timotheou signature". Adelaide United. 10 November 2020.
8. "Reds sign Delianov to two-year deal". Adelaide United. 11 November 2020.
9. "Reds sign experienced Spaniard, Javi López". Adelaide United. 25 November 2020.
10. "Tomi Juric returns to Reds". Adelaide United. 26 November 2020.
11. "Blackwood departs Reds". Adelaide United. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
12. "SIGNING: Blackwood Becomes A Latic". Oldham Athletic. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
13. "Gomulka rejects Reds deal". Adelaide United. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
14. Radbourne, Lucas (1 October 2020). "'Instrumental' Adelaide A-League star joins Greek club". FTBL.
15. "Mileusnić departs Reds for Denmark". Adelaide United. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
16. "Reds agree Brook transfer with Championship outfit". Adelaide United. 6 October 2020.
17. Davutovic, David (23 October 2020). "Australia needs unity of purpose to start to earn money via transfer fees - a trick we've largely missed". Optus Sport. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
18. "Reds agree McGree transfer with MLS outfit". Adelaide United. 6 October 2020.
19. Filosi, Gianluca (6 October 2020). Djite discusses Aloisi’s arrival, incomings and outgoings (Press conference). Adelaide United. Event occurs at 11:50.
20. Karanikos-Mimis, Spiro (9 October 2020). "Djite: on Reds recruitment and keeping the faith". InDaily. It would've been great to keep Opseth but we don't have that financial flexibility unfortunately and he left prior to our deadline day deals.
21. Bruce Djite [@BDjite] (8 October 2020). "He [Yongbin Chen] travelled home a few months ago" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
22. "Troisi terminates Reds contract". Adelaide United. 14 December 2020.
23. "Troisi is Red & Black". Western Sydney Wanderers. 15 December 2020.
24. "Noah Smith inks deal with Reds". Adelaide United. 8 October 2020.
25. "Reds sign Abetew ahead of new A-League season". Adelaide United. 24 December 2020.
26. "Jakobsen extends time with Reds". Adelaide United. 7 October 2020.
27. "Reds confirm Veart's appointment". NewsComAu. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
28. "Ross Aloisi appointed as Veart's assistant". Adelaide United. 6 October 2020.
29. "Airton Andrioli appointed as Reds' Head of Youth Football". Adelaide United. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
30. "A-League news: Bruce Djite returns to Adelaide United as director of football | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
31. "Eugene Galekovic".
32. "Django Gentilcore".
33. "FFA Cup to introduce Hyundai A-League play-off process from 2020". Football Australia. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
34. "A-League 2020/21 Season Draw revealed". A-League. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
35. "A-League Season 2020/21 Fixtures: Adelaide United". A-League. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.