2005–06 Melbourne Victory season

Melbourne Victory were considered to be one of the future "powerhouse" football clubs in Australia prior to the 2005/06 A-League season, with Socceroos Kevin Muscat and Archie Thompson returning to Melbourne from successful club careers in Europe. It was widely believed that they would be contenders for the A-League championship. However, the team ended up finishing a disappointing seventh and missed out on the finals.

2005-06 Squad

Transfers

In

Premiership season

Melbourne Victory had a steady start to the season with a run of draws to sit mid-table after four matches. The side then embarked on a streak of four wins in a row, peaking with a 5-0 thrashing of eventual champions Sydney FC. Soon after this result, the Victory fell into a poor run of form, earning only one point from a possible 15, and scoring only one goal in five consecutive matches, including four matches at home.

Melbourne then won away against bottom-of-the-table New Zealand Knights on 26 November, and supporters hoped this would mean a return to form for the fledgling club. However, Melbourne then lost away to Sydney FC in the following match. After the mid-season break Melbourne drew and lost their first and second matches respectively. Facing Queensland Roar in a do-or-die clash at Suncorp Stadium on 15 January 2006, Melbourne kept their finals hopes alive by winning the match 1-0.

That ultimately proved to be a sad day for Melbourne, as their star striker Archie Thompson played his...
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