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...
Read More