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| Full name | Adelaide United Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Reds | ||
| Founded | 12 September 2003 | ||
| Stadium | Coopers Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 16,500[1] | ||
| Chairman | Vacant[2] | ||
| Manager | Carl Veart | ||
| League | A-League Men | ||
| 2023–24 | 8th of 12 | ||
| Website | adelaideunited.com.au | ||
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Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues.[3]
Established in 2003, the club was formed to replace Adelaide City and West Adelaide in the final season of the National Soccer League, and has remained the only professional club from South Australia. Adelaide United's home ground is at Coopers Stadium in the inner north-western suburb of Hindmarsh. Adelaide United won their first silverware in 2006, when they became premiers of the inaugural A-League season, finishing top of the ladder over Sydney FC by seven points. In 2008, the club became the first Australian side to reach the final of the AFC Champions League, being defeated by Gamba Osaka 0–5 across two legs and finishing in fifth place in the 2008 Club World Cup. The club won the first edition of the FFA Cup in 2014 with a 1–0 win at home over Perth Glory. Their first A-League title would come in 2016, defeating Western Sydney Wanderers 3–1 at Adelaide Oval in front of 50,119 spectators, the largest home crowd the club has played a competitive match in front of. Adelaide would become the first club to win back-to-back FFA Cups, defeating Sydney FC 2–1 in 2018 and Melbourne City 4–1 in 2019. The club remains the most successful team to ever play in the competition.
Adelaide United has a rivalry with Melbourne Victory, stemming from numerous altercations between players and coaches, as well as the two clubs' competitiveness in the early seasons of the A-League, culminating with Grand Final clashes in 2007 and 2009, both of which went the way of Victory. Adelaide United formerly held the record for the largest winning margin in an A-League Men match, having defeated North Queensland Fury 8–1 at home on 21 January 2011. The game was also the first and only instance where two players from the same team, Marcos Flores and Sergio van Dijk, achieved hat-tricks in a single match. They later matched their own record when they beat Newcastle Jets 7–0 at home almost exactly four years later.
In recent years, Adelaide United has grown a reputation of developing young players and selling them to overseas clubs. Notable examples include Nestory Irankunda's sale to Bayern Munich for a league record fee, Joe Gauci being bought by Aston Villa, Steven Hall joining Brighton & Hove Albion and Riley McGree signing for Club Brugge, all on transfer fees, as well as facilitating moves overseas for Louis D'Arrigo and Mohamed Toure.
- ^ "Coopers Stadium, AuStadiums". Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ "Ned Morris steps down as Adelaide United chair, transitions to advisory role". Adelaide United. 5 September 2024. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024.
- ^ "A-League owners to be offered far longer licences by Football Federation Australia". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 28 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2014.