2016 A League Grand Final

Route to the final

After the completion of the 2015–16 A-League regular season, the top six teams qualified for the finals series. Teams finishing 3rd-6th placed (Brisbane Roar, Melbourne City, Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory) began the series in the elimination-finals, with the top two teams (Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers) receiving byes into the semi-finals.

The first match of the elimination-finals between Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory. The opening goal of the game came at the 86th minute, with Besart Berisha putting Melbourne in front. Brisbane immediately responded with a goal by Matt McKay in the 88th minute. In the third minute of added-time Thomas Broich netted in the match winner ensuring Brisban progress to the semi-finals with a 2–1 win. The second elimination-final match between Meblourne City and Perth Glory was played in front of a crowd of 11,273 at AAMI Park. A brace from Bruno Fornaroli at either side of the break saw Melbourne progress to face Adelaide in the semi-finals.

The first match of the semi-finals was played at Hindmarsh Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,489. Adelaide took the lead at the 48th minute thanks to Bruce Djite, and the forward doubled the lead after converting a penalty in the 60th minute. Nick Fitzgerald's 72nd-minute goal gave the visitors some hope, but any chances of Melbourne City progressing were soon scrapped when Dylan McGowan scored in the 88th minute and Pablo Sánchez scored in the fourth minute of added-time to see the match finish 4–1. The win saw Adelaide through to their first A-League grand final in seven years.

In the second semi-final match Western Sydney Wanderers hosted Brisbane Roar at Parramatta Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,084. Brisbane started the game strongly by racing to a 3–0 lead inside 23 minutes via a Dimitri Petratos penalty, an Andreu Guerao own goal and a Jamie Maclaren strike. Wanderers replied with a goal in the 26th minute via Romeo Castelen, and Brendon Santalab scored in the 39th to bring the scores to 2–3. Castelen levelled the scores in 53rd minute and quickly put the home side in front with a 59th-minute goal. Another Maclaren goal within the last 10 minutes tied the scores to see the game go into extra-time. The deadlock broke in the 102nd minute with substitute Dario Vidosic netting in the decisive goal to send Wanderers to a third Grand Final in four years.

Pre-match

Adelaide Oval was confirmed to be the host venue of the 2016 A-League Grand Final following Adelaide United's semi-final win. The Oval was chosen as it has a capacity of 53,583, some 37,083 more than United's regular home Coopers Stadium, and had hosted a number of Adelaide United's high-profile A-League matches against Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. Adelaide United have also played at the venue in friendly matches against Spanish side Málaga CF, in front of a crowd of 23,254, and Liverpool FC in front of 53,008 fans.

2015–16 Referee of the Year Jarred Gillett was named as the referee of the Grand Final. Gillett, a FIFA listed referee, previously took charge of the 2012 A-League Grand Final between Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory after being named the 2011–12 Referee of the Year, as well as the 2015 A-League Grand Final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory after being named the 2014–15 Referee of the Year. Gillett will be joined by Matthew Cream and Luke Brennan as the assistant referees, Paul Cetrangolo as the fourth official and Strebre Delovski and Chris Beath as additional assistant referees.

By 26 April, more than 43,000 tickets had been sold for the Grand Final match, with between 5,000 and 8,000 fans travelling from interstate, similar to the amount of supporters that travelled north for the 2014 Grand Final in Brisbane. Due to the high amount of travelling Wanderers fans, extra flights from Sydney to Adelaide had to be were arranged by various airlines. The increased demand saw some Qantas flights from Sydney to Adelaide almost tripling in price, with non-stop flights at $900 one-way. Virgin Australia had put on four extra flights, with the cheapest economy ticket from Sydney to Adelaide on the Saturday before the Grand Final costing $445 one-way. Tigerair Australia had also added an extra weekend flight, with tickets at $469 one-way.

Due to the demand for tickets, FFA organised for The Hill at the Adelaide Oval to be opened for use. This added a further 1,500 tickets for the general public.

Summary

Bruce Kamau opened the scoring for Adelaide in the 22nd minute after finishing a cross from Marcelo Carrusca. Isaías doubled the lead for the home side 12 minutes later when he curled a free kick into the top corner past Wanderers keeper Andrew Redmayne.

Adelaide came close to adding a third early in the second half. Later, Scott Neville gave the visitors hope with a goal in the 58th minute, set up by Romeo Castelen and Brendon Šantalab. Adelaide thought they had restored a two-goal lead with just over 20 minutes to go, but when the ball was poked home from inside the box, it was ruled out for offside. Wanderers poured forward in search of an equaliser, but they could not find the necessary finish. As the game moved into the final minutes, Adelaide made sure of their title, as Pablo Sanchez burst into the penalty area and fired a shot across Redmayne into the corner of the net for 3–1.

Isaías was named man of the match, and as such was the recipient of the Joe Marston Medal.

Broadcasting

As with the previous season, the 2016 A-League Grand Final was broadcast in Australia on Foxtel and on free-to-air TV, with SBS showing the game on a one-hour delay. The Grand Final was also broadcast live on ABC NewsRadio. In New Zealand the match was broadcast live on Sky Sport.