Our look back at Adelaide’s previous finals furores, and why they will be hungrier than ever, continues.
We resume with season 2010-11.
In 2010-11, Adelaide United would once again return to the promised land of the finals, finishing third in the regular season, some way behind winners Brisbane Roar and runners-up Central Coast Mariners, but the Reds were hoping they could upset the apple cart in what would be their first experience with the expanded finals format.
The club started off on the right foot, getting past sixth-placed Wellington Phoenix in the first elimination final thanks to a 70th minute goal by Travis Dodd. However, Adelaide still had a way to go, and in their next sudden death match against fourth-placed Gold Coast United, things started to creak under their own weight. Adelaide recovered from 1-0 down to take a 2-1 lead, but a goal from former (and future) Adelaide man Bruce Djite and a penalty from Shane Smeltz returned the win to Gold Coast and cut Adelaide’s season short once more. This was United’s first finals appearance since the first season, when the club failed to make the grand final and was rightly dejected.
Once again, the club would slip down the ladder the following season, only managing to avoid the Wooden Spoon because their conqueror from the previous season – Gold Coast United, who would end the season disbanded – would implode and take that title.
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Adelaide returned once more to the finals in 2012-13 – kicking off their longest stretch of finals appearances in their history with four and counting – by securing a fourth-place finish in the regular season. The club had finished a long way behind the top two sides in the Western Sydney Wanderers and the Central Coast Mariners but the was only three points off third-placed Melbourne Victory. However, the club hit a worrying patch of form toward the end of the season, dropping from a top two position to fourth thanks to a run of 10 games where it only grabbed nine points of a possible 30. It was this rough patch that led to Adelaide shooting themselves in the foot once again in the elimination final, going down 2-1 to Brisbane Roar in what would be a fiery affair. Adelaide had six players booked during the match and while a late Dario Vidosic goal brought them back into the conversation, it was too late as goals to Luke Brattan and Ivan Franjic had already seen the Roar through.
Adelaide would again make the finals the following season and this time they were hoping to go one better and get back into the conversation as a potential title-winning side. However, in one of the closest A-League seasons in recent memory, Adelaide would finish the regular season in sixth place, four points behind second-placed Western Sydney. This meant the club would have to take the difficult route if it wanted a spot at the grand final table, and it started with an elimination final against the Central Coast Mariners. But it was the Mariners who would have the last laugh, taking the win thanks to a 67th minute Bernie Ibini goal in what would turn out to be the Mariners’ last finals win to date. Adelaide had once again failed to make the most of their situation and fans were hoping things would turn around next season as Josep Gombau now had one season under his belt as Adelaide manager.
The 2014-15 season was a great season for Adelaide, with the club firmly in the conversation for the minor premiership all season before two losses against Brisbane and Western Sydney late in the season condemned the club to a third-place finish, something it only achieved on the virtue of having a higher goal difference than the Wellington Phoenix. Adelaide would once again return to the winners circle in this season, winning their first finals match since 2011 with a 2-1 win over sixth-placed Brisbane Roar thanks to goals from Craig Goodwin and Awer Mabil. This suddenly saw the club one win away from a third grand final appearance.
Yet all those hopes fans had of finally righting the wrongs they have suffered across the last 10 seasons were washed away in the semi-final against Sydney FC. Sydney got off to a great start, leading 3-0 thanks to a Bernie Ibini goal and a double from Alex Brosque. Adelaide pulled one back in the 74th minute with a Goodwin goal, but it was another case of too little, too late as Chris Naumoff scored in stoppage time to erase all hopes of another grand final appearance for United.
This season started off worryingly. Gombau stood down for personal reasons and Guillermo Amor took charge of the club. It has been one full of ups and downs, with Adelaide last and winless after just eight rounds. Astonishingly, the club produced a turnaround unlike anything else seen, dropping only 11 points for the rest of the season, grabbing a total of 46 points out of a possible 57 to take the title on the final round, something Adelaide themselves have not experienced since 2005-06 when they took the inaugural minor premiership.
Suddenly, Adelaide find themselves one game away from a third grand final appearance once more and given the turnaround the club has experienced, fans might just expect them to go the distance this season.
This is a situation Adelaide have never found themselves in and maybe this time, the club can finally go the distance and claim the title. If Adelaide want to begin to erase the hurt of the previous seven finals appearances, they can start with a title win in the season no one expected them to be a part of just eight rounds in.
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