| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia New Zealand |
| Dates | 15 July – 19 August 2006 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Defending champions | Central Coast Mariners |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Adelaide United (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Central Coast Mariners |
| Third place | Sydney FC |
| Fourth place | Newcastle Jets FC |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 24 |
| Goals scored | 44 (1.83 per match) |
| Attendance | 112,254 (4,677 per match) |
The 2006 A-League Pre-season Challenge Cup was a series in the Australian A-League football competition held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the main season. The opening round was 15 July 2006. The competition featured a group stage, with three regular rounds and a bonus round, followed by a two-week finals playoff. The bonus group round matched up teams against opponents from the other group, and also offered the incentive of "bonus points" based on goals scored (1 point for 2 goals, 2 points for 3 goals, 3 points for 4 or more goals).
The Pre-season Cup was used to enhance the A-League's profiles by playing pre-season games in regional centres including the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Launceston, Canberra, Wollongong, Port Macquarie, Orange and Tamworth. [1]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast Mariners | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 2 | Adelaide United | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 3 | Melbourne Victory FC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | |
| 4 | Perth Glory | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Central Coast Mariners | 2–1 | Perth Glory |
|---|---|---|
| Petrie Kwasnik | Bertos |
| Melbourne Victory FC | 0–1 | Adelaide United |
|---|---|---|
| Veart |
| Perth Glory | 1–1 | Melbourne Victory FC |
|---|---|---|
| Young | Allsopp |
| Melbourne Victory FC | 1–3 | Central Coast Mariners |
|---|---|---|
| Thompson | Kwasnik O'Grady Spencer |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney FC | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 12 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 2 | Newcastle Jets FC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| 3 | New Zealand Knights | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 [A] | |
| 4 | Queensland Roar | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 [A] |
| Queensland Roar | 1–2 | Sydney FC |
|---|---|---|
| Smits |
| New Zealand Knights | 1–1 | Newcastle Jets FC |
|---|---|---|
| Richter | Bridge |
| Sydney FC | 2–1 | Newcastle Jets FC |
|---|---|---|
| Topor-Stanley Middleby | McFlynn |
| Queensland Roar | 1–1 | New Zealand Knights |
|---|---|---|
| Dilevski | Rodrigues |
| Adelaide United | 1–0 | New Zealand Knights |
|---|---|---|
| Veart | Report |
| Newcastle Jets FC | 2–3 | Melbourne Victory FC |
|---|---|---|
| North Carle | Report | Thompson Muscat Allsopp |
| Sydney FC | 3–0 | Perth Glory |
|---|---|---|
| Brosque Petrovski | Report |
| Playoffs | Finals | |||||||
| A1 | Central Coast Mariners | 2 | ||||||
| Grand final | ||||||||
| B2 | Newcastle Jets FC | 1 | ||||||
| Central Coast Mariners | 1 (4) | |||||||
| Adelaide United (pen.) | 1 (5) | |||||||
| A2 | Adelaide United | 2 | ||||||
| Third place | ||||||||
| B1 | Sydney FC | 1 | ||||||
| Sydney FC | 2 | |||||||
| Newcastle Jets FC | 0 | |||||||
| A3 | Melbourne Victory FC (pen.) | 0 (4) | ||||||
| Fifth place | ||||||||
| B4 | Queensland Roar | 0 (2) | ||||||
| Melbourne Victory FC | 1 | |||||||
| Perth Glory | 0 | |||||||
| A4 | New Zealand Knights | 0 | ||||||
| Seventh place | ||||||||
| B3 | Perth Glory | 1 | ||||||
| New Zealand Knights | 1 | |||||||
| Queensland Roar | 2 | |||||||
| New Zealand Knights | 0–1 | Perth Glory |
|---|---|---|
| Young |
| Sydney FC | 1–2 | Adelaide United |
|---|---|---|
| Carney | Dodd Rees |
| Melbourne Victory FC | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | Queensland Roar |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties | ||
| Muscat Vargas Thompson Sarkies | 4–2 | |
| Central Coast Mariners | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Newcastle Jets FC |
|---|---|---|
| Petrie O'Grady | Coveny |
| New Zealand Knights | 1–2 | Queensland Roar |
|---|---|---|
| Bazeley | Reinaldo Vidošić |
| Melbourne Victory FC | 1–0 | Perth Glory |
|---|---|---|
| Allsopp |
| Sydney FC | 2–0 | Newcastle Jets FC |
|---|---|---|
| Petrovski Rudan |
| Central Coast Mariners | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Adelaide United |
|---|---|---|
| Gumprecht | Veart | |
| Penalties | ||
| 4–5 | ||
| Round | Games | Average | Highest | Lowest | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Season Group Stage | 16 | 4,954 | 12,006 | 804 | 79,252 |
| Pre-Season Finals | 7 | 4,715 | 10,463 | 1,104 | 33,002 |
| Totals [2] | 23 | 4,881 | 12,006 | 804 | 112,254 |
3 goals:
2 goals:
1 goal: