Top 10 moments of Adelaide United's eventful decade
WE celebrate the top 10 moments in Adelaide United's colourful first decade on the national stage.
ADELAIDE United has introduced South Australians to a new swagger in football.
The club had anything but humble beginnings a decade ago.
There is no romantic story about a group of lads having a kick in the parklands before deciding to start up a club just like Adelaide City did in 1940 when it was named Savoy.
The club was forced to disband due to World War II.
It could be said that Adelaide United was started back to front.
The club had everything in place at the top end - a passionate SA benefactor in Gordon Pickard, an administration led by the defunct South Australian Soccer Federation and its chief executive Tony Farrugia, a respected chairman in Basil Scarsella and fans that desperately wanted to support a new national league club en masse.
Here's our top 10 most favourite moments of the past decade.
No. 1 - October 17, 2003 - Opening night - Adelaide United v Brisbane Strikers at Hindmarsh Stadium - Crowd: 15,568
Nobody knew what to expect when Adelaide City pulled the national soccer league pin until Adelaide United hit centre stage a decade ago.
Adelaide United had five weeks grace to get its act together when the then Soccer Australia ensured the club would be as ready as it could be for its first season. What unfolded was truly remarkable when gates opened for the club 's debut clash.
Adelaide officials expected a crowd of between 5000 and 6000 on opening night. They were wrong and how.
Kick off had to be delayed by about 20 minutes as fans jammed the turnstiles.
The match was officially a sell out. Estimates declared that there was probably 20000 in the ground after about 3000 fans were turned away because the stadium could hold no more patrons. Adelaide also didn't disappoint on opening night when Carl Veart scored the winner in a 1-0 win over Brisbane Strikers. It was a balmy night never to forget.
No. 2 - March 7, 2004 - Adelaide United v South Melbourne at Hindmarsh Stadium - Crowd: 16,558
It was Adelaide's second NSL finals appearance after the Reds survived by the skin of its teeth in the home-and-away elimination final. After beating Strikers 3-0 at home, Adelaide lost 4-1 at Perry Park but it was enough.
South Melbourne was the side's next victim but after Michael Curcija scored for the visitors Adelaide rarely threatened and looked flat.
But then Ross Aloisi changed history when out of nowhere he volleyed an equaliser home in the 71st minute.
Adelaide lifted its game and took the match into extra time before winning a penalty right on half time of the knock out series. Richie Alagich did the rest when he stepped up and blasted the ball past Eugene Galekovic in goal for Souths at the time. The scenes at Hindmarsh that night were euphoric.
No. 3 - December 27, 2007 - Adelaide United v Sydney FC at Adelaide Oval - Crowd: 23,002
Adelaide officials had decided to take one of its annual big crowd fixtures away from Hindmarsh and plant it at Adelaide Oval the then sole home of cricket (the stadium will from next year also house AFL teams Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide).
The clash was a marketing bonanza as Adelaide had one hell of a horror season during 2007/08. The club finished sixth and out of the then finals race.
Regardless of the side's erratic form the club managed to attract a record crowd of 23,002 fans which also stands today. The big stadium lacked the closed in atmosphere of Hindmarsh but it was still good value on a warm December night.
Adelaide lost the fixture 3-1 to Sydney FC but it was still a great night's entertainment.
No. 4 - October 8, 2008 - Adelaide United v Bunyodkor (Uzbekistan) at Hindmarsh Stadium - Crowd: 16,998
IF ever there was David v Goliath clash this was the one at Hindmarsh. It was the first leg of the Asian Football Confederation's Champions League semi final.
Bunyodkor was funded by an Uzbek billionaire. The club had Brazilian Zico - one of the planet's best-ever midfielders as coach and another Brazilian, Rivaldo, a 2002 FIFA World Cup winner in the line up.
Bunyodkor arrived in Adelaide on a charter flight which reportedly paid about $400,000 just to park the jet at Adelaide Airport for five days while waiting for the side to return to Tashkent.
What happened that night was absolutely spectacular. Adelaide under then coach Aurelio Vidmar ran rampant.
Former Reds midfielder Diego Walsh started the ball rolling with one of the best team goals ever to be seen at Hindmarsh.
His spectacular finish sent fans wild before Fabian Barbiero made it 2-0 and Cristiano made it 3-0 from the penalty spot.
No. 5 - October 22, 2008 - Bunyodkor v Adelaide United at MHSK Stadium, Tashkent - Crowd: 17,000
IT was billed as the trip to hell and it wasn't far from the truth. Adelaide took nearly two days to arrive in Tashkent after leaving from Brisbane the morning after beating Brisbane Roar 1-0 at Suncorp Stadium on a Friday night in an A-League fixture.
Adelaide flew to Hong Kong, Seoul, Bombay and lastly Tashkent in economy class.
The side arrived in Tashkent in the middle of the night (Monday morning) and too much confusion as Uzbek authorities took an eternity to clear the side out of customs.
Adelaide took its own chef to Tashkent as they prepared for an onslaught from the Uzbek side that was trying to come back from a first leg 3-0 hiding in Adelaide.
The crowd was hostile with fans banners saying Bunyodkor was going to belt Adelaide 5-0 to claim a berth in the Champions League final.
Adelaide was battered but somehow managed to escape with just a 1-0 loss. It was enough to give the side the right to become the first Australian team to play in an intercontinental club final in Asia.
No. 6 - November 5, 2008 - Gamba Osaka (Japan) v Adelaide United at Osaka Expo '70 Stadium - Crowd: 20,639
After overcoming huge obstacles in Tashkent Adelaide was treated like football royals when the side prepared for the first leg of the AFC Champions League final.
Osaka was a welcome host as Japanese, Asian and an Australian media contingent couldn't get enough of a side which was born just five years earlier.
When Gamba held a training session at its training grounds, the late model sports cars parked in the complex like Porsches and BMWs suggested that Gamba's star studded line up wasn't short of cash.
More than 5000 Japanese fans gathered to watch Gamba train after Adelaide's session at the same complex.
On game day Gamba proved to be far too good as Yasuhito Endo and co demolished Adelaide 3-0 in the first leg.
The scoreline was too great to recover from when Gamba made it 5-0 over aggregate in the return leg at Hindmarsh.
But the final was an experience which will surely be forever etched in the minds of the men that gave Australian club football one of its finest moments on the international stage.
No. 7 - December 11 to December 21, 2008 - Adelaide United at the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup - At Tokyo, Toyota and Yokohama
Adelaide's first appearance at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan five years ago still has lingering mind blowing memories.
Adelaide shared the same stage as eventual winner Manchester United, claimed a goal-of-the-tournament award when Cristiano fired in a rocket to upset Egypt's Al Ahly for fifth place and also earned FIFA's fair play award.
The side performed at Japan's 1964 Olympic Stadium, Toyota Stadium and the scene of the 2002 FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Germany (2-0) Yokohama Stadium.
It could almost be said that Adelaide at the time failed to really reflect just how far they'd come in a short space of time.
FIFA paid for first class tickets to Adelaide and back and the side was put up in five-star accommodation in Japan where rooms cost more than $1000 a night.
But to cap off a fine tournament Adelaide was the toast of world football in its final game which was a warm up for the Manchester United and Gamba Osaka semi final at Yokohama Stadium.
Adelaide won its clash 1-0 before Man U which featured Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo beat Gamba 5-3 in front of 70,000 fans.
No. 8 - February 28, 2009 - Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United at the Docklands - Crowd: 53,273
AFTER such a gruelling AFC Champions League campaign Adelaide was also performing on the domestic stage when it won its way through to the A-League grand final.
Former boss Aurelio Vidmar's 'pissant town' rant reverberated across the nation just a fortnight before the main game of the season when Adelaide was belted 4-0 by Victory in the second leg of the major semi final.
That day was Valentine's Day but there was no romance in the air when Vidmar let it rip.
But the scathing rant rattled a few heads before the grand final was ruined as a spectacle just 10 minutes inside the clash. Cristiano was wrongly sent off only to have the card rescinded days later. It wasn't much good then as Adelaide lost an epic encounter 1-0.
No. 9 - January, 21 , 2011 - Adelaide United v North Queensland Fury at Hindmarsh Stadium - Crowd: 10,986
The clash was at the height of the Rini Coolen coaching era before it went sour for the Dutchman.
Adelaide was playing a brand of free flowing attacking football and scored a record amount of goals in the 30 matches during a 12-team league competition.
Fury copped an incredible 8-1 hammering at the hands of Coolen's side which on the night was relentless.
Marcos Flores - the Reds 2011 Johnny Warren medal winner - scored a hat-trick so too did former Adelaide striker Serginho van Dijk in a game which if you turned away for a minute it meant you probably missed either a goal or a near miss.
That season Adelaide scored 50 goals and conceded 36 and bowed out of the finals race with a 3-2 loss to Gold Coast.
But it was the strange ending to the season which had everyone talking. Players were incredibly allowed to leave during the FIFA transfer window and new players were recruited late in the season.
Then the side became very unsettled which was headlined when skipper Travis Dodd was allowed to leave the club at the end of the season. The distraction proved costly.
No. 10 - October, 18, 2013 - Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory at Hindmarsh Stadium - Crowd: 16,504
The most anticipated A-League rivalry was met by a monster crowd, a day and 10 years after Adelaide made its grand entry on the defunct NSL stage at Hindmarsh.
The match lived up to expectations after Adelaide beat Perth Glory 3-1 at home in the opening round of the new season.
The stadium had all the buzz and excitement of Adelaide's debut match in 2003 as United and Victory played a fixture worthy of showcasing how far the competition had come in just 10 years of existence.
Now Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou proved that the A-League's bosses are now heavily influencing Australian football.
Thankfully the game has moved forward as clever Australian coaches are now proving that they're doing their stuff on the pitch.