# Adelaide United FC
**Adelaide United FC** is a professional association football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, that competes in the [A-League Men](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-league-men), the top division of Australian football. Founded in September 2003 to enter the National Soccer League (NSL), the club, nicknamed the Reds, joined the A-League at its inception in August 2005 and has won two Premierships, one Championship, and a record three Australia Cups (formerly the FFA Cup).[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 12 September 2003, entering the NSL for the 2003/04 season after West Adelaide and Adelaide City withdrew[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) • [2](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/15-years-adelaide-united-transcript/) |
| Home ground | Coopers Stadium, capacity 17,000[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) |
| A-League honors | Premiers 2005/06 and 2015/16; Champions 2015/16 (3-1 Grand Final win over Western Sydney Wanderers)[3](https://footballaustralia.com.au/aleague-men-honours-board) • [1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) |
| Australia Cup | Winners 2014, 2018, and 2019; first club to win the cup twice and to defend it[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) |
| Continental best | AFC Champions League runners-up in 2008; fifth place and the Fair Play Award at the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) |
| Other teams | Women's and Youth teams established in 2008, playing in the A-League Women and National Premier Leagues[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) |
| Current men's head coach | Airton Andrioli, appointed after serving as Head of Youth Football from 2020[4](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/airton-andrioli-appointed-as-adelaide-uniteds-new-mens-head-coach/) |
## Foundation and early years
Adelaide United was formed in a matter of weeks in 2003 after both West Adelaide and Adelaide City withdrew from the National Soccer League, leaving [South Australia](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-australia) without a national-league club shortly before the season was due to begin in late September.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) • [2](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/15-years-adelaide-united-transcript/) The club was officially founded on 12 September 2003.[2](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/15-years-adelaide-united-transcript/) Basil Scarsella was appointed inaugural Chairman with the backing of the South Australia Soccer Federation and the Adelaide builder and property developer Gordon Pickard.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) The new club was branded the "People's Team", representing all South Australians under a single footballing identity, and Carl Veart scored the club's first-ever goal in its first match.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) • [5](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/united-we-are-carl-veart/)
When the NSL ended in 2004, the new Hyundai A-League began in August 2005, and Adelaide has competed in it since the league's first season.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) The Reds were immediately strong, winning the inaugural [Premiership](https://www.edgepedia.org/premiership) in 2005/06 under coach John Kosmina and setting early league records: the fastest ever goal, by Louis Brain after 13 seconds, three of the top ten goals of the season from Shengqing Qu, and the best away record of 8 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Football Australia's honors board records Adelaide as the Premiers of 2005-06 with 21 games played.[3](https://footballaustralia.com.au/aleague-men-honours-board) The following season the club reached its first Grand Final, finishing runners-up to Melbourne Victory.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/)
## Continental campaigns
**The 2008 Asian run.** After missing the finals in 2007/08, Adelaide topped its group in the [AFC Champions League](https://www.edgepedia.org/afc-champions-league) and progressed through the knockout phase to reach the 2008 final, finishing as runners-up.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Reaching the final qualified the club for the 2008 [FIFA Club World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-club-world-cup) in Japan, where it finished fifth and won the [FIFA Fair Play Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-fair-play-award); Cristiano's strike was named Goal of the Tournament.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Domestically the same season brought a second Grand Final appearance, individual awards for Eugene Galekovic (Goalkeeper of the Year) and Aurelio Vidmar (Coach of the Year), and a Rising Star award for Scott Jamieson.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Further Asian campaigns followed, including a Round of 16 appearance in 2010 and quarter-finals in 2012.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/)
## The 2015/16 double
The 2010/11 season had delivered the club's first Johnny Warren Medallist, Marcos Flores, and its first Golden Boot winner, Sergio van Dijk, with 16 goals in the regular season.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) But the defining campaign came in 2015/16 under the Spanish former Barcelona player Guillermo Amor. Adelaide was winless after the first eight rounds and sat at the bottom of the table, then went on a 14-match unbeaten streak to claim the Premiers' Plate.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Weeks later the club won its first Championship, beating the Western Sydney Wanderers 3-1 in the Grand Final before a sell-out crowd at [Adelaide Oval](https://www.edgepedia.org/adelaide-oval), completing the double in what the club describes as its most successful season.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/)
## Cup success and the Veart era
Adelaide's first silverware of the modern era was the inaugural Westfield FFA Cup in 2014, won 1-0 over Perth Glory at Coopers Stadium under Josep Gombau.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Under Marco Kurz the club reached the 2017 final, losing 2-1 in extra time to [Sydney FC](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-fc), then won the 2018 final against the same opponent 2-1, becoming the first team to lift the trophy twice.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) In 2019 the Reds beat Melbourne City 4-0 in the final before a crowd of 14,920, becoming the first club to win the competition three times and the first to defend it.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) A Leagues' trophy ranking counts six major trophies for Adelaide United across the A-Leagues era.[6](https://aleagues.com.au/news/a-leagues-clubs-with-most-trophies/)
After the COVID-19 break in 2019/20, Carl Veart took over as interim head coach and was then given the role permanently on a two-year contract.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) His tenure brought consistent finals appearances: fifth in 2020/21 with an Elimination Final win over Brisbane Roar, fourth in 2021/22 with a run to the semi-finals that ended 2-1 on aggregate against Melbourne City, and third in 2022/23, a season in which Veart was named A-League Men's Coach of the Year and Craig Goodwin won the Johnny Warren Medal.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Veart departed at the conclusion of the 2024/25 season, in which Adelaide finished sixth.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/)
**The Andrioli season.** Airton Andrioli, the club's Head of Youth Football since 2020 and a Brazilian-born former West Adelaide NSL player, was promoted to men's head coach.[4](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/airton-andrioli-appointed-as-adelaide-uniteds-new-mens-head-coach/) In 2025/26 Adelaide finished second in the A-League Men, and forward Luka Jovanović shared the Golden Boot with 11 regular-season goals.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) • [7](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/adelaide-united-celebrates-three-honours-at-dolan-warren-awards/) In the AFC Champions League Two the club recorded a 2-1 away win over BG Pathum United in Bangkok, its first competitive away victory in Asia in almost a decade.[8](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/)
## Women's and youth football
The club established its Women's and Youth teams in 2008, with the women's side playing in the W-League (now A-League Women) and the youth team in the local [National Premier Leagues](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-premier-leagues).[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) The women's team's best finishes include third place in 2021/22 and 2024/25 under Adrian Stenta, with Fiona Worts winning the 2021/22 Julie Dolan Medal and Golden Boot.[1](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/) Youth development is a stated priority: the club runs a Junior Development Program for boys and girls aged 5 to 13, and its Playford Training Base is undergoing a $1.5 million expansion for the Women's and Youth programs, funded primarily by the club with $250,000 from the South Australian Government's Power of Her program.[9](https://adelaideunited.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/09/Junior-Development-Program-FAQS-10923.pdf) • [10](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/playford-training-base-update/)
## Community work
The club's community program covers South Australia and the [Northern Territory](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-territory), delivering school visits, hospital visits, holiday clinics, and a Regional/Indigenous Program, and supporting charities including the Childhood Cancer Association, Bedford, and the White Ribbon Organisation.[11](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/community-programs/) More recent initiatives include a co-designed eight-week Empowering Girls Through Football Program with Mentoring, Coaching and Counselling, combining football with mentoring and personal development for young women, and a partnership with settlement agency AMES Australia supporting newly arrived communities, with a focus on female-focused football programs.[12](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/empowering-girls-through-football-program-building-confidence-connection-and-community/) • [13](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/adelaide-united-and-ames-announce-partnership-to-empower-new-arrivals-through-football-and-community-engagement/)
## References
1. [Our History, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/our-history/)
2. [On this day: 12 September 2003, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/15-years-adelaide-united-transcript/)
3. [A-League Men Honours Board, Football Australia](https://footballaustralia.com.au/aleague-men-honours-board)
4. [Airton Andrioli Appointed as Adelaide United's New Men's Head Coach, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/airton-andrioli-appointed-as-adelaide-uniteds-new-mens-head-coach/)
5. [United We Are | Carl Veart, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/united-we-are-carl-veart/)
6. [RANKED: A-Leagues clubs with the most trophies, A-Leagues](https://aleagues.com.au/news/a-leagues-clubs-with-most-trophies/)
7. [Adelaide United celebrates three honours at Dolan Warren Awards, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/adelaide-united-celebrates-three-honours-at-dolan-warren-awards/)
8. [Andrioli and Goodwin hail statement Asian win in Bangkok, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/)
9. [Junior Development Program FAQs, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/09/Junior-Development-Program-FAQS-10923.pdf)
10. [Playford Training Base Update, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/playford-training-base-update/)
11. [Community Programs, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/community-programs/)
12. [Empowering Girls Through Football Program, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/empowering-girls-through-football-program-building-confidence-connection-and-community/)
13. [Adelaide United and AMES Announce Partnership, Adelaide United](https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/adelaide-united-and-ames-announce-partnership-to-empower-new-arrivals-through-football-and-community-engagement/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › Teams and sporting organizations › Football clubs of Asia and Oceania › South, Southeast Asia, and Oceania clubs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license