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The Australian soccer champions are the winners of the highest league in Australian association football, which is currently the A-League. As is the case in most Australian sports, the winners of a post-season playoffs competition, known as the finals, has traditionally been crowned champion, unlike the first-past-the-post system used in many other countries. The team that finished first-past-the-post was often referred to as the Minor Premiers while the finals winning team was awarded the Premiership. In an attempt to create more prestige around the first-past-the-post title, it was renamed the Premiership and the finals winning team is now awarded the Championship. Both the Champions and Premiers are awarded direct entry into the Asian Champions League each season. ==Background== In 1962, the national governing body for association football in Australia was established, known as the Australian Soccer Federation (ASF). The ASF organised the first national club tournament that same year when a knockout cup competition named the Australia Cup was first held. The Australia Cup was abolished in 1968 when the growing issue of interstate travel became untenable. A national league was first discussed in 1974 when the Australian national team made its inaugural World Cup appearance. In 1977, the Australian Soccer Association established the National Soccer League (NSL) of Australia, which included teams from Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. The competition ran a promotion-relegation system for its entire lifespan as well as a knockout cup competition. For the first seven seasons, the NSL awarded the championship to the team that finished first-past-the-post and was dominated by Sydney-based teams. By the mid-80s, the league had introduced a post-season playoffs competition that would crown the champions and the title was shared more evenly around the nation. Seasons initially ran over the winter months until 1989 when it was changed to the summer months to avoid conflicts with Australian rules football and the two rugby codes. By 2000, each major capital city had secured at least one NSL title outside of Perth. The Perth Glory made history in 2002–03 when they were crowned champions and the victory meant the five major cities of Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney had all secured at least one NSL title over the duration of the league's history. The National Soccer League was disbanded in 2004 and an 8-team A-League competition was established in 2005, which included a salary cap and no promotion-relegation. Adelaide, Newcastle and Perth were the only NSL teams retained in the new competition. It included one team from each of the major capital cities, two regional teams and a team from New Zealand. As is the case in many sporting leagues in Australia, a New Zealand-based team has been allowed entry into the top tiered Australian league since 1999. The decision to retain a New Zealand-based team in the top league has proved problematic in recent years due to Football Federation Australia's decision to move from the Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian Football Confederation in 2006. As a result, a New Zealand-based team can be crowned Premiers and/or Champions of Australia but is ineligible to compete in the Asian Champions League.〔(Phoenix seek Champions League resolution )〕 In 2014, Football Federation Australia reintroduced a knockout cup competition known as the FFA Cup. Marconi Stallions, Sydney City and South Melbourne hold the record for most Championships with four while the Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne hold the record for most Premierships with four. Of the current A-League teams, Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory have won three Championships, the most of any A-League team while the Victory also hold the A-League record for most Premierships with three. Out of the three iterations of national cup competitions in Australia; Adelaide City, APIA Leichhardt and Sydney City hold the record for most national cup titles with three. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of Australian soccer champions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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