A-League Men

A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the Australian Soccer Association (ASA) as a successor to the National Soccer League (NSL), competition commenced in August 2005. Administered by Australian Professional Leagues (APL), it is contested by twelve teams; ten based in Australia with two in New Zealand. Seasons run from October to May and include a 27-round regular season followed by a finals series playoff involving the six highest-placed teams, culminating in a grand final match. Winners of the regular season are dubbed the 'Premier' while the winner of the grand final is the season's Champion; differing from other football codes in Australia, where premier refers to the grand final winner and the winner of the regular season is the 'minor premier'. Most successful clubs for the season are granted qualification into the Asian continental club competitions, the AFC Champions League Elite and the AFC Champions League Two. In 2014, the Western Sydney Wanderers became the first and only winning Australian club of the AFC Champions League. Like the United States' MLS, as well as other professional sports leagues in Australia, it does not practice relegation and promotion and furthermore institutes a salary cap. The men's, women's and youth are also brought together under the unified A-Leagues banner.