Football Federation Australia yesterday revealed the fixture for the up-coming 2011/12 Hyundai A-League season live on Fox Sports News.
By David Manuca
Football Federation Australia yesterday revealed the fixture for the up-coming 2011/12 Hyundai A-League season live on Fox Sports News.
It all begins for Melbourne Heart on Saturday October 8 when Heart will once again feature in the first game of the season when it travels to Ausgrid Stadium to take on the Newcastle Jets.
Last season Melbourne Heart hosted the Central Coast Mariners in Round 1 at AAMI Park but this time the Heart travel away to face the Gosford clubs rival.
Heart’s first home game of the season is in Round 2 on Sunday October 16 when it welcomes Perth Glory to AAMI Park in a late afternoon kick-off.
The same fixture last season caused a heap of controversy after Robbie Fowler scored a late penalty to secure the Glory a 2-2 draw and ultimately deny Heart its first ever win in the A-League, at least until the following week.
Round 3 features the game that everyone will be eagerly awaiting when Melbourne Victory hosts the Heart at Etihad Stadium in the only cross-town derby in the Hyundai A-League.
Like last season, the two other derby games will be hosted by the Heart and will be played at its home ground, AAMI Park, with a Christmas blockbuster on Friday December 23 before the third and final Melbourne-derby for the season on Saturday February 4.
Melbourne Heart host Sydney FC in Round 4 before travelling to Hindmarsh Stadium to face Adelaide United the following week where last season John Aloisi and Simon Colosimo scored late goals to give Heart a 2-1 victory.
FFA have also introduced a Regional Round for the 2011/12 Hyundai A-League season where five matches involving all 10 Hyundai A-League clubs will be played in new regions to strengthen clubs ties with the grassroots community in regional areas.
Melbourne Heart are scheduled to take on Central Coast Mariners in the Regional Round on Wednesday January 25 at a venue which will be determined at a later date.
Another new feature to the 2011/12 season involves a ‘Mid-Week Madness’ fixture which involves five matches to be played on the same day, Wednesday January 4, back-to-back for an amazing 11 hours straight of Hyundai A-League action, all live and exclusive on Fox Sports.
Melbourne Heart takes part in the second of the five matches when it hosts Adelaide United at AAMI Park with a 3:15pm kick-off time.
The Heart are also scheduled to face Wellington Phoenix at home on Sunday December 4, but the venue has yet to be determined as the availability of Heart’s home ground, AAMI Park, is unsure at this point in time.
Heart’s last home game will occur on Saturday March 17 when they welcome the Sky Blues to AAMI Park. Heart also faced Sydney FC in their last home game of last season with a late Nicky Carle equalizer ensuring the points were to be shared.
The last round of the season sees Heart travel to Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday March 23 where it meets Adelaide United.
Our full fixture can be viewed below:
Week 1
Saturday, 8 October 2011 Newcastle Jets Melbourne Heart Ausgrid Stadium 4:30pm
Week 2
Sunday, 16 October 2011 Melbourne Heart Perth Glory AAMI Park 5:00pm 5:00pm
Week 3
Saturday, 22 October 2011 Melbourne Victory Melbourne Heart Etihad Stadium 7:45pm 7:45pm
Week 4
Saturday, 29 October 2011 Melbourne Heart Sydney FC AAMI Park 7:45pm 7:45pm
Week 5
Friday, 4 November 2011 Adelaide United Melbourne Heart Hindmarsh Stadium 7:30pm 8:00pm
Week 6
Saturday, 12 November 2011 Melbourne Heart Newcastle Jets AAMI Park 5:30pm 5:30pm
Week 7
Friday, 18 November 2011 Gold Coast United Melbourne Heart Skilled Park 7:00pm 8:00pm
Week 8
Saturday, 26 November 2011 Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Heart Bluetongue Stadium 5:30pm 5:30pm
Week 9
Sunday, 4 December 2011 Melbourne Heart Wellington Phoenix TBC 3:00pm 3:00pm
Week 10
Friday, 9 December 2011 Brisbane Roar Melbourne Heart Suncorp Stadium 7:00pm 8:00pm
Week 11
Saturday, 17 December 2011 Perth Glory Melbourne Heart nib Stadium 7:00pm 10:00pm
Week 12
Friday, 23 December 2011 Melbourne Heart Melbourne Victory AAMI Park 8:00pm 8:00pm
Week 13
Thursday, 29 December 2011 Sydney FC Melbourne Heart Sydney Football Stadium 7:30pm 7:30pm
Midweek
Wednesday, 4 January 2012 Melbourne Heart Adelaide United AAMI Park 3:15pm 3:15pm
Week 14
Sunday, 8 January 2012 Gold Coast United Melbourne Heart Skilled Park 5:30pm 6:30pm
Week 15
Sunday, 15 January 2012 Melbourne Heart Perth Glory AAMI Park 4:00pm 4:00pm
Wednesday, 18 January 2012 Melbourne Heart Central Coast Mariners TBC – Regional TBC TBC
Week 16
Saturday, 21 January 2012 Melbourne Heart Brisbane Roar TBC 7:45pm 7:45pm
Week 17
Sunday, 29 January 2012 Wellington Phoenix Melbourne Heart Westpac Stadium 4:30pm 2:30pm
Week 18
Saturday, 4 February 2012 Melbourne Heart Melbourne Victory AAMI Park 7:45pm 7:45pm
Week 19
Saturday, 11 February 2012 Newcastle Jets Melbourne Heart Ausgrid Stadium 5:30pm 5:30pm
Week 20
Friday, 17 February 2012 Melbourne Heart Gold Coast United AAMI Park 8:00pm 8:00pm
Week 21
Sunday, 26 February 2012 Melbourne Heart Central Coast Mariners AAMI Park 5:00pm 5:00pm
Week 22
Friday, 2 March 2012 Brisbane Roar Melbourne Heart Suncorp Stadium 7:00pm 8:00pm
Week 23
Saturday, 10 March 2012 Melbourne Heart Wellington Phoenix AAMI Park 5:30pm 5:30pm
Week 24
Saturday, 17 March 2012 Melbourne Heart Sydney FC AAMI Park 7:45pm 7:45pm
Week 25
Friday, 23 March 2012 Adelaide United Melbourne Heart Hindmarsh Stadium 7:30pm 8:00pm
*All games are listed in the time of the venue, then AEST.
