A-League Men Coach of the Year

A-League Men Coach of the Year
Lawrie McKinna won the inaugural Coach of the Year award in 2006.
Awarded for	The outstanding manager in each given A-League season
Country	Australia
Presented by	Football Federation Australia
First award	2006
Final award	2025
Coach of the Year	Steve Corica
Most awards	Graham Arnold & Tony Popovic (3)

The A-League Men Coach of the Year is an annual soccer award presented to coaches in Australia. It recognises the most outstanding manager in the A-League Men each season. The recipient is chosen by a vote of all coaches at the conclusion of the regular season. ^[1] The award was established in the first A-League season, 2005–06.

In 2006, the inaugural Coach of the Year award was given to Lawrie McKinna, who took Central Coast Mariners to the 2006 A-League Grand Final. The current holder of the award is Steve Corica.

Three coaches have won the award multiple times, Graham Arnold in 2012, 2017, and 2018, Ernie Merrick in 2007 and 2010, and Tony Popovic in 2013, 2019, and 2022.

Winners

Season	Manager	Nationality	Club	Ref
2005–06	Lawrie McKinna	Scotland	Central Coast Mariners	[2]
2006–07	Ernie Merrick	Scotland	Melbourne Victory	[3]
2007–08	Gary van Egmond	Australia	Newcastle Jets	[4]
2008–09	Aurelio Vidmar	Australia	Adelaide United	[5]
2009–10	Ernie Merrick (2)	Scotland	Melbourne Victory	[6]
2010–11	Ange Postecoglou	Australia	Brisbane Roar	[7]
2011–12	Graham Arnold	Australia	Central Coast Mariners	[8]
2012–13	Tony Popovic	Australia	Western Sydney Wanderers	[9]
2013–14	Mike Mulvey	England	Brisbane Roar	[10]
2014–15	Kevin Muscat	Australia	Melbourne Victory	[11]
2015–16	Guillermo Amor	Spain	Adelaide United	[12]
2016–17	Graham Arnold (2)	Australia	Sydney FC	[13]
2017–18	Graham Arnold (3)	Australia	Sydney FC	[14]
2018–19	Tony Popovic (2)	Australia	Perth Glory	[15]
2019–20	Erick Mombaerts	France	Melbourne City	[16]
2020–21	Patrick Kisnorbo	Australia	Melbourne City	[17]
2021–22	Tony Popovic (3)	Australia	Melbourne Victory	[18]
2022–23	Carl Veart	Australia	Adelaide United	[19]
2023–24	Mark Jackson	England	Central Coast Mariners	[20]
2024–25	Steve Corica	Australia	Auckland FC	[21]

Awards won by nationality

Ernie Merrick is the only foreign coach to have won the award twice.

Country	Wins
Australia	13
Scotland	3
England	2
France	1
Spain	1

Awards won by club

Club	Wins
Melbourne Victory	4
Adelaide United	3
Central Coast Mariners	3
Brisbane Roar	2
Sydney FC	2
Melbourne City	2
Auckland FC	1
Newcastle Jets	1
Perth Glory	1
Western Sydney Wanderers	1

References

1. "Awards – About". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
2. "Despotovski named best". The World Game. 14 March 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
3. "Merrick receives top honour". FourFourTwo . 28 February 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
4. "Griffiths wins Johnny Warren Medal". ABC News . 27 February 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
5. "Shane Smeltz wins Johnny Warren Medal as A-League player of the year". Fox Sports . 2 February 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
6. "Melbourne Victory's Carlos Hernandez wins Johnny Warren Medal at A-League Awards Night". Goal.com. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
7. "Roar score four at A-League awards". Asian Football Confederation. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
8. "Ryan, Arnold honoured at Hyundai A-League Awards". Central Coast Mariners FC. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
9. "Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic named A-League Coach of the Year". News.com.au . 16 April 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
10. Monteverde, Marco (28 April 2014). "Thomas Broich and Mike Mulvey win top gongs as Brisbane Roar scoops A-League awards". Fox Sports . Retrieved 4 October 2016.
11. Lynch, Michael (11 May 2015). "Muscat takes coach of the year, Burns wins Warren Medal". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 4 October 2016.
12. Migliaccio, Val (27 April 2016). "Reds' head wins A-League coach of the year". News.com.au . Retrieved 4 October 2016.
13. "Milos Ninkovic wins Johnny Warren Medal". FOX Sports. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
14. Smithies, Tom (30 April 2018). "Dolan Warren Awards: Mierzejewski wins Johnny Warren; Kerr, Polkinghorn split the Dolan". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 14 December 2022.
15. "Wellington Phoenix's Roy Krishna adds Johnny Warren Medal to A-League Golden Boot". Stuff.co.nz . 13 May 2019.
16. "Erick Mombaerts named Coach of the Year at Dolan Warren Awards". Hyundai A-League. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
17. "Dolan Warren Awards: Patrick Kisnorbo acknowledged as A-League Coach of the Year". Hyundai A-League. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
18. Lewis, Samantha (26 May 2022). "Fiona Worts and Jake Brimmer take out A-Leagues' top gongs at 2021/22 Dolan Warren Awards". ABC News .
19. Monteverde, Marco (1 June 2023). "Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin secures Johnny Warren Medal after stellar season". news.com.au .
20. Monteverde, Marco (25 May 2024). "Central Coast Mariners midfielder Josh Nisbet wins Johnny Warren Medal". news.com.au . Mariners boss Mark Jackson won the coach-of-the-year award after guiding the Mariners to first place on the table
21. Comito, Matt (27 May 2025). "Steve Corica named Coach of the Year after remarkable first season at Auckland FC". A-Leagues .

External links

• A-League website