AUFC 26/27 ACL2 Campaign

[Stuckey]

So as Airton says we're still in Asia, and as the bitter taste of last night slowly gets swallowed I am still very excited for the campaign that's coming. AU coming "down" from the ACLE will be drawn in Pot 1 meaning we miss all the strongest clubs also taking part. AU also can't be drawn in the group stage against MV.

Pot 1
Gangwon FC (Korea)
Adelaide United
Machida Zelvia (Jpn)
FC Seoul (Korea)

Pot 2
BG Pathum United (Thai)
Shanghai Shenhua (China)
Melbourne Victory (Shit)
Kuching City (May)

Pot 3
Thể Công–Viettel (Vie)
Lion City Sailors (Sing)
Kitchee (HK)
PKR Svay Rieng (Cam)

Pot 4
Tampines Rovers (Sing)
Tai Po (HK)
Phnom Penh Crown (Cam)
Persib (IDN) or Manila Digger (Philippines)

I don't know enough about the clubs to have an opinion on who would be best to be drawn against. But I think it would be nice to play Kitchee who was the club Gombau coached prior to joining AU so maybe there is a relationship the club could foster over the great man! I like the idea of the Gombau Cup!

One of the things I love about AU taking part in the ACL is that is kicks off before the start of the AL season so in theory the club will have a couple of games under their belt before round 1.
So excitingly we're only 1 month away from our next game compared with AL clubs not taking part who are 2 months away.
So the start of the season looks like this:

MD 1 16–17 September 2026
MD 2 14–15 October 2026
AL R1 18 October 2026 home v Brisbane
AL R2 25 October 2026 away v Sydney
MD 3 28–29 October 2026
AL R3 1 November 2026 away v Perth
MD 4 4–5 November 2026
AL R4 8 November 2026 home v MV
AL R5 20 November 2026 away v WSW
MD 5 25–26 November 2026
AL R6 29 November 2026 away v Wellington
MD 6 2–3 December 2026
AL R7 11 December 2026 home v Macarthur

I think regardless of where the fixtures are played there is probably going to be a couple of tough weeks that will test the squad if nothing changes from the AL fixtures. Hopefully a trip to Perth or Wellington could be postponed? Although maybe a flight to SE Asia out of Perth isn't the worst?
Ideally I'd just hope AU get their first game away so there will be more home games once the AL kicks off.
The draw will occur August 18th so we don't need to wait long to learn AU's fixtures and then I can start talking myself in and out of travelling for an away game!

[MartinAUFC]

Pot 2
BG Pathum United (Thai)
Shanghai Shenhua (China)
Melbourne Victory (Shit)
Kuching City (May)

[MartinAUFC]

Thanks mate for that well researched and highly informative thread starter, top job

As far as possible group opponents is concerned, haven't we played the Shanghai team before ? Is Bailey Wright still at Lion City Sailors ? I think we could do to avoid another Vietnamese team considering the support they got at Coopers the other night.

[Philbyramone]

Not played Shanghai before


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[RedsUnited]

Persib is the Indonesian club that Big Serg joined after being dropped by AU and where he returned to and retired from pro football from.

Let's see if they manage to get through.

[MartinAUFC]

https://adelaideunited.com.au/news/reds ... opponents/

Adelaide United has been drawn alongside Thailand’s BG Pathum United, Singapore’s Lion City Sailors and Hong Kong, China’s Tai Po FC in Group F of the 2026/27 AFC Champions League Two.

AFC Champions League Two Group F

Adelaide United – Australia
BG Pathum United – Thailand
Lion City Sailors – Singapore
Tai Po FC – Hong Kong, China

[MartinAUFC]

Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore - not bad places for an Asian away trip

[Stuckey]

Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore - not bad places for an Asian away trip

Sounds good, those all sounds like fairly straightforward away flights.
When do we hear the fixtures?

[Stuckey]

Ok the ACL2 fixtures are known. I also didn't realise (mainly because its almost impossible to find) that AU have a bye week 7. Which is pretty unhelpful to be honest. The APL would know AU would have had midweek games on thru out Oct and Nov, so lets wait till after their final game to schedule their bye. Hopefully sanity will prevail and that's able to be changed. I'm not sure how making AU travel from Adelaide to Sydney to Hong Kong to Wellington to play 3 games in 9 days is going to help the game's co-efficient rating. At least prior to that there is a FIFA international window so the club will come into that stretch fairly fresh.

Sadly AU don't get to chalk off an away game first up as well which would have been helpful. I get the feeling progression may all come down to getting a result at home on the last match day against Pathum who I would imagine are favourites to progress.

MD 1 16–17 September 2026 home v Tai Po
MD 2 14–15 October 2026 away v Pathum
AL R1 18 October 2026 home v Brisbane
AL R2 25 October 2026 away v Sydney
MD 3 28–29 October 2026 home v Lion City
AL R3 1 November 2026 away v Perth
MD 4 4–5 November 2026 - away v Lion City
AL R4 8 November 2026 home v MV
AL R5 20 November 2026 away v WSW
MD 5 25–26 November 2026 - away v Tai Po
AL R6 29 November 2026 away v Wellington
MD 6 2–3 December 2026 - home v Pathum
AL R7 BYE
AL R8 11 December 2026 home v Macarthur

Something I'd not really clocked till now. Why does the A-league have byes? Its a 12 team comp...

[EdDog]

Best thing about these is that they're Thursday night games. From memory, ACL was always Tuesday which sucked. This should be good for crowds!

[Stuckey]

In the ACL regs it says clubs must submit their squad 30 days prior to their first match. We're less than 30 days away from the first ACL2 game v Tai Po. Its odd the club hasn't announced a squad. Or even announced the fixtures which are now known.

It feels like the club isn't sharing heaps of info these days. If it isn't basic stuff like this what more in depth stuff is being missed as well. I'm starting to think they may have re-signed players and have just not mentioned it.

[EdDog]

I wonder if the back office is on reduced hours over the off season to save coin.

[Stuckey]

Ok excellent, sanity has prevailed and AU won't have to travel to Wellington 3 days after facing Tai Po in Hong Kong. The game has been shifted to after AU's final ACL2 group game.

MD 1 16–17 September 2026 home v Tai Po
MD 2 14–15 October 2026 away v Pathum
AL R1 18 October 2026 home v Brisbane
AL R2 25 October 2026 away v Sydney
MD 3 28–29 October 2026 home v Lion City
AL R3 1 November 2026 away v Perth
MD 4 4–5 November 2026 - away v Lion City
AL R4 8 November 2026 home v MV
AL R5 20 November 2026 away v WSW
MD 5 25–26 November 2026 - away v Tai Po
MD 6 2–3 December 2026 - home v Pathum
AL R6 6 December 2026 away v Wellington
AL R7 BYE
AL R8 11 December 2026 home v Macarthur

[MartinAUFC]

Ok excellent, sanity has prevailed and AU won't have to travel to Wellington 3 days after facing Tai Po in Hong Kong. The game has been shifted to after AU's final ACL2 group game.

MD 1 16–17 September 2026 home v Tai Po
MD 2 14–15 October 2026 away v Pathum
AL R1 18 October 2026 home v Brisbane
AL R2 25 October 2026 away v Sydney
MD 3 28–29 October 2026 home v Lion City
AL R3 1 November 2026 away v Perth
MD 4 4–5 November 2026 - away v Lion City
AL R4 8 November 2026 home v MV
AL R5 20 November 2026 away v WSW
MD 5 25–26 November 2026 - away v Tai Po
MD 6 2–3 December 2026 - home v Pathum
AL R6 6 December 2026 away v Wellington
AL R7 BYE
AL R8 11 December 2026 home v Macarthur

Round 1 v Brisbane has also been moved - now Tue 15th Dec.
Four away games out of the first five to start, with the home game being against the Tards.

Nice easy run into the season...not

We have 4 home games in December - that will test the Xmas finances for some.

[Stuckey]

Ok excellent, sanity has prevailed and AU won't have to travel to Wellington 3 days after facing Tai Po in Hong Kong. The game has been shifted to after AU's final ACL2 group game.

MD 1 16–17 September 2026 home v Tai Po
MD 2 14–15 October 2026 away v Pathum
AL R1 18 October 2026 home v Brisbane
AL R2 25 October 2026 away v Sydney
MD 3 28–29 October 2026 home v Lion City
AL R3 1 November 2026 away v Perth
MD 4 4–5 November 2026 - away v Lion City
AL R4 8 November 2026 home v MV
AL R5 20 November 2026 away v WSW
MD 5 25–26 November 2026 - away v Tai Po
MD 6 2–3 December 2026 - home v Pathum
AL R6 6 December 2026 away v Wellington
AL R7 BYE
AL R8 11 December 2026 home v Macarthur

Round 1 v Brisbane has also been moved - now Tue 15th Dec.
Four away games out of the first five to start, with the home game being against the Tards.

Nice easy run into the season...not

We have 4 home games in December - that will test the Xmas finances for some.

Geez AU attendances are going to struggle. So many Sunday arvos and mid-week games.
Would have been nice if there was the flexibility to hold the Brisbane game earlier so it breaks up the month between MD1 and MD2 in the ACL2. Surely that would be a better outcome than a Tuesday in mid-December. Last season Melb City got just over 3k to a game like that.