The 2008 A-League Grand Final took place at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 on 24 February 2008. It was the first A-League Grand Final played at a neutral home ground, due to Bluetongue Stadium being deemed by the FFA

Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...

 to not have a sufficient capacity to hold the centrepiece of the A-League season. This move created a stir of controversy and was protested by the Central Coast Mariners, who won the right to host the match, but to no avail.

The first half of the game ended in a draw with neither sides scoring a goal, though each had good scoring opportunities. Gary van Egmond

Gary van Egmond

Gary van Egmond is an Australian football manager of Dutch heritage who is currently the manager of Newcastle Jets in the A-League.-Playing career:Van Egmond began his playing career with APIA Leichhardt in 1982...

 made a risky change to his sides starting formation, playing a with a back three. In the 64th minute Mark Bridge

Mark Bridge

Mark Bridge is an Australian football player. He currently plays as a striker for Australian A-League club Sydney FC.-Newcastle United Jets FC:...

 scored the only goal after Tony Vidmar slipped, gifting the ball to Bridge in the last quarter.

The game ended in controversy after Central Coast earned a corner late into extra time in the second half. As the ball was crossed into Newcastle's penalty area, it appeared to hit Newcastle player James Holland

James Holland (footballer)

James Holland is a professional football player who plays for Dutch club AZ Alkmaar and the Socceroos.-Club career:...

 on the right arm, before it was cleared away. Mariners players immediately demanded a penalty, yet referee Mark Shield decided not to award one. The Mariners players, enraged, continued to scream at Shield, pressuring him for a penalty. Mariners keeper Danny Vukovic

Danny Vukovic

Danny Vukovic is an Australian football player of Serbian decent. Who has recently signed a three year contract with the Perth Glory, an Australian-based A League franchise.-Club career:...

 as a result of this frustration, hit Shields' arm away when the referee was penalizing one of Vukovic's teammates with a yellowcard. Shield then immediately awarded Vukovic with a red card. Vukovic would later be charged with striking a match official by the FFA, and was subsequently banned for 9 months, 3 of those months suspended. Due to this, Vukovic missed a significant portion of the next A-League season as well as the Olympic Games.

2007–08 Finals series