Adelaide United’s incredible 2015/16 title winning season will forever be remembered as one of the best comeback stories in Australian sporting history.
Guillermo Amor’s side were on the brink of their season completely unravelling after recording just three draws in the opening eight rounds, before a narrow 1-0 win over Perth Glory in early December proved the catalyst to ignite their stuttering campaign.
No team in professional sport in any code in the country had gone on to finish at the top of the table after going winless from the first eight games.
But that would change dramatically as Eugene Galekovic’s Reds were crowned Premiers and subsequently went on to claim the Championship following a 3-1 Grand Final win over Western Sydney Wanderers at Adelaide Oval.
The then Captain had been at the Club since 2007 and prior to that fateful day had only won the inaugural FFA Cup in 2014 with United.
So when Pablo Sánchez scored the clincher with an emphatic finish against the Wanderers, there was an overwhelming sense of relief and fulfilment.
“Eight years I was at the Club and not winning a Premiership or a Championship to finally get there and the way we did it,” Galekovic said.
“We had a few injuries at the start of the season, we didn’t win for a lot of games.
“No one was backing us and then winning our first game against Perth from there just built momentum and when Pablo scored, it was probably then, where we kind of knew we’re almost there and then it was about holding on.
“I remember the last few minutes the ball was kept at the corner flag for a few minutes and that’s all we wanted. We wanted the ball to be just kept down that end until the final whistle went.”
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