In their 20th year of existence, Adelaide United's season began with their second worst Australia Cup performance, losing 1–5 to Western Sydney Wanderers in the round of 16.

Adelaide also completed the deadline-day sale of Socceroos goalkeeper Joe Gauci to Aston Villa for a reported $2.4 million plus add-ons, becoming the second most expensive player in the club's history, only behind Irankunda.

10 days after their 2022–23 season ended with a 4–1 semi-final aggregate defeat to Central Coast Mariners, Spanish midfielder Juande announced his departure from the club, following a two-year stint.

[2][3] After spending the second half of the season on the sidelines after suffering a broken leg in a 3–3 draw with Melbourne City, Juande announced his departure on Instagram, saying "... sometimes football is so unfair and selfish, but Adelaide United is much more than two people to tarnish my memories.

On 18 July, Adelaide United NPL player Nathan Amanatidis signed for Sydney FC, following the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup, where he scored two goals for Australia, against China and Tajikistan.

[21] Adelaide United were scheduled to play a friendly match against Campbelltown City, however it was cancelled without notice, and the announcement of the game was removed from their website.

[23] Adelaide United's first competitive match was against Victorian semi-professional club Northcote City in Melbourne, which saw the debuts of Giuseppe Bovalina and Fabian Talladira.

Five minutes into the game, captain Craig Goodwin opened his account for the season with a low drive that was spilled in by the goalkeeper, assisted by Jonny Yull.

[29][30][31] Carl Veart went with an unchanged starting lineup for the round of 16 match, with Nestory Irankunda being dropped from the squad after an incident in an NPL SA semi-final the previous Friday.

Six minutes later, Ben Halloran scored the opening goal of the new A-League Men season, a first time shot following a lay-off from Hiroshi Ibusuki, landing just over the line off the crossbar.

[83] Veart fielded the same starting eleven as a week earlier, the only change to the matchday squad being Ethan Alagich replacing Luke Duzel's spot on the bench.

United led 2–0 within half an hour, with Nestory Irankunda scoring a long-ranged free kick, and Callum Talbot heading the ball into his own net after a missed header from Hiroshi Ibusuki.

[87][88] Former Adelaide United player Bruce Djite called the sending off an "absolute joke", stating that the referees "need to get their act together" and should be "protecting the hottest, brightest prospects in Australian football."

"[90][91] The Australian national team squad was announced on 9 November, with goalkeeper Joe Gauci the only current Adelaide player to be called up for the World Cup qualifying matches against Bangladesh and Palestine.

Zach Clough scored a penalty that he won in the 67th minute, however Adelaide slumped to their first loss of the season, thrashed 1–5 by Sydney, who were bottom of the ladder at the start of the round.

[106][107] Due to FIFA laws regarding international transfers of under-18 players, he will remain with the club for the rest of the season, joining Bayern on 1 July 2024 on a long-term contract.

The fee is the largest received by an Australian club, superseding the previous record set by Marco Tilio when he moved to Celtic earlier in the year.

In the final match of the weekend, Ben Halloran opened the scoring half an hour in, receiving a cross from Irankunda, he cut inwards and placed the ball into the bottom-left corner from outside the box.

[124][125] On 6 December, Scottish club Hibernian, currently headed by ex-Mariners coach Nick Montgomery, were reported to be interested in signing 18-year-old Musa Toure, despite not yet having started a professional match.

Four changes were made to the starting line-up, the back two reverting to the Barr–Popovic combination from two weeks earlier, Ethan Alagich and Ryan Tunnicliffe came in for Zach Clough and Isaías.

With Joe Gauci's unavailability due to international duty, James Delianov would start his first match since 31 December 2022, when he suffered a shoulder injury against the Phoenix.

[152] In addition to Delianov's promotion, two changes were made, Giuseppe Bovalina and Nestory Irankunda returned to the starting eleven, replacing Javi López and Jonny Yull.

Referee Jonathan Barreiro was booed off the field at half time, having adjudged Adelaide to have committed 11 fouls to Wellington's two, which the home fans felt was lopsided.

Bovalina's deflected shot in the 87th minute, Nicholas Pennington hitting the woodwork and Sam Sutton's miss late in the game meant that the match would end 2–2.

Macarthur would squander numerous chances later in the half; Raphael Borges Rodrigues missed an open net in the 71st minute and Jurman was denied in stoppage time by James Delianov.

Ibusuki would put Adelaide ahead 10 minutes later, converting Halloran's set-up, beating two defenders and scoring past Andrew Redmayne with his weaker left foot.

[165] Ben Warland came into the side to cover Popovic's unavailability and Ryan Kitto returned to the starting lineup, replacing Javi López at right-back.

On 2 February, Adelaide United announced the signing of former captain Stefan Mauk, having trained with the club over the new year since his return to the country after his stint in the J2 League.

Jing Reec added the fourth in the final minute of regulation time from the penalty spot, rounding off Adelaide's joint largest defeat of the season.

Last updated: 1 May 2024 Source: Soccerway Home figures include Adelaide United's 4–3 win on neutral ground against Sydney FC on 13 January 2024.