[3][4] Few clubs continued to grow with Sydney Olympic, Perth Glory, and the newly established Adelaide United the exception in a dying league.

[8] In December 2003, the Crawford Report found that the NSL was financially unviable, and in response the chairman of the sport's new governing body, Frank Lowy of the Football Federation Australia, announced that a task force would be formed to create a new national competition as a successor to the NSL which dissolved at the conclusion of the 2003–04 season after 27 years of operation.

[15] The following season saw Melbourne Victory claim the A-League premiers plate when they smashed Adelaide United 6–0 in the final at the Telstra Dome with Archie Thompson scoring five goals in the rout.

[26] In the lead-up to the expansion announcements in 2019, club stakeholders entered into discussions with Football Federation Australia (FFA) to take over ownership of the competition.

The round is part of a partnership with Destination NSW, and was introduced after the Grand Final decision was reversed in October 2023, one year into its original 3-year stretch after severe fan backlash.

[39] On 24–26 February 2023, both the A-League Men and Women's competitions staged their first-ever Pride Round, the first occasion in which the leagues had "come together to recognise and promote inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community".

[39] In 2024, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) announced the continuation of the round, as well as providing inclusion training to all players and key stakeholders.

The annual Pride Cup double-header between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory would take place in March, and several men's and women's teams would celebrate by engaging community groups and using indicators such as rainbow corner flags, armbands, special Pride kit and/or rainbow socks.

[42] On 12 December 2022, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) announced that the grand finals for the 2022–23, 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons would be hosted in Sydney,[43] a decision which received considerable backlash.

[46] Grand final host stadium A-League clubs are eligible for participation in the AFC Champions League competition each season since the 2007 edition of the tournament.

Due to the re-formatting of the AFC Champions League to have an inter-year schedule from September (northern hemisphere autumn-to-spring) instead of an intra-year schedule (northern hemisphere spring-to-autumn),[48] the qualification format for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League was changed, with a single qualification spot going to whichever of which of the Premiers for the 2021–22 or the 2022–23 seasons accrues the most combined points over both seasons.

In response to the debate about the development of a new professional second division, the Australian Championship has been proposed to support the A-League, with the aim to avoid the American franchise-based system and to put in line with European football leagues.

Only four of these clubs – Adelaide United, the Brisbane Roar (as the Queensland Lions), the Newcastle Jets, and the Perth Glory – existed before the A-League was formed in 2004.

The eight foundation clubs had exclusivity clauses for their respective cities valid for five years, but this did not exclude teams from other areas joining the league.

Before the introduction of the A-League, FFA chairman Frank Lowy speculated that he hoped to expand the league into other cities, mentioning Canberra, Hobart, Wollongong, Geelong, Bendigo, Cairns, Ballarat, Albury–Wodonga, Launceston, Christchurch, Auckland, Sunshine Coast and possibly Darwin and later Singapore.

In March 2023, the Australian Professional Leagues confirmed plans for the next two expansion clubs to be based in Canberra and Auckland, ahead of the 2024–25 season.

[70] A significant narrative in derby history is the role of Melbourne Victory as a more successful club both on and off the field, having joined the A-League five years earlier than City.

The two teams' stadiums are just one hour apart, and the derby was intensified when they competed against each other for the premiership in the 2007–08 A-League season and eventually met in the Grand Final, which was won 1–0 by the Jets.

The logo design was "inspired by soccer's three outstanding features – atmosphere, diversity and unity" and has colour alterations tailored to each of the 12 A-League clubs.

The two-toned ochre colours represented the sun, earth and desert while the 'glow' emanating from the centre of the logo depicted the playing season's spring and summer time span.

Within the squad, there can be a maximum of five "foreign" or "Visa" players, from outside Australia (and New Zealand, in the case of Wellington Phoenix), that hold a temporary working-visa.

[109] Notable marquee and guest players in the A-League have included Alessandro Del Piero, William Gallas, Dwight Yorke, Keisuke Honda, Damien Duff, Emile Heskey, Robbie Fowler, Shinji Ono, David Villa and former FIFA World Player of the Year Romário.

Famous Australian Marquees include Harry Kewell, John Aloisi, Brett Emerton, Joshua Kennedy and Tim Cahill.

In the case for Western United and debuting Macarthur FC, they are entitled to a $333,000 allowance thus increasing their salary cap to $2.433 million.

Brisbane Roar hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in the competition with 36 league matches without defeat.

In the 2019–20 season, the league also broadcast on Qatari beIN Sports after Sky ink four-year partnership for extensive soccer coverage, especially the A-league.

[144] Full match broadcasts are available in the United States, China, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Canada, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Singapore and Myanmar.

[144] In 2014, a three-season deal with Sony TEN allowed the league to be broadcast live in Asian nations including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

[145] Every A-League match is also live streamed globally, allowing games to be viewed online through a subscription service provided in a partnership with the FFA.

Other campaigns include the "90 minutes, 90 emotions", which was used for two seasons from 2007 to 2009 and was accompanied by the music track "My People" from Australian act The Presets.