To round 18, the best overall rated surface is Brisbane Roar's home ground Suncorp Stadium. And that is good news for the Socceroos who have a number of games planned at the Brisbane venue over the next four years - including an Asian Cup qualifier next March.

The worst surface was EnergyAustralia Stadium in Newcastle. Second bottom overall goes to Melbourne Victory's Etihad Stadium followed by Gold Coast's Skilled Park in third bottom spot.

Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium finished second top in the report followed Central Coast and Fury.

In the sub category of "smoothness" for top-tier football, North Queensland Fury won that with the Jets finishing off worst. And the Jets were also worst rated for the category of surface "pace".

Interestingly, while Suncorp has been rated as the best overall playing surface, it did not score the highest mark in any of the individual categories.

The report provides the only regular comparative analysis on A-League playing surfaces. The report is intended to provide the football industry with the ability to persuade ground staff to prepare playing surfaces for elite footballers with the similar care taken for other sporting codes in this country.

The issue of pitch surfaces is a perennial talking point for A-League fans - particularly at multi-use stadiums. Melbourne Victory suffered badly in the opening rounds of the A-League with ugly markings and a pitch described earlier this season by Victory coach Ernie Merrick as being "as hard as the car park".

Similarly, Sydney's SFS was hampered by the NRL and Super 14 rugby season.

What's more, in the lead up to the A-League finals in two months there are concerts by George Michael and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo planned for the SFS.

The NRL also ruined Newcastle Jets' home ground  during the off-season. The side played in the Asian Champions League group stage while local side the Knights also used it for their NRL commitments. The pitch has seemingly never recovered.  

Perth's ME Bank stadium finished in fifth spot. And that surface could get worse should Perth make the finals with two concerts by Whitney Houston, one by George Michael and an NRL game all planned in February and March. What's more, rugby team Western Force will also be making the Glory home their base in 2010.

By contrast, Adelaide's Hindmarsh is owned and managed by the SA football federation and its surface reflects that dedication to football - although it wasn't quite good enough to top Suncorp as the A-League's best surface.