Announced during Wednesday's Australian Professional Leagues (APL) virtual Dolan Warren Awards, Macarthur's Federici was named as the goalkeeper for the 17-player side.

During his maiden season with the Bulls, the 16-time Socceroo, who spent the majority of his career in the United Kingdom, steered his club to the semi-final during their first-ever season on the field - thanks to 89 total saves, seven clean sheets and a save percentage of 72.7 during his 36 fixtures in 2020-21.

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Golden Boot winner Jamie Maclaren, from Melbourne City, received the most votes from his peers for the second consecutive season, earning captaincy of the team for the 2020-21 season after recording a career-best 25 goals in 23 appearances.

Joining Federici and Maclaren, who made the side last season, in the Team of the Season, which has been running since 2009, are defenders Scott Jamieson (City), Curtis Good (City), Ruon Tongyik (Central Coast) and Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC) - with the latter features for the third season running and the fourth time overall.

Manning the midfield is Wellington's Ulises Dvila (marking his second straight selection), City's Connor Metcalfe and Central Coast's Oliver Bozanic - with Maclaren, Matt Derbyshire (Macarthur) and Craig Noone (City) as the forwards.

The substitutes bench consists of Central Coast goalkeeper Mark Birighitti and striker Matt Simon, Sydney FC defender Ryan McGowan and midfielders Luke Brattan and Milos Ninkovic, Brisbane midfielder Jay O'Shea and Adelaide United defender Ryan Strain, with City's Patrick Kisnorbo as the coach.

"Players always regard peer recognition as the highest honour, so the 17 players will no doubt be honoured to be selected by their peers in this year's team," PFA president Alex Wilkinson said in a statement.

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"The team reflects the high calibre of existing and emerging talent we have in the A-League, and the depth our competition boasts.

"With five of the starting 11 recently featuring for the Socceroos, the A-League remains a competition that can catapult our best talent onto the international stage.

"On behalf of the PFA membership, I congratulate all players selected this season."

In other major awards presented on the night, Ninkovic and Dvila were named joint Johnny Warren Medalists, while Canberra United's Michelle Heyman took out the Julie Dolan Medal.

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