Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women)

Melbourne Victory Women
Full name	Melbourne Victory Football Club
Founded	2008; 14 years ago
Ground	Epping Stadium; Lakeside Stadium; AAMI Park.
Chairman	Anthony Di Pietro
Manager	Jeff Hopkins
League	A-League Women
2020–21	3rd of 9 (Champions)
Home colours	Away colours

Melbourne Victory FC is an Australian women's soccer team affiliated with Melbourne Victory FC and Football Federation Victoria. Founded in 2008, the team is one of the representatives of Melbourne in Australia's top-tier domestic competition – the A-League Women.

History[]

Establishment[]

Following on from the previous top-division Women's National Soccer League, Melbourne Victory Women linked with the Hyundai A-League men's club but run by Football Federation Victoria (FFV), was a foundation club of the Westfield W-League.^[1] With a strong roster boasting Australia's number one goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri and former Matildas star Tal Karp as captain, expectations were high.

Inaugural season[]

Early signs were positive in the first season with New Zealand international Marlies Oostdam scoring the club's first goal as Victory won their first competitive fixture, defeating Central Coast Mariners 2–0.^[2] Despite being on top of the table at the conclusion of Round 3, the next few rounds were lean for Melbourne, and it found itself in the position of needing a win in the final round to make the finals series. With the final round match in the balance, Central Coast Mariners came back to haunt Victory with goals in the 89th and 90th minutes to deny the Victory a play-off spot in the inaugural year.^[3] Melissa Barbieri was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year by the league.^[4]

2009[]

The second season proved even more painful as once again Melbourne's finals prospects came down to a last-round showdown, this time against Perth Glory. Needing only a draw to claim fourth spot, late goals again cost Victory as Perth scored in the 81st and 87th meaning the Victorians missed out on finals to Canberra via goal difference.

2010–11[]

Season 2010/11 saw a change of personnel for Melbourne Victory with new coach Vicki Linton taking charge of a re-shuffled squad. Adjusting to a new system and new teammates, it was a slow start with the team having to wait until Round 4 to claim its first win of the season before finishing the regular season off with a five-match undefeated run.

Finishing in fourth spot, Victory made the finals but succumbed to a strong Sydney FC team 5–1. The team was not quite ready for a title challenge but a maiden finals campaign was an important step forward. 2010/11 also saw the club win its first silverware with a win over Canberra United, seeing it awarded the OCRF Trophy while also taking out the W-League Fair Play Award.

2011–12[]

If 2010/11 was an important step forward, 2011/12 was a giant leap for Melbourne Victory as it consolidated its place as one of the top teams in Australia. Its most consistent season so far saw it never out of finals contention. Going the entire season undefeated at home – including going within minutes of beating the undefeated Canberra United – Victory finished fourth in the tightest season of the Westfield W-League in history.

Despite a tight 1–0 loss to Canberra in the semi-final it was a successful season with Steph Catley, Ashley Brown, Brianna Davey and Katrina Gorry all making their Matildas debuts while Catley and Brown won Footballer of the Year (Australian Football Fan Awards) and W-League Young Player of the Season respectively. Melbourne Victory also won its second successive W-League Fair Play Award, sharing with Canberra, and retained the OCRF Trophy.

2012–13[]

Hoping to build on their strong 2011/12 season, the Victory got off to a shaky start in 2012/13 with head coach Vicki Linton resigning only weeks before the season was to kick-off. With her departure Darren Tan was appointed as interim coach until former Gold Coast United coach Mike Mulvey was given the job just days before the opening round.

Having only a squad of 12 players registered going into the match, Melbourne Victory was forced to sign three more players due to FFA regulations before going on to lose 2–0 to Perth. Despite another loss in Round 2 leaving the team on the bottom of the ladder, a combination of international signings – including stars Petra Larsson and Jessica Fishlock – and players beginning to understand Mulvey's playing system led to a turnaround in form.

With the league's best defence, Melbourne finished the regular season in third place losing only a single match after Round 2. Even so, the team had to contend with more issues as Mulvey left following Round 9 to take up an A-League contract with Brisbane Roar, while Fishlock's guest contract ended after Round 10. A dramatic semi-final win over Perth Glory extended the side's historic undefeated streak to seven and allowed it to host the 2012/13 Westfield W-League Grand Final at AAMI Park, although it fell to Sydney FC 3–1. Despite this, Steph Catley was awarded W-League Young Player of the Year and Mike Mulvey W-League Coach of the Year.

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 8 February 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUS	Casey Dumont
2	FW	AUS	Tiffany Eliadis
3	DF	NZL	Claudia Bunge
4	FW	AUS
5	MF	AUS	Courtney Nevin
7	FW	AUS	Kyra Cooney-Cross
8	MF	AUS
9	FW	USA	Catherine Zimmerman
10	MF	AUS	Alex Chidiac (on loan from JEF United Chiba)
11	FW	AUS
13	MF	AUS
14	FW	AUS	Melina Ayres


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	MF	AUS	Amy Jackson
16	MF	AUS
17	FW	AUS
18	DF	USA
19	MF	AUS	(captain)
20	GK	AUS	Melissa Maizels
22	FW	AUS	(injury replacement)
25	DF	USA	Brooke Hendrix (injury replacement)
30	MF	AUS	MelindaJ Barbieri
40	GK	AUS
—	MF	CAN
—	FW	AUS	Gabe Marzano

Notable former players[]

Below is a list of notable footballers who have previously played for Melbourne Victory Women. Generally, this means players that have played 50 or more first-class matches for the club. However, some players who have played fewer matches are also included, are the club's integral founding members, were integral members of a championship winning team, have at least one senior international cap or made significant contributions to the club's history.

Australia

Laura Alleway (2008–09, 2017–20)
Melissa Barbieri (2008–11, 2015–16)
Louisa Bisby (2008–13)
Steph Catley (2009–15)
Emma Checker (2013–15)
Brianna Davey (2010–16)
Lisa De Vanna (2013–15)
Katrina Gorry (2009, 2011–012)
Tal Karp (2008–09)
Selin Kuralay (2008–09)

Canada

Katie Thorlakson (2009)
Brittany Timko (2008–09)

England

Natasha Dowie (2013–20)
Jodie Taylor (2010–12)

New Zealand

Katie Hoyle (2013–14)
Annalie Longo (2019–)
Marlies Oostdam (2008–11)
Rebekah Stott (2011–13)
Rebecca Tegg (2008–09)

South Korea

Jeon Ga-eul (2017–18)

Sweden

Petra Larsson (2012–13)
Jessica Samuelsson (2013)

Turkey

Gülcan Koca (2009–18)

United States

Lauren Barnes (2014–15)
Kendall Fletcher (2010–12)
Haley Hanson (2019–20)
Christine Nairn (2014–19)

Wales

Jessica Fishlock (2012)

Managers[]

Dates	Name	Notes	Honours
26 October 2008–5 December 2009	Matt Sheppard^[5]	Inaugural manager
3 August 2010–7 September 2012	Vicki Linton^[6]^[7]	First manager to take the club to W-League finals	W-League Fair-Play Award (x2): 2010–11 & 2011–12
12 November 2011–13 November 2011	Michael Edwards^{[citation needed]}	Step-in Manager for one match
21 October 2012–18 December 2012	Mike Mulvey^[8]	Departed in Round Ten to join Brisbane Roar in the A-League.	W-League Coach of the Year 2012–13
18 December 2012–27 January 2013	Fabrizio Soncin^[9]^[10]	Promoted from Assistant Coach to complete season 2012–13	W-League Premiership Runners-Up 2012–13
5 February 2013–23 February 2014	Dave Edmondson^[11]	Departed following Grand Final to join Bristol Academy^[12]	W-League Champions 2013–14
14 May 2014–March 2015	Joe Montemurro^[13]	Departed after season to join Melbourne City^[14]
October 2015–January 2016	Dave Edmondson^[15]^[16]
17 June 2016–	Jeff Hopkins^[17]

Honours[]

W-League:
- Champions (2): 2013–14, 2020–21
  - Runners-up (1): 2012–13
- Premiers (1): 2018–19

Continental record[]

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Aggregate
2019	AFC Women's Club Championship	Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels	0–4	4th
		Jiangsu Suning	1–1
		Nippon TV Beleza	0–5

Year-by-year history[]

**Melbourne W-League history**
Season	Teams	League Position	Finals Position
2008–09	8	5th	–
2009	8	5th	–
2010–11	7	4th	Semi-Finals
2011–12	7	4th	Semi-Finals
2012–13	8	3rd	Finalist
2013–14	8	3rd	Champions
2014	8	2nd	Finalist
2015–16	9	9th	–
2016–17	9	9th	–
2017–18	9	7th	–
2018–19	9	1st	Semi-Finals

Records and statistics[]

Records[]

Record Win: 5–0 vs Perth Glory, Week Eight (Season 2011/12), 10 December 2011 & 5–0 vs Adelaide United, Round Seven (Season 2012/13), 1 December 2012
Record Defeat: 5–1 vs Sydney FC, 6 February 2011, Semi Final (Season 2010/11)
Record High Attendance: 4181 vs Sydney FC, AAMI Park, Melbourne, 27 January 2012
Most Goals by a Player in a Game: 3 – Caitlin Friend v Adelaide United, Veneto Club, Bulleen, 19 November 2011 & Jodie Taylor v Perth Glory, 6PR Stadium, Perth, 10 December 2011
Most Wins in a Row: 3 – 3 November 2012 to 17 November 2012
Longest Undefeated Streak: 7 matches – 1 December 2012 to 20 January 2013
Most Goals In a Regular season: Jodie Taylor – 8 goals, 2011–12 W-League
Longest Period Without Conceding a Goal: 316 minutes – 18 December 2010 to 23 January 2011. Goalkeeper: Brianna Davey (7 minutes) & Melissa Barbieri (309 minutes)

Most appearances[]

Maika Ruyter-Hooley holds the record for most league appearances with 54 (including finals) as of January 2013

Last updated 29 January 2013

Competitive, professional matches only.

	Name	Years	W-League	Finals	Total
1	Maika Ruyter-Hooley	2008–	50	4	54
2	Enza Barilla	2008–	40	4	44
3	Stephanie Catley	2009–	34	4	38
4	Amy Jackson	2010–	31	4	35
5	Caitlin Friend	2010–	27	3	30

Leading scorers[]

Jodie Taylor holds the record for most league goals with 12 (including finals) as of January 2013.