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Melbourne City FC (women)

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Melbourne City Women
Full nameMelbourne City Women's Football Club
Nickname(s)City
Founded2015; 9 years ago (2015)
StadiumCity Football Academy
AAMI Park
Capacity1,500
30,035
OwnerCity Football Group
ChairmanKhaldoon Al Mubarak
ManagerMichael Matricciani
LeagueA-League Women
2023–241st of 12
(Premiers)
Websitehttp://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/
Current season

Melbourne City Women's Football Club, also known as the Melbourne City Women or simply as City, represents Melbourne City in the A-League Women, the top division soccer league in Australia. Founded in 2015, the club has its training and administration based at the City Football Academy in Melbourne and plays matches at Casey Fields in Casey and at AAMI Park in Melbourne. The current manager of the team is Michael Matricciani.[1]

History

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Following on from their purchase of and investment into Manchester City in England, City Football Group turned their eyes to investment into the women's game as well, funding a serious overhaul of the Manchester club's female affiliate.[2] Only months after their takeover of the men's team Melbourne City FC, they followed likewise on the women's side, contacting the FFA regarding entering a team into the W-League to be affiliated to the men's Melbourne side.[3]

After a year of negotiations, their involvement was sealed with an announcement that a women's team competing under the name Melbourne City FC would compete in the W-League as of the beginning of the 2015–16 season.[3]

Four championships and two premierships (2015–20)

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Melbourne City CEO Scott Munn revealed that his club had been in consultation with Football Federation Australia (FFA) for over 12 months regarding the introduction of a new W-League side.[4] In July 2015, Melbourne City Women's FC made Matildas co-captain Lisa De Vanna their first-ever signing. She is widely regarded as one of the world's best women's strikers.[5] After De Vanna, the club's next foundation signings were Laura Alleway and Brianna Davey. In September 2015, Young Matildas Larissa Crummer, Alex Chidiac, Beattie Goad and former Adelaide United defender Monique Iannella joined the club.[6] Matilda Steph Catley also signed up in September. Regarded as a Matlidas' fan favourite, Catley created history when she was voted as the first female to appear on the cover of the video game FIFA 16.[7]

The club created history in its inaugural 2015–16 season, winning all 12 of its regular season games to become Premiers (regular-season winners) and becoming Champions by winning the 2016 W-League grand final, completing a perfect season.[8] In the following season, City suffered a six-match winless run during the middle part of the season before storming back into the finals series and claiming a second successive championship in the 2017 grand final. This achievement meant the club was equal with several other clubs for the greatest number of championships won in the league.[9] The club then eclipsed this record the following season when it defeated Sydney FC in the 2018 W-League grand final making it 3 championships[10] in a row.

City had an undefeated 2019/20 season, with 11 wins and one draw, and secured their second premiership. Under Head Coach Rado Vidošić, and with elite talent on the pitch such as the returning Steph Catley and new players Kyah Simon and Claire Emslie, the team went on to win the double following wins over Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC in the 2020 Finals Series. Consequently, City became the first team in W-League history to secure four championships.[11]

Stadium

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Melbourne City Women play most of their home matches at the Casey Fields VFL Oval, home ground of the Casey Demons. The club also typically plays home matches and finals at AAMI Park in the city centre, home stadium of the men's team.[12]

The club has previously split home games between CB Smith Reserve in Fawkner, John Ilhan Memorial Reserve in Broadmeadows and Frank Holohan Reserve in Dandenong.

Players

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First-team squad

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As of 29 October 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS Sophia Varley
5 DF United States USA Taylor Otto
6 MF Australia AUS Leticia McKenna
7 FW Canada CAN Kathryn Harvey
8 MF Australia AUS Alexia Apostolakis
9 FW Australia AUS Holly McNamara
10 MF Australia AUS Rhianna Pollicina
11 MF Australia AUS Emilia Murray
12 MF Australia AUS Shelby McMahon
13 DF New Zealand NZL Rebekah Stott (captain)
14 MF Australia AUS Laura Hughes
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF Australia AUS Kiera Meyers (scholarship)
16 DF Australia AUS Karly Roestbakken
17 FW Venezuela VEN Mariana Speckmaier
18 DF Australia AUS Leah Davidson
19 MF United States USA Lourdes Bosch
20 FW Australia AUS Caitlin Karic
21 MF Australia AUS Isabella Accardo
22 FW Australia AUS Bryleeh Henry
23 GK Australia AUS Melissa Barbieri
24 GK Spain ESP Malena Mieres
27 DF Serbia SRB Tyla-Jay Vlajnic

Notable former players

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Below is a list of notable players for Melbourne City. Generally, this list includes former players that have played 50 or more first-class matches for the club, have at least one senior international cap, and/or have made significant contributions to the club's history. For a full list of current and former players see Melbourne City FC (women) players.

Managers

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Current technical staff

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Position Name
Head Coach Australia Michael Matricciani
Playing Assistant Coach Australia Melissa Barbieri
Team Manager Australia Louisa Bisby

Managerial history

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Name Nationality From To
Joe Montemurro[13]  Australia 1 July 2015 4 January 2017
Jess Fishlock[14]  Wales 5 January 2017 31 March 2017
Patrick Kisnorbo[15]  Australia 1 July 2017 30 June 2018
Rado Vidošić[16]  Australia 1 July 2018 24 November 2022
Dario Vidošić[17]  Australia 2022 10 July 2024
Michael Matricciani[18]  Australia 21 August 2024

Honours

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Domestic

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Chart of yearly table positions for Melbourne City in A-League Women
Winners (3): 2015–16, 2019–20, 2023-24
Runners-up (1): 2021–22
  • W-League/A-League Women Championship
Winners (4): 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020
Runners-up (1): 2024

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Melbourne City announcne coaching restructure". thewomensgame.com.au. 19 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Manchester City aim for Women's Super League success too". BBC. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Melbourne City FC set to field W-League team in 2015". melbournecityfc.com.au. 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Melbourne City to join W-League next season". SBS. 14 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Melbourne City FC signs inaugural W-League player". Football Federation Australia. 14 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Melbourne City sign four more W-League signings". Football Federation Australia. 10 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Melbourne City signs Steph Cately for 2015/16 W-League season". Football Federation Australia. 16 September 2015.
  8. ^ "W-League grand final: Melbourne City beat Sydney FC". ABC News. 31 January 2016.
  9. ^ "W-League grand final: Melbourne City first club to win two titles in a row". ABC News. 12 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Melbourne City have clinched a historic W-League three-peat with a 2-0 grand final triumph over Sydney FC". SBS. 18 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Melbourne City crowned W-League champions after beating Sydney FC". ABC News. 21 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Melbourne City FC to create new Etihad City Football Academy Australia in South East Melbourne". Melbourne City FC. 14 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Melbourne City FC set to field W-League team in 2015". Melbourne City. 9 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Melbourne City FC Confirms Interim Coaching Mandates". Melbourne City. 6 January 2017.
  15. ^ Windley, Matt (6 July 2017). "W-League: Patrick Kisnorbo steps up to take the reins at Melbourne City". Herald Sun.
  16. ^ "Melbourne City announce coaching restructure". The Women's Game. 19 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Kisnorbo to Ligue 1 Troyes: Australian coach to make history". ESPN. 23 November 2022. City's A-League Women boss Rado Vidosic will begin coaching the men's team on an interim basis, with Dario Vidosic replacing him at the ALW side.
  18. ^ "Experienced Head Coach to spearhead Premiership defence". Melbourne City. 21 August 2024.
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