Melbourne Victory FC (W-League)

Melbourne Victory Women
Full name Melbourne Victory Football Club
Founded 2008
Ground Lakeside Stadium, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Chairman Anthony Di Pietro
Manager Dave Edmondson[1]
League W-League
2015–16 9th (league)

Melbourne Victory FC is an Australian women's soccer team affiliated with Melbourne Victory FC and Football Federation Victoria. Founded in 2008, the team represents Melbourne in Australia's top-tier domestic competition - the Westfield W-League (Australia).

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Melissa Barbieri was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year by the league.[5]

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.

Sponsors

On October 30, 2013, Football Federation Victoria unveiled six new corporate partners for the Melbourne Victory W-League team, with Jetts Fitness and Banking on Football coming on board as major partners and front and back-of-shirt sponsors respectively.[6]

The Reagan Milstein Foundation will feature on the sleeve of the playing jersey in the 2013/2014 W-League season, while Pro Sports Group and Match Attax Trading Card Game take up positions on the shorts and PhotobookShop owns the off-field collar position.[6]

Players

Current squad

squad for the 2015-16 season. (current at 20 February 2016)

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

No. Position Player
1 Australia GK Cassandra Dimovski
2 Australia DF Alex Natoli
4 Australia MF Melissa Taranto
5 New Zealand MF Briar Palmer
6 Australia DF Annabelle Martin
7 Australia MF Enza Barilla
8 United States MF Jamie Pollock
9 Australia FW Laura Spiranovic
10 United States MF Christine Nairn (on loan from Washington Spirit)
11 Australia MF Melinda Barbieri
12 Australia FW Whitney Knight
No. Position Player
13 Australia DF Thea Slatyer
14 Australia FW Selin Kuralay
15 Australia MF Adriana Taranto
16 Australia MF Hayley Raso (on loan from Washington Spirit)
17 Turkey MF Gülcan Koca
18 Australia DF Jessica Pitts
19 United States FW Georgia Cloepfil
20 Australia GK Melissa Barbieri (Captain)

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

Canada

  

England

New Zealand

United States of America

Wales

  

Representatives

The following players are currently or were formerly Matildas:

The following players are currently or were formerly members of their respective national teams:

The following players are currently or were formerly Young Matildas :

Managers

Dates Name Notes Honours
26 October 2008 – 5 December 2009 Australia Matt Sheppard Inaugural manager
13 November 2010 – 21 January 2012 Australia Vicki Linton 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 Australia Michael Edwards Step-in Manager for one match
21 October 2012 – 18 December 2012 England Mike Mulvey 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 Australia Fabrizio Soncin Promoted from Assistant Coach to complete season 2012–13 W-League Premiership Runners-Up 2012–13
5 February 2013 – 23 February 2014 England Dave Edmondson Departed following Grand Final to join Bristol Academy W.F.C. W-League Champions 2013–14
16 May 2014 – March 2015 Australia Joe Montemurro Departed after season to join Melbourne City
October 2015 – England Dave Edmondson

Honours

Club
Individual

List of Individual award winners who won awards while playing for Melbourne Victory FC.

- 2012/13: England Mike Mulvey
- 2012: Australia Stephanie Catley
- 2012/13: Australia Stephanie Catley
- 2011/12: Australia Ashley Brown
- 2008/09: Australia Melissa Barbieri
- 2011/12: Australia Stephanie Catley

Year-by-year history

Melbourne League W-League history
Season Teams Premiership Ladder
Position 		Finals
Qualification 		Final Ladder
Position
2008–09 8 5th DNQ 5th
2009 8 5th DNQ 5th
2010–11 7 4th Qualified 4th
2011–12 7 4th Qualified 4th
2012–13 8 3rd Qualified 2nd
W-League (Australia)

Records and statistics

Records

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
1Australia Maika Ruyter-Hooley 2008–50454
2Australia Enza Barilla2008–40 4 44
3Australia Stephanie Catley2009–34 4 38
4Australia Amy Jackson 2010–31 4 35
5Australia 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.

Last updated 29 January 2013

Competitive, professional matches only, appearances including substitutes appear in brackets.
Name Years W-League Finals Total Games per goal
1England Jodie Taylor2010–201212 (19)0 (2)12 (21) 1.75
=2United States Jessica McDonald 2012–7 (11)0 (2)7 (13) 1.86
=2Australia Caitlin Friend2010–7 (27)0 (3)7 (30) 4.29
=4Australia Laura Spiranovic2011–4 (12)1 (2)5 (14) 2.8
=4Australia Katrina Gorry2009, 2011–20125 (17)0 (1)5 (18) 3.6
=4Australia Amy Jackson2010– 5 (31)0 (4)5 (35) 7
=4Australia Enza Barilla2008– 5 (40)0 (4)5 (44) 8.8

See also

References

  1. ↑ "W-League team to be managed in-house at Victory". melbournevictory.com.au. Melbourne Victory. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "NEW MELBOURNE VICTORY WOMEN'€™S FOOTBALL TEAM KICKS OFF". The Premier of Victoria. 24 October 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2014. C1 control character in |title= at position 29 (help)
  3. ↑ "Mariners' women denied victory in Melbourne". Football NSW. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Mariners women sign off for 2009 with dramatic win". Football NSW. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Hogan, Jesse (22 January 2009). "Barbieri named goalkeeper of the year in inaugural awards". The Age. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 "W-League: Squad poised for success". Football Federation Australia. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.

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