History
Following on from the Victoria Vision of the old Women’s National Soccer League, Melbourne Victory Women, linked with the Hyundai A-League club but run by Football Federation Victoria, was a foundation club of the Westfield W-League. With a strong roster boasting Australia’s number one keeper Melissa Barbieri and former Matildas star Tal Karp as captain expectations were high.
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. Despite being on top of the table at the conclusion of Round Three the next few rounds were lean for Melbourne, and they found themselves 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 Victory a play-off spot in the inaugural year. There was a positive with Melissa Barbieri winning the Goalkeeper of the Year award.
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.
Season 2010/11 saw a change of personal for Melbourne Victory with new coach Vicki Linton taking charge of a re-shuffled squad. Adjusting to a new system and new team-mates, it was a slow start with the team having to wait until Round Four to claim their 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.
If 2010/11 was an important step forward, 2011/12 was a giant leap for Melbourne Victory as they consolidated their place as one of the top teams in Australia. Their most consistent season so far saw them 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 their second successive W-League Fair Play Award, sharing with Canberra, and retained the OCRF Trophy.
Hoping to build on their strong 2011/12 season, the club 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 until former Gold Coast United coach Mike Mulvey was given the job mere days before the opening round.
Having only a squad of 12 players registered going into the match, Melbourne Victory were forced to sign three more players due to FFA regulations before going on to lose 2-0 to Perth.
Despite another loss in Round Two 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 Two. Even so, the team had to contend with more issues as Mulvey left following Round Nine to take up an A-League contract with Brisbane Roar while Fishlock’s guest contract ended after Round Ten.
A dramatic semi-final win over Perth Glory extended the side’s historic undefeated streak to seven and allowed them to host the 2012/13 Grand Final at AAMI Park, although they 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.
Read more about this topic: Melbourne Victory FC W-League
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