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 A-League Women (known as the Liberty A-League for sponsorship reasons), formerly the W-League, is the top-division women's soccer league in Australia. The W-League was established in 2008 by Football Australia (then known as Football Federatio ...

, the top division

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league in Australia. Founded in 2015, the club has its training and administration based at the City Football Academy in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and plays matches at

Casey Fields Casey Fields is a $30 million, 70 hectare multi-sports complex in the City of Casey at Cranbourne East a southeastern suburb of Melbourne. The complex is home to Australian rules football, cricket, netball, soccer, tennis, cycling, go ...

in Casey and at

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is an outdoor sports stadium on the site of Edwin Flack Field in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the Melbourne central business district. When completed ...

. The current manager of the team is

Dario Vidošić Dario Vidošić ( ; ; (born 8 April 1987) is a former Australian footballer and current coach who is the interim manager of A-League Women club Melbourne City FC Women. Club career Early life Vidošić was born on 8 April 1987 in Osijek to ...

History

Following on from their purchase of and investment into

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in England,

City Football Group City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations; of which 81% is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, 18% by the American firm Sil ...

turned their eyes to investment into the women's game as well, funding a serious overhaul of the Manchester club's female affiliate. Only months after their takeover of the men's team

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

, 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. 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.

Four championships and two premierships (2015–20)

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. In July 2015, Melbourne City Women's FC made

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...

co-captain

Lisa De Vanna Lisa Marie De Vanna (born 14 November 1984) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Perth Glory. She has previously played for Adelaide Sensation, Western Waves, Doncaster Rovers Belles, AIK, Perth Glory, Washingt ...

their first-ever signing. She is widely regarded as one of the world's best women's strikers. After De Vanna, the club's next foundation signings were

Laura Alleway Laura Colleen Gloria Brock (; born 28 November 1989) is an Australian soccer player who plays for EA Guingamp in the Division 1 Féminine. She made her debut for the national team in 2010. Club career Melbourne Victory, 2008–2010 Allew ...

and

Brianna Davey Brianna Iris Davey (born 13 January 1995) is an Australian footballer in both the Association football (soccer) and Australian rules football codes. In soccer, she was a goalkeeper for the national women's team the Matildas and played in the W ...

. In September 2015, Young Matildas Larissa Crummer,

Alex Chidiac Alexandra Carla Chidiac (born 15 January 1999) is an Australian international soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Racing Louisville in the NWSL and for the Australia national team. Early life and education Chidiac was born in Sydney, ...

Beattie Goad Beatrice "Beattie" Southby Goad (born 31 May 1997) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for Melbourne Victory. Previously, she has played in the Australian A-League Women for Melbourne City, for Stanford University in the USA' ...

and former

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

defender

Monique Iannella Monique Iannella (born 1 August 1996) is an Australian football (soccer) player, who played in the Australian W-League for Adelaide United and Melbourne City and in the American college system for the Texas Longhorns and for the Hofstra Pride ...

joined the club. Matilda

Steph Catley Stephanie-Elise Catley (born 26 January 1994) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Arsenal and the Australia national team. She can play in many positions in defence, such as left-back, centre-back or sw ...

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 ''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS. The gam ...

. The club created history in its inaugural 2015–16 season, winning all 12 of its regular season games to become

Premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

(regular-season winners) and becoming

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

by winning the 2016 W-League Grand Final, completing a perfect season. 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. The club then eclipsed this record the following season when it defeated

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

in the

2018 W-League Grand Final The 2018 W-League grand final was the final match of the 2017–18 W-League season and deciding the champions of women's football in Australia for the season. The match took place at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia on 18 February 2018 an ...

making it 3 championships 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 Rado Vidošić (born 25 September 1961) is an Australian football (soccer) manager, who is currently the caretaker manager at A-League club Melbourne City. Managerial career Brisbane Roar Vidošić had served as the assistant coach of Brisbane ...

, and with elite talent on the pitch such as the returning

and new players

Kyah Simon Kyah Pam Simon (born 25 June 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Tottenham Hotspur of the FA Women's Super League. In 2011, Simon became the first Indigenous Australian player to score a goal in a FIFA ...

and

Claire Emslie Claire Emslie (born 8 March 1994) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a forward for Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States of America, and the Scotland national team. She previously played college soccer f ...

, 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.

Stadium

Melbourne City Women play most of their home matches at the Casey Fields VFL Oval, home ground of the

Casey Demons The Casey Football Club, nicknamed the "Demons" and formerly the "Scorpions", is an Australian rules football club based in Cranbourne East, Victoria. The club, which was known until 2005 as the Springvale Football Club and the Casey Scorpions ( ...

. The club also typically plays home matches and finals at

in the city centre, home stadium of the men's team. The club has previously split home games between

CB Smith Reserve CB Smith Reserve is a football facility based in Fawkner, Victoria, a suburb 12 km north of the centre of Melbourne. The venue is home to the Pascoe Vale Soccer Club and Brunswick Juventus who compete in the National Premier Leagues Vict ...

Fawkner Fawkner is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Fawkner recorded a population of 14,274 at the 2021 census. The ma ...

John Ilhan Memorial Reserve John Ilhan Memorial Reserve, commercially known as VPEC, Valley Park Events Centre and often referred to as Broadmeadows Valley Park, is an Australian soccer ground in Broadmeadows, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. It is the home of Hume City F ...

Broadmeadows Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hume Local government areas of Victoria, local ...

and Frank Holohan Reserve in

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

Players

First-team squad

Notable former players

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 (A-League Women) players Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, Victoria, Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League Men, A-League, the top level ...

. ; Australia *

Teigen Allen Teigen Jacqueline Allen (born 12 February 1994) is an Australian soccer player who plays for Newcastle Jets FC in the Australian W-League Australia women's national soccer team. She previously played for W-League teams Sydney FC, Western Sydne ...

* Hannah Brewer * Larissa Crummer *

Elise Kellond-Knight Elise Kellond-Knight (born 10 August 1990) is an Australian international football player, who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League Women and the Australian national team. Kellond-Knight is a left footed set piece specialist. Club ca ...

Alanna Kennedy Alanna Stephanie Kennedy (born 21 January 1995) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Manchester City in the English FA Women's Super League, as well as the Australia national team. Kennedy is recognized as ...

; Mexico *

Anisa Guajardo Anisa Raquel Guajardo Braff (born 10 March 1991) is an American-born Mexican professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Liga MX Femenil side Club Universidad Nacional (women), Club U ...

; Scotland *

Jen Beattie Jennifer Patricia Beattie (born 13 May 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Arsenal of the FA WSL and the Scotland national team. Beattie is a tall, strong, right-footed player. Although typically a defender or midfielder ...

Kim Little Kim Alison Little (born 29 June 1990) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Arsenal of the English FA WSL. Before her retirement from international duty in 2021, Little was vice-captain of the Scotland women's nat ...

; United States *

Ashley Hatch Ashley Marie Hatch (born May 25, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays as a forward for Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She has also played for the United States women's national soccer team. Hatch was se ...

Erika Tymrak Erika Leigh Tymrak (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She was previously a member of the United States under-17 team that was r ...

; Wales *

Jess Fishlock Jessica Anne Fishlock (born 14 January 1987) is a Welsh professional footballer and coach who plays as a midfielder for OL Reign and the Wales national team. She previously played for Bristol Academy in England's FA Women's Super League (FA ...

Managers

Current technical staff

Managerial history

Honours

Domestic

* W-League/A-League Women Premiership: :Winners (2): 2015–16, 2019–20 *W-League/A-League Women Championship :Winners (4):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

*
W-League official websiteFootball Federation Australia official website
{{Abu Dhabi United Group Melbourne City FC Association football clubs established in 2015 2015 establishments in Australia Women's soccer clubs in Australia A-League Women teams