The Original Rivalry is a rivalry between South Australian-based club

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 ...

and Victorian-based club

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

. It is also referred to as 'The Original Derby'.

History

Early matches

The two teams first met in a

2005 Australian Club World Championship Qualifying Tournament The 2005 Australian Club World Championship Qualifying Tournament was as association football knock-out competition to determine the Australian entrant into the 2005 OFC Club Championship. The tournament consisted of seven teams, being the teams c ...

match on 7 May 2005 with Adelaide progressing to the next round of qualifying, winning a penalty shootout after the match remained 0–0 after extra time. The teams met again in a friendly match on 26 June 2005 in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, with the teams finishing 0–0 at full time.

Beginning of rivalry

However, a proper rivalry between the two teams did not begin until 2010, when Adelaide United were defeated twice in an A-League Grand Final both in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. During the 2008–09 season, they both finished on the top of the ladder equal on both points and the goal difference. The rivalry between both sets of fans remains very strong, since the majority of the matches get an attendance of at least over 12,500.

Cup knockouts and title deciders

Adelaide and Melbourne have met twice in an A-League Grand Final, there have also been Original Rivalry games in the

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

which have significantly contributed to one of the two clubs winning a trophy. These include: *Melbourne Victory 6–0 Adelaide United (18 February 2007) The Grand Final match of the 2006–07 league campaign, with both Adelaide and Melbourne to reach their first A-League Finals trophy. The game had most goals and largest victory in an A-League Grand Final with

Archie Thompson Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professional association football, footballer. He also is serving as a club ambassador for Melbourne Victory FC. Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at the N ...

scoring five goals and

Kristian Sarkies Kristian Ronald Sarkies (born 25 October 1986 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian Football (soccer), footballer who plays for Beaumaris SC in the Victorian State League Division 1, Victorian State League 1. He grew up in Dingley Village, ...

scoring the sixth goal in the third minute of stoppage time. *Melbourne Victory 1–0 Adelaide United (28 February 2009) The Grand Final match of the 2008–09 league campaign, with Adelaide and Melbourne facing each other at

Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

again since the

2007 A-League Grand Final The 2007 A-League Grand Final took place at Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia, on 18 February 2007. The match was contested by premiers Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United, who had to play over half the game with ten men after their captai ...

. The final result was a 1–0 scoreline with

Tom Pondeljak Tomislav "Tom" Pondeljak (born 8 January 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a retired Australian football (soccer) player who last played for Victorian Premier League side St Albans Saints SC. Club career Pondeljak started his career ...

scoring the goal in the 60th minute. *Melbourne Victory 3–1 Adelaide United (22 September 2015) The FFA Cup Quarter-Finals match to face

Hume City The City of Hume is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It includes the outer north-western suburbs and a number of rural localities between 13 and 40 kilometres from the Melbourne c ...

next round. After seven minutes,

Osama Malik Osama "Ozzie" Malik ( ar, أسامة ملك ; born 30 September 1990) is an Australian professional association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Indian Super League club Odisha FC, Odisha. Club caree ...

had slid in to

Fahid Ben Khalfallah Fahid Ben Khalfallah ( ar, فهيد بن خلف الله; born 9 October 1982) is a retired professional footballer who last played for and was head coach of Australian side Nunawading City. Born in France, he represented the Tunisia national ...

who had given Victory a free kick.

Guilherme Finkler Guilherme Finkler (born 24 September 1985) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He is known as Guilherme in Brazil and Gui Finkler in Australia and New Zealand. Early life Finkler was born in Caxias do Sul in the Braz ...

opened the scoring after ten minutes via the free-kick.

Kosta Barbarouses Konstantinos "Kosta" Barbarouses ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μπαρμπαρούσης; born 19 February 1990) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays in Australia's A-League Men for Wellington Phoenix FC. Club ca ...

scored the second just before the half-time whistle. Adelaide had earned a penalty as

Daniel Georgievski Daniel Georgievski ( mk, Даниел Георгиевски; born 17 February 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Australian side Inter Lions. Born in Australia, he represents the North Macedonia national team. Da ...

had fouled

Craig Goodwin Craig Alexander Goodwin (born 16 December 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for Adelaide United and the Australian national team. He is Adelaide United's all-time leading goalscorer. Club career Early career He start ...

Marcelo Carrusca Marcelo Adrián Carrusca (; born 1 September 1983), is an Argentine-Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Born in La Plata, Carrusca started his professional career at Estudiantes de La Plata before ...

the penalty taker had successfully converted spot-kick as Lawrence Thomas dived correctly.

Besart Berisha Besart Berisha (born 29 July 1985) is a Kosovan retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Youth and Hamburger SV Berisha began his youth career at German side Berliner VB 49 academies at age of 9. He then moved to var ...

had also scored his penalty with ten minutes to go, booking them to the cup semi-final against

. *Adelaide United 3–0 Melbourne Victory (23 August 2017) The FFA Cup Round of 16 match to face

Heidelberg United Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...

next round. No goals were scored in the first half until

Johan Absalonsen Johan Hindsgaul Absalonsen (born 16 September 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He has played two games and scored one goal for the Denmark national team. Club career B1913 Born in Flemløse near Gla ...

scored the opener in the 53rd. Ten minutes later, a penalty was awarded via a handball by Rhys Williams. The penalty was successfully converted by

George Blackwood George Henry Raymond Blackwood (born 4 June 1997) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Born in Sydney, Blackwood played youth football for APIA Leichhardt Tigers before making his professional debut for Sydney FC in ...

sending Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas the wrong way.

Nathan Konstandopoulos Nathan Konstandopoulos (born 26 June 1996) is an Australian footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Club career Konstandopoulos played for Adelaide United and was released. He trained for a week with B ...

in the final minute of regular time scored his first

goal. After, stoppage time was up. The Reds moved on in the quarter-finals to face

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 ...

Results

Adelaide United vs. Melbourne Victory

Melbourne Victory vs. Adelaide United

Players who played for both clubs

Due to the rivalry between the clubs, 13 players have played for Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory since 2005. The first player to have played for both clubs was Matthew Kemp who joined Adelaide United in 2005 and Melbourne Victory in 2007 Statistics are sourced from ALeagueStats.com and updated as of 27 June 2021.

Adelaide United, then Melbourne Victory

Melbourne Victory, then Adelaide United

Honours

Highest attendances

* Melbourne 6–0 Adelaide; 55,436 (18 February 2007); Telstra Dome * Melbourne 1–0 Adelaide; 53,273 (28 February 2009); Telstra Dome * Melbourne 2–1 Adelaide; 47,413 (4 February 2007); Telstra Dome * Adelaide 1–1 Melbourne; 33,126 (17 October 2014); Adelaide Oval * Melbourne 0–1 Adelaide; 32,368 (15 October 2006); Telstra Dome

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide United FC-Melbourne Victory FC rivalry Adelaide United FC Melbourne Victory FC Australian soccer rivalries