2024 A-League Men Grand Final

2024 A-League Men Grand Final

The match will take place at Central Coast Stadium
Event	2023–24 A-League Men
Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Victory 3 1
Date	25 May 2024 (2024-05-25)
Venue	Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Joe Marston Medal	Ryan Edmondson
Johnny Warren Medal	Josh Nisbet
Referee	Alex King
Attendance	21,379

The 2024 A-League Men Grand Final, known officially as the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, was a soccer match that was played between Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory on 25 May 2024 at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford, Australia. The match determined the champion of the A-League Men and is the 19th A-League Men Grand Final, the culmination of the 2023–24 season.

The match was refereed by Alex King. Central Coast Mariners won 3–1 in extra time to win their second consecutive championship. The Mariners achieved the first continental treble by an A-League club and in the club's history.

Background

Central Coast Mariners were playing their second consecutive A-League Men Grand Final, the first time in the club's history, having won in the previous Grand Final against Melbourne City. The Mariners came into the final as premiers and previously won the minor premiership twice in the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, making four Grand Final appearances during that time. The club also won the AFC Cup during their 2023–24 campaign and were competing for the first treble achieved by an A-League club. For Melbourne Victory, the club were playing in their seventh Grand Final and the first since 2018 where they won their fourth championship. Victory's Tony Popovic made his fifth Grand Final appearance as head coach, having done so three times for Western Sydney Wanderers and once for Perth Glory in the 2019 final, all of which have ended in defeats. Popovic took Melbourne Victory to one final, winning the 2021 FFA Cup.

Previous finals

In the following table, finals until 2004 were in the National Soccer League era, since 2006 were in the A-League Men era.

Team	Previous grand final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Central Coast Mariners	5 (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2023)
Melbourne Victory	6 (2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2018)

Road to the final

See also: 2023–24 A-League Men and 2024 A-League Men finals series

Summary

Following the regular season, a five-week Finals Series is played to determine the winner of the A-League Championship. The top two highest-placed teams are given a bye into the semi-finals, while third to sixth are drawn into the elimination finals; both third and fourth hosts against the sixth and fifth-placed sides respectively. The winners progress to a two-legged semi-final, first introduced in the 2021–22 season, with the first leg played at the home stadium of the lowest-ranked club. Both legs' results are put into an aggregate score to decide the winner that will face each other in the Grand Final. If the aggregate scores are level, the second match will go into extra time, and then to a penalty shoot-out if the score remains level. The Away Goals rule is not used in the semi-finals. The finalists who placed highest on the table will host the Grand Final. The finals series will also utilise a video assistant referee (VAR) announcement for the first time in the league's history which allows referees decisions to be announced after a video review. The A-League became the first league of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to implement this.

In the 2023–24 season, Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix were the two highest-placed teams. The Mariners won the premiership in the last game of the season after a 2–0 win against Adelaide United on 1 May 2024. Prior to that match, Wellington held a one-point lead in first. Both teams were given a bye to the semi-finals. Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC finished in third and fourth respectively and acted as hosts for the elimination finals. Macarthur FC and Melbourne City rounded out the top six after placing in fifth and sixth respectively. The second match of the elimination final had its scheduled time changed from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (AEST) on 5 May. Sydney FC played Macarthur on the day before at Sydney Football Stadium and defeated the Bulls 4–0 to progress to the semi-final.

Central Coast Mariners				Round	Melbourne Victory
2023–24 A-League Men 1st placed / Premiers Pos Team Pld Pts 1 Central Coast Mariners 27 55 2 Wellington Phoenix 27 53 3 Melbourne Victory 27 42 4 Sydney FC 27 41 5 Macarthur FC 27 41 Source: A-Leagues				Regular season	2023–24 A-League Men 3rd placed Pos Team Pld Pts 1 Central Coast Mariners 27 55 2 Wellington Phoenix 27 53 3 Melbourne Victory 27 42 4 Sydney FC 27 41 5 Macarthur FC 27 41 Source: A-Leagues
Opponent	Score			Elimination-finals	Opponent	Score
Bye					Melbourne City	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p) (H)
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Semi-finals	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Sydney FC	2–1	2–1 (A)	0–0 (H)		Wellington Phoenix	2–1	0–0 (H)	2–1 (a.e.t.) (A)

Central Coast Mariners

See also: 2023–24 Central Coast Mariners FC season

Central Coast Mariners' opponent for the semi-final was drawn to be Sydney FC and was played on 10 May in Sydney. The first-leg ended in a 2–1 win for the Mariners after a goal each for Josh Nisbet and Mikael Doka, from a penalty, overturned the one-goal lead scored from Joel King for Sydney FC. The Sky Blues had two players sent-off after Jack Rodwell and Corey Hollman were given red cards. Rodwell received an initial yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Christian Theoharous before a straight red was shown, following a review by video assistant referee (VAR). The second leg was played eight days later at Central Coast Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd in Gosford. The match ended in a goalless draw, 2–1 on aggregate, allowing Central Coast Mariners to progress to the final. During the match, Mariners' assistant coach Danny Schofield was sent-off for his disputes on a challenge by Max Burgess on Jacob Farrell. Anthony Caceres was given a red card in the final minutes for dissent to referee Alireza Faghani.

Melbourne Victory

See also: 2023–24 Melbourne Victory FC season

Paul Izzo played for Melbourne Victory during the finals series

Melbourne Victory, as a result of finishing third, were required to play in the elimination final against Melbourne City in a Melbourne Derby, the first meeting to be played in a finals series since 2015. The match ended in a 3–2 penalty shoot-out win for Melbourne Victory after a 1–1 scoreline in regular time on 5 May. Paul Izzo was named player of the match for Victory, saving four penalties during the shoot-out, with a goal each by Nishan Velupillay and Samuel Souprayen for Victory and City respectively. Both sides had a player sent-off when Zinédine Machach and Curtis Good received a red card. Melbourne Victory faced Wellington Phoenix in the semi-final and drew a goalless scoreline in the first-leg on 12 May. The second-leg took place six days later with Melbourne winning 2–1 over Wellington in extra-time in front of 33,000 spectators at Wellington Regional Stadium. Chris Ikonomidis scored the winning goal in extra-time after Oskar Zawada equalised a late goal for the Phoenix during regular time.

Pre-match

Venue and promotions

Main article: Central Coast Stadium

Further information: Australian Professional Leagues § 2022 Grand Final decision

As the team that finished highest in the table, Central Coast Stadium in Gosford was the hosting venue for the A-League Men Grand Final, the first time a Grand Final was to be played at the ground. It was also the first time the host was awarded to the highest-placed club since the reversal of the Grand Final deal in November 2023 and the second time Central Coast Mariners were named as the home side since 2008, although the venue was moved from Central Coast Stadium to Sydney Football Stadium at the time. The match was set to be the lowest attended final in the league's history due to the 20,059 capacity in Central Coast Stadium. As a result, additional seats were installed in the ground to accommodate more spectators.

Tickets for the Grand Final opened on 20 May 2024 for club members with a 10% per cent discount in the first 24 hours. Tickets were offered to the general public the next day and sold out on 24 May. The match was broadcast live on Network 10 in Australia, Sky Sport in New Zealand, and streamed on Paramount+ and 10Play. Central Coast Council hosted a live site at Gosford Leagues Club Park to broadcast the final for free with entertainment and activities for participants. A live site was also hosted at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium for fans to watch.

Build-up to Final

In the three matches played between Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory during the 2023–24 A-League Men, the two clubs drew twice in their first two meetings. The only win for either side came in the third meeting with a 1–0 victory for the Mariners in Melbourne. In previous meetings, Victory has met Central Coast 54 times, winning 25 matches and losing 13 times against their opposition. Before the final, Bruno Fornaroli led as the top goal scorer of the two clubs with 18 goals during the season for Melbourne and sat second in the goalscoring table behind Adam Taggart. Josh Nisbet led in assists with a total of nine, the second-highest in the league behind Anthony Caceres.

The referee for the 2024 Grand Final was Alex King, representing Football Queensland. King officiated his first A-League Men Grand Final in his career, having had a previous appearance as a fourth official in the 2020 final. Kearney Robinson and Brad Wright were named as the assistant referees, with Adam Kersey appointed as the fourth official. Representing Football NSW, Kearney made his fifth appearance in the Grand Final and his second as an assistant while Wright made his debut as assistant referee. Shaun Evans was the video assistant referee (VAR) with Kris Griffiths-Jones and Richard Naumovski to assist him. Hugh Fenton-White was named as the reserve assistant referee.

Melbourne Victory announced two changes to their squad with Leigh Broxham and Zinédine Machach, who returned from a two-match suspension. Central Coast Mariners also announced two changes to the side, with Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Bailey Brandtman, to replace Noah Smith and Sasha Kuzevski due to injury. Broxham would feature in his last match for Melbourne after announcing his retirement in April. In the starting line-up, Mark Jackson named an unchanged line-up from their previous match against Sydney FC while Tony Popovic named two changes from their match against Wellington Phoenix, with Machach and Salim Khelifi replacing Roly Bonevacia and Nishan Velupillay.

Match

25 May 2024

19:45 AEST (UTC+10:00)

Central Coast Mariners	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Melbourne Victory
	Report

Central Coast Stadium, Gosford

Referee: Alex King