Melbourne Victory FC (women)
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| Full name | Melbourne Victory Womens Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 | |
| Ground | Wembley Park, Box Hill | |
| Chairman |  Anthony Di Pietro | |
| Manager |  Dave Edmondson | |
| League | W-League | |
| 2011–12 | 4th | |
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The Melbourne Victory Women's Football Club are an Australian women's association football club affiliated with Melbourne Victory FC. Founded in 2008 this team represents Melbourne in the Australian Women's National football (soccer) League, the W-League.
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.
Players
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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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.
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Australia
Canada
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England
New Zealand
United States of America
Wales
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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 and have not yet played for the Matildas:
Managers
| Dates | Name | Notes | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 October 2008 – 5 December 2009 | Matt Sheppard
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Inaugural manager | |
| 13 November 2010 – 21 January 2012 | Vicki Linton
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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 | Michael Edwards
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Step-in Manager for one match | |
| 21 October 2012 – 18 December 2012 | Mike Mulvey
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Departed in Round Ten to join Brisbane Roar in the A-League. | |
| 18 December 2012 – 27 January 2013 | Fabrizio Soncin
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Promoted from Assistant Coach to complete season 2012/13 | W-League Premiership Runners-Up 2012/13 |
| 5 February 2013 – Present | Dave Edmondson
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Honours
- Club
- W-League Fair-Play Award:
- Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Trophy
- Individual
List of Individual award winners who won awards while playing for Melbourne Victory FC.
- U20 Female Footballer of the Year – Australian Football Awards
- - 2012: Stephanie Catley
- W-League Young Player of the Year
- - 2011/12: Ashley Brown
- W-League Goalkeeper of the Year
- - 2008/09: Melissa Barbieri
- Female Footballer of the Year – Australian Football Fan Awards
- - 2011/12: Stephanie Catley
Year-by-year 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 |
Records and statistics
Records
- Record Win: 5–0 vs Template:WLeague PG, Week Eight (Season 2011/12), 10 December 2011 & 5-0 vs Template:WLeague AU, Round Seven (Season 2012/13), 1 December 2012
- Record Defeat: 5-1 vs Template:WLeague SFC, 6 February 2011, Semi Final (Season 2010/11)
- Record High Attendance: 4181 vs Template:WLeague SFC, AAMI Park, Melbourne, 27 January 2012
- Most Goals by a Player in a Game: 3 – Caitlin Friend v Template:WLeague AU, Veneto Club, Bulleen, 19 November 2011 & Jodie Taylor v Template:WLeague PG, 6PR Stadium, Perth, 10 December 2011
- Most Wins in a Row: 3 – 3 November 2012 to 17 November 2012
- Longest Undefeated Streak: 7 matches - 1 December 2012 to 20 January 2013
- Most Goals In a Regular season: Jodie Taylor – 8 goals, 2011–12 W-League
- Longest Period Without Conceding a Goal: 316 minutes – 18 December 2010 to 23 January 2011. Goalkeeper: Brianna Davey (7 minutes) & Melissa Barbieri (309 minutes)
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maika Ruyter-Hooley |
2008– | 50 | 4 | 54 |
| 2 | Enza Barilla |
2008– | 40 | 4 | 44 |
| 3 | Stephanie Catley |
2009– | 34 | 4 | 38 |
| 4 | Amy Jackson |
2010– | 31 | 4 | 35 |
| 5 | 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jodie Taylor |
2010–2012 | 12 (19) | 0 (2) | 12 (21) | 1.75 |
| =2 |  Jessica McDonald |
2012– | 7 (11) | 0 (2) | 7 (13) | 1.86 |
| =2 | Caitlin Friend |
2010– | 7 (27) | 0 (3) | 7 (30) | 4.29 |
| =4 | Laura Spiranovic |
2011– | 4 (12) | 1 (2) | 5 (14) | 2.8 |
| =4 | Katrina Gorry |
2009, 2011–2012 | 5 (17) | 0 (1) | 5 (18) | 3.6 |
| =4 | Amy Jackson |
2010– | 5 (31) | 0 (4) | 5 (35) | 7 |
| =4 | Enza Barilla |
2008– | 5 (40) | 0 (4) | 5 (44) | 8.8 |
External links
Media related to Melbourne Victory Women at Wikimedia Commons
- Melbourne Victory official website
- W-League official website
- Football Federation Australia official website
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