The 2023–24 A-League Women, known as the Liberty A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the sixteenth season of A-League Women, the Australian national women's soccer competition.
Season | 2023–24 |
---|---|
Dates | 13 October 2023 – 4 May 2024 |
Champions | Sydney FC (5th title) |
Premiers | Melbourne City (3rd title) |
Matches played | 106 |
Goals scored | 321 (3.03 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Michelle Heyman (13) |
Biggest home win | Melbourne Victory 4–0 Newcastle Jets (12 November 2023) Canberra United 5–1 Brisbane Roar (10 December 2023) |
Biggest away win | Adelaide United 0–8 Newcastle Jets (29 March 2024) |
Highest scoring | Melbourne City 5–3 Brisbane Roar (28 December 2023) Melbourne Victory 5–3 Wellington Phoenix (3 March 2024) Adelaide United 0–8 Newcastle Jets (29 March 2024) |
Longest winning run | 6 matches Western United |
Longest unbeaten run | 7 matches Melbourne Victory |
Longest winless run | 9 matches Perth Glory |
Longest losing run | 4 matches Adelaide United Wellington Phoenix |
Highest attendance | 11,471 Sydney FC 2–0 Western Sydney Wanderers (14 October 2023) |
Lowest attendance | 263 Melbourne City 1–1 Adelaide United (18 February 2024) |
Total attendance | 240,898 |
Average attendance | 2,273 |
← 2022–23 2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of 8 March 2024.(Note: Longest runs only include regular season results) |
The season commenced on 14 October and had a full double round-robin regular season for the first time.[1] The Grand Final was contested on 4 May 2024.[2][3]
Central Coast Mariners re-joined the competition, having played in the first two seasons before exiting due to financial reasons.[4][5]
Sydney FC were the defending premiers and champions, and successfully defended their championship. The premiers were Sydney's defeated opponent in the Grand Final, Melbourne City FC.
Ahead of the season, a new collective bargaining agreement was agreed, including a 20 percent increase to the salary cap, removing the cap of New Zealand players for Wellington Phoenix, and expanding the foreign player spots from 4 to 5, in line with the A-League Men competition.[6]
With a total attendance of 284,551 as of 15 April 2024, the 2023–24 A-League Women season set the record for the most attended season of any women's sport in Australian history,[7][8][9][10] with the season finishing with a final total attendance of 312,199.[11]
Clubs
editStadiums and locations
editTeam | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
Adelaide United | Adelaide | Coopers Stadium Marden Sports Complex |
16,500
6,000 |
Brisbane Roar | Brisbane | Ballymore Stadium Perry Park |
8,000
5,000 |
Canberra United | Canberra | McKellar Park | 3,500
|
Central Coast Mariners | Gosford | Industree Group Stadium | 20,059
|
Melbourne City | Melbourne | AAMI Park City Football Academy |
30,050
9,000 |
Melbourne Victory | Melbourne | AAMI Park The Home of the Matildas |
30,050
3,000 |
Newcastle Jets | Newcastle | Newcastle Number 2 Sports Ground McDonald Jones Stadium |
5,000
33,000 |
Perth Glory | Perth | Macedonia Park HBF Park |
7,000
20,500 |
Sydney FC | Sydney | Jubilee Oval Leichhardt Oval Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre |
20,505
20,000 5,000 |
Wellington Phoenix | Wellington Porirua Auckland |
Sky Stadium Jerry Collins Stadium Go Media Mount Smart Stadium |
34,500
1,900 30,000 |
Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney | Marconi Stadium CommBank Stadium Wanderers Football Park |
9,000
30,000 1,000 |
Western United | Wyndham | City Vista Recreation Reserve | 4,000
|
Personnel and kits
editManagerial changes
editTeam | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position on table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Coast Mariners | Inaugural manager | Pre-season | Emily Husband[48] | 2 March 2023 | ||
Wellington Phoenix | Natalie Lawrence | End of contract | 5 May 2023[49] | Paul Temple[50] | 7 May 2023 | |
Western Sydney Wanderers | Kat Smith | Resigned | 4 October 2023 | Robbie Hooker[51] | 4 October 2023 | |
Brisbane Roar | Garrath McPherson | Sacked | 13 November 2023[52] | 4th | Alex Smith[53] | 14 November 2023 |
Western United | Mark Torcaso | Resigned | 1 December 2023 | 8th | Kat Smith[54] | 1 December 2023 |
Newcastle Jets | Gary van Egmond | Signed by Chinese Football Association | 15 January 2024 | 6th | Ryan Campbell (caretaker)[55] | 15 January 2024 |
Transfers
editForeign players
edit- A Australian citizens who have chosen to represent another national team
- B Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian citizenship
Regular season
editLeague table
editPos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Melbourne City | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 29 | +11 | 41 | Qualification to Finals series and 2024–25 AFC Women's Champions League |
2 | Sydney FC (C) | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 31 | 20 | +11 | 39 | Qualification to Finals series |
3 | Western United | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 36 | |
4 | Melbourne Victory | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 36 | |
5 | Central Coast Mariners | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 35 | |
6 | Newcastle Jets | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 43 | 36 | +7 | 33 | |
7 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 33 | |
8 | Wellington Phoenix[a] | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 36 | 33 | +3 | 28 | |
9 | Brisbane Roar | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 35 | −7 | 26 | |
10 | Perth Glory | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 25 | 32 | −7 | 24 | |
11 | Canberra United | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 24 | |
12 | Adelaide United | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 21 | 56 | −35 | 15 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results; 6) Fair Play points; 7) away head-to-head results; 8) home head-to-head results; 9) toss of a coin[56]
(C) Champions
Notes:
- ^ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.
Results
editIndividual matches are collated at each club's season article. Some fixtures in the first round were moved to larger venues following the success of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[57]
Finals series
editThe finals series used the same format as A-League Men; run over four weeks, and involving the top six teams from the regular season. In the first week of fixtures, the third-through-sixth ranked teams played a single-elimination match, with the two winners of those matches joining the first and second ranked teams in two-legged semi-final ties; this was the first season that the A-League Women held two-legged semi-finals.[58] The two winners of those matches met in the Grand Final.[59] The previous format, which saw Sydney hosting the Grand Final until the 2024–25 season, was overturned in October 2023, reverting back to the higher-ranked semi-final winner hosting the match.[60]
Bracket
editElimination-finals | Semi-finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||||
1 | Melbourne City | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||
4 | Melbourne Victory | 0 (2) | 6 | Newcastle Jets | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
5 | Central Coast Mariners (p) | 0 (4) | 1 | Melbourne City | 0 | |||||||||||
2 | Sydney FC | 1 | ||||||||||||||
2 | Sydney FC | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
3 | Western United | 2 | 5 | Central Coast Mariners | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
6 | Newcastle Jets (a.e.t.) | 4 |
Elimination-finals
editThird-placed Western United, who qualified for successive finals series, played their first home finals match against sixth-placed Newcastle Jets (appearing in their first finals series since 2018).[61] Newcastle took the lead 11 minutes in through Sarina Bolden until Western equalised by Alana Cerne. Bolden scored a penalty for Newcastle to take the lead into half-time, as Catherine Zimmerman score a penalty for Western to equalize again. In extra-time, Newcastle scored two further goals through Melina Ayres and Sophie Haban to win the match.[62]
Fourth-placed Melbourne Victory hosted a finals match for the first time since 2020, against fifth-placed Central Coast Mariners who had not played in a finals series since 2009.[63]
Semi-finals
editSummary
editTeam 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Melbourne City | 6–0 | Newcastle Jets | 3–0 | 3–0 |
Sydney FC | 2–1 | Central Coast Mariners | 1–0 | 1–1 |
Matches
editMelbourne City | 3–0 | Newcastle Jets |
---|---|---|
Report |
Melbourne City won 6–0 on aggregate.
Sydney FC won 2–1 on aggregate.
Grand final
editMelbourne City | 0–1 | Sydney FC |
---|---|---|
Report |
|
Regular season statistics
editTop scorers
editRank | Player | Club | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Michelle Heyman | Canberra United | 17 |
2 | Sarina Bolden | Newcastle Jets | 12 |
Sophie Harding | Western Sydney Wanderers | ||
Rachel Lowe | Melbourne Victory | ||
5 | Hannah Keane | Western United | 10 |
Vesna Milivojević | Canberra United | ||
Mariana Speckmaier | Wellington Phoenix | ||
Cortnee Vine | Sydney FC | ||
9 | Chloe Logarzo | Western United | 9 |
Hannah Wilkinson | Melbourne City |
Hat-tricks
editPlayer | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Holly McNamara | Melbourne City | Western Sydney Wanderers | 4–3 (H) | 12 November 2023 | [64] |
Millie Farrow | Perth Glory | Melbourne City | 1–3 (A) | 9 December 2023 | [65] |
Vesna Milivojević | Canberra United | Brisbane Roar | 5–1 (H) | 10 December 2023 | [66] |
Emina Ekic | Melbourne City | Brisbane Roar | 5–3 (H) | 28 December 2023 | [67] |
Daniela Galic | Melbourne City | Adelaide United | 0–5 (A) | 6 January 2024 | [68] |
Sarina Bolden | Newcastle Jets | Brisbane Roar | 3–0 (H) | 17 February 2024 | [69] |
Hannah Keane | Western United | Canberra United | 4–2 (H) | 1 March 2024 | [70] |
Emily Gielnik | Melbourne Victory | Adelaide United | 4–1 (H) | 10 March 2024 | [71] |
- Key
- (H) Home team
- (A) Away team
End-of-season awards
editThe following awards were announced during half-time of the 2024 A-League Women grand final that took place on 4 May 2024.[72]
- Julie Dolan Medal – Sophie Harding (Western Sydney Wanderers)
- Young Footballer of the Year – Daniela Galic (Melbourne City)[73]
- Golden Boot Award – Michelle Heyman (Canberra United) (17 goals)
- Goalkeeper of the Year – Morgan Aquino (Perth Glory)
- Coach of the Year – Emily Husband (Central Coast Mariners)
- Referee of the Year – Casey Reibelt
- Fair Play Award – Melbourne City[74]
- Goal of the Year – Cassidy Davis (Newcastle Jets v Western Sydney Wanderers, 5 November 2023)
- Save of the Year – Brianna Edwards (Wellington Phoenix)
- Playmaker of the Year – Alyssa Whinham (Wellington Phoenix)
- Fan Player of the Year – Mariana Speckmaier (Wellington Phoenix)
Club awards
editSee also
edit- 2023–24 A-League Men
- A-League Women transfers for 2023–24 season
- 2023–24 Adelaide United FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Brisbane Roar FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Canberra United FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Central Coast Mariners FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Melbourne City FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Newcastle Jets FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Perth Glory FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Sydney FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Wellington Phoenix FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Western Sydney Wanderers FC (A-League Women) season
- 2023–24 Western United FC (A-League Women) season
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