As the Sydney FC women have just secured their place in the Liberty A-League Grand Final for the 7th year in a row here is a quick dive into the past six years of Grand Final appearances for the Sky Blues that have been filled mixed emotions.
2018 | Sydney FC 0-2 Melbourne City | 18th February 2018 | Allianz Stadium
A strong 17/18 season saw the Sydney FC Women finish second on the table behind Brisbane Roar. The team beat Newcastle Jets in the semi-final to find themselves in the W-League Grand Final. The game was played at Allianz Stadium on the 18th of February against Melbourne City, who finished 4th in the league table.
6,025 spectators saw familiar face Princess Ibini start in her second Grand Final appearance at just 18 years old. The game was won by Melbourne City 2-0 with goals from Jess Fishlock (35th min) and Jodie Taylor (75th min).
2019 | Sydney FC 4-2 Perth Glory | 16th February 2019 | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
In a thriller on the 16th of February, the Sky Blues came up against Perth Glory at the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium. In front of an audience of 6,127, the girls put on a show scoring four spectacular goals in one of the highest scoring finals on record.
Sofia Huerta scored first, smashing the ball into the top right corner from outside the box before current Chelsea and Matildas star Sam Kerr then equalised for Perth from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute.
Savannah McCaskill scored a tidy brace on the way to the Player of the Match award (41st and 61st min) to make it 3-1. Glory’s Alyssa Mautz then tucked one home from a corner (68th), but Chloe Logarzo’s rocket strike two minutes later topped the game off perfectly to give the Sky Blues their second Championship.
2020 | Melbourne City 1-0 Sydney FC | 21st March 2020 | AAMI Park
In the COVID threatened 19/20 season Melbourne City went undefeated in the league and beat Brisbane Roar on penalties to get themselves to a deserved Grand Final against Sydney FC at AAMI Park on the 21st of March with no fans in attendance.
The country was just getting to grips with the COVID-19 Pandemic and football was restarted with the show piece fixture in front of an empty AAMI Park which saw a very close contest.
Steph Catley scored the only goal of the game in the 15th minute and Melbourne City continued to create chances and dominate possession in the first half.
A controversial decision to not give Sydney a penalty for a handball in the Melbourne City box seemed to prompt a change in the Sydney team and they rallied on in the second half which saw a goal-line clearance by City’s Ellie Carpenter and a super save from Melbourne’s Keeper Lydia Williams kept the game 1-0 and the hosts crowned Champions of the W-League.
2021 | Sydney FC 0-1 Melbourne Victory | 11th April 2021 | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
In the 20/21 regular season, Sydney FC topped the table only losing two games against second-place Brisbane Roar and fifth-place Adelaide United. Sydney played Melbourne Victory in the final in front of 4,619 supporters at the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in another close-fought Grand Final.
Multiple opportunities fell for both teams throughout the 90 minutes with Jada Whyman making a tremendous save from a headed effort by Kyra Cooney-Cross. A great effort at goal by Allira Toby went over the crossbar and a goal-line clearance saw the game stay nil-nil over 90 minutes.
The goal that broke the deadlock came in the final minute of extra time as Kyra Cooney-Cross’ corner sailed right into the net under Jada Whyman.
Whyman had an unbelievable match and was rightfully named the Player of the Match for her splendid saves who at times held Victory at bay, single handedly.
2022 | Sydney FC 1-2 Melbourne Victory | 27th March 2022 | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Sydney FC met Melbourne Victory in the Grand Final for the second year in a row after finishing top of the league again. This game saw Cortnee Vine start in her first Grand Final after sitting out, not fit to play in last year’s game.
The first half saw multiple Sydney attacks go wide and even one goal in the back of the net being called back for offside.
The Melbourne Victory keeper, Casey Dumont had a spectacular game, making 6 saves. All three goals came in the second half, the first two both coming from the Melbourne side (49th and 61st min). Courtnee Vine managed to get one goal back in the 66th minute but it was not enough as the game stayed 2-1 to Melbourne Victory thanks to an impressive number of spots from Dumont.
2023 | Western United 0-4 Sydney FC | 30th April 2023 | CommBank Stadium
In Western United’s first season with a women’s team, the side managed to make the Grand Final to verse Sydney FC, after finishing second in the league table behind the Sky Blues. The game was played in the CommBank Stadium on the 30th of April with a Grand Final record crowd of 9,519 in attendance.
Sydney FC was dominant in the game, with 60% possession and 25 shots at goal. Madison Haley scored the first goal with a towering header from a Mackenzie Hawkesby corner. The second goal was also from a Hawkesby corner but this time with Natalie Tobin heading home in her 100th Sydney FC match.
In the second half, Princess Ibini won a penalty and tucked it home herself (63rd min) and the fourth and final goal came in the 91st minute through Madison Haley to secure her brace and earn her the Player of the Match Award in her amazing season Down Under.
This year’s final sees our women play Melbourne City in the Liberty A-League Grand Final at AAMI Park on Saturday, 4th of May at 4:15pm.
Match Details
Melbourne City v Sydney FC
Liberty A-League Grand Final
Saturday 4th May 2024
AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC
Kick Off: 4:15pm AEST
Broadcast Live: Paramount+ & 10Bold
Tickets: Click Here
