 The match was held atCentral Coast Stadium | |||||||
| Event | 2023–24 A-League Men | ||||||
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| Afterextra time | |||||||
| Date | 25 May 2024 (2024-05-25) | ||||||
| Venue | Central Coast Stadium,Gosford | ||||||
| Joe Marston Medal | Ryan Edmondson (Central Coast Mariners) | ||||||
| Referee | Alex King | ||||||
| Attendance | 21,379 | ||||||
←2023 2025 → | |||||||
The2024 A-League Men Grand Final, known officially as theIsuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, was asoccer match that was played betweenCentral Coast Mariners andMelbourne Victory on 25 May 2024 atCentral Coast Stadium inGosford, Australia. The match determined the champions of theA-League Men and was the 19thA-League Men Grand Final, the culmination of the2023–24 season. This was the first Grand Final since2019 to not featureMelbourne City.
The match wasrefereed byAlex King. Central Coast Mariners won 3–1 in extra time to win their second consecutive championship. The Mariners achieved the firsttreble by anA-League club.Ryan Edmondson was awarded theJoe Marston Medal andJosh Nisbet was awarded theJohnny Warren Medal at the trophy ceremony. Mariners' head coachMark Jackson was namedA-League Men Coach of the Year on the same day.Miguel Di Pizio became the youngest scorer for his goal in the match whileDanny Vukovic became the oldest to feature in a Grand Final.
A total of 21,379 spectators attended the match, a record at the stadium. Victory's head coachTony Popovic suffered his fifth defeat in a Grand Final in what was the seventh appearance for Melbourne Victory.
Vukovic and Victory playerLeigh Broxham retired from professional football after the match.
Central Coast Mariners were playing their second consecutiveA-League Men Grand Final, the first time in the club's history, having won in theprevious Grand Final against Melbourne City.[1] The Mariners came into the final aspremiers[2] and previously won the minor premiership twice in the2007–08 and2011–12 seasons, claiming one Grand Final win in2013 out of four appearances during that time.[3][4][5] The club also won theAFC Cup during their2023–24 campaign and were competing for the firsttreble achieved by anA-League club.[6][7]
ForMelbourne Victory, the club were playing in their seventh Grand Final and the first since2018 where they won their fourth championship.[8] The club was competing for their fifth Grand Final win and to equal the record for most championships toBig Blue rivalsSydney FC.[2] Victory'sTony Popovic made his fifth Grand Final appearance as head coach, having done so three times forWestern Sydney Wanderers and once forPerth Glory in the2019 final, all of which have ended in defeats.[2] Popovic took Melbourne Victory to one final, winning the2021 FFA Cup.[2] In the table, Central Coast Mariners finished in first, 13 points above Melbourne Victory who sat in third with 42 points and two points separated fromWellington Phoenix in second.[9]
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) |
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.[10] The winners progress to a two-legged semi-final, first introduced in the2021–22 season,[11] with the first leg played at the home stadium of the lowest-ranked club.[10] Both legs' results are put into anaggregate 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 intoextra time, and then to apenalty shoot-out if the score remains level.[12]The Away Goals rule is not used in the semi-finals.[12] The finalists who placed highest on the table will host the Grand Final.[10] The finals series will also utilise avideo 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 theAsian Football Confederation (AFC) to implement this.[13]
In the2023–24 season,Central Coast Mariners andWellington 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.[14] Prior to that match, Wellington held a one-point lead in first.[15] Both teams were given a bye to the semi-finals.[10][16] Melbourne Victory andSydney FC finished in third and fourth respectively and acted as hosts for the elimination finals.Macarthur FC andMelbourne City rounded out the top six after placing in fifth and sixth respectively.[17] The second match of the elimination final had its scheduled time changed from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (AEST) on 5 May.[18] Sydney FC played Macarthur on the day before atSydney Football Stadium and defeatedthe Bulls 4–0 to progress to the semi-final.[19]
| Central Coast Mariners | Round | Melbourne Victory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2023–24 A-League Men 1st placed / Premiers
| Regular season | 2023–24 A-League Men 3rd placed
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| Opponent | Score | Elimination-finals | Opponent | Score | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bye | Melbourne City | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2p) (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' opponent for the semi-final was drawn to be Sydney FC and was played on 10 May inSydney. The first-leg ended in a 2–1 win for the Mariners after a goal each forJosh Nisbet andMikael Doka, from apenalty, overturned the one-goal lead scored fromJoel King for Sydney FC.[24]The Sky Blues had two players sent-off afterJack Rodwell andCorey Hollman were given red cards. Rodwell received an initial yellow card for a dangerous challenge onChristian Theoharous before a straight red was shown, following a review by video assistant referee (VAR).[24] The second leg was played eight days later atCentral Coast Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd inGosford.[25] The match ended in a goalless draw, 2–1 on aggregate, allowing Central Coast Mariners to progress to the final.[26] During the match, Mariners' assistant coachDanny Schofield was sent-off for his disputes on a challenge byMax Burgess onJacob Farrell.Anthony Caceres was given a red card in the final minutes for dissent to refereeAlireza Faghani.[26]
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Melbourne Victory, as a result of finishing third, were required to play in the elimination final against Melbourne City in aMelbourne Derby, the first meeting to be played in afinals series since2015.[18] The match ended in a 3–2penalty shoot-out win for Melbourne Victory after a 1–1 scoreline in regular time on 5 May.[27]Paul Izzo was namedplayer of the match for Victory, saving four penalties during the shoot-out, with a goal each byNishan Velupillay andSamuel Souprayen for Victory and City respectively. Both sides had a playersent-off whenZinédine Machach andCurtis Good received a red card.[27][28] Melbourne Victory faced Wellington Phoenix in the semi-final and drew a goalless scoreline in the first-leg on 12 May.[29] The second-leg took place six days later with Melbourne winning 2–1 over Wellington in extra-time in front of 33,000 spectators atWellington Regional Stadium.[30]Chris Ikonomidis scored the winning goal in extra-time afterOskar Zawada equalised a late goal forthe Phoenix during regular time.[31]
As the team that finished highest in the table,Central Coast Stadium inGosford was the hosting venue for the A-League Men Grand Final, the first time a Grand Final was to be played at the ground.[32] The ground has been home toCentral Coast Mariners since the2005–06 season and previously shared with theNew Zealand Warriors duringthe pandemic.[33] This was the second time the Mariners was named as the home side since2008, although the venue was moved from Central Coast Stadium toSydney Football Stadium at the time.[34] 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. The2023 final, in which the Mariners had won, was hosted atWestern Sydney Stadium inParramatta and remains the only time a set venue has hosted at a Grand Final.[35]
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.[34] As a result, additional seats were installed in the ground to accommodate more spectators.[36] Tickets were distributed onTicketek on 20 May 2024 to club members, attached with a 10% per cent discount, before public release the next day and sold out on 24 May, including to 3,000 away fans.[37][38] The venue was set to break the previous crowd record of 20,060 spectators from theSydney Roosters of theNational Rugby League in July 2017.[36][39][40]Central Coast Council hosted a live site at Gosford Leagues Club Park to view the final with entertainment and activities for participants.[41] A live site was also hosted at theMelbourne Rectangular Stadium for fans to watch.[42]
The Grand Final was broadcast live onNetwork 10 in Australia,Sky Sport in New Zealand, and streamed onParamount+ and10Play.[2] This was the third Grand Final broadcast on Network 10 and Paramount+ since the networks were contracted in May 2021.[43] The broadcast reached 1.12 million viewers in Australia on Network 10, 10 Play and Paramount+, which was the highest viewership for an A-League match on the services and second most-watched program on the day.[44] For the2023–24 season, the total viewers combined during the season of theA-League Men andA-League Women was 5.72 million which saw a 16% increase inbroadcast television viewership, 33% on 10 Play and 53% on Paramount+.[45]
In the three matches played between Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory during the2023–24 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.[2] In previous meetings, Victory has met Central Coast 54 times, winning 25 matches and losing 13 times against their opposition.[46] Before the final,Bruno Fornaroli led as the top goal scorer of the two clubs with 18 goals during theseason for Melbourne and sat second in the goalscoring table behindAdam Taggart.Josh Nisbet led in assists with a total of nine, the second-highest in the league behindAnthony Caceres.[2][47]
Thereferee for the 2024 Grand Final wasAlex King, representingFootball Queensland. King officiated his firstA-League Men Grand Final in his career, having had a previous appearance as a fourth official in the2020 final.[48] Kearney Robinson and Brad Wright were named as theassistant referees, with Adam Kersey appointed as the fourth official. RepresentingFootball NSW, Kearney made his fifth appearance in the Grand Final and his second as an assistant while Wright made his debut as assistant referee.[48]Shaun Evans was thevideo assistant referee (VAR) with Kris Griffiths-Jones and Richard Naumovski to assist him. Hugh Fenton-White was named as the reserve assistant referee.[48]
Melbourne Victory announced two changes to their squad withLeigh Broxham andZinédine Machach, who returned from a two-match suspension.[49][50] Central Coast Mariners also announced two changes to the side, withDylan Wenzel-Halls andBailey Brandtman, to replaceNoah Smith and Sasha Kuzevski due to injury.[50] Broxham would feature in his last match for Melbourne after announcing his retirement in April.[49][51] In the starting line-up,Mark Jackson named an unchanged line-up from their previous match againstSydney FC whileTony Popovic named two changes from their match againstWellington Phoenix, with Machach andSalim Khelifi replacingRoly Bonevacia andNishan Velupillay.[52][53]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: a prose summary of the match. You can help byadding to it.(June 2024) |
        Central Coast Mariners |  Melbourne Victory |
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Man of the Match (Joe Marston Medal): Assistant referees:[48] | Match rules
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Central Coast Mariners achieved what has been called atreble by those who consider finishing 1st in the A-League regular season to be the equivalent of the Australia Cup, which the Mariners did not win that season. They became the first A-League team to finish 1st in the A-League regular season then win the Grand Final and win an Asian competition, with the Championship,Premiership, andAFC Cup won during the2023–24 season;[56] Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC had previously achieved the Australian version of a "domestic treble" by simultaneously holding the A-League Premiership, A-League Championship and Australia Cup. The Mariners also achieved two consecutive Grand Finals wins for the first time in club history and the third A-League team to do so afterSydney FC in2020 andBrisbane Roar in2012.[57]As premiers, Central Coast Mariners entered the2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite.[58]
Around 21,379 fans attended the match, the highest crowd recorded inCentral Coast Stadium, and apitch invasion ensued when the full-time whistle was called.[56][59] Before the trophy was brought, fans were removed from the pitch as per police's requests.[60] After the match, the 2023–24 squad of the Central Coast Mariners was named as one of the best teams inAustralian history, compared toAnge Postecoglou's Roar, that went 36 games unbeaten until2011, andGraham Arnold's2016–17 season with Sydney FC.[61]Ángel Torres finished as the top goalscorer for the club despite being absent from the match due to charges brought by the NSW police.[62]
At the trophy ceremony,Ryan Edmondson was given theJoe Marston Medal for his two goals in the match.[63][64]Josh Nisbet was awarded theJohnny Warren Medal and head coachMark Jackson was named theA-League Men Coach of the Year.[65] It was Jackson's first season as head coach for the Mariners afterNick Montgomery departed in theprevious season.[66][67] With his first medal as best player, Nisbet placed first in votes ahead ofBruno Fornaroli, who finished second in theGolden Boot, andKosta Barbarouses.[68] After scoring the second goal for Central Coast,Miguel Di Pizio became the youngest player to score at a Grand Final, aged 18 years, 4 months, and 22 days old,[69] whileDanny Vukovic became the oldest player to play in an A-League Grand Final at 39 years and 58 days old.[52] Vukovic announced his retirement from professional football the next day, on 26 May 2024, at the club's season celebration inErina Fair.[70][71] For Melbourne Victory,Leigh Broxham, who was not selected for the match squad, retired with the most appearances made in the A-League after making 389 league appearances for Victory.[72]
Jackson was confident about the win and praised his side's determination tocomeback despite going down early into the second half. He gave credit to assistantDanny Schofield, who was suspended from the semi-final, for the work and success made during the season.[73] Edmondson also praised the staff and players for the hard work brought in the season, saying he is "grateful for each and every person out here, it’s not just a football club".[63] In contrast,Tony Popovic was distraught for his side's loss, assuring that his side should have won the match. He added that he "felt for the supporters" who travelled fromMelbourne and promised to change his Grand Final losing streak;[74] Popovic ended up departing as Victory manager a little over a fortnight after the match.[75]
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