2023–24 A-League Women

Sixteenth edition of the top Australian women's football (soccer) league From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Season2023–24
Dates13 October 2023 – 4 May 2024
ChampionsSydney FC (5th title)
PremiersMelbourne City (3rd title)
Quick facts Season, Dates ...
A-League Women
Season2023–24
Dates13 October 2023 – 4 May 2024
ChampionsSydney FC (5th title)
PremiersMelbourne City (3rd title)
AFC Champions LeagueMelbourne City
Matches139
Goals421 (3.03 per match)
Top goalscorerMichelle Heyman (17)
Biggest home winMelbourne Victory 4–0 Newcastle Jets
(12 November 2023)
Canberra United 5–1 Brisbane Roar
(10 December 2023)
Biggest away winAdelaide United 0–8 Newcastle Jets
(29 March 2024)
Highest scoringMelbourne 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 run6 matches
Western United
Longest unbeaten run7 matches
Melbourne Victory
Longest winless run9 matches
Perth Glory
Longest losing run4 matches
Adelaide United
Wellington Phoenix
Highest attendance11,471
Sydney FC 2–0 Western Sydney Wanderers
(14 October 2023)
Lowest attendance263
Melbourne City 1–1 Adelaide United
(18 February 2024)
Total attendance312,199
Average attendance2,246
All statistics correct as of 29 September 2024.
(Note: Longest runs only include regular season results)
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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

Newcastle Jets

Stadiums and locations

More information Team, Location ...
Team 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
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Personnel and kits

More information Team, Manager ...
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturers Kit sponsors
Adelaide United Australia Adrian Stenta Australia Isabel Hodgson[12] UCAN[13] Kite[14]
Brisbane Roar United States Alex Smith Australia Ayesha Norrie[15] New Balance[16] Ausenco[17]
Canberra United Australia Njegosh Popovich Australia Michelle Heyman[18] ISC Sport[19] University of Canberra[20][21]
Central Coast Mariners England Emily Husband Australia Taren King[22] Cikers[23] DMC Conveyor Services[24]
Melbourne City Australia Dario Vidošić (caretaker) New Zealand Rebekah Stott[25] Puma[26] Etihad Airways
Melbourne Victory Wales Jeff Hopkins United States Kayla Morrison[27] Macron[28] MATE[29]
Newcastle Jets Australia Ryan Campbell (caretaker) Australia Cassidy Davis[30] Legend Sportswear[31] Port of Newcastle[32]
Perth Glory Australia Alex Epakis Australia Natasha Rigby[33] Macron[34] Gold Valley[35]
Sydney FC Australia Ante Juric Australia Natalie Tobin[36]
Australia Princess Ibini[a]		 Under Armour[38] Macquarie University[39]
Wellington Phoenix England Paul Temple New Zealand Annalie Longo[40] Paladin Sports[41] Oppo[42]
Spark[b][42]
Western Sydney Wanderers Australia Robbie Hooker Australia Amy Harrison[43] Adidas[44] Intermain[45]
Western United Australia Kat Smith Philippines Jaclyn Sawicki
Australia Chloe Logarzo[46]		 Kappa[47] Sharp[47]
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  1. [a]
    After Natalie Tobin was injured in round 1 and ruled out for the season, Ibini replaced her as captain.[37]
  2. [b]
    Away kit

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position on table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Central Coast Mariners Inaugural manager Pre-season England Emily Husband[48] 2 March 2023
Wellington Phoenix England Natalie Lawrence End of contract 5 May 2023[49] New Zealand Paul Temple[50] 7 May 2023
Western Sydney Wanderers Australia Kat Smith Resigned 4 October 2023 Australia Robbie Hooker[51] 4 October 2023
Brisbane Roar Australia Garrath McPherson Sacked 13 November 2023[52] 4th United States Alex Smith[53] 14 November 2023
Western United Australia Mark Torcaso Resigned 1 December 2023 8th Australia Kat Smith[54] 1 December 2023
Newcastle Jets Australia Gary van Egmond Signed by Chinese Football Association 15 January 2024 6th Australia Ryan Campbell (caretaker)[55] 15 January 2024
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Transfers

Main article: A-League Women transfers for 2023–24 season

Foreign players

More information Club, Visa 1 ...
Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Visa 5 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s)
Adelaide United Japan Nanako Sasaki Netherlands Maruschka Waldus New Zealand Hannah Blake United States Jenna Holtz United States Mariah Lee New Zealand Rosetta TaylorA
Brisbane Roar Denmark Hannah Holgersen United States Mia Corbin United States Leah Scarpelli Brazil Mariel HecherB
Republic of Ireland Deborah-Anne De la HarpeA		 United States Jordan Silkowitz
Canberra United New Zealand Deven Jackson New Zealand Ruby Nathan United States Sarah Clark United States Cannon Clough Serbia Vesna MilivojevićA Chile María José Rojas
Central Coast Mariners China Wurigumula England Faye Bryson Mexico Briana Woodall United States Rola Badawiya United States Jazmin Wardlow Croatia Bianca GalicA
Melbourne City Bosnia and Herzegovina Emina Ekic Brazil Bárbara New Zealand Hannah Wilkinson United States Julia Grosso United States Taylor Otto New Zealand Rebekah StottA Canada Lysianne Proulx
Melbourne Victory Japan Kurea Okino New Zealand Geo Candy United States Sara D'Appolonia United States Tori Hansen United States Kayla MorrisonB United States McKenzie Weinert
Newcastle Jets Philippines Sarina Bolden Switzerland Lorena Baumann United States Izzy Nino Democratic Republic of the Congo Exaucée Kizinga
New Zealand Rebecca Burrows
Perth Glory England Millie Farrow New Zealand Elizabeth Anton New Zealand Grace Jale Philippines Jessika Cowart Philippines Quinley Quezada
Sydney FC England Fiona Worts United States Shea Connors United States Jordan Thompson
Wellington Phoenix Canada Rylee Foster United States Hope Breslin United States Isabel Cox United States Hailey Davidson Venezuela Mariana Speckmaier
Western Sydney Wanderers United States Vicky Bruce United States Kaylie Collins United States Maliah Morris New Zealand Milly Clegg
Western United Denmark Kathrine Larsen Japan Keiwa Hieda Philippines Jaclyn Sawicki United States Hannah Keane United States Catherine Zimmerman Serbia Tyla-Jay VlajnicA United States Hillary Beall
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The following do not fill a Visa position:
  • 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

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos 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
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Source: A-Leagues
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:
  1. [a]
    Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.

Results

Individual 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]

More information Home \ Away, ADL ...
Home \ Away ADL BRI CAN CCM MCY MVC NEW PER SYD WEL WSW WUN
Adelaide United 1–2 4–4 1–2 0–5 1–4 0–8 2–1 1–3 2–1 2–1 1–3
Brisbane Roar 1–1 1–2 0–2 2–0 1–2 1–2 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1
Canberra United 3–1 5–1 0–3 3–1 2–3 3–4 2–3 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1
Central Coast Mariners 2–0 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–2 1–1
Melbourne City 1–1 5–3 2–1 3–0 1–0 2–0 1–3 0–0 2–1 4–3 1–3
Melbourne Victory 2–0 1–2 2–0 2–1 0–0 4–0 1–1 1–1 5–3 4–0 1–4
Newcastle Jets 3–1 3–0 3–3 0–2 2–3 3–2 1–1 0–1 3–2 1–1 4–2
Perth Glory 2–1 0–0 2–2 1–3 1–2 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–3 0–2 2–0
Sydney FC 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–3 0–4 2–1 3–1 1–0 2–0 3–1
Wellington Phoenix 4–0 2–1 2–0 1–2 0–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–4 2–0 3–1
Western Sydney Wanderers 0–1 1–3 4–1 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–2 0–3 3–1
Western United 1–0 3–2 4–2 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–3 1–0 0–1 3–0 0–2
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Source: A-League Women
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

The 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

Elimination-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

Third-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]

More information Western United, 2–4 (a.e.t.) ...
Western United2–4 (a.e.t.)Newcastle Jets
 Report
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Attendance: 3,370
Referee: Georgia Ghirardello

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]

More information Melbourne Victory, 0–0 (a.e.t.) ...
Melbourne Victory0–0 (a.e.t.)Central Coast Mariners
Report
Penalties
 2–4
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Attendance: 1,722
Referee: Rebecca Durcau

Semi-finals

Summary

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score 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
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Matches

More information Newcastle Jets, 0–3 ...
Newcastle Jets0–3Melbourne City
Report
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Attendance: 6,836
Referee: Bec Mackie
More information Melbourne City, 3–0 ...
Melbourne City3–0Newcastle Jets
 Report
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Attendance: 2,041
Referee: Rebecca Durcau

Melbourne City won 6–0 on aggregate.

More information Central Coast Mariners, 0–1 ...
Central Coast Mariners0–1Sydney FC
Report
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Attendance: 4,014
Referee: Isabella Mossin
More information Sydney FC, 1–1 ...
Sydney FC1–1Central Coast Mariners
 Report
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Attendance: 7,063
Referee: Georgia Ghirardello

Sydney FC won 2–1 on aggregate.

Grand final

See also: 2024 A-League Women grand final
More information Melbourne City, 0–1 ...
Melbourne City0–1Sydney FC
Report
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Attendance: 7,671
Referee: Casey Reibelt

Regular season statistics

Top scorers

More information Rank, Player ...
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Australia Michelle Heyman Canberra United 17
2 Philippines Sarina Bolden Newcastle Jets 12
Australia Sophie Harding Western Sydney Wanderers
Australia Rachel Lowe Melbourne Victory
5 United States Hannah Keane Western United 10
Serbia Vesna Milivojević Canberra United
Venezuela Mariana Speckmaier Wellington Phoenix
Australia Cortnee Vine Sydney FC
9 Australia Chloe Logarzo Western United 9
New Zealand Hannah Wilkinson Melbourne City
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Hat-tricks

Main article: List of A-League Women hat-tricks
More information Player, For ...
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef.
Australia Holly McNamaraMelbourne CityWestern Sydney Wanderers4–3 (H)12 November 2023[64]
England Millie FarrowPerth GloryMelbourne City1–3 (A)9 December 2023[65]
Serbia Vesna MilivojevićCanberra UnitedBrisbane Roar5–1 (H)10 December 2023[66]
Bosnia and Herzegovina Emina EkicMelbourne CityBrisbane Roar5–3 (H)28 December 2023[67]
Australia Daniela GalicMelbourne CityAdelaide United0–5 (A)6 January 2024[68]
Philippines Sarina BoldenNewcastle JetsBrisbane Roar3–0 (H)17 February 2024[69]
United States Hannah KeaneWestern UnitedCanberra United4–2 (H)1 March 2024[70]
Australia Emily GielnikMelbourne VictoryAdelaide United4–1 (H)10 March 2024[71]
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Key
  • (H) Home team
  • (A) Away team

End-of-season awards

The following awards were announced during half-time of the 2024 A-League Women grand final that took place on 4 May 2024.[72]

Club awards

[75]

More information Club, Player of the Season ...
ClubPlayer of the SeasonRef.
Adelaide UnitedJapan Nanako Sasaki[76]
Brisbane RoarAustralia Sharn Freier[77]
Canberra UnitedAustralia Michelle Heyman[78]
Central Coast MarinersAustralia Bianca Galic[79]
Melbourne CityAustralia Laura Hughes[80]
Melbourne VictoryUnited States Kayla Morrison[81]
Newcastle JetsPhilippines Sarina Bolden[82]
Perth GloryAustralia Hana Lowry[83]
Sydney FCAustralia Charlotte McLean[84]
Wellington PhoenixNew Zealand Mackenzie Barry[85]
Western Sydney WanderersAustralia Danika Matos[86]
Western UnitedAustralia Chloe Logarzo[87]
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See also

References

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