Australia A-League 03/30 06:30 22 Melbourne City v Newcastle Jets - View
Australia A-League 04/02 08:00 21 Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne City - View
Australia A-League 04/06 08:45 23 Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City - View
Australia A-League 04/14 05:00 24 Melbourne City v Perth Glory - View
Australia A-League 04/20 00:00 25 Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne City - View
Australia A-League 04/28 00:00 26 Melbourne City v Western United FC - View

Wikipedia - Melbourne City FC

Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East but playing matches in Melbourne CBD, that competes in A-League, the highest division of soccer in Australia, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL).

Founded in 2009 as Melbourne Heart, the club competed under that name from its inaugural 2010–11 season until they were rebranded in mid-2014 by the City Football Group (CFG), in partnership with Holding M.S. Australia. In August 2015, City Football Group, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi United Group, bought out the Holding M.S. Australia consortium to have 100% ownership of the club.

Since forming in 2009, Melbourne City has claimed three A-League Men premierships and one championship, as well as one Australia Cup title (in 2016).

Melbourne City is run from the City Football Academy, a facility located within the Casey Fields sports precinct, in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East. The club plays home matches at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, commercially known as AAMI Park, a 30,050 seat multi-use venue in Melbourne's City Centre. The club also has an affiliated youth team which competes in both the A-Leagues Youth (league has not been held since 2019) and in VPL1, which serves as the second tier of Victorian football, as well as a senior women's team which competes in the A-League Women.

History

2009–2014: Foundation and Melbourne Heart era

After the dissolution of the National Soccer League in 2003, brought about by the Crawford Report, plans were drawn up for a new revamped national competition to begin the following season. Despite the calls for the new competition to feature two clubs from Melbourne, in 2004 Football Federation Australia, opting for a "one city, one team" policy, announced that the Melbourne Victory had won the licence to be the only Melbourne club to compete in the new national competition, known as the A-League. A 5-year moratorium was also established preventing any other expansion sides from the eight original A-League teams' areas entering the competition until the 2010–11 season, allowing Victory five seasons to establish itself in the Melbourne market.

On 1 March 2008, former Carlton Football Club vice-president and businessman Colin DeLutis expressed his interest in a second Melbourne A-League side, with an approach to the FFA to become sole owner of the second licence with the bid name of 'Melbourne City'. FFA chief executive Ben Buckley raised the possibility of expanding the A-League from eight to 12 teams in May 2008, in readiness for the 2009–10 season. Buckley also revealed the existence of a third Melbourne bid tentatively known as 'Melbourne Heart' backed by Peter Sidwell, to compete with the two other bids of Southern Cross FC and Melbourne City.

On 25 July 2008, the Melbourne City bid dropped out of the bidding process leaving the Melbourne Heart and Southern Cross FC bids as the last two bids standing. By September 2008, the Melbourne Heart bid was awarded exclusive negotiating rights for the league's 11th licence, beating out the South Melbourne-backed Southern Cross FC bid. Negotiations continued until Sidwell's group was awarded the licence to join the A-League's 2010–11 season by the FFA on 12 June 2009.

Heart started its inaugural season against Central Coast Mariners on 5 August 2010, at their home ground AAMI Park, losing 1–0. The club's first ever goal was an own goal scored by Ben Kantarovski in the Heart's second league game, a 1–1 draw against Newcastle Jets. Melbourne Heart's first win was a 1–0 victory over North Queensland Fury, which came in the fifth round of their first A-League season on 4 September 2010. They contested the first ever Melbourne Derby against Melbourne Victory on 8 October 2010, and won 2–1. Heart finished their first season on equal points with Newcastle Jets, but behind on goal difference in eighth position. They failed to make it into the top six teams to reach the finals, despite sitting in sixth position for majority of the season.

After a moderately more successful second season, Melbourne Heart finished 6th on the ladder, enough to make the finals. Heart's first finals game was against Perth Glory, where they were defeated 3–0 at nib stadium. Wins over local rivals continued to occur over the following two seasons, though the club failed to finish above the bottom two places and claimed the wooden spoon in 2013/14.

2014–2019: City Football Group takeover and FFA Cup triumph

It was announced on 23 January 2014 that the City Football Group had acquired Melbourne Heart for $12 million. The deal involved CFG acquiring 80% of Heart, the other 20% to be held by a consortium of businessmen allied to Rugby league club Melbourne Storm. On 5 June 2014, the team obtained Spanish World Cup-winning striker David Villa on loan from New York City FC, another team owned by the City Football Group. Villa was expected to play in the A-League until New York City entered Major League Soccer in 2015. Villa played only four of an expected ten matches, scoring twice, before being recalled by New York City. Although none of the matches were won, coach John van 't Schip credited Villa with bringing attention to the new team, and it was estimated that his presence trebled the club's attendance. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, City Football Group announced it had bought out the remaining 20% share of the club held by a consortium for a $2.25 million fee, thus acquiring 100% ownership of Melbourne City Football Club.

Under manager John van 't Schip, the club developed a reputation for attacking and high-scoring soccer, with the 2015/16 season characterised as the club's most sustained period of on-field success. The signing of Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli was key to the club becoming the most attacking and (scoring wise) prolific team in the league that season. The senior team finished the regular season a club high fourth on the table whilst the women's team achieved a remarkable feat by winning all 14 of its regular season games on the way to both a maiden premiership and championship in the club's inaugural season in the women's league. The men's team qualified for its first final of any kind in November 2016, and achieved silverware when it defeated Sydney FC 1–0 in the 2016 FFA Cup Final. Despite this success, City continued to fall short in knockout finals matches, losing at the elimination or semi-finals stage of the series over successive seasons. van 't Schip left the club mid-way through the 2016/17 season to be with his terminally ill father and under the temporary stewardship of Michael Valkanis the season ended with another early finals exit.

Following van 't Schip's departure, City management signed former Manchester United Reserves and Wigan Athletic coach Warren Joyce as manager ahead of the 2017/18 season. Despite overseeing improvements in the team's defensive capabilities, Joyce was unable to bring any silverware to the club. He left the club at the end of the 2018/19 season, in which the club again failed to reach the Grand Final, though with a respectable winning percentage. Fairfax soccer journalist Michael Lynch reported that, despite shoring up the team defensively, Joyce's "two years in charge will be remembered for the number of high-profile players who departed the club" under his watch, which included a falling-out with star striker Fornaroli, as well as the departures of Neil Kilkenny, Fernando Brandán and Australia's leading goalscorer Tim Cahill.

Jamie Maclaren scoring for City in the 32nd Melbourne Derby.

2019–present: Grand final defeat and maiden league double

Melbourne City celebrating their 2020–21 A-League Premiership and Championship trophies at Federation Square

The club appointed Frenchman Erick Mombaerts as manager ahead of the 2019–20 season, and further changes to the playing list occurred. Internationals Florin Berenguer, Adrián Luna and Craig Noone were brought into the squad to add some attacking spark and former Hibernan and Brisbane Roar striker Jamie Maclaren was signed as the club's marquee striker. Under Mombaerts City reached their second FFA Cup Final, though they were convincingly defeated 4–0 by the home team Adelaide United. The team rebounded from that loss to finish the season with its highest ever finish of second place, with 47 points. Maclaren won the Golden Boot award with 22 goals and the club qualified for its first ever Grand Final by defeating local rivals Western United, though were defeated 1–0 by the home team Sydney FC in extra time. Mombaerts left the club in September 2020 and was replaced by his former assistant, Patrick Kisnorbo. Under Kisnorbo, City had a record-breaking 2020–21 season by claiming the club's first A-League premiership, three games out from the end of the regular season. After winning the club's first A-League Premiership, Kisnorbo then guided a relatively youthful City side through the A-League finals series without several key stars to win the 2020–21 A-League Championship, beating Sydney FC 3–1. The club qualified for its inaugural AFC Champions League appearance in 2022, and despite going undefeated they fell short of qualifying for the knockout stages. They rebounded to claim its second consecutive league premiership on the final day of the 2021/22 regular season, before being defeated by local rivals Western United in the grand final at AAMI Park. The club several personnel changes for the 2022/23 season and went on to claim its third consecutive premiership, becoming the first club in Australian domestic league history to achieve the feat, and second club for finishing 1st in three consecutive seasons. They lost their fourth grand final to the Central Coast Mariners.

Melbourne City is a professional soccer team based in Melbourne, Australia. The team was founded in 2009 and currently competes in the A-League, the top tier of Australian soccer. Melbourne City is owned by the City Football Group, which also owns Manchester City and other soccer clubs around the world.

The team's home ground is AAMI Park, a 30,000-seat stadium located in the heart of Melbourne. Melbourne City's colors are sky blue and white, and the team's logo features a stylized representation of Melbourne's skyline.

Melbourne City has a strong reputation for developing young talent, with many of its players going on to play for the Australian national team. The team has also had success on the field, winning the A-League championship in 2016 and the FFA Cup in 2016 and 2019.

Melbourne City is known for its attacking style of play, with a focus on possession and quick passing. The team's star players include Jamie Maclaren, a prolific goal scorer, and Craig Noone, a creative midfielder with a deadly left foot.

Overall, Melbourne City is a dynamic and exciting soccer team with a bright future ahead.