A-League, Sydney win the final in front of a record crowd

In Australia, Sydney FC beat Western United in the A-League Final in front of a record crowd to complete the double.

On 30 April, in the Grand Final, Sydney won a one-sided, self-imposed match by a score of 4-0. The game opened already in the fourth minute thanks to Madison Haley’s goal after Mackenzie Hawkesby’s pass. Then, in the 18th minute, Haley served herself Natalie Tobin with an assist for the brace.

In the second half, in the 63rd minute, Sydney’s hat-trick falls thanks to a penalty kick from Princess Ibini Esi. Finally, in the 91st minute Haley scored his personal and final brace, 4-0.

It should also be noted that by entering the field in the second half, Sydney Indiana soccer player Dos Santos became the youngest player ever to play in a Grand Final, at just 15 years and 247 days old.

Thus Western United’s dream of winning the title in their first league appearance was shattered. Sydney, on the other hand, completes the double, having won the regular season by one point over Western.

Thanks to victory in this Grand Final, Sydney joins Melbourne City at the top of the standings for teams with the most wins, with four. In addition, Sydney holds the record for regular season wins with 5, including 3 in a row (a record). Sydney also became the second team to complete the double twice, again drawing with Melbourne City.

New attendance record for the Women’s League

For this grand final, 9,519 spectators were present at the Company Stadium in Parramatta. Thus, Sydney – Western United set a new attendance record for the Australian women’s championship match.

The previous record dated back to the Grand Final of the 2018-19 season, which was played on 16 February 2019 at the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Sydney with 6,127 people. Sydney FC also won that final 4-3 against Perth Glory.

The last Grand Final wasn’t the only attendance record broken this season. In fact, the crowd record for a regular season game has been surpassed 3 times.

In fact, on November 20, 2022, there were 5213 fans for Wellington Phoenix’s 4-1 defeat by Melbourne City at Sky Stadium in Wellington (New Zealand). The match set a new attendance record for a A-League match, as well as the highest attendance at club level in New Zealand.

On December 17, 2022, Melbourne City – Western United 1-3 broke this record for around a hundred spectators thanks to 5,392 fans in the stands at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Then, on February 26, 2023, still at AAMI Park, Melbourne Victory crowd beat rival City: 8,838 for Victory-Adelaide United 2-2.

Martina Pozzoli