On Friday night, it begins.
The Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series brings six teams brimming with quality together in pursuit of the 2022-23 Championship trophy. Last season’s victors Western United finished seventh, confirming a new Champion is set to be crowned.
Will it be Melbourne City? The team brimming with Socceroos, buoyed by a third-consecutive Premiership but chastened by a shock defeat to Western United in last season’s Grand Final? Could it be the Central Coast Mariners, the fearless club that performed well beyond its means under head coach Nick Montgomery to surge to a top-two finish?
In truth, all six clubs will feel confident of causing a post-season stir. Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers have home-side status in the Elimination Finals, making them hot favourites to secure safe passage to the Semi Finals. And you just can’t write off Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix, who head into the finals eager to surge from their lowly positions inside the top six to make a Finals Series splash.
And everywhere you look, there are stories to follow as the Finals Series gets underway.
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The kids are alright
From Nestory Irankunda to Jordy Bos, to Jacob Farrell, Harrison Steele and Calem Nieuwenhof, the Finals Series will feature a class of emerging prospects who have shown time and again throughout the season their collective willingness not just to feature in big games, but to take them by storm.
Luka Jovanovic and Irankunda are both 17; they’ll go to school on Friday before featuring in Adelaide’s home final against the Phoenix later that night.
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On Saturday, former Sky Blues Nieuwenhof (22) and Aiden Simmons (19) will push to start for Western Sydney against their former side in a CommBank Stadium epic. On the other side of the divide, a hamstring injury to experienced Sydney FC winger Joe Lolley could pave the way for 18-year-old Adrian Segecic to receive just the third start of his career in the Sky Blues’ front three.
The Semi Finals will feature City full-back Bos (20), who by all reports is on the cusp of a move abroad that will topple Australia’s all-time transfer record.
The Mariners, meanwhile are built on a core of young talent and will play their own two-legged Semi Final with the likes of local products Farrell, Steele, Max Balard and Josh Nisbet central to the club’s hopes of securing a Grand Final berth.
Socceroos on show
Australia played Ecuador across two men’s international friendlies in March – and in doing so, head coach Graham Arnold brought a number of A-League Men stars back into the Socceroos fold.
It means the 2022-23 Finals Series will feature an array of Australian internationals: Craig Goodwin, Jamie Maclaren, Mathew Leckie, Jason Cummings, Joel King, Andrew Redmayne, Danny Vukovic and Marco Tilio all ventured to the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, and contributed to Australia’s best-ever performance at the major tournament.
They will all feature in the A-League Men finals, along with a further five who took part in the Socceroos’ latest camp: Bos, Irankunda, Brandon Borrello, Joe Gauci and Aiden O’Neill.
Off-season signings done right
Prior to the 2022-23 season, excitement was rife due to the arrival Down Under of once Premier League stars Luis Nani and Charlie Austin, at Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar respectively.
The two former internationals arrived as the big-ticket acquisitions of the off-season – but an ACL injury to the former, and the unexpected premature departure of the latter, saw the two big-name marquees fail to deliver on pre-season promise.
But beneath the two headline signatures came a bevy of acquisitions whose impact this season cannot be understated.
READ: The 21 active internationals ready to light up the Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series
Think Borrello, the Wanderers talisman who moved from out wide to up top and proceeded to bag 13 regular season goals in red and black. Think Oskar Zaawada, the Polish striker whose 15-goal haul for Wellington Phoenix included 13 score involvements in 13 games.
Think Richard van der Venne and Valon Berisha at Melbourne City, the immensely-popular Samuel Silvera and Brian Kaltak at the Mariners, Joe Lolley and Robert Mak wreaking havoc down the wings for Sydney FC and Marcelo, Amor Layouni, Romain Amalfitano and Morgan Schneiderlin bringing international pedigree to the Wanderers.
These are the players – alongside the emerging young talents and Socceroos shining at home – to get excited about as the post-season begins.
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An all-time great achievement for Maclaren, an all-time great season for Goodwin
Jamie Maclaren put his name amongst legends in 2022-23, with his 24 regular-season goals bagging him a fifth league Golden Boot, and taking him past Besart Berisha as the A-League Men’s all-time top scorer.
The objective appeared far and away in the distance at the start of the season, but by Round 25 the relentless striker had secured the record with 143 league goals, breezing past Berisha with a hat-trick in the second-last round of the campaign.
If there was any question regarding Maclaren’s status as an A-League Men great, there’s no doubting it now. He ventures into the post-season with his legacy assured – as does Adelaide captain Goodwin, after one of the great individual seasons in the competition’s history. The Socceroo has been a player possessed this season, scoring 12 goals and assisting 10 more, despite battling osteitis pubis throughout the entire campaign.
Goodwin went to Qatar with the Socceroos, scored against France and assisted Mitch Duke’s winner against Tunisia, then came home to dominate the domestic competition and lead the Reds to a third-place finish. He’s the red-hot favourite for the Johnny Warren Medal, and – like Maclaren – a headline act in the Finals Series.
A city split in two as historic derby awaits
In his first full season at the helm of the Wanderers, former Sydney FC defender Marko Rudan has stoked the flames of the divide between what he defines as “blue collar against white collar.”
It’s been a main theme across three fiery derbies this season – and on Saturday, the two clubs meet for the very first time in an A-League Men Finals Series.
“(Our people) feel downtrodden,” Rudan explained in February. “They feel like they’re lesser of the two in society as well.
“It happened when I was growing up and it certainly is the case right now, it’s an area that has done it tough. It (an upbringing in the west) is something that sort of stays with you. It makes you stronger and that’s what our people are about.”
Whether from the east or west of Sydney, however, the objective on Saturday is the same: surpass your bitter rivals and move to within touching distance of the Grand Final.
The final make-up of the crowd at CommBank Stadium is a sub-plot to the derby, with Sydney FC’s active support group The Cove announcing a boycott of the finals series due to the APL’s decision to stage the next three seasons of A-Leagues Grand Finals in Sydney.
Talay’s farewell as Phoenix boss
He’s the most successful coach in Wellington Phoenix history – and he has a minimum of one game, and a maximum of four, left to oversee at the helm of the New Zealand-based club.
Ufuk Talay is departing the club after four seasons in charge. It was a tenure that began in 2019, with a foreshadowing statement on arrival: “Football is all about recruitment.”
Talay has since been responsible for bringing the likes of Oskar Zawada, Ulises Davila, David Ball, Gael Sandoval and Reno Piscopo to the league, whilst helping a number of New Zealanders either ascend to, or return to, senior All Whites squads.
Friday night’s clash with the Reds in Adelaide could easily be Talay’s Phoenix farewell. Or, it could be the start of one of the great finals stories, and a dream send-off.
UFUK TALAY: Navigating A-Leagues’ most unique coaching challenge: 5 million people, one club!
FINALS FIXTURES
WEEK ONE
Elimination Final One: Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix
Date: Friday, May 5
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Kick-off: 7:45 PM (AEST) (7:15 PM ACST)
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Elimination Final Two: Western Sydney Wanderers v Sydney FC
Date: Saturday, May 6
Venue: CommBank Stadium
Kick-off: 7:45pm (AEST)
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WEEK TWO – Weekend of Friday May 12-14
Semi Final One – first leg: Lowest ranked Elimination Final winner vs Melbourne City
Date: TBC
Venue: TBC
Kick-off: TBC
Semi Final Two – first leg: Highest ranked Elimination Final winner vs Central Coast Mariners
Date: TBC
Venue: TBC
Kick-off: TBC
WEEK THREE
Semi Final One – second leg: Melbourne City FC v Elimination Final winner
Date: Friday, May 19
Venue: AAMI Park
Kick-off: 7:45pm (AEST)
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Semi Final Two – second leg: Central Coast Mariners v Elimination Final winner
Date: Saturday, May 20
Venue: Industree Group Stadium
Kick-off: 7:45 PM (AEST)
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WEEK FOUR – WEEK OFF
WEEK FIVE
Grand Final: Winner of Semi Final One v Winner of Semi Final Two
Date: Saturday, June 3
Venue: CommBank Stadium
Kick-off: 7:45 PM (AEST)
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WHERE DO I BUY TICKETS?
Tickets for the Elimination Finals went on sale at 12.00pm (local time) on Monday, May 1 for members, and will go on sale at 4.00pm (local time) on Tuesday 2 May for the general public via Ticketek.
Tickets for the Second Leg Semi Finals went on sale at 11.00am (local time) today for members, and will go on sale at 4.00pm (local time) for the general public via Ticketek.
Tickets for the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final at CommBank Stadium went on sale to the general public 1.00pm AEST on Tuesday, May 2 via Ticketek, with a 20% ticket discount for all club members.
