The fairytale story of 2024-25 was not to have a happy ending – but in a season that no one saw coming, Adelaide United will look back with pride at what they’ve achieved, rising from the foot of the Ninja A-League table to the brink of a Grand Final.
Adelaide United are out of the 2025 Ninja A-League Finals series after a 6-2 aggregate Semi-Final defeat to Melbourne Victory. Outclassed by the competition’s in-form side, Adelaide succumbed to a pair of 3-1 losses across the two-legged tie as Victory surged to the 2025 title decider off the back of 15 games unbeaten and 10 wins on the bounce.
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But once the disappointment of Saturday’s Semi-Final second leg defeat to Melbourne Victory subsides, the Adelaide United playing group, staff and fans will take encouragement from a season like no other in the club’s history.
This Adelaide squad, under head coach Adrian Stenta, has painted a vision of a bright future for a club that, just one year ago, seemed a world away from competing for silverware.
Last season, Adelaide won just four games under Stenta and ended the campaign with six consecutive defeats, culminating in an 8-0 thrashing on home soil at the hands of Newcastle Jets.
Adelaide notched a measly 15 points in 2023-24 to finish as the competition’s wooden spooners, nine points adrift of second-bottom Canberra United.
What they managed to accomplish over the next year has been nothing short of miraculous.
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Fourteen regular-season wins and a club-best points haul of 45 saw the 2024-25 Adelaide squad transform from cellar dwellers to title contenders. A mid-season run of 11 games without defeat became the longest unbeaten streak in club history as Adelaide booked their spot in the post-season, having tripled their points tally from the season prior.
Adelaide beat Western United in the Elimination Finals – the club’s first-ever Finals Series win – to set up the two-legged Semi-Final tie with Victory and, although their quest for a Grand Final berth ended in heartbreak, the overwhelming positivity of a season full of club-firsts and record-breaking feats bodes well for the future of a club born again in 2024-25.
“It’s been an amazing turnaround from the girls,” said Adelaide midfielder Dylan Holmes in the wake of Saturday’s Semi-Final loss.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group. It’s a really special team. Hopefully, we can keep the group together in the next few years, and I have no doubt we can achieve something special in the years to come.”
Matildas legend Elise Kellond-Knight summed it up perfectly as part of Network 10’s commentary team for the second leg of the Semi-Finals, as the best season in Adelaide United history drew to a close.
“They had an outstanding season,” Kellond-Knight said. “They completely turned it around. If you’d asked me where I thought Adelaide would finish this season, it’s certainly not at this point.
“The way they approached the season and to have the results they did, the winning streak they had… they’ve got to be proud.
“I think Stenta’s done a phenomenal job in rebuilding the team, the internationals he brought in have been class. A lot of the time, you bring in internationals and you’re unsure how they’ll go, but I think they’ve added a lot to this team.”
