Our stats guru @AndyHowe_statto tells the stat story of this Hyundai A-League Grand Final as well as previous season finales in this bumper data dossier.
Most appearances in Melbourne Victory – Sydney FC A-League games: 27 – Archie Thompson (all Melbourne Victory)
Most goals in Melbourne Victory – Sydney FC A-League games: 14 – Archie Thompson (all Melbourne Victory)
Most goals in a Melbourne Victory – Sydney FC A-League game: 3 – Archie Thompson (13/12/14), Melbourne Victory
Most goalkeeper clean sheets Melbourne Victory – Sydney FC A-League games: 6 – Clint Bolton (all Sydney FC)
FORM GUIDE
Record (against all opponents) at AAMI Park – Melbourne Victory: played 50 – W26-D11-L13
Record (against all opponents) at AAMI Park – Sydney FC: played 11 – W2-D6-L3
Record (against all opponents) in 2014/15 – Melbourne Victory: played 28 – W16-D8-L4
Record (against all opponents) in 2014/15 – Sydney FC: played 28 – W15-D8-L5
Record (against all opponents) in 2014/15 – Melbourne Victory – home: played 15 – W10-D2-L3
Record (against all opponents) in 2014/15 – Sydney FC – away: played 24 – W10-D4-L0
A-LEAGUE FINALS EXPERIENCE
MELBOURNE VICTORY – 7th A-League finals series (equal record)
Series: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015
Best placing: Grand Final winner (twice) 2007, 2009
Players with significant A-League finals experience (all clubs): Archie Thompson (14 finals games), Mark Milligan (11), Leigh Broxham (9), Besart Berisha (8)
A-League finals experience of coach Kevin Muscat: 3 games (W2-D0-L1)
SYDNEY FC – 7th A-League finals series (equal record)
Series: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015
Best placing: Grand Final winner (twice) 2006, 2010
Players with significant A-League finals experience (all clubs): Bernie Ibini (10 finals games), Shane Smeltz (10), Alex Brosque (9), Sebastian Ryall (9)
A-League finals experience of coach Graham Arnold: 10 games (W4-D3-L3)
GRAND FINAL EXPERIENCE – Melbourne Victory players
Kosta Barbarouses (1 Grand Final, 1 win)
2011 Brisbane Roar (D2–2, WOP v Central Coast) at Suncorp
Besart Berisha (2 Grand Finals, 2 wins)
2012 Brisbane Roar (W2–1 v Perth Glory) at Suncorp (2 goals)
2014 Brisbane Roar (W2–1 v Western Sydney) at Suncorp (1 goal)
Leigh Broxham (2 Grand Finals, 1 win)
2007 Melbourne Victory (W6–0 v Adelaide Utd) at Etihad (sub)
2010 Melbourne Victory (D1–1, LOP v Sydney FC) at Etihad
Archie Thompson (3 Grand Finals, 2 wins)
2007 Melbourne Victory (W6–0 v Adelaide Utd) at Etihad (5 goals)
2009 Melbourne Victory (W1–0 v Adelaide Utd) at Etihad
2010 Melbourne Victory (D1–1, LOP v Sydney FC) at Etihad
GRAND FINAL EXPERIENCE – Sydney FC players
Alex Brosque (1 Grand Final, 1 win)
2010 Sydney FC (D1-1, WOP v Melbourne Victory) at Etihad
Bernie Ibini (2 Grand Finals, 1 win)
2011 Central Coast (D2–2, LOP v Brisbane Roar) at Suncorp (sub)
2013 Central Coast (W2–0 v Western Sydney) at Allianz
Sebastian Ryall (2 Grand Finals, 2 wins)
2009 Melbourne Victory (W1–0 v Adelaide United) at Etihad
2010 Sydney FC (D1–1, WOP v Melbourne Victory) at Etihad
Shane Smeltz (1 Grand Final, 0 wins)
2012 Perth Glory (L1–2 v Brisbane Roar) at Suncorp
STAT ATTACK – Australian national league Grand Finals
Number of Grand Finals: 30
Number of Grand Final goals: 75
Number of drawn Grand Finals: 6
Most goals in a Grand Final match: 6 (Perth Glory 3-3 Wollongong Wolves 2000, Melbourne Victory 6-0 Adelaide United 2007)
Highest winning Grand Final margin: 6 goals (Melbourne Victory W6-0 v Adelaide United 2007)
Most Grand Final goals (club): 11 South Melbourne
Most appearances in Grand Finals (club): 6 Sydney Olympic
Most Grand Final victories (club): 4 South Melbourne
Most Grand Final appearances (player): 7 Damian Mori, Tom Pondeljak,
Most Grand Final victories (player): 5 Michael Theo
Most Grand Final goals (player): 5 Archie Thompson
Most goals in a Grand Final match (player): 5 Archie Thompson (for Melbourne Victory W6-0 v Adelaide United 2007)
Time of quickest Grand Final goal: 5th minute Mark Koussas (for Sydney Olympic L1-2 v South Melbourne 1984 first leg)
Age of youngest Grand Final player: 16y 293d, Jason Culina (for Sydney United L0-2 v Brisbane Strikers 1997)
Age of oldest Grand Final player: 38y 325d, Ante Covic (for Western Sydney L1-2 v Brisbane Roar 2014)
Age of youngest Grand Final winner: 17y 51d, Ufuk Talay (for Marconi W1-0 v Adelaide City 1993)
Age of oldest Grand Final winner: 38y 94d, Patrick Zwaanswijk (for Central Coast Mariners W2-0 v Western Sydney 2013)
Age of youngest Grand Final goal scorer: 19y 119d, Ljubo Milicevic (for Perth Glory D3-3 v Wollongong Wolves 2000)
Age of oldest Grand Final goal scorer: 38y 94d, Patrick Zwaanswijk (for Central Coast Mariners W2-0 v Western Sydney 2013)
Average age of youngest starting Grand Final team: 23.1 years (Sydney Olympic L0-1 v Marconi 1989)
Average age of oldest starting Grand Final team: 30.0 years (Adelaide United L0-1 v Melbourne Victory 2009)
Average age of youngest winning starting Grand Final team: 23.4 years (Melbourne Knights W2-0 v Adelaide City 1995)
Average age of oldest winning starting Grand Final team: 30.0 years (Brisbane Roar W2-1 v Western Sydney 2014)
Grand Final red cards (10): Murray Barnes (Sydney City 1985 first leg), Marshall Soper (Sydney Olympic 1986 second leg), Ivan Petkovic (Sydney Croatia 1988), Gerry Gomez (Marconi 1988), Matteo Colucci (Marconi 1989), Ross Aloisi (Adelaide United 2007), Danny Vukovic (Central Coast Mariners 2008), Cristiano (Adelaide United 2009), Danny Allsopp (Melbourne Victory 2009), Dean Heffernan (Perth Glory 2012)
Most Grand Finals (coach): 5 Zoran Matic
Most Grand Final victories (coach): 4 Ange Postecoglou
HYUNDAI A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL DETAILS
2006 – Sydney FC 1 (Corica 62′) Central Coast Mariners 0 at Allianz Stadium. Crowd: 41,689.
Sydney: Clint Bolton, Jacob Timpano (Ruben Zadkovich 81′), Mark Rudan (Iain Fyfe 72′), Alvin Ceccoli, Matthew Bingley, David Carney, Andrew Packer, Steve Corica, Terry McFlynn, Sasho Petrovski (Robert Middleby 90′), Dwight Yorke.
Central Coast: Danny Vukovic, Alex Wilkinson (Paul O’Grady 84′), Michael Beauchamp, Dean Heffernan, Damien Brown (Matthew Osman 68′), Noel Spencer, Andrew Clark, Wayne O’Sullivan, Andre Gumprecht, Tom Pondeljak, Stewart Petrie (Adam Kwasnik 73′).
2007 – Melbourne Victory 6 (Thompson 20′, 29′, 39′, 56′, 72′, Sarkies 93′) Adelaide United 0 at Etihad Stadium. Crowd: 55,436.
Melbourne: Michael Theo, Kevin Muscat, Rodrigo Vargas, Simon Storey, Adrian Leijer, Grant Brebner (Leigh Broxham 59′), Steve Pantelidis, Adrian Caceres (James Robinson 62′), Daniel Allsopp, Fred, Archie Thompson.
Adelaide: Daniel Beltrame, Richie Alagich (Jason Spagnuolo 70′), Angelo Costanzo, Michael Valkanis, Ross Aloisi (sent off 34′), Carl Veart, Diego, Fernando (Bruce Djite 59′), Greg Owens (Aaron Goulding 46′), Travis Dodd, Nathan Burns.
2008 – Central Coast Mariners 0 Newcastle Jets 1 (Bridge 64′) at Allianz Stadium. Crowd: 36,354.
Central Coast: Danny Vukovic, Alvin Ceccoli, Alex Wilkinson, Nigel Boogaard, Tony Vidmar (Matt Simon 75′), Mile Jedinak, John Hutchinson, Greg Owens (Tom Pondeljak 69′), Sasho Petrovski, Adam Kwasnik (Andre Gumprecht 69′), John Aloisi.
Newcastle: Ante Covic, Jade North, Adam Griffiths, Andrew Durante, Matt Thompson (Jason Hoffman 76′), Adam D’Apuzzo, Tarek Elrich, Stuart Musialik, Jin-Hyung Song (Denni Dos Santos 93′), Joel Griffiths, Mark Bridge (James Holland 73′).
2009 – Melbourne Victory 1 (Pondeljak 60′) Adelaide United 0 at Etihad Stadium. Crowd: 53,273.
Melbourne: Michael Theo, Kevin Muscat, Rodrigo Vargas, Sebastian Ryall, Matthew Kemp, Billy Celeski, Carlos Hernandez, Tom Pondeljak (Grant Brebner 83′), Nick Ward (Evan Berger 56′), Danny Allsopp, Archie Thompson.
Adelaide: Eugene Galekovic, Sasa Ognenovski, Daniel Mullen, Robert Cornthwaite, Jonas Salley, Fabian Barbiero, Scott Jamieson (Cassio 73′), Travis Dodd, Lucas Pantelis (Paul Agostino 63′), Paul Reid, Cristiano.
2010 – Melbourne Victory 1 (Leijer 82′) Sydney FC 1 (Bridge 63′) AET Sydney FC win 4-2 on penalties at Etihad. Crowd: 44,560.
Melbourne: Mitchell Langerak, Kevin Muscat, Surat Sukha (Evan Berger 71’), Leigh Broxham, Grant Brebner, Archie Thompson (Marvin Angulo 16′), Rodrigo Vargas, Carlos Hernandez, Robbie Kruse, Nick Ward (Aziz Behich 76’), Adrian Leijer.
Sydney: Clint Bolton, Sebastian Ryall, Stephan Keller, Simon Colosimo, Karol Kisel, Stuart Musialik (Hayden Foxe 106’), Alex Brosque (Joe Gibbs 116’), Terry McFlynn, Chris Payne (Shannon Cole 75′), Mark Bridge, Sung-Hwan Byun.
2011 – Brisbane Roar 2 (Henrique 117′, Paartalu 120′) Central Coast Mariners 2 (Kwasnik 96′, Bozanic 102′) AET
Brisbane Roar win 4-2 on penalties at Suncorp Stadium. Crowd: 50,168.
Brisbane: Michael Theo, Shane Stefanutto, Ivan Franjic, Milan Susak (Rocky Visconte 102′), Matt Smith, Matt McKay, Erik Paartalu, Thomas Broich, Mitch Nichols (Massimo Murdocca 82′), Kosta Barbarouses (Henrique Silva 71′), Jean-Carlo Solorzano.
Central Coast: Mathew Ryan, Patrick Zwaanswijk, Alex Wilkinson, Predrag Bojic, Rostyn Griffiths (Bernie Ibini 89′), Joshua Rose, Oliver Bozanic, Michael McGlinchey, Mustafa Amini (John Hutchinson 61′), Adam Kwasnik, Matt Simon (Daniel McBreen 72′).
2012 – Brisbane Roar 2 (Berisha 83′, 95’pen) Perth Glory 1 (own goal 52′) at Suncorp Stadium. Crowd: 50,334.
Brisbane: Michael Theo, Mohamed Adnan, Shane Stefanutto, Ivan Franjic, Matt Smith, Massimo Murdocca (Luke Brattan 65′), Erik Paartalu (Nick Fitzgerald 65′), Thomas Broich, Mitch Nichols, Henrique (James Meyer 74′), Besart Berisha.
Perth: Danny Vukovic, Bas Van Den Brink, Todd Howarth, Dean Heffernan, Joshua Risdon, Liam Miller, Travis Dodd (Scott Neville 76′), Steve Pantelidis, Jacob Burns, Shane Smeltz (Steven McGarry 80′), Billy Mehmet.
2013 – Western Sydney Wanderers 0 Central Coast Mariners 2 (Zwaanswijk 44′, McBreen 68’pen) at Allianz. Crowd: 42,102.
Western Sydney: Ante Covic, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Shannon Cole, Michael Beauchamp, Jerome Polenz (Rocky Visconte 76′), Mateo Poljak, Shinji Ono, Aaron Mooy, Mark Bridge, Dino Kresinger (Labinot Haliti 67′), Kwabena Appiah-Kubi (Tarek Elrich 72′).
Central Coast: Mathew Ryan, Trent Sainsbury, Joshua Rose, Pedj Bojic, Patrick Zwaanswijk, John Hutchinson, Oliver Bozanic, Michael McGlinchey (Nick Fitzgerald 88′), Mile Sterjovski (Mitchell Duke 73′), Daniel McBreen, Bernie Ibini.
2014 – Brisbane Roar 2 (Berisha 86’, Henrique 108′) Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Spiranovic 56′) AET at Suncorp. Crowd: 51,153.
Brisbane: Michael Theo, Shane Stefanutto, Matt Smith, Ivan Franjic, Jade North, Luke Brattan (James Donachie 92’), Thomas Broich, Liam Miller (Steven Lustica 74’), Matt McKay, Dimitri Petratos (Henrique 69’), Besart Berisha.
Western Sydney: Ante Covic, Adam D’Apuzzo, Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Aaron Mooy 66’), Matthew Spiranovic, Jerome Polenz, Mateo Poljak, Iacopo La Rocca, Youssouf Hersi, Shinji Ono (Labinot Haliti 83’), Mark Bridge, Brendon Santalab (Tomi Juric 72’).
