History of Melbourne City FC facts for kids
The history of Melbourne City Football Club tells the story of a soccer team from Melbourne, Australia. It covers how the club started, when it changed owners, and its journey to becoming a successful team.
Melbourne City Football Club began in 2009 as Melbourne Heart. It was a new team joining the A-League Men for the 2010–11 season. In 2014, a big company called the City Football Group bought the club for $12 million. After this, the club's name changed to Melbourne City.
The team won its first major trophy, the 2016 FFA Cup final, in 2016. This was under coach John van 't Schip. Later, in the 2020–21 season, the club won its first league premiership and championship. Melbourne City made history by becoming the first Australian club to win three league premierships in a row. They achieved this in the 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2022–23 seasons.
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How the Club Started
After the old national soccer league ended in 2003, plans were made for a new, exciting competition. Many people wanted two teams from Melbourne to be part of this new league. They thought one team could be in the north-west of the city and another in the south-east. This would help represent the different parts of Melbourne.
However, in 2004, Football Federation Australia (FFA) decided on a "one city, one team" rule. They announced that Melbourne Victory would be the only team from Melbourne in the new league, called the A-League. The FFA also said that no other teams from the original eight A-League cities could join until the 2010–11 season. This gave Melbourne Victory five years to become well-known in Melbourne.
By 2007, discussions began about a second Melbourne club. The idea was for this new team to play at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. This stadium was being built at the time.
Talks about a second Melbourne team grew. On 12 February 2007, South Melbourne FC said they were looking for investors to become the second A-League club in Melbourne. Their bid was called 'Southern Cross FC'.
On 1 March 2008, businessman Colin DeLutis also showed interest in a second Melbourne A-League team. He wanted to be the sole owner of the license, and his bid was named 'Melbourne City'. This is not the same club as the current Melbourne City. The FFA chief executive, Ben Buckley, even suggested expanding the A-League from eight to 12 teams by the 2009–10 season. Buckley also mentioned a third Melbourne bid, known as 'Melbourne Heart', supported by Peter Sidwell.
On 25 July 2008, the 'Melbourne City' bid dropped out. This left 'Melbourne Heart' and 'Southern Cross FC' as the final two bids. By September 2008, the Melbourne Heart bid was chosen to have special talks for the league's 11th license. They beat the Southern Cross FC bid. After more talks, Sidwell's group, Melbourne Heart, was officially given the license on 12 June 2009. They would join the A-League for the 2010–11 season.
First Seasons (2010–2014)
Melbourne Heart played its first game on 5 August 2010, against Central Coast Mariners. They played at their home ground, AAMI Park, and lost 1–0. The club's first goal was an own goal scored by an opponent in their second game. This match was a 1–1 draw against Newcastle Jets. Melbourne Heart's first win was a 1–0 victory over North Queensland Fury on 4 September 2010.
They played their first ever Melbourne Derby against Melbourne Victory on 8 October 2010, and won 2–1. In the middle of their first season, they had a tough time, going seven matches without a win. They also went over five hours without scoring a goal. However, they turned things around by beating Adelaide United 2–1 in the final minutes. Heart finished their first season in eighth place. They missed out on the top six teams that qualified for the finals, even though they were in sixth place for most of the season.
On 7 July 2011, the club announced they would play in the first Hawaiian Islands Invitational in February 2012. This tournament was for young players. Melbourne Heart drew against Busan IPark and lost 0–1 against Colorado Rapids.
Melbourne Heart signed Fred, a former rival player from Melbourne Victory, on 20 June 2011. He became an important player and the team's captain.
On 1 September 2011, Heart also started a youth team. This team would play in the A-League's National Youth League. Former Australian international John Aloisi became the first youth team coach.
In 2012, the Melbourne Heart Futsal team was created. They play in the F-League, which is the top futsal league in Australia.
Melbourne Heart's first game of the 2011–12 A-League season was against Newcastle Jets. They lost 3–2. Heart lost their first two matches but then earned 21 points out of a possible 30, moving them to 3rd place.
After a strong start to the season, Melbourne Heart only won two of their remaining matches. This happened partly because Fred got injured, and other players like Dugandzic, Aziz Behich, and Jason Hoffman went to play for the national youth team. They finished 6th, which was enough to make the finals. This was their best season so far.
Heart's first final was against Perth Glory, where they lost 3–0. On 1 February 2012, Melbourne Heart coach John van't Schip announced he was leaving the club at the end of the season for family reasons.
On 8 May 2012, Melbourne Heart announced that John Aloisi, who coached their youth team, would become the new head coach for three years. During the break between seasons, Heart lost some important young players like Curtis Good, Brendan Hamill, and Eli Babalj. However, they signed new players, including Australian internationals Richard Garcia and Vince Grella, and international players Josip Tadić and Patrick Gerhardt.
Heart started the season with a 2–1 win over their rivals, Melbourne Victory. However, the first half of the season was inconsistent, and the club was near the bottom of the ladder by the end of 2012. This was often because they struggled in the second half of games.
In January, Heart lost two more key players, Michael Marrone and Aziz Behich, who moved to other clubs. Midfielder Vince Grella also retired. But they brought back striker Eli Babalj and signed Dutch midfielder Marcel Meeuwis.
The new year brought more consistent results at home, with four wins in a row. This helped them slowly move up the ladder. However, a series of poor results meant Heart finished 9th out of 10 teams. This was their worst A-League finish ever. Some long-serving Melbourne Heart players, like Clint Bolton, Simon Colosimo, Matt Thompson, and Fred, left the club after the 2012-13 A-League season.
In the 2013–14 season, Melbourne Heart struggled. They didn't win a game until 17 January 2014, which was 15 matches into the season. They only managed six wins all season. A highlight was a big 4-0 win over their derby rivals Melbourne Victory in March 2014. Striker David Williams scored 11 goals that season. Important players Orlando Engelaar and Harry Kewell played limited games due to injuries. Kewell retired from professional football at the end of the season. Melbourne Heart finished the 2013–14 A-League season in 10th place.
New Owners and First Trophy (2014–2019)
On 23 January 2014, it was announced that the City Football Group had bought Melbourne Heart for $12 million. This deal meant CFG owned 80% of Heart, with the other 20% owned by a group of business people connected to the Rugby league club Melbourne Storm. On 5 June 2014, the team brought in Spanish World Cup winner David Villa. He joined 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 started playing in Major League Soccer in 2015.
Villa only played 4 matches, scoring twice, before being called back to New York. Even though the team didn't win any of those matches, coach John van 't Schip said Villa helped bring attention to the new team. It was thought that his presence tripled the number of people attending the club's games.
Ferran Soriano, the chief executive of City Football Group, hoped that working together with Melbourne City FC, New York City FC, and Manchester City FC would create benefits for all clubs. Soriano said that sharing global scouting networks and experience in soccer performance, technical development, and sports science would be very important.
In August 2015, City Football Group bought out the remaining owners to fully own Melbourne City Football Club. The 2015–16 season was City's best league finish at fourth place, and they had the most wins in a season. In the finals, City reached the semi-finals but lost 4–1 to Adelaide United. By the end of the season, Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli scored 28 goals in total. He was the first player to score 20 goals before the finals, which was the most goals ever scored in a Melbourne City season at that time.
In 2016, Melbourne City finally reached a major final. This was the 2016 FFA Cup final against Sydney FC on 30 November 2016. They won 1–0 at home to claim their first club trophy. Tim Cahill scored the only goal with a header, and Bruno Fornaroli won the Mark Viduka Medal. Over 18,751 fans watched the game, making it the most attended Australia Cup match. Head Coach John van 't Schip resigned to return to the Netherlands to care for his sick father. Michael Valkanis became the temporary head coach for the rest of the season. In the end, they finished the league in fourth place again. They lost 2–0 in the elimination-finals to Perth Glory. After this, Tim Cahill won the 2016–17 A-League Goal of the Year for his amazing 35-yard goal in the Melbourne Derby in October 2016.
Englishman Warren Joyce was appointed the new Head Coach for the 2017–18 season. Their FFA Cup defense in 2017 ended with a 2–0 loss to Sydney FC in the quarter-finals. City started their first four league games perfectly, reaching the top of the table. They matched their biggest winning margin by beating Adelaide United 5–0 in January 2018. Sometimes, they had periods without wins, which caused City to drop to second and third place. They finished in their highest position so far, third place, which qualified them for the elimination-finals. They won this match 2–0 against Brisbane Roar. However, they lost the semi-finals 2–1 to the Newcastle Jets, just missing out on their first A-League Grand Final.
Their next season in 2018–19 was not much better. City again finished in the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup and ended the league season in fifth place. During this time, their top goalscorer Bruno Fornaroli left the club in February 2019. He was replaced by new striker Jamie Maclaren and Englishman Shayon Harrison on loan. When they reached the finals, City lost 1–0 in extra time in their elimination-final against Adelaide United due to a late goal in the 119th minute. Joyce's two-year contract was not renewed, and he left the club after the season.
Grand Finals and Three Premierships (2019–Present)
Frenchman Erick Mombaerts became the new head coach for Melbourne City before the 2019–20 season. They reached the 2019 FFA Cup final against Adelaide United but lost 4–0. They had a strong start to the league season, with only one loss in their first seven games, keeping City at the top of the table. After a week off in Round 8, they dropped from first place for the rest of the season. The season was stopped in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. This meant matches were played without fans, and teams had to travel to New South Wales to continue the season. City was unbeaten in their last three games, finishing in second place and qualifying for the semi-finals. After a strong 2–0 win in the semi-finals over new club Western United, City reached their first ever A-League Grand Final. They played at Bankwest Stadium (now CommBank Stadium) against Sydney FC and lost 1–0 in extra time. City finished as runners-up in all three competitions that year.
In the 2020–21 season, City could not play in the 2020 FFA Cup because it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also couldn't play in the 2021 AFC Champions League because Australian clubs pulled out. City started their league season poorly, losing four of their first six games. Despite this, they improved their form with a club record of six wins in a row. This included their biggest ever win, a 6–0 victory in the Melbourne Derby on 6 March 2021. Only one loss followed this winning streak. They then set another club record of ten matches unbeaten. During this run, they set a new biggest win record, beating Melbourne Victory 7–0 on 17 April 2021. The final game of their unbeaten streak was a 1–0 win against the Central Coast Mariners. This win, on 22 May 2021, secured City their first ever A-League premiership with three games still to play.
Even though City had to play their home semi-final in Sydney, they won 2–0 against Macarthur FC. This set up a rematch of the previous Grand Final against Sydney FC. The final was played at a sold-out AAMI Park. City won their first A-League championship by beating Sydney 3–1. Goals were scored by Nathaniel Atkinson, Scott Jamieson, and Scott Galloway.
Their defense of both titles in the 2021–22 season began with City losing on penalties at home to the Wellington Phoenix in the FFA Cup quarter-finals. They didn't let the other team score any goals during their FFA Cup games. The league season started well, with only one loss in their first eight games. However, they had a close competition with Western United for the top spot. Then, a new club record of 11 matches unbeaten helped City hold onto first place. City had a break from the league to play in the AFC Champions League for the first time in Pathum Thani, Thailand. They were unbeaten in their group but finished second and did not qualify as one of the best second-placed teams.
They returned to Australia with two league games left. They lost 2–0 away to Perth Glory, who were at the bottom of the ladder. Their rivals, Melbourne Victory, were two points ahead of City with one match left. City played their final match at home against the Wellington Phoenix. City won the match 2–1, winning the premiership by one point. They became the second A-League Men club to win back-to-back premierships. With the new rule of two games in the semi-finals, City played their two matches against Adelaide United. They won 2–1 on total score, reaching their third Grand Final in a row. They played against local rivals Western United and lost 2–0 in City's third Grand Final.
In the 2022–23 season, City was knocked out of the Australia Cup by the Wellington Phoenix in two straight matches. They then went six matches unbeaten to start the league season before the 2022 FIFA World Cup break. During this break, Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo left the club in November 2022 to join a French club called Troyes. He was replaced by Rado Vidošić, who was the women's team coach at the time. City lost their first game after the break and the new coach's appointment.
The following week, on Monday, 12 December 2022, the APL decided that the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Grand Finals would be held in Sydney. The club agreed with this decision, even though many fans and other clubs were unhappy. That Saturday, during the Melbourne Derby, there were fan protests and a pitch invasion by Victory fans. The match was stopped in the 20th minute. For the rest of the season, City lost only two of their next 19 matches. They claimed a third premiership in a row and were undefeated at home all season. Their two-game semi-final against Sydney FC was won 5–1 on total score. This qualified them for their fourth Grand Final in a row, which was played at CommBank Stadium. They lost 6–1 to the Central Coast Mariners, making it three Grand Final losses in their last four.
