Melbourne Victory FC

Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional association football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory entered the competition in the inaugural season as the only Victorian-based club in the newly revamped domestic Australian league.

Recognised as the second most successful club in the league to date, Victory has won four A-League Championships, three A-League Premierships, one Pre-Season Challenge Cup and two Australia Cups, the only club to have won all four domestic trophies in the modern era of Australian association football. They have also competed in the AFC Champions League on seven occasions, most recently in 2020. Their furthest placement in the tournament was in the 2016 campaign and 2020 campaign, where they were knocked out in the Round of 16 by the eventual champion on both occasions.

The club's home ground is the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship purposes, a 30,050-seat stadium on Olympic Boulevard in Melbourne's city centre. The Victory has previously played its home matches at other stadiums throughout Melbourne and surrounding areas, including Olympic Park Stadium, Docklands Stadium and Kardinia Park.

Although Victory is supported across the whole Melbourne metropolitan area, as well as regional cities in the state, it is based primarily in the city centre. The club has rivalries with Melbourne City (the Melbourne Derby), Sydney (The Big Blue), Adelaide United (The Original Rivalry), and Western United (the Westgate Derby/the Battle of the Bridge). The club's all-time leading goalscorer is Archie Thompson, with 97 goals to his name in all competitions. Leigh Broxham has the record for most matches played, with 405 appearances for the Victory.

Following the demise of the National Soccer League, Australia's first national Association football first tier competition, Melbourne Victory Football Club was unveiled as Melbourne's representative of the newly established A-League, along with seven other foundation clubs on 1 November 2004. Established as an unlisted public company, inaugural chairman Geoff Lord of Belgravia Leisure Pty Ltd was the largest financial backer of the club with support from other Melbourne-based business men consisting of Ron Peck, John Harris, future chief executive officer Richard Wilson, and future chairman Anthony Di Pietro. Despite a diverse range of owners of different industry backgrounds, the consortium managed to raise only $4.5 million of the $5 million budget minimum set by Football Federation Australia, thus resulting in the federation depositing the needed $500,000 to obtain the license with the condition of imposing one board member performing duties in the best interests of the federation to ensure return on investment.

The inaugural manager was Ernie Merrick who had signed his former Sunshine George Cross defender Kevin Muscat to be inaugural captain, alongside marquee Archie Thompson, both of whom would become legends of the club in their own right. The club's first competitive match was against Newcastle Jets on 22 July 2005 in round one of the A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup, finishing in a 1–1 draw in Newcastle. The club's first competitive home game would also prove to be the club's first win on 30 July 2005 in a 3–0 against Perth Glory in the cup's second round at Olympic Park.

The league's inaugural season of 2005–06 proved to be a disappointment in conclusion but also a glimpse into the glory that would follow in 2006–07 and 2008–09 seasons, with the club being first on the ladder mid-season but ultimately finishing second last. Future team of the decade players Danny Allsopp, Leigh Broxham, Archie Thompson, Grant Brebner, Adrian Leijer, Rodrigo Vargas, Michael Theoklitos under captain Kevin Muscat and manager Ernie Merrick would achieve glory in winning its first league premiership and championship in the 2006–07 season, qualifying for its inaugural AFC Champions League. Archie Thompson in A-League history is synonymous with the glory of famously scoring the first five goals in the 6–0 grand final win over Adelaide United in front of a current record crowd for a grand final of 55'436 at Docklands Stadium. The heavy defeat for Adelaide as well as an altercation between Muscat and manager John Kosmina earlier in the season is culturally seen as the beginning of the rivalry, earning the nicknames 'the cross-border rivalry' and 'the original rivalry'.

The 2007–08 season proved to be another disappointment with Victory narrowly missing the finals. Hindered by multiple injuries throughout the season and the inexperience of time & energy management whilst trying to compete in the club's inaugural AFC Champions League campaign of 2008 at full strength, Melbourne narrowly missed the finals but the season did bring long term positives. The acquisition of future team of the decade players Carlos Hernández, Matthew Kemp, and Tom Pondeljak would ensure on-field strength for next three seasons. The 2008–09 season brought more success for the club in achieving its first treble. The last A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup of 2008, finishing top of the ladder as premiers resulting in qualifying a second time in the AFC Champions League for the 2010 campaign, and being crowned champions after defeating Adelaide United a second time in a grand final in front of a crowd of 53,273, which as of January 2019, is still the second largest attendance for an A-League grand final behind the 2007 final. The 2009–10 season saw Victory be serious competitors for first position but would ultimately and narrowly finish behind Sydney FC, whom Victory would lose 2–4 on penalties in the grand final weeks later. It would prove to be the last grand final for manager Ernie Merrick and for Kevin Muscat as captain, with Victory finishing fifth for the 2010–11 season, and losing to Gold Coast in first round of the finals.