The Original Rivalry

The Original Rivalry is a rivalry between South Australian-based club Adelaide United and Victorian-based club Melbourne Victory. It is also referred to as 'The Original Derby'.

The two teams first met in a 2005 Australian Club World Championship Qualifying Tournament match on 7 May 2005 with Adelaide progressing to the next round of qualifying, winning a penalty shootout after the match remained 0–0 after extra time. The teams met again in a friendly match on 26 June 2005 in Bendigo, with the teams finishing 0–0 at full time.

However, a proper rivalry between the two teams did not begin until 2010, when Adelaide United were defeated twice in an A-League Grand Final both in 2007 and 2009. In the 2007 Grand Final in front of a sold-out crowd of 55,436 at the Telstra Dome Victory would defeat Adelaide 6-0 with 5 of the goals scored by Archie Thompson. On top of the scoreline, in the 34th minute, Adelaide captain, Ross Aloisi, was given a second yellow card. During the 2008–09 season, they both finished on the top of the ladder equal on both points and the goal difference. The rivalry between both sets of fans remains very strong, since the majority of the matches get an attendance of at least over 12,500.

in 2009, Melbourne Victory would once again win the Grand Final, claiming a hard-fought 1–0 win in front of 53,273. The match, however, was marred by controversy, as Adelaide United striker, Cristiano, was given a straight red card in the 10th minute. Cristiano was adjudged to have elbowed Rodrigo Vargas whilst contesting an aerial ball. Former Socceroo, Robbie Slater, remarked that he "thought it was a disgraceful decision and the Grand Final was ruined", whilst calling for Football Federation Australia to appoint international referees for the sake of neutrality. The sending off of Danny Allsopp was also controversial, as he was given a straight red for an apparent headbutt during an altercation with Robert Cornthwaite.

Another event that helped start the rivalry was in the 2006-07 season on the field included at the time Adelaide coach John Kosmina and Melbourne Victory Captain Kevin Muscat. The ball rolled out near the Adelaide technical area, Kosmina went to pick up the ball, only to be pushed to the ground by Muscat also trying to retrieve the ball himself. Kosmina responded by getting to his feet and grabbing the Victory captain by the throat. Kosmina was sent off by referee, Matthew Breeze, and was later handed a five game suspension. It’s an incident that has set the tone for what has followed in this fiery fixture.

Following the Grand Final, Victory now had six consecutive wins against Adelaide. During the 2009–10 season, The Reds plummeted down the table, claiming the wooden spoon. Melbourne continued their form, finishing second on the ladder, losing out to Sydney on the final day. Melbourne took a clean sweep of derbies during the season: winning 2–0 in Adelaide, 3–1 at Docklands, and 2–0 at home to momentarily go top of the table. Victory extended their streak to ten consecutive wins in October 2010, coming from behind to win 2–1. Adelaide finally broke Victory's streak with a 4–1 win in Melbourne in January 2011, their first win against them in almost three years, and their equal largest win in the fixture. Adelaide would beat Victory again on the final day to secure third spot, and qualification for the Champions League. The 2011–12 season saw both clubs drop into the bottom half of the ladder.

In March 2021, Adelaide United striker, Kusini Yengi, was subject to racial abuse from some Victory fans online after scoring in their 3–1 win. In January 2022, Melbourne Victory were fined $5,000 after some of their fans directed homophobic abuse at Adelaide United player, Josh Cavallo, during a game earlier that month.

Following the release of the 2023–24 A-League Men fixtures, Adelaide Venue Management, the company that own and operate Coopers Stadium, announced that Melbourne Victory supporters would not be allowed into the ground for the round 20 match, due to the incident in last year's Melbourne Derby, and previous incidents between Adelaide and Victory supporters. They backtracked a few hours later, deleting the announcement and publicly stating that the decision had been reversed. The CEO of AVM, Anthony Kirchner, was stood down three days later, and sacked in late September.