Beginning (2004–2005) in 2007 with the
A-League championship trophy, who would lead Melbourne to success as a captain and later manager. 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.
Merrick Era and early glory (2005–2011) final. 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.
Exit Lord, enter Di Pietro, and the rebuild (2011–2013) speaking at a Victory in Business Luncheon at the
Crown Paladium ballroom. The conclusion of the
2010–11 A-League season saw inaugural president
Geoff Lord resign from the club, hailing from the success of two championships, two premierships and the last pre-season challenge cup. Fruit and vegetable heavyweight and shareholder
Anthony Di Pietro became the second president in the club's history, hired internally after being an inaugural director alongside Lord from the beginning. Di Pietro was also an occasional stand-in president when Lord was unable to perform duties due to illness on multiple occasions in 2011, making his first public speech ever being stand in chairman at the time during a Victory in Business luncheon at the Crown Palladium Ballroom. Along with the resignation of Lord, inaugural chief executive officer Geoff Miles also resigned from the club, with mortgage firm businessman, shareholder and inaugural director
Richard Wilson being hired internally prior to the 2011–12 season alongside Di Pietro.
Ernie Merrick would depart as coach after Di Pietro & Wilson quickly sacked Merrick following multiple missed targets both on & off the field, with the 5–1 loss to
Gamba Osaka in the
2011 AFC Champions League campaign being the last straw. Merrick would be replaced by
Mehmet Duraković and later
Jim Magilton for the
2011–12 season. Kevin Muscat had announced during the respective season that he would retire as a player, and immediately became an assistant coach replacing Aaron Healy. Along with Merrick & Healy's departures would be inaugural director of football
Gary Cole, and would be replaced by former team
South Melbourne and
Socceroo teammate,
Francis Awaritefe. The two new-coming executives famously won the race against
Sydney FC and other clubs world-wide to sign
Socceroos hero
Harry Kewell to the club, being declared at the time 'the biggest signing in the history of Australian sport' at the time. With much anticipation for the lead up to the
2011–12 A-League season, the season proved to be a disappointment in missing the finals for the time third in the club's history. Multiple aged players, a less experienced revamped coaching team led by
Mehmet Durakovic who was promoted by default that would later be replaced mid-season by
Jim Magilton, and a high maintenance
Harry Kewell all contributed to the team falling short on multiple match day results. Late in the season, Magilton would sign future team of the decade players
Mark Milligan and
Adama Traoré. Durakovic's unsung legacy on the club would be the signing of then nineteen year-old
Lawrence Thomas, who would later win multiple championships with the club under
Kevin Muscat. Despite the disappointment, the lessons were learned and the club would have its most improved season to date as of 2019, finishing third in the
2012–13 season from eighth in the season prior, narrowly losing the preliminary final to premiers and eventual champions
Central Coast Mariners 0–1. The season started with a major sense of optimism by signing by multiple
Brisbane Roar and
National Soccer League premiership and championship-winning coach
Ange Postecoglou on a three-year deal, revamping the playing squad with the departure of fourteen players and the signings of fifteen players, including
Gui Finkler and
Nathan Coe who would achieve multiple club and personal accolades respectively in their own rite in the years to come.
Coaching Disruptions (2013–14 season) Prior to the season, coach
Ange Postecoglou had just begun the second year of his three-year contract with the club, but had also been cited as a possible replacement for departing
Australian national team coach
Holger Osieck, in the lead-up to the
2014 FIFA World Cup. This possibility became a reality the day before the round three clash against Postecoglou's former club
Brisbane Roar on 25 October, which was his last match in charge. Victory were denied a compensation claim of one million Australian dollars for the early departure.
Muscat era and glory again (2013–2019) alongside
Kevin Muscat at
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in October 2013 The era of
Kevin Muscat becoming the first former player and captain to become manager began sooner than anticipated, but it would be an era that would restore the former early glory of Australia's biggest
association football club. The era officially began following the untimely departure of
Ange Postecoglou in round four of the
2013–14 season on 4 November 2013, in a 3–2 home victory over
Wellington Phoenix at
Docklands Stadium. Future grand final winners
James Troisi,
Kosta Barbarouses and
Rashid Mahazi were signed to the club and would help strengthen the playing squad in the years to come. Muscat's first season would end in both heartbreak and controversy as Victory were denied obvious penalty decisions in the last minutes of both the
A-League finals clash against
Brisbane Roar, and in the last group stage clash against
Jeonbuk in the
2014 AFC Champions League, when in both games one extra goal was needed to win. Both controversial moments occurred only days in between each other, resulting in Muscat heavily criticizing referees in general. The
2014–15 season saw a major recruiting drive in the signings of
Besart Berisha,
Carl Valeri,
Daniel Georgievski,
Fahid Ben Khalfallah and
Mathieu Delpierre, who would all go onto achieve multiple personal and club accolades respectively. Late in the season on 28 March 2015, the club announced its team of the decade at the
Crown palladium ballroom with five of the announced players still contracted to victory at the time, with then coach
Kevin Muscat also being listed. This time of the season also saw captaincy of the club change with
Adrian Leijer departing the Victory for
Chinese Super League club
Chongqing Lifan on an undisclosed transfer for a major salary increase, with teammate
Mark Milligan becoming interim captain for the remainder of the season. After a six-year wait, Victory would finish first on the ladder and would later defeat
Sydney FC 3–0 in
the grand final. Team of the decade substitute goalkeeper
Nathan Coe, who would miss the grand final due to injury announced his retirement shortly after the achievement. The next two seasons were of mixed results, but the squad would remain competitive and be rewarded. The
2015–16 season was of mixed results in the
A-League, but the squad would win the
2015 FFA Cup, and for the first time in the club's history, would progress to the round of sixteen in the
Asian Champions League. Captain and marquee
Mark Milligan departed the club during the preseason and was replaced by
2014 World Cup teammate
Oliver Bozanic, with
Carl Valeri given the captaincy role. Defender
Thomas Deng would be promoted from
the youth squad and feature occasionally throughout the season. Veterans
Mathieu Delpierre and
Archie Thompson retired at the season's conclusion and Deng would be loaned to
Jong PSV, but the season would be mostly remembered for newly promoted captain
Carl Valeri contracting a
brain inflammation in December 2015, but would later return in the finals. The
2016–17 season saw an improvement in results in the A-League, with the squad finishing second on the ladder, ultimately losing in what was a demoralising defeat in
the grand final to their superior rivals and premiers
Sydney FC, making both clubs equal in premierships and championships. The season saw the returns of
James Troisi and team of the decade winger
Marco Rojas. Defender
James Donachie joined from
Brisbane Roar, and
the club's youth squad would promote
Christian Theoharous and
Stefan Nigro. The
2017–18 season ended in glory but would see multiple difficulties in the lead up to the finals. In the preseason, 2017 grand final
Johnny Warren medalist Daniel Georgievski departed the club willfully, with
Marco Rojas and
Nick Ansell both being sold.
Rhys Williams and
Leroy George signed in the preseason and would prove to be crucial players. With mixed results throughout the season, coach
Kevin Muscat was criticised for his 'stale' game plan. Mid-season, captain
Mark Milligan and defender
Jason Geria would both be sold, and
Terry Antonis would join the club on a two-and-a-half-year deal. Despite pressure, the squad gained form towards the end of the season despite losing to premiers
Sydney FC away at
Sydney Football Stadium in the last round and finished fourth. Victory would beat
Adelaide United in the elimination final 2–1, led by future coach
Marco Kurz at
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, to then face
Sydney FC in the semi-final away. In the lead up to the clash, Sydney captain
Alex Brosque told the
Sydney Morning Herald when asked regarding the reverse fixture with victory that "I know they'll be thinking about it as much as they'll try to forget about it." also stating that "It gives us a lot of confidence and psychologically I'm sure it will be playing on their minds,". In the warm up of the game, crucial defender
Rhys Williams suffered an ankle injury that would rule him out of the game and the grand final if Victory would win. The Victory as underdogs would beat Sydney 3–2 in extra time, with victory physically scoring all five goals, with own goals by
Stefan Nigro and
Terry Antonis. Despite the unfortunate error, Nigro's efforts in the match being a late replacement for the injured Williams would secure him a start in the
grand final. Antonis, a former youth product and five seasoned player of Sydney, conceded the own goal in the last minute of regular time to bring the score to 2–2, leading to extra time. In the 117th minute, loanee teammate
Kenny Athiu would pass the ball to Antonis, surviving three tackle attempts in running from the centre line to within Sydney's eighteen yard box to score the winning goal, in what would later be recognised as the club's 2017–18 goal of the season. Victory would travel to
Newcastle to face second placed
Newcastle Jets, led by former and inaugural Victory manager
Ernie Merrick. It would be the A-League's first ever regional grand final as well as one manager versing his former player as a manager in a grand final, and would be remembered for its controversy. Victory scored the earliest ever goal in a grand final from a
Leroy George free kick that would be headed into the centre of the eighteen yard box by
James Donachie then scored by
Kosta Barbarouses in the ninth minute. Replays had shown that Donachie was offside upon George kicking the ball, but with the views of the linesman deceived by a Newcastle defender, the goal was allowed to stand as the
video assistant referee had temporarily failed. Victory would win 1–0 against a ten men Newcastle after striker
Roy O'Donovan desperately attempted to volley a high altitude ball from a free kick that infamously resulted in goalkeeper
Lawrence Thomas being kicked in the face causing an altercation to follow. The achievement made Victory leaders in the number of championships won by an A-League club, as well as being the first team to win a grand final after finishing fourth place in the regular season, the lowest ladder position. Weeks later, six grand final players departed the club, including
Besart Berisha being sold for an undisclosed fee to
Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Despite the unexpected grand final achievement, Muscat would commence a recruiting drive that would see eight players join preseason, including
2018 World Cup players and
Keisuke Honda and
Ola Toivonen. Mid-season transfers saw the undisclosed sale of
Nick Ansell, and the recruitment of
Elvis Kamsoba and
Anthony Lesiotis, this first ever former
Melbourne City player to represent Victory. Despite being more competitive than the season prior considering that Honda was sidelined more over a third of the season with injury, it would ultimately end in disappointment. The squad would finish third by one point behind the second placed and eventual champions
Sydney FC, meaning that Victory would not receive direct entrance into the group stage of the
2020 AFC Champions League, but would have to enter a play-off first. The true realization of the disappointment in finishing third would be realised in the semi-final against Sydney away, who would exact revenge for their 2017–18 semi final upset in which Victory were defeated 1–6 away. Despite having one more season on his contract, Muscat resigned from the club weeks later for personal reasons, closing a fourteen-year stint at the club as a player, captain, assistant manager, and head coach.
Post-Muscat era (2019–2021) Following Muscat's early departure, the Melbourne Victory board interviewed multiple foreign and local coaches for the senior role. It was announced in late June 2019 that former
Adelaide United coach
Marco Kurz was signed on a two-year deal. During the recruitment process, nine players departed the club, including the retirement of captain
Carl Valeri who would become an office administrator for the club. Eight senior players were signed including the return of team of the decade defender
Adama Traoré, and the
youth academy had promoted defensive players
Benjamin Carrigan and
Brandon Lauton. In early October, weeks before the first round of the
2019–20 season,
Ola Toivonen was appointed captain. In January 2020, after just 6 months in the role Kurz was dismissed by the club. Kurz left having managed the Victory for just thirteen competitive matches, for four wins, three draws and six losses. The six defeats were the most losses the Victory had suffered after thirteen games of a season. At the time of his dismissal, the Victory were sixth on the league ladder with fifteen points, their equal lowest points tally after thirteen games alongside the
2007–08 and
2011–12 seasons. Assistant coach
Carlos Pérez Salvachúa was appointed as caretaker manager of the Victory until the conclusion of the season. However, on 30 May 2020, with 5 regular season A-League matches remaining in Melbourne Victory's season, Salvachúa departed the club to return to Europe to be closer to his family. Assistant coach and former player
Grant Brebner was appointed as the Victory's caretaker manager for the remainder of the season; he was later appointed promoted to permanent manager on 24 August 2020. Brebner's tenure as Melbourne Victory manager coincided with the worst run of results in Melbourne Victory's history. He was sacked as head coach shortly after Victory's 7–0 loss to local rivals
Melbourne City in April 2021, a result which came only a month and a half after losing 6–0 to the same team. On 19 April 2021, Victory assistant coach
Steve Kean was appointed as interim coach for the remainder of the
2020–21 A-League season as Victory plummeted to 12th place, becoming the first ever A-League side to finish 12th and Victory won their first ever wooden spoon.
Popovic era (2021–2024) On 22 April 2021, the Victory announced that
Tony Popovic will take over as the club's manager from the beginning of the 2021–22 season. On 5 February 2022, the Victory defeated the
Central Coast Mariners 2–1 at AAMI Park to win the
2021 FFA Cup, achieving Popovic's first trophy as manager of the club, as well as the Victory's second FFA Cup title. This was the last edition of the competition under the FFA Cup name; from 2022, the competition will be known as the Australia Cup. In the lead up to the
2022–23 A-League Men season, the club announced the signing of former
Manchester United and
Portugal national team great
Nani on Tuesday 12 July 2022, on a two-year contract, and was allocated the number seventeen jersey. On the following Friday 15 July 2022, the club played against
Manchester United at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground, as participant in United's 2022 pre-season tour of
East Asia. Nani made his unofficial debut as substitute in front of the 74,157 spectators present, with the match finishing in 1–4 loss. In the lead up to the opening 2022–23 A-League round, commentator
Michael Zappone stated that 'for me, they're
Melbourne Victory the favourites to win the title this season.' ' A-League Grand Final hosting rights decision during the
40th Melbourne Derby Following the World Cup break, on 12 December 2022, preceding the Christmas Melbourne Derby fixture, the
Australian Professional Leagues announced an agreement with
Destination NSW that would see the 2023, 2024, and 2025 A-League Men Grand Finals hosted in
Sydney, as opposed to the traditional format of being hosted by the finalist that finished higher during the regular season. This announcement was met with widespread opposition from fans. A 20th minute walkout was staged by the former active groups of both clubs, Original Style Melbourne and City Terrace. In the 20th minute, the match was suspended by referee Alex King as flares were thrown onto both sides of the pitch. Tom Glover threw one of a flare back into the crowd of Victory supporters, sparking a pitch invasion where Glover was struck with a metal bucket. Security, a Channel 10 Cameraman, and referee Alex King were also subject to the violence. The pitch invasion forced the Derby's abandonment in the 22nd minute (score being 1–0 to City) due to concerns with player safety. On 18 December 2022, Football Australia issued Melbourne Victory with a show cause notice, for the club to show cause on why they should not face serious sanctions for bringing the game into disrepute. On 23 December 2022, Football Australia imposed interim sanctions on Melbourne Victory while the show cause process was worked through. These sanctions included: • No tickets sold in respect to Home matches. • Home and away active bays will be closed. On 9 January 2023, following interim sanctions by FA which restricted active support, purchase of tickets to the general public and total North end blockage with tarps, the FA handed down the final sanctions to Melbourne Victory for the events at the Christmas Derby, after Melbourne Victory's show cause response was considered. Football Australia found that Melbourne Victory FC brought the game into disrepute. Sanctions include: • A total financial sanction of $550,000 AUD • No organised seating for away fans for the remainder of the season and finals series. • No organised home active support for the remainder of the season and finals series. • A suspended 10 point deduction triggered if fan behaviour results in the suspension of a game, ending at the conclusion of 2025/26 A-League season. In response to the show cause determination by FA, the Club stated that they would not appeal the decision and separately stated that they were ‘committed to the disbandment of any A-League Men's active supporter groups that were recognised at the time of the incident’. The Christmas Derby was resumed on Wednesday 5 April 2023 at the 21st minute, with the game ending 2–1 in favour of Melbourne City. 777Partners invested into Melbourne Victory FC in October 2022. In early February, Melbourne Victory's board approved 777Partners’ purchase of 70% of the club for 5 years. The first half of Melbourne Victory's 2022–23 season was the worst in the club's history. They would only pick up 12 points in 14 matches and were at the bottom of the ladder. Consequently, the Club looked to improve the squad in the January transfer window, signing Bruce Kamau, Damien Da Silva, Connor Chapman, Fernando Romero, the permanent signing of Bruno Fornaroli, and resignings of William Wilson, Matthew Bozinovski, and Ben Folami. On 23 April 2023, Michael Zappone revealed that the Melbourne Victory board had supposedly chosen not to activate a second season clause in
Luis Nani's contract, meaning that the marquee player who suffered a partial ACL tear would not return to the club in season 2023–24. However, head coach
Tony Popovic stated that a decision has not been made on Nani's future. Melbourne Victory completed the 2022–23 A-League Men's season with a 1–0 home loss to eventual 8th place Brisbane Roar, narrowly missing out on the wooden spoon which was avoided through a 94th-minute winner by
Lleyton Brooks in the previous game against eventual wooden spooners and reigning Australia Cup winners
Macarthur FC. Melbourne Victory finished the regular season in 11th place, condemning the club to a third bottom two finish in four years and another Australia Cup qualifier. On 3 May 2023, the club hosted its annual Victory Medal. Former Melbourne City striker
Bruno Fornaroli won the Player's Player of the Year and the TAC Golden Boot. Mid season
Ligue 1 import
Damien Da Silva won the prestigious Victory Medal, only playing 12 games in the season, a club record.
Matthew Bozinovski won the Young Player of the Year award. On 4 May 2023, following the conclusion of the 2022–23 A-League Men's season, Melbourne Victory announced the departure of first year signings
Tomi Juric and '
Kadete', as well as the release of youngster
Lleyton Brooks and keeper
Matt Acton, who had been at the club for seven years. This would add to the departures of
Noah Smith,
Jay Barnett,
Matthew Spiranovic, and
Nick D'Agostino who all departed the club during the season. On 4 May 2023, almost 5 hours after the departure of four Victory players were announced, the Club confirmed that
Fabrizio Cammarata,
Luciano Trani and Goalkeeper Coach,
Peter Zois would not continue with the senior men's side in the 2023–24 season. The group of coaches were appointed by Tony Popovic when he joined the Club at the start of the 2021–22 season. Main Melbourne Victory fan podcast
For Vucks Sake stated that, in their opinion, the 2022–23 A-League Men's season was 'the worst in the club's history'. Victory's 2023–24 season was much more successful, finishing third overall on the ladder with 10 wins and 12 draws. After beating Melbourne City in the Elimination Finals on penalties, the team then advanced to the semi-final, beating Wellington Phoenix 2–1 on aggregate, advancing to the Grand Final. With a 3–1 loss to the Central Coast Mariners, Victory finished the season as runners-up. Following the defeat in the 2024 Grand Final, Popovic was set to accept a pay cut to remain at Melbourne Victory, in light of a contract standoff where Popovic ultimately lost out on the
Hajduk Split job he was closely linked to. However, it is rumored he became furious upon discovering John Didulica, who initially lured Popovic to Victory, had been courting the services of Melbourne City legend
Patrick Kisnorbo, since May, catalysing his departure from the club.
Post-Popovic era (2024–present) Patrick Kisnorbo was officially appointed Melbourne Victory head coach on 25 June 2024, on a 3-year deal until the conclusion of the 2026/27 A-League Men's Season. Melbourne Victory released a number of players prior to the appointment of Kisnorbo, including Salim Khelifi, Chris Ikonomidis, Stefan Nigro, Eli Adams, Ahmad Taleb and former Johnny Warren Medalist and Victory Medalist Jake Brimmer. Dual Victory Medalist Damien Da Silva, Connor Chapman, Roly Bonevacia, Ben Folami and Matt Bozinovski shortly followed. Paul Izzo was signed by Danish side Randers. Leigh Broxham retired. Victory followed by signing Josh Rawlins, Reno Piscopo, Jack Duncan, Jing Reec, Brendan Hamill and Real Madrid product Nikos Vergos, who is estimated to be earning 600k AUD per year on his 2-year deal. They also secured the signing of Australian international goalkeeper Mitch Langerak, who would join the club in January 2025 once his contract with Nagoya Grampus ended. Alex Menelaou, Daniel Graskoski and Luka Kolic were elevated to the first team. The Kisnorbo era began with early success, going undefeated in all preseason matches and up to the
Australia Cup final. Controversially, Kisnorbo completely dropped
Daniel Arzani from the squad on the day of the final, stating "it was a selection decision" and not the result of a fallout with the player. However, it is rumoured that Arzani was
dropped following a bust-up with Kisnorbo at training. Reportedly, the winger expressed his frustration in front of the whole squad, due to being offered to other clubs in the preseason transfer window. Ultimately, Melbourne Victory suffered a 1–0 loss to Macarthur in the final of the Australia Cup, condemning them to their second major final loss in the same year. Kisnorbo began the season with a nil-all draw against
Central Coast Mariners and then following it up with three wins before getting his first loss of the season during
Unite Round against
Wellington Phoenix. Kisnorbo would go on to win two more matches making victory place second in the league at that point before shockingly departing the club early on 17 December 2024. Kisnorbo left to become
Yokohama F. Marinos as an assistant coach. Victory's fans weren't happy about Kisnorbo leaving right before Victory were going to play
Melbourne City in the
Melbourne Derby. In response to his departure Victory's main fan podcast
For Vucks Sake made an emergency podcast stating there anger toward patrick Kisnorbo. Melbourne Victory's leadership was "disappointed" by Kisnorbo's departure and would be replaced by assistant coach
Arthur Diles. In the aftermath of Patrick Kisnorbo's departure, Melbourne Victory's leadership acted quick in appointing
Arthur Diles as an
interim manager of the club. Diles managed his first match against
Melbourne City on 21 December 2024. Diles would fail to get his first win for 6 games until he got his first win against
Sydney FC in the
Big Blue, beating them 2–0. After the win Diles was announced as Head Coach of the Victory team until the end of the 2025/26 Season.
Lachlan Jackson and
Alex Badolato was signed by the club and
Kasey Bos and
Jordi Valadon signed contract extensions. On 13 March 2025, Melbourne Victory would announce that they had reached an agreement with
Brighton & Hove Albion owner
Tony Bloom to purchase a 19.1% stake in the club, with an ability to increase his ownership over time. Diles would finish the
2024–25 A-League Men regular season placed 5th, qualifying Victory to the
Finals series. The first game of the finals would bring Diles' side against the
Western Sydney Wanderers in the
elimination final. Victory winger
Daniel Arzani created both goals, with defender
Kasey Bos scoring an early seventh-minute goal, his third in that many games, before the Wanderers reacted with a goal in the 23rd minute. The winner was scored by
Zinédine Machach and the match ended 2–1, leading Victory to progress through to the
semi-finals. In the week before the semi final Victory would announce on 13 May 2025 that Victory would play
Wrexham AFC on 11 July 2025 as a part of Wrexham's tour down under. Victory would play the seasons premiers
Auckland FC in a
two legged match to decide who would qualify to the Grand Final. The first leg would be played at Melbourne Victory's home of
AAMI Park on 17 May 2025.
Logan Rogerson would score a lone goal for Auckland leading to the first leg result to finish 1–0 against Diles' squad. The second leg would be played at Auckland's home stadium of
Go Media Stadium. In the week before the second leg, Victory defender
Brendan Hamill suffered a rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Diles would make changes to Victory's strategy in the second leg. Auckland would hold strong in the first half but Victory would equalise the aggregate scores with a goal scored by
Zinédine Machach in the 55th minute of the match. The winner would be scored by
Bruno Fornaroli in the 60th minute of the game to complete the comeback to qualify them to the
2025 A-League Men Grand Final. The match would be played at
AAMI Park against the clubs rivals Melbourne City. The match would be the 49th
Melbourne Derby. Diles' squad would go into the match without
Nishan Velupillay due to him picking up an injury in the clubs previous match against
Auckland FC. The Grand final would be played in front of a mostly victory supporting crowd of a record crowd of 29,902. The match would be a hard fought game by both sides and a goal by
Yonatan Cohen to put City ahead in the tenth minute. This goal would be the only one for the game leading to Melbourne City winning 1–0 in the final. This would be the second year in a row where Victory lost the grand final. In the aftermath of the grand final Melbourne Victory's Managing Director Caroline Carnegie told Sharnelle Vella and
Robert Murphy from
ABC Radio that the heavy police presence painted the team's supporters in a poor light. Carnegie also stated "We're concerned about A-League fans being marred". In the aftermath of the 2024–25 season
Kasey Bos would leave Victory to sign for German club
Mainz 05 as well as
Ryan Teague signing for Belgian club
Mechelen. This would be followed up by former player
Franco Lino would sign for Victory on loan from
Viking FK. Diles' squad would begin the pre-season for the
2025–26 season by playing Welsh side
Wrexham AFC on 11 July 2025. Victory would start the first half by fighting strong against the Welsh side until the 43rd minute, when
Thomas O'Connor scored a goal to put Wrexham up 1–0. Wrexham would score 2 more goals in the second half for a 3–0 loss for victory but with a strong effort. Victory would be drawn into the Round of 32 of the
2025 Australia Cup on 1 July 2025. Victory would be drawn to play against
Olympic Kingsway for Victory's first competitive game of the 2025–25 season on 29 July 2025. The match would begin with a strong start for Victory as
Jordi Valadon would score a goal in the 23rd minute. Kingsway would equalise in the 27th minute after
Zinidine Machach caused a penalty from a handball in the box.
Keegan Jelacic would score his first goal in the 45+1st minute to put Victory ahead 2–1 at half time. Kingsway would equalise in the 70th minute before
Joshua Rawlins got a red card in the 78th minute.
Reno Piscopo would score in the 88th minute before
Liam Boland would score to put the scores level in the 90+3rd minute and at full time.
Liam Boland would score the winning goal in the 101st minute making the scores 4–3 leading to Melbourne Victory's disappointingly early elimination out of the cup. The regular season of the
2025-26 season started Shakey for Diles' squad after a nil-all draw against
Auckland FC and 5-2 loss to Australia Cup winners
Newcastle Jets. After a win against Perth Glory, Victory would go four games without a win Victory would beat rivals
Adelaide United 2-1 at home. This was Victory's first win at home in seven months. On 9 January 2026 Victory would sign Japanese striker
Charles Nduka. This would be the first signing influenced by
Tony Bloom's analytics company, Jamestown Analytics. Melbourne Victory would have a strong second half of the season finnishing 4th at the end of the
2025-26 A-League regular season. Victory would meet rivals
Sydney FC in the elimination Final stage of the
2026 A-League finals series. Infront of an exited crowd Victory would start the game strong but Sydney's defence would hold strong. The half would end scoreless with most chances created by Victory while Sydney's goalkeeper
Harrison Devenish-Meares kept a strong performance in goals. This pattern would continue into the second half. Then the referee, after giving a penalty to Victory, as
Santos and
Paul Okon-Engstler collided, was sent to the pitch-side monitor and decided to overturn his original decision. Three minutes after being substituted on
Patrick Wood would capitalise on a mistake by
Franco Lino in the 80th minute to put Sydney ahead and would eventually be the difference to win Sydney the game. == Colours and badge ==