Emma Burke 
Melbourne City 2024/25 A-League Women's season preview. Photo: Texi Smith. Design: Round Ball Australia.
Melbourne City are coming into the 2024/24 A-League Women season with a lot of changes made in the off-season. The most notable being the change in head coach after having Dario Vidosic lured away by WSL club Brighton & Hove Albion, who was replaced by Michael Matricciani.
Last season saw City lift the Premiers plate, but fall at the final hurdle of the league Championship. This season will be one to see if they can back up or even surpass last season’s performance despite new leadership and some new player personnel.
The Manager: Michael Matricciani
Following the loss of head coach Dario Vidosic to Brighton & Hove Albion, Melbourne City have hired South Australian Michael Matricciani to take the reins of the Women’s team.
A former A-League Men player turned coach, Matricciani arrives after having spent seven years in South Australia’s National Premier League, coaching and working as technical director at Adelaide City and Campbelltown City.
Matricciani not only has the tough task of backing up City’s success from last season, where they won the premiers plate and were overall runners up in the finals series, he also has to contend with Asia after City qualified for the first ever AFC Women’s Champions League (AWCL).
It has been so far so good for City under Matricciani, who have come out of the AWCL group stage with three wins from three games, scoring nine goals and only conceding one.
Despite the change in head coach, the rest of the A-League Women have effectively been put on notice that City are going to remain a force to be reckoned with.
The Squad
In the off season, City have seen a number of departures such as young gun Daniela Galic, who signed with Dutch side FC Twente, Hannah Wilkinson, who retired from professional football, and Julia Grosso who was the squads’ 2022/23 player of the year to the NWSL’s Utah Royals.
However, they have also managed to secure a number of key signings, some of which are already paying dividends.
Newcomers to the club include Venezuelan Mariana Speckmaier, who was brought in from across the ditch at Wellington Phoenix and has already scored in every game City played in the AWCL Group Stage.
They have also added Young Matildas defender Alexia Apostolakis from Western Sydney Wanderers, attacker Emilia Murray from Adelaide United, and newcomer to the league Lourdes Bosch, a Mexican-American midfielder fresh out of the US College system.
Young players in Leticia McKenna, Bryleeh Henry, and Karly Roestbakken have all extended their tenure with City for another two years, while American international Taylor Otto, and legend of the women’s game Melissa Barbieri have penned one year contract extensions.
While City’s squad may look different to last year’s premiership plate winners, they are still a powerhouse with names such as Captain Rebekah Stott, Rhianna Pollicina, and Leah Davidson remaining on their list.
Expectations
With all the changes made, it would be easy to believe this coming season will not be as successful as the previous one, but given their performances in Thailand for the AWCL Group Stage, City look as good as ever.
While they may still have to work on some areas of their game, like defending set pieces, which was the way they conceded the only goal scored against them, anything less than a finals appearance this season will likely come across as a failure.