A-League Women (currently known as the Ninja A-League for sponsorship reasons),[2] formerly the W-League, is the top-division women's soccer league in Australia. The W-League was established in 2008 by Football Australia (then known as Football Federation Australia) and was originally composed of eight teams of which seven had an affiliation with an existing A-League Men's club. As of the 2022–23 season, the league is contested by twelve teams.[3] The league, as well as the A-League Men and A-League Youth are administered by the Australian Professional Leagues.[4]
 | |
| Founded | 25 October 2008 |
|---|---|
| First season | 2008–09 |
| Country | Australia (11 teams) |
| Other club(s) from | New Zealand (1 team) |
| Confederation | Asian Football Confederation |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| International cup(s) | AFC Women's Champions League |
| Current champions | Sydney FC (5th title) (2023–24) |
| Current premiers | Melbourne City (3rd title) (2023–24) |
| Most championships | Sydney FC (5 titles) |
| Most premierships | Sydney FC (5 titles) |
| TV partners |
|
| Website | aleagues.com.au |
| Current: 2024–25 A-League Women | |
Seasons now run from November to April and include a 23-round regular season and an end-of-season finals series playoff tournament involving the highest-placed teams, culminating in a Grand Final match. The winner of the regular season tournament is dubbed "premiers" and the winner of the grand final is dubbed "champions". The premiers qualify for the AFC Women's Champions League, starting from the 2024–25 season.
Since the league's inaugural season, a total of five clubs have been crowned premiers and five clubs have been crowned champions. It has been currently running on a semi-professional basis, but talks about professionalisation have been emerging, beginning with the name change and placing of all women's clubs into one single Australian Professional Leagues operation and management in 2021, which served as the precursors for complete transition to professionalism of the A-League Women.[5][6]
Melbourne City are the current premiers, having won their third title; Sydney FC are the current champions, having won their fifth title.
History
edit
Between 1996 and 2004 the Women's National Soccer League (WNSL) was Australia's top women's soccer league. In 2004 it was discontinued alongside the men's National Soccer League.
After Australia qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, head coach Tom Sermanni felt the establishment of a professional league was vital for continuing the development of players.[7] Football Federation Australia established the league the following year.[8] The W-League was initially composed of eight teams: Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, Perth Glory, and Sydney FC. Seven of the eight teams were affiliated with A-League clubs, and shared their names and colours to promote their brands. The eighth club was Canberra United.[9]
The W-League's inaugural season commenced on 25 October 2008, with Perth hosting Sydney at Members Equity Stadium.[10] After ten rounds, the regular season finished with Queensland Roar as the top-placed team, becoming the first W-League premiers, and advancing to the semi-finals along with the second-, third- and fourth-placed teams. Queensland faced Canberra in the 2009 W-League grand final, defeating them 2–0 to take the champions trophy.
Central Coast Mariners were forced to withdraw from the 2010–11 season due to a lack of funding,[11] but returned in 2023–24.[12]
When Western Sydney Wanderers joined the A-League for the 2012–13 season, they also entered a team into the W-League, returning the competition to eight teams. From 2012 to 2014, the W-League champion team qualified into an international competition, the International Women's Club Championship.
On 13 May 2015, Melbourne City were confirmed to compete in the W-League from the 2015–16 season.[13] The club had a remarkable inaugural season, winning all 12 of its regular season games and winning the Grand Final.[14]
From the inception of the competition the league was run by Football Federation Australia, the governing body for the sport in Australia. In July 2019, the FFA relinquished operational control of the league to each of the clubs, now represented by the Australian Professional Leagues.[15]
The league commenced a further expansion program starting in 2021, with Wellington Phoenix commencing in the 2021–22 season,[16] Western United for the 2022–23 season,[17] and Central Coast Mariners for the 2023–24 season.[12] Future expansion is planned for the 2025–26 season, after the award of a licence for an Auckland-based team for both A-League Men and Women.[18]
Crowds have improved remarkably in 2023, on the back of the Matildas performance in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The record A-League Women's crowd (including finals) was set on 14 October 2023, with the match between Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers drawing a crowd of 11,471.[19]
Around 15 April 2024, the 2023–24 A-League Women season become the most attended season of any women's sport in Australian history by recording a total attendance of 284,551;[20][21][22][23] the season finished with a final total attendance of 312,199.[24]
Competition format
editThe A-League Women regular season typically runs from November to April and consists of 23 games per team (22 home and away, plus one additional "Unite Round" fixture),[25] with the highest ranked team winning the title of "Premier".[26] The top six teams in the regular season then advance to the knockout finals series (single elimination finals, two-legged semi-finals), with the Champion determined by the victor of the Grand Final.[27]
On 12 December 2022, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) announced that the grand finals for the 2022–23 and two subsequent seasons would be hosted in Sydney,[28] a move which received considerable backlash.[29][30] On 18 October 2023, the APL announced that the Grand Final hosting rights would revert back to the original format, and instead a new "Unite Round" was introduced, with a regular season round having all its games played in Sydney.[31]
Special events
editPride Round
editPride Cup is an Australian organisation dedicated to advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community in sport. It was founded in 2012 after former Australian rules footballer Jason Ball came out publicly as gay, and his club in Yarra Glen, Victoria showed their support by staging a "Pride Cup". This led to the establishment of the annual AFL Pride Game in 2016, and the idea soon spread to other codes.[32] After Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo became the first openly gay top-flight male footballer in October 2021, the A-League partnered with A-League Women to stage a single Pride men's and women's doubleheader during the 2021-22 season.[33]
On 24–26 February 2023, both the A-League Men and Women's competitions staged their first-ever Pride Round, the first occasion in which the leagues had "come together to recognise and promote inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community". Part proceeds from ticket sales across all of the round's fixtures were donated to Pride Cup.[33] In 2024, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) announced the continuation of the round, as well as providing inclusion training to all players and key stakeholders. The A-Leagues would be collaborating with the PFA and Pride Cup, who would help to deliver the training. The annual Pride Cup double-header between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory would take place in March, and several men's and women's teams would celebrate by engaging community groups and using indicators such as rainbow corner flags, armbands, special Pride kit and/or rainbow socks.[34]
Unite Round
editSince the 2023–24 season the Australian Professional Leagues has held a "Unite Round". During this round, all matches are held in a single city. The round is currently in partnership with Destination NSW, and was introduced after the Grand Final decision was reversed in October 2023.[35]
| Season | Dates | City | Venues (matches) | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | Total | ||||
| 2023–24 | 12–14 January 2024 | Sydney | Allianz Stadium (4), CommBank Stadium (4), Leichhardt Oval (4) | 36,203 | 11,222 | 47,425 |
| 2024–25 | 22–24 November 2024 | Allianz Stadium (6), Netstrata Jubilee Stadium (6) | ||||
Clubs
edit
| Future clubs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Founded | Joining |
| Auckland FC | Auckland, New Zealand | TBD | TBD | 2024 | 2025–26[37] |
Performance record
editPerformance and ranking of clubs based on their best regular season result in the W-League and A-League Women.
| Rank | Club | Best result | 08–09 | 09 | 10–11 | 11–12 | 12–13 | 13–14 | 14 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney FC | 1st (5 times) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Brisbane Roar | 1st (3 times) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
| 3 | Canberra United | 1st (3 times) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Melbourne City | 1st (3 times) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | Melbourne Victory | 1st | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Perth Glory | 1st | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 7 | Newcastle Jets | 2nd | 2 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 |
| 8 | Central Coast Mariners | 2nd | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 |
| 9 | Western United | 2nd | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | Adelaide United | 3rd | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| 11 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 3rd | — | — | — | — | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| 12 | Wellington Phoenix | 8th | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | 11 | 8 |
|
Organisation
editSquad formation and salaries
editAn A-League Women squad is required to have a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 26 players.[citation needed] Players typically receive a one-season contract,[citation needed] with many playing in leagues in other countries during the A-League Women off-season. Due to the A-League Women season running during the off-season of several leagues around the world, many foreign players have played for teams in A-League Women and vice versa.
In 2015, teams in what was then the W-League had a salary cap of A$150,000.[38] Individual player salaries varied, with one player reporting to The Sydney Morning Herald in 2012 that whilst some players earned A$10,000, others earned nothing.[39] In 2014, it was reported that Sydney FC players were paid salaries ranging from $1,000 to $6,000.[40] Players could also earn money playing overseas and may therefore be considered by Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) as professional.[41]
Some clubs are owned by their state soccer associations, including Adelaide United and Newcastle Jets.[citation needed]
For the 2017–18 season a minimum salary was introduced at A$10,000. The average salary therefore rose from A$15,500 to A$17,400. A salary cap was set at A$300,000.[42]
The total salary floor, or minimum salary spend, for the 2020-21 season rose to A$294,000, growing to A$315,000 in the 2021-22 season, with a salary cap of A$450,000, as part of a five-year deal that woulf see the salary floor rise to A$390,000 by 2025-26.[43] The deal also included improved standards in training venues, travel and accommodation, high performance staffing, and player workloads.[43] The A-League Women minimum annual wage in 2021 was A$17,055.[44] This increased to A$25,000 in 2023 owing to the extended season, which was a full home-and-away schedule for the first time. As of March 2024[update], players are contracted for 35 weeks for a 22-round regular season, with four extra weeks for those playing in the finals.[45]
A 2023 survey showed that most players in the league work and/or study part-time, having to supplement their part-time income. According to the PFA, most players "earned at or close to the minimum" in the previous season, with around 60 per cent of players having had to work second jobs; by way of comparison, only 15 per cent of A-League Men were working second jobs, with the vast majority of those working fewer than 10 hours per week. After the success of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, there were renewed calls to make the competition a full-time one.[45]
Branding
edit
The competition was known as the Westfield W-League from its inception in 2008 until 2021, under an agreement with Westfield as the naming rights sponsor.[46] The main logo design was shared with the A-League men's competition. In 2017, Football Australia undertook a major rebranding and redesigned its logos for the W-League and A-League to be in line with its own logo, and those of its member federations.[47]
After governance of the league was handed to the Australian Professional Leagues in 2020, there was another rebranding in September 2021, which saw the competition being renamed to A-League Women.[48] Liberty Financial became the league's new naming rights sponsor shortly afterwards in December 2021 and the competition was then known as the Liberty A-League Women.[49] Since September 2024, the league is known as Ninja A-League Women with home appliances company SharkNinja as the current naming rights sponsor.[2]
Stadiums
editA-League Women games have been played in 33 stadiums since the inaugural season of the A-League.
Broadcasting
editThe 2018–19 season marked the first time that fans were able to watch every W-League game. All matches were broadcast or streamed on Fox Sports, SBS Viceland and the My Football Live app. Thursday Night Football was also introduced, meaning 13 stand-alone regular season matches will be played in prime-time and broadcast live on Fox Sports.[50] The Football Federation Australia (FFA) reached a deal with ESPN+ for broadcast rights to W-League games in the United States. ESPN+ will carry at least 17 W-League matches in the 2018–19 season.[51] For the first time ever W-League games would be broadcast on YouTube and Twitter in territories without a traditional broadcast partner.[52]
In the 2019–20 season, ABC TV broadcast one game per weekend. Fourteen rounds of that season were broadcast at 4pm on Sundays, as well as the whole W-League 2020 Finals Series.[53] Fox Sport's contract with the A-League, which was renegotiated in June 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, concluded in July 2021.[54]
From July 2019 to the end of the 2020–21 season, Foxtel broadcast all matches with ABC broadcasting one match per round live on its primary channel.[55]
Since August 2021, as part of a five-year deal with ViacomCBS, the A-Leagues have been broadcast by Network 10 and Paramount+ (Australia) streaming service.[56][57] As of the 2022–23 season, Paramount and Network 10's free-to-access streaming service 10Play stream all matches.[58]
In New Zealand, A-League Men and A-League Women matches are broadcast on Sky Sport / beIN Sports.
Current broadcasters
edit| Territory | Network |
|---|---|
 Australia
|
Network 10 |
| Paramount+ | |
 New Zealand
|
Sky Open |
| Sky Sport | |
| Pacific Islands | Australia TV |
| Pasifika TV | |
| International | Sport24 (in-flight and ship only) |
| YouTube (unsold markets only) | |
 Ireland
|
TNT Sports |
 United Kingdom
| |
 Spain
|
LaLiga+ |
Referees
editA-League Women features female referees and assistant referees from Australia. Notable referees include:
- Kate Jacewicz, who refereed nine of the first eleven Finals.[59]
- Katie Patterson
- Casey Reibelt
Honours
edit| Season | Premiers (regular season winners) |
Champions (Grand Final winners) |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Queensland Roar[a] | Queensland Roar |
| 2009 | Sydney FC | Sydney FC |
| 2010–11 | Sydney FC | Brisbane Roar |
| 2011–12 | Canberra United | Canberra United |
| 2012–13 | Brisbane Roar | Sydney FC |
| 2013–14 | Canberra United | Melbourne Victory |
| 2014 | Perth Glory | Canberra United |
| 2015–16 | Melbourne City | Melbourne City |
| 2016–17 | Canberra United | Melbourne City |
| 2017–18 | Brisbane Roar | Melbourne City |
| 2018–19 | Melbourne Victory | Sydney FC |
| 2019–20 | Melbourne City | Melbourne City |
| 2020–21 | Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory |
| 2021–22 | Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory |
| 2022–23 | Sydney FC | Sydney FC |
| 2023–24 | Melbourne City | Sydney FC |
Records
editMost appearances
editAs of 11 February 2024.[60]
Players listed in bold are still actively playing in the A-League Women.
| Rank | Player | Appearances |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michelle Heyman
|
174 |
| 2 | Kim Carroll
|
158 |
| 3 | Teresa Polias
|
157 |
| 4 | Tameka Yallop
|
154 |
| 5 | Clare Polkinghorne
|
152 |
| 6 | Caitlin Cooper
|
151 |
| Gema Simon
| ||
| 8 | Ellie Brush
|
145 |
| Emma Checker
| ||
| 10 | Cassidy Davis
|
144 |
Top scorers
editAs of 11 February 2024.[61]
Players listed in bold are still actively playing in the A-League Women.
| Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michelle Heyman
|
105 |
| 2 | Samantha Kerr
|
70 |
| 3 | Tameka Yallop
|
61 |
| 4 | Kyah Simon
|
50 |
| 5 | Emily Gielnik
|
48 |
| 6 | Tara Andrews
|
45 |
| Leena Khamis
| ||
| 8 | Ashleigh Sykes
|
44 |
| 9 | Lisa De Vanna
|
42 |
| Kate Gill
|
See also
edit
- AFC Women's Club Championship
- A-League Women records and statistics
- Women's soccer in Australia
- Australia women's national soccer team
- Women's National Soccer League (WNSL) – defunct Australian women's national league
- A-League Men
Notes
edit- ^ Queensland Roar changed their name to Brisbane Roar for the 2009 season onwards.
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