2016–17 Melbourne Victory FC season

The 2016–17 Melbourne Victory FC season was the club's 12th season since its establishment in 2004. The club participated in the A-League for the 12th time, and the FFA Cup for the third time.

Melbourne Victory

2016–17 season
Chairman	Anthony Di Pietro
Manager	Kevin Muscat
Stadium	AAMI Park & Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
A-League	2nd
A-League Finals Series	Runners-up
FFA Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Besart Berisha (19 goals) All: Besart Berisha (23 goals)
Highest home attendance	43,188 vs Melbourne City (15 October 2016)
Lowest home attendance	14,081 vs Newcastle Jets (2 January 2017)
Average home league attendance	22,008[1]
Home colours Away colours
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Players

Squad information

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  AUS Jason Geria 4 DF  AUS Nick Ansell 5 DF  MKD Daniel Georgievski 6 MF  AUS Leigh Broxham (vice-captain) 7 MF  NZL Marco Rojas 8 FW  KOS Besart Berisha 10 FW  AUS James Troisi 11 FW  AUS Mitch Austin 14 FW  TUN Fahid Ben Khalfallah 15 DF  ESP Alan Baró

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  AUS Rashid Mahazi 17 DF  AUS James Donachie 20 GK  AUS Lawrence Thomas 21 MF  AUS Carl Valeri (Captain) 22 MF  AUS Stefan Nigro 23 FW  NZL Jai Ingham 27 GK  AUS Alastair Bray 30 GK  AUS Lucas Spinella 31 FW  AUS Christian Theoharous (Scholarship) 40 GK  AUS Matt Acton (Injury replacement)

From youth squad

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Notes
22	MF		Stefan Nigro	19	2 year senior contact[2]
31	FW		Christian Theoharous	17	2 year scholarship contract[3]

Transfers in

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref
17	DF	James Donachie	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	11 June 2016	[4]
11	FW	Mitch Austin	Central Coast Mariners	Undisclosed Fee	1 year	17 June 2016	[5]
15	DF	Alan Baró	Ponferradina	Free transfer	1 year	7 July 2016	[6]
10	FW	James Troisi	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	1 August 2016	[7]
7	MF	Marco Rojas	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	25 August 2016	[8]
27	GK	Alastair Bray	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	23 September 2016	[9]
9	FW	Maximilian Beister	Mainz 05	Loan	1 year	18 October 2016	[10]
40	GK	Matt Acton	Unattached	Injury replacement loan	1 year	25 November 2016	[11]

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
9	FW	Kosta Barbarouses	Wellington Phoenix	Free transfer	8 March 2016	[12]
7	MF	Guilherme Finkler	Wellington Phoenix	Free transfer	24 March 2016	[13]
17	DF	Matthieu Delpierre	Retired		26 April 2016	[14]
10	FW	Archie Thompson	Unattached	Free transfer	30 April 2016	[15]
15	DF	Giancarlo Gallifuoco	Unattached	Free transfer	28 May 2016	[16]
18	DF	Dylan Murnane	Unattached	Undisclosed Fee	28 May 2016	[16]
22	MF	Jesse Makarounas	Adelaide United	Free transfer	28 May 2016	[16]
33	FW	Joey Katebian	Unattached	Undisclosed Fee	31 May 2016	[17]
11	MF	Connor Pain	Central Coast Mariners	Undisclosed Fee	17 June 2016	[5]
24	DF	Thomas Deng	Jong PSV	Loan	28 June 2016	[18]
1	GK	Danny Vukovic	Sydney FC	Free transfer	18 July 2016	[19]
3	DF	Scott Galloway	Central Coast Mariners	Free transfer	19 October 2016	[20]
25	MF	Sebastian Pasquali	Jong Ajax	Undisclosed Fee	26 November 2016	[21]
9	FW	Maximilian Beister	Mainz 05	Loan return	2 February 2017	[22]
13	MF	Oliver Bozanic	Ventforet Kofu	$3,250,000	16 March 2017	[23]

Contact extensions

Name	Position	Duration	Contract Expiry	Notes
Jason Geria	Right back	3 years	2020	[24]
Lawrence Thomas	Goalkeeper	1 year	2018	[25]
Jai Ingham	Winger	2 years	2019	[26]
Carl Valeri	Defensive midfielder	1 year	2018	[27]

Technical staff

Position	Name
Manager	Kevin Muscat
Assistant manager	Jean-Paul de Marigny
Goalkeeping coach	Dean Anastasiadis
Youth Team Manager	Gareth Naven
Youth Team Assistant Manager	Vaughan Coveny
Youth Team Developmental Manager	Grant Brebner
Youth Goalkeeping Coach	Vacant
Strength & conditioning Coach	Anthony Crea
Physiotherapist	Travis Maude

Statistics

Squad statistics

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Total					A-League					FFA Cup
				Apps	Goals				Apps	Goals				Apps	Goals
2	DF		Jason Geria	30	0	10	0	0	27+0	0	9	0	0	3+0	0	1	0	0
4	DF		Nick Ansell	23	0	3	0	0	15+4	0	2	0	0	3+1	0	1	0	0
5	DF		Daniel Georgievski	27	0	5	1	0	15+8	0	4	1	0	3+1	0	1	0	0
6	MF		Leigh Broxham	33	0	7	0	0	25+4	0	5	0	0	4+0	0	2	0	0
7	MF		Marco Rojas	27	13	0	0	0	24+1	12	0	0	0	2+0	1	0	0	0
8	FW		Besart Berisha	32	23	3	0	1	28+0	21	2	0	1	4+0	2	1	0	0
10	FW		James Troisi	28	7	7	0	0	25+1	6	7	0	0	2+0	1	0	0	0
11	FW		Mitch Austin	22	3	1	0	0	10+9	3	1	0	0	2+1	0	0	0	0
14	FW		Fahid Ben Khalfallah	27	2	7	0	0	20+3	2	7	0	0	3+1	0	0	0	0
15	DF		Alan Baró	30	0	10	0	1	26+0	0	8	0	1	4+0	0	2	0	0
16	MF		Rashid Mahazi	16	0	4	0	0	5+8	0	3	0	0	1+2	0	1	0	0
17	DF		James Donachie	24	1	2	0	1	17+6	1	2	0	1	1+0	0	0	0	0
19	FW		George Howard	3	1	1	0	0	1+1	0	1	0	0	0+1	1	0	0	0
20	GK		Lawrence Thomas	32	0	2	0	0	28+0	0	2	0	0	4+0	0	0	0	0
21	MF		Carl Valeri	30	0	8	0	0	27+0	0	6	0	0	3+0	0	2	0	0
22	MF		Stefan Nigro	5	0	1	0	0	2+3	0	1	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
23	FW		Jai Ingham	23	1	2	0	0	4+17	1	2	0	0	1+1	0	0	0	0
27	GK		Alastair Bray	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
30	GK		Lucas Spinella	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
31	FW		Christian Theoharous	1	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
32	MF		Cameron McGilp	1	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
35	MF		Josh Hope	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
40	GK		Matt Acton	1	0	0	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
Players no longer at the club:
3	DF		Scott Galloway	1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0
9	FW		Maximilian Beister	9	1	0	0	0	1+8	1	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
13	MF		Oliver Bozanic	25	2	1	0	0	18+3	1	1	0	0	3+1	1	0	0	0
25	MF		Sebastian Pasquali	4	0	0	0	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0+2	0	0	0	0

• Last updated: 7 May 2017
• Source: au.soccerway.com
• = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

Pre-season and friendlies

Melbourne Victory v Juventus

23 July 2016 International Champions Cup	Melbourne Victory	1–1 (4–3 p)	Juventus	Melbourne, Australia
19:00 AEST	J. Ingham 83'	Report	Blanco 58'	Stadium: MCG Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)
	Penalties
	Valeri J. Ingham Baró Galloway Pasquali		Marrone Vitale Macek Rosseti Padovan

Melbourne Victory v Atlético Madrid

31 July 2016	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Atlético Madrid	Geelong, Australia
14:00 AEST	Ansell 44'	Report		Stadium: Simonds Stadium Attendance: 16,652 Referee: Alan Milliner (Australia)

Port Melbourne v Melbourne Victory

9 August 2016	Port Melbourne	0–6	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne, Australia
19:30 AEST		Report	Austin 7' J. Ingham 23' Bozanic 49' Berisha 53' Howard 67' Theoharous 86'	Stadium: JL Murphy Reserve

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC

7 September 2016	Melbourne Victory	3–1	Sydney FC	Melbourne, Australia
	Berisha 16' (pen.) Rojas 36' Austin 69'	Report	O'Neill 19'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

14 September 2016	Adelaide United	0–1	Melbourne Victory	Adelaide, Australia
14:30 ACST		Report	Rojas 9'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Competitions

Overall

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
A-League	—	2nd	7 October 2016	14 April 2017
A-League Finals	Semi-finals	Runners-up	30 April 2017	7 May 2017
FFA Cup	Round of 32	Semi-finals	3 August 2016	25 October 2016

A-League

Main article: 2016–17 A-League

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sydney FC (C)	27	20	6	1	55	12	+43	66	Qualification for 2018 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series
2	Melbourne Victory	27	15	4	8	49	31	+18	49
3	Brisbane Roar	27	11	9	7	43	37	+6	42	Qualification for 2018 AFC Champions League second preliminary round and Finals series
4	Melbourne City	27	11	6	10	49	44	+5	39	Qualification for Finals series
5	Perth Glory	27	10	9	8	53	53	0	39
6	Western Sydney Wanderers	27	8	12	7	35	35	0	36
7	Wellington Phoenix[a]	27	8	6	13	41	46	−5	30
8	Central Coast Mariners	27	6	5	16	31	52	−21	23
9	Adelaide United	27	5	8	14	25	46	−21	23
10	Newcastle Jets	27	5	7	15	28	53	−25	22

Source: A-Leagues
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
27	15	4	8	49	31	+18	49	10	1	3	34	19	+15	5	3	5	15	12	+3

Last updated: 14 April 2017.
Source: ultimatealeague.com

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	D	L	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	L	W	D	W	W	L	W	L	L	D	W
Position	5	7	5	3	5	4	5	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

Updated to match(es) played on 14 April 2017. Source: ultimatealeague.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory

7 October 2016 1	Brisbane Roar	1–1	Melbourne Victory	Brisbane
18:50 AEST	DeVere 90+6'	Report	Austin 83'	Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 15,805 Referee: Shaun Evans

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City

15 October 2016 2	Melbourne Victory	1–4	Melbourne City	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Rojas 62'	Report	Cahill 27' Fornaroli 31' Brattan 52' Brandán 63'	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 43,188 Referee: Chris Beath

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

22 October 2016 3	Adelaide United	1–2	Melbourne Victory	Adelaide
19:20 ACDT	Elrich 68'	Report	Berisha 20' Rojas 90+3'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 14,908 Referee: Peter Green

Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix

31 October 2016 4	Melbourne Victory	6–1	Wellington Phoenix	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Berisha 20' (pen.), 22' (pen.), 82' Rojas 71', 77' Austin 90+2'	Report	Krishna 63' (pen.)	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 20,113 Referee: Alan Milliner

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory

5 November 2016 5	Sydney FC	2–1	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
19:50 AEDT	Carney 63', 78'	Report	Austin 41'	Stadium: Allianz Stadium Attendance: 19,143 Referee: Chris Beath

Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers

12 November 2016 6	Melbourne Victory	3–0	Western Sydney Wanderers	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Bozanic 26' J. Ingham 65' Beister 85'	Report		Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 21,480 Referee: Jarred Gillett

Melbourne Victory v Newcastle Jets

26 November 2016 8	Melbourne Victory	2–0	Newcastle Jets	Melbourne
17:35 AEDT	Fyfe 52' (o.g.) Rojas 54'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 18,267 Referee: Alan Milliner

Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory

2 December 2016 9	Melbourne Victory	1–1	Perth Glory	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Berisha 41'	Report	Keogh 17'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 16,017 Referee: Chris Beath

Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory

10 December 2016 10	Western Sydney Wanderers	0–3	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
19:50 AEDT		Report	Berisha 32', 66', 82'	Stadium: ANZ Stadium Attendance: 16,231 Referee: Chris Beath

Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory

17 December 2016 11	Melbourne City	1–2	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Cahill 16'	Report	Rojas 24' Berisha 78'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 24,706 Referee: Jarred Gillett

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners

28 December 2016 12	Melbourne Victory	4–1	Central Coast Mariners	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	McGing 28' (o.g.) Donachie 51' Rojas 58', 59'	Report	Buhagiar 89'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 20,491 Referee: Adam Fielding

Melbourne Victory v Newcastle Jets

2 January 2017 13	Melbourne Victory	4–2	Newcastle Jets	Geelong
19:50 AEDT	Berisha 30' (pen.) Rojas 35' Ben Khalfallah 60' Troisi 69'	Report	Ma 61' Valeri 76' (o.g.)	Stadium: Simonds Stadium Attendance: 14,081 Referee: Chris Beath

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

7 January 2017 14	Adelaide United	0–2	Melbourne Victory	Adelaide
19:20 ACDT		Report	Troisi 22' Berisha 68'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 10,036 Referee: Adam Fielding

Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar

13 January 2017 15	Melbourne Victory	3–2	Brisbane Roar	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Troisi 12' Rojas 17' Berisha 27' (pen.)	Report	Petratos 30' Donachie 41' (o.g.)	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 21,103 Referee: Chris Beath

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory

17 January 2017 7	Wellington Phoenix	3–0	Melbourne Victory	Wellington
19:45 NZDT	Bonevacia 33' Tratt 89' Barbarouses 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Westpac Stadium Attendance: 5,865 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory

21 January 2017 16	Perth Glory	2–1	Melbourne Victory	Perth
17:00 AWST	Marinković 77' Taggart 84'	Report	Berisha 58' (pen.)	Stadium: nib Stadium Attendance: 11,271 Referee: Peter Green

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC

26 January 2017 17	Melbourne Victory	1–2	Sydney FC	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Troisi 18'	Report	Hološko 38' Ibini 65'	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 30,262 Referee: Jarred Gillett

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City

4 February 2017 18	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Melbourne City	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Berisha 84' Muscat 86' (o.g.)	Report	Baró 70' (o.g.)	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 35,426 Referee: Chris Beath

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory

13 February 2017 19	Newcastle Jets	0–0	Melbourne Victory	Newcastle
19:50 AEDT		Report		Stadium: McDonald Jones Stadium Attendance: 6,233 Referee: Stephen Lucas

Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory

19 February 2017 20	Central Coast Mariners	0–3	Melbourne Victory	Gosford
17:00 AEDT		Report	Berisha 25', 90+1' Troisi 58'	Stadium: Central Coast Stadium Attendance: 7,013 Referee: Daniel Elder

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

25 February 2017 21	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Rojas 66' Berisha 82'	Report	Elrich 90'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 19,035 Referee: Matthew Conger

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory

3 March 2017 22	Sydney FC	1–0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
19:50 AEDT	Bobô 50'	Report		Stadium: Allianz Stadium Attendance: 13,310 Referee: Peter Green

Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory

11 March 2017 23	Melbourne Victory	4–1	Perth Glory	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Berisha 23' Ben Khalfallah 42' Rojas 48' Troisi 74'	Report	Castro 5'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 16,814 Referee: Kurt Ams

Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory

25 March 2017 24	Brisbane Roar	1–0	Melbourne Victory	Brisbane
18:50 AEST	Maclaren 51'	Report		Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 13,576 Referee: Matthew Conger

Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix

2 April 2017 25	Melbourne Victory	0–3	Wellington Phoenix	Melbourne
17:00 AEST		Report	Bonevacia 9', 26' Smeltz 90'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 17,011 Referee: Jarred Gillett

Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory

8 April 2017 26	Western Sydney Wanderers	0–0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
18:50 AEST		Report		Stadium: ANZ Stadium Attendance: 16,345 Referee: Peter Green

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners

14 April 2017 27	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Central Coast Mariners	Melbourne
19:50 AEST	Berisha 80'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 14,827 Referee: Jarred Gillett

Finals series

Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar

30 April 2017 Semi-final	Melbourne Victory	1–0	Brisbane Roar	Melbourne
17:00 AEST	Berisha 70'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 20,202 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory

7 May 2017 Grand Final	Sydney FC	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
17:00 AEST	Grant 69'	Report	Berisha 20'	Stadium: Allianz Stadium Attendance: 41,546 Referee: Jarred Gillett
	Penalties
	Brosque Wilkinson Carney O'Neill Ninković		Troisi Broxham Valeri Rojas

FFA Cup

Main article: 2016 FFA Cup

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory

3 August 2016 Round of 32	Newcastle Jets	1–3	Melbourne Victory	Newcastle
19:30 AEST	W. Brown 50'	Report	Berisha 5' Bozanic 54' (pen.) Howard 87'	Stadium: Magic Park Attendance: 1,956 Referee: Alan Milliner

Hume City v Melbourne Victory

24 August 2016 Round of 16	Hume City	0–1	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
19:30 AEST		Report	Berisha 27' (pen.)	Stadium: ABD Stadium Attendance: 2,866 Referee: Shaun Evans

Bentleigh Greens v Melbourne Victory

27 September 2016 Quarter-final	Bentleigh Greens	0–2	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
19:30 AEST		Report	Rojas 64' Troisi 68'	Stadium: Kingston Heath Soccer Complex Attendance: 3,754 Referee: Alan Milliner

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City

25 October 2016 Semi-final	Melbourne Victory	0–2	Melbourne City	Melbourne
19:30 AEDT		Report	Brattan 9' Brandán 77'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 15,791 Referee: Shaun Evans