A-League Women’s teams receive their marks: Premiers class above, wooden spooners to finals contenders and Western United’s streak
Melbourne City were a class above their rivals during the 2024-25 A-League Women’s premiership, but other teams also put their best foot forward. How every team fared this season here.
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Melbourne City have claimed the premiership plate after an incredible season with 23 wins but they weren’t the only team to have a stellar campaign.
Adelaide United went from wooden spooners to finals contenders, Western United are set to play their third consecutive finals series since joining the league for the 2022/23 season.
Here is how every team fared this ALW season.
Melbourne City – A
Hard to give them anything but the top mark after going all season without losing a game. A remarkable feat especially when you consider they have also won each of their inaugural Asian Women’s Champions League games. City finished the regular season with 16 wins and 7 draws – had there been a few less draws they would have earned an A+. They scored 56 goals and conceded just 22.
Melbourne Victory – A-
Victory might have fallen short of lifting the premiership plate but their on field performance is impressive in different ways to City. Victory were right on City’s boot laces this season, finishing just two points behind them. They had the same number of wins (16), five draws and two loses. Victory’s defence was what saved them this season – they conceded 21 goals – the lowest in the league.
Adelaide United – B+
From wooden spooners to finals contenders there has been little to not like about Adelaide’s efforts this season.
They had 14 wins this season – 10 more than they had in 2023/24. They scored 44 goals and conceded 30 – giving them one of the best goal differences in the league.
Western United – C+
They will be playing in their third consecutive finals series since joining the league in 2022/23 but Western United were far from consistent this season. They get extra credit for their ability to pull off come from behind wins. But if they were able to play a more consistent style of football they could have avoided those situations altogether. Western actually conceded more goals than they scored. They had six games where they conceded three or more goals including an 2-8 loss against Brisbane Roar. They had nine wins, six draws and eight losses.
Central Coast Mariners – B
Two finals appearances from two seasons is nothing to scoff at. Mariners have finished the season in fourth. They have done enough to stay above the middle of the pack again but if they want to really be contenders Mariners need to find a way to close out those close games. Each of their seven losses were by no greater than a 2 goal difference and they had seven games end as a tie.
Canberra United – B
They might have just scraped into the finals in fifth position but their journey from last season makes their achievements impressive.
Canberra finished 11th last season – off field drama over the uncertainty of the squad meant they retained just a handful of players from the squad – essentially having to start from scratch this season. They certainly could have been more consistent with eight losses and six draws. They were never demolished – their biggest loss was a 4-2 defeat to City.
Brisbane Roar – C-
They started the season with so much potential – at one point even pushing to take the lead at the top of the table – they have no one to blame but themselves for their form slump in the second half of the season. They lost just two of their first eight games but were winless from the last nine games of the season. Roar had injuries to key players like Sharn Freier but they still managed to win games without her. Roar had all the ingredients for a finals finish but just couldn’t mix them all together properly.
Sydney FC – C+
While they had a terrible start and poor results mean it is the first time in the club’s history they aren’t playing in the ALW finals – there were still some positives to take away.
Sydney were hampered by injuries, with star signing Kyah Simon never even getting on the field. But they never lost a game by more than two goals. The performance is far from what fans are used to from Sydney FC but still gets a pass mark.
Wellington Phoenix – C-
Struggled to find any consistency this season and a team with 13 losses is never going to make the cut for finals. Phoenix had some close games but will need to do some recruiting in the off-season if they want to climb up the ladder.
Perth Glory – C-
They have a tough task with a huge amount of travel but Glory need to work out how to perform on the road if they want to match it with the best in the ALW. They finished the season with not a single win from an away match.
They are also lacking some strike power scoring just 27 goals this season the second lowest, behind Wellington Phoenix.
Newcastle Jets D+
After making finals last year Jets had a good base for this season ahead but poor discipline on the field cost them heavily with six Jets players being dealt a total of eight red cards this season. They finished the season in 11th with just five wins and a goal difference of -24, the worst in the league.
Western Sydney Wanderers – D+
They narrowly missed finals last season but really struggled to deliver this season with four wins and 15 losses against their name. There were some moments of real promise like the 5-1 win over Western United and 4-4 draw with Victory. Sienna Saveska was a star for the Wanderers. They can only go up next season.
Originally published as A-League Women’s teams receive their marks: Premiers class above, wooden spooners to finals contenders and Western United’s streak
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