You’re welcome Victory: No excuse for poor crowds at the first ever Melbourne derby grand final

The first ever Melbourne derby decider is set but now the fans need to show up in full force, no excuses. Plus, if Victory needed the extra motivation, the TACKLE says ‘you’re welcome.’

If Melbourne Victory needed the media to motivate them to reach the A-League grand final, good luck to them and well done on an extraordinary effort to beat Auckland FC.

Before Saturday’s semi-final second-leg at Go Media Stadium, the script had already been written.

Having already won the premiership in a remarkable debut season, Auckland was going to finish off the Victory after winning the first-leg 1-0 in Melbourne, host the grand final at the same venue and complete the double in front of 30,000 screaming Black Knights fans.

However, it wasn’t the Hollywood ending that most expected.

Instead, it could yet be a different kind of cinematic finale, the story of the underdogs prevailing in this Saturday night’s decider.

It’s an ending already half written following the Victory’s outstanding second-leg display against the A-League’s best team.

Victory defied the doubters. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Knowing they had nothing to lose as nobody expected them to beat the Black Knights, the Victory attacked from the outset with a new formation that caught Auckland off guard.

Why the Victory weren’t as attacking in their home leg is anyone’s guess, but their coach Arthur Diles now looks like a genius.

Diles deserves his moment in the sun after many questioned the Victory’s decision to elevate him from assistant coach to head coach following Patrick Kisnorbo’s sudden departure in December.

Under Kisnorbo, a star-studded Victory team that included the likes of Daniel Arzani, Zinedine Machach and Nishan Velupillay was living up to its billing of a genuine title contender.

However, as soon as Diles ­– previously untried in a head coaching role at this level – took over things went south.

Naturally, therefore, the Victory’s title credentials were rightfully doubted by the media, including your Tackle correspondents, who felt the Melbourne club was going to miss out on the top six.

That would have been a disaster for not only the club, but the finals series.

Woah, what about this for a record! 🏆🩵

For the fifth time in six Isuzu UTE A-League seasons, @MelbourneCity have made it all the way to the big dance.

Coming up: A Melbourne Derby for the trophy 👀 pic.twitter.com/y8Oc0TkUBO

— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 25, 2025

Having secured fifth spot, the Victory were no match for premiers Auckland in the semi-final first-leg at AAMI Park, with the Black Knights deserving more than the 1-0 win they got.

And again, the media justifiably all but wrote off the Victory’s chances of second-leg, and overall, semi-final success on the basis of their first-leg performance.

However, such has been their rollercoaster season, Diles’ men completed a memorable turnaround to defy the odds by beating the Black Knights 2-0 in Auckland.

For the first time, a team that has finished fifth on the ladder has made an A-League grand final, with the Victory already being one of just two teams to win the championship after finishing outside the top-two in the regular season.

Victory captain Roderick Miranda on Saturday suggested that being written off by the media was motivating his team, and that’s what you would expect.

We say “you’re welcome”.

DERBY DELIGHT

As much as Auckland FC deserved to host the grand final given the form the Black Knights have shown all season, the good thing is that we have a Melbourne derby for the decider.

We know how much the APL loves derbies, and now they’ve got one for the biggest game of the season.

It’s the first time Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City – whose professionalism under coach Aurelio Vidmar has been outstanding – will meet in the competition’s decider, and let’s hope fans from both teams, as well as Victorian sport lovers in general, get behind the occasion.

Competition from the AFL can’t be used as an excuse for anything less than a full house of about 30,000 at AAMI Park as there are no AFL games being played in Melbourne on Saturday.

.@MelbourneCity have picked up some serious form ahead of Saturday's Grand Final 🏆👀

Aurelio Vidmar's side are EIGHT games unbeaten and will look to go one step further against Melbourne Victory 🙌 pic.twitter.com/RbhX7gfTZJ

— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 25, 2025

The fact there is a Matildas game in Melbourne on Friday night also shouldn’t be used as a reason for a disappointing grand final attendance because a lot of people at matches involving the Matildas in Australia aren’t followers of the A-League men’s competition.

The attendances at the three Victory-City matches during the regular season – 20,093, 24,053 and 22,806 – were OK for a Melbourne derby, but similar figures won’t be good enough for the grand final.

Nothing short of a sell-out crowd will be acceptable.

SEASONS TO REMEMBER

Despite falling short of the grand final by just one week, Auckland FC and Western United must be applauded for superb seasons.

Auckland was clearly the A-League’s best team in a remarkable debut season, winning the premiership with relative comfort and making football relevant and popular in a New Zealand city that has previously struggled to genuinely connect with the sport.,

While that will be of little consolation to the Black Knights and their coach Steve Corica in the aftermath of their semi-final loss to Melbourne Victory, once the pain slowly eases, they should bask in the glory of a fantastic first A-League season.

Failing to reach the grand final is also likely to spur the Black Knights on to bigger things next season.

Auckland produced a stellar debut A-League season but it wasn’t enough. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

“It will give a little bit of motivation for our players that we finished one game too short, and we want to hopefully get into the (grand) final next year if we can, and go one better,” Corica said.

Western United’s turnaround from strugglers to contenders must also be lauded.

United finished second last on the ladder last season, but under the masterful guidance of John Aloisi, placed third in a wonderful 2024-25 campaign that included memorable contributions from a host of emerging stars, including Noah Botic, Angus Thurgate, Rhys Bozinovski and teenager Dylan Leonard.

Socceroos legend Aloisi took United to the title in 2022, but said this season had been his “most satisfying” as a coach.

United’s thrilling brand of football was arguably the best in the 2024-25 competition.

“They’ve got the quality to go to another level,” a confident Aloisi said.