2020–21 Melbourne Victory FC season

The 2020–21 season is Melbourne Victory's 16th season since its establishment in 2004. The club will be participating in the A-League for the 16th time. This season was the last season where the Victory played home matches at Marvel Stadium; from the 2021-22 season onwards, the Victory play all home matches of all competitions exclusively at AAMI Park.

Melbourne Victory

2020–21 season
Chairman	Anthony Di Pietro
Manager	Grant Brebner (to 17 April 2021) Steve Kean (caretaker) (from 19 April 2021)
Stadium	AAMI Park Marvel Stadium
A-League	12th
Top goalscorer	League: Jake Brimmer, Elvis Kamsoba, Rudy Gestede (5) All: Jake Brimmer, Elvis Kamsoba, Rudy Gestede (5)
Highest home attendance	11,467 (6 March 2021 vs. Melbourne City
Lowest home attendance	3,235 (23 April 2021 vs. Western Sydney Wanderers
Average home league attendance	5,823
Home colours Away colours
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Players

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   AUS Matt Acton 2 DF   NZL Storm Roux 3 DF   CIV Adama Traoré 4 DF   AUS Nick Ansell 6 MF   AUS Leigh Broxham (captain) 7 MF   ENG Callum McManaman 8 MF   ENG Jacob Butterfield 9 FW   BEN Rudy Gestede 10 FW   AUS Robbie Kruse 11 FW   AUS Ben Folami (on loan from Ipswich Town)

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 MF   AUS Birkan Kirdar 14 MF   AUS Jay Barnett 15 DF   AUS Aaron Anderson 16 MF   AUS Brandon Lauton (Scholarship) 17 MF   BDI Elvis Kamsoba 19 DF   AUS Dylan Ryan (on loan from Willem II) 20 GK   NZL Max Crocombe 22 MF   AUS Jake Brimmer 23 MF   NZL Marco Rojas 34 FW   AUS Gianluca Iannucci

Transfers

Transfers in

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref
20	GK	Max Crocombe	Brisbane Roar	Free transfer	1 year	1 October 2020	^[1]
22	MF	Jake Brimmer	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	9 October 2020	^[2]
7	MF	Callum McManaman	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	13 October 2020	^[3]
4	DF	Nick Ansell	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year^[4]	22 October 2020	^[5]
8	MF	Jacob Butterfield	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	26 October 2020	^[6]
11	FW	Ben Folami	Ipswich Town	Loan	1 year	29 October 2020	^[7]
19	DF	Dylan Ryan	Willem II	Loan	1 year	11 November 2020	^[8]
34	FW	Gianluca Iannucci	Unattached	Free transfer		18 November 2020	^[9]^[10]
9	FW	Rudy Gestede	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	25 November 2020	^[11]
5	DF	Ryan Shotton	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	18 December 2020	^[12]

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
4	DF	James Donachie	Newcastle Jets	Free transfer	5 June 2020	^[13]
18	MF	Migjen Basha	Unattached	End of contract	27 August 2020	^[14]
7	FW	Kenny Athiu	Unattached	End of contract	28 August 2020	^[15]
19	MF	Benjamin Carrigan	Unattached	End of contract	28 August 2020	^[15]
16	MF	Josh Hope	Unattached	End of contract	28 August 2020	^[15]
15	MF	Giancarlo Gallifuoco	Unattached	End of contract	28 August 2020	^[15]
9	FW	Andrew Nabbout	Perth Glory	Free transfer	1 September 2020	^[16]
20	GK	Matthew Sutton	Melbourne City	Free transfer	21 September 2020	^[17]
24	MF	Anthony Lesiotis	Unattached	End of contract	21 September 2020	^[18]
33	DF	Dalibor Markovic	Western United	Free transfer	12 April 2021	^[19]
5	DF	Ryan Shotton	Unattached	Mutual contract termination	20 May 2021	^[20]

Contract extensions

No.	Name	Position	Duration	Date	Notes
1	Matt Acton	Goalkeeper	3 years	24 September 2020	^[21]
3	Adama Traoré	Left-back	1 year	25 September 2020	^[22]
2	Storm Roux	Right-back	1 year	26 September 2020	^[23]
17	Elvis Kamsoba	Winger	1 year	27 September 2020	^[24]
13	Birkan Kirdar	Midfielder	1 year	29 September 2020	^[25]
14	Jay Barnett	Midfielder	2 years	29 September 2020	^[25]
15	Aaron Anderson	Central defender	1 year	29 September 2020	^[25]

Technical staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Grant Brebner^[26]
Assistant coach	Steve Kean^[27]
Goalkeeping Coach	Vacant

Pre-season and friendlies

Melbourne Victory   v   Melbourne City

16 November 2020 (2020-11-16) Friendly	Melbourne Victory	3–3	Melbourne City	Melbourne
	Broxham   6' Brimmer   81' Kamsoba   99'	Report	Good   38' Maclaren   ?' (pen.), ?'	Stadium: Marvel Stadium Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)
Note: Match was played with 3 x 45-minute halves.

Hume City   v   Melbourne Victory

13 January 2021 (2021-01-13) Friendly	Hume City	1–1	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
		Report	McManaman	Stadium: ABD Stadium Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Altona Magic   v   Melbourne Victory

19 January 2021 (2021-01-19) Friendly	Altona Magic	0–4	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
		Report	McManaman   ?' Gestede   ?', ?' Butterfield   ?'	Stadium: Paisley Park Soccer Complex Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss

Overview

Competition	Record
	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
A-League	26	5	4	17	31	60	−29	019.23
Total	26	5	4	17	31	60	−29	019.23

Updated to match played 14 February 2021
Source: Competitions

A-League

Main article: 2020–21 A-League

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
8	Western Sydney Wanderers	26	9	8	9	45	43	+2	35
9	Perth Glory	26	9	7	10	44	44	0	34	Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs^[a]
10	Western United	26	8	4	14	30	47	−17	28
11	Newcastle Jets	26	5	6	15	24	38	−14	21
12	Melbourne Victory	26	5	4	17	31	60	−29	19	Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and 2021 FFA Cup play-offs^[b]

Source: A-Leagues
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Least red cards; 5) Least yellow cards; 6) Toss of a coin in an event of a tie of two clubs.
Notes:

1. The top 8 teams qualified for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participated in a playoff round.^[28]
2. Qualified as the 2021 FFA Cup winners.

Matches

Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar

2 January 2021 1	Melbourne Victory	1–3	Brisbane Roar	Melbourne
19:10 AEDT	McManaman   24'	Report	McDonald   16' Gillesphey   60' Wenzel-Halls   79'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 10,304 Referee: Shaun Evans

Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory

23 January 2021 4	Adelaide United	1–0	Melbourne Victory	Adelaide
18:40 ACDT	M. Toure   53'	Report		Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 8,133 Referee: Chris Beath

Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory

26 January 2021 18	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Perth Glory	Melbourne
19:05 AEDT	Brimmer   86', 90' (pen.)	Report	Fornaroli   62'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 7,018 Referee: Shaun Evans

Western United v Melbourne Victory

30 January 2021 10	Western United	0–0	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
17:05 AEDT		Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 7,016 Referee: Adam Kersey

Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory

6 February 2021 15	Brisbane Roar	5–2	Melbourne Victory	Kippa-Ring
17:05 AEST	Wenzel-Halls   9' McDonald   14', 35' Danzaki   17', 49'	Report	Aldred   19' (o.g) Brimmer   45'	Stadium: Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 8,847 Referee: Daniel Elder

Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory

10 February 2021 6	Western Sydney Wanderers	2–0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
19:05 AEDT	Dorrans   72' (pen.) Yeboah   88'	Report		Stadium: Bankwest Stadium Attendance: 5,376 Referee: Alex King

Melbourne Victory v Newcastle Jets

21 February 2021 9	Melbourne Victory	0–1	Newcastle Jets	Melbourne
16:05 AEDT		Report	Thurgate   72'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 5,166 Referee: Kurt Ams

Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix

24 February 2021 3	Melbourne Victory	2–0	Wellington Phoenix	Melbourne
17:00 AEDT	Gestede   45+3', 48'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 3,424 Referee: Shaun Evans

Melbourne Victory v Western United

27 February 2021 13	Melbourne Victory	3–4	Western United	Melbourne
19:10 AEDT	McManaman   21' Butterfield   62' Gestede   82'	Report	Sanchez   42', 90' Berisha   53', 58'	Stadium: Marvel Stadium Attendance: 7,190 Referee: Ben Abraham

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City

6 March 2021 11	Melbourne Victory	0–6	Melbourne City	Melbourne
19:00 AEDT		Report	Maclaren   34' Berenguer   52' Griffiths   56' Metcalfe   74', 77' Colakovski   90+3'	Stadium: Marvel Stadium Attendance: 11,467 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

13 March 2021 12	Melbourne Victory	1–3	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:10 AEDT	Brimmer   28'	Report	Mauk   37', 77' Yengi   61'	Stadium: Marvel Stadium Attendance: 5,217 Referee: Chris Beath

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory

24 March 2021 7	Wellington Phoenix	4–1	Melbourne Victory	Wollongong
19:00 AEDT	Hemed   11' Ball   36' Dávila   62' Lewis   68'	Report	Kamsoba   76'	Stadium: Win Stadium Attendance: 1,184 Referee: Shaun Evans

Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory

27 March 2021 2	Central Coast Mariners	1–1	Melbourne Victory	Gosford
19:10 AEDT	Urena   30'	Report	McManaman   20'	Stadium: Central Coast Stadium Attendance: 5,730 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC

4 April 2021 5	Melbourne Victory	0–3	Sydney FC	Melbourne
19:05 AEDT		Report	Bobô   42' Barbarouses   50' Baumjohann   84' (pen.)	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 5,347 Referee: Daniel Elder

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory

10 April 2021 20	Newcastle Jets	1–2	Melbourne Victory	Newcastle
15:05 AEST	Stamatelopoulos   18'	Report	Ryan   48' Brooks   79'	Stadium: McDonald Jones Stadium Attendance: 3,860 Referee: Adam Fielding

Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory

17 April 2021 19	Melbourne City	7–0	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
19:10 AEST	Nabbout   11' Maclaren   34' (pen.), 64', 75' (pen.), 84', 85' Luna   87'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 14,031 Referee: Chris Beath

Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers

23 April 2021 21	Melbourne Victory	5–4	Western Sydney Wanderers	Melbourne
19:05 AEST	Folami   14', 45+3' Roux   28' Ryan   63' Butterfield   73'	Report	Troisi   31' Dorrans   76' (pen.) Duke   86' Müller   88'	Stadium: Marvel Stadium Attendance: 3,235 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory

27 April 2021 14	Sydney FC	1–0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
19:35 AEDT	Bobô   6'	Report		Stadium: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium Attendance: 4,816 Referee: Daniel Elder

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners

2 May 2021 16	Melbourne Victory	1–1	Central Coast Mariners	Melbourne
16:05 AEST	McManaman   62'	Report	Simon   4'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 4,019 Referee: Jonathan Barreiro

Melbourne Victory v Macarthur FC

6 May 2021 24	Melbourne Victory	1–2	Macarthur FC	Melbourne
19:05 AEST	Kamsoba   23'	Report	Susaeta   31' Meredith   69'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 3,822 Referee: Chris Beath

Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory

9 May 2021 8	Perth Glory	2–1	Melbourne Victory	Perth
18:10 AWST	Fornaroli   52' Ikonomidis   56'	Report	Gestede   79'	Stadium: HBF Park Attendance: 3,134 Referee: Kurt Ams

Macarthur FC v Melbourne Victory

14 May 2021 17	Macarthur FC	3–1	Melbourne Victory	Campbelltown
19:05 AEST	Derbyshire   4', 89' Meredith   39'	Report	Kamsoba   78'	Stadium: Campbelltown Stadium Attendance: 3,212 Referee: Adam Kersey

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory

19 May 2021 25	Sydney FC	2–0	Melbourne Victory	Sydney
19:05 AEST	Bobô   10' Barbarouses   83'	Report		Stadium: Jubilee Stadium Attendance: 4,226 Referee: Alex King

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

23 May 2021 26	Melbourne Victory	0–1	Adelaide United	Melbourne
18:10 AEST		Report	Goodwin   39'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 5,413 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Western United v Melbourne Victory

28 May 2021 22	Western United	1–6	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
19:05 AEST	Diamanti   45+3' (pen.)	Report	Brimmer   12' Gestede   22' Kamsoba   33', 50' Folami   36' Butterfield   82'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 0 (No spectators permitted) Referee: Adam Bavcar

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City

6 June 2021 23	Melbourne Victory	1–1	Melbourne City	Melbourne
16:05 AEST	Brooks   90+5'	Report	Ansell   54' (o.g.)	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 0 (No spectators permitted) Referee: Shaun Evans

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Players with no appearances not included in the list.

As of 30 May 2021

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	A-League		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Matt Acton	15	0	15	0
2	DF		Storm Roux	23	1	23	1
3	DF		Adama Traoré	16	0	16	0
4	DF		Nick Ansell	13	0	13	0
5	DF		Ryan Shotton	7(1)	0	8	0
6	MF		Leigh Broxham	18(2)	0	20	0
7	MF		Callum McManaman	17	4	17	4
8	MF		Jacob Butterfield	24(1)	3	25	3
9	FW		Rudy Gestede	14(3)	5	17	5
10	FW		Robbie Kruse	16(2)	0	18	0
11	FW		Ben Folami	12(4)	3	16	3
13	MF		Birkan Kirdar	5(8)	0	13	0
14	MF		Jay Barnett	7(11)	0	18	0
15	FW		Aaron Anderson	6(4)	0	10	0
16	MF		Brandon Lauton	4(8)	0	12	0
17	FW		Elvis Kamsoba	9(10)	5	19	5
19	DF		Dylan Ryan	17(2)	2	19	2
20	GK		Max Crocombe	10	0	10	0
22	MF		Jake Brimmer	24	5	24	5
23	FW		Marco Rojas	7	0	7	0
25	FW		Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio	5(7)	1	12	1
26	FW		Lleyton Brooks	3(5)	1	8	1
29	FW		Nishan Velupillay	0(3)	0	3	0
33	DF		Dalibor Markovic	3(1)	0	4	0
34	FW		Gianluca Iannucci	0(1)	0	1	0
35	DF		Zaydan Bello	0(4)	0	4	0

Goalscorers

As of 23 April 2021

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	A-League	Total
1	22	MF		Jake Brimmer	4	4
2	7	MF		Callum McManaman	3	3
	9	FW		Rudy Gestede	3	3
4	8	MF		Jacob Butterfield	2	2
	11	FW		Ben Folami	2	2
	19	DF		Dylan Ryan	2	2
7	2	DF		Storm Roux	1	1
	17	MF		Elvis Kamsoba	1	1
	25	FW		Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio	1	1
	26	FW		Lleyton Brooks	1	1
Totals					20	20

Disciplinary record

As of 23 April 2021

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	A-League		Total
1	3	DF		Adama Traoré	4	1	4	1
2	6	MF		Leigh Broxham	5	0	5	0
	7	MF		Callum McManaman	5	0	5	0
	10	FW		Robbie Kruse	5	0	5	0
5	2	DF		Storm Roux	4	0	4	0
	5	DF		Ryan Shotton	4	0	4	0
	22	MF		Jake Brimmer	4	0	4	0
8	8	MF		Jacob Butterfield	3	0	3	0
	15	DF		Aaron Anderson	3	0	3	0
	25	FW		Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio	3	0	3	0
11	9	FW		Rudy Gestede	2	0	2	0
	13	MF		Birkan Kirdar	2	0	2	0
13	4	DF		Nick Ansell	1	0	1	0
	14	MF		Jay Barnett	1	0	1	0
	17	MF		Elvis Kamsoba	1	0	1	0
	19	DF		Dylan Ryan	1	0	1	0
	25	MF		Brandon Lauton	1	0	1	0
Total					49	1	49	1

Clean sheets

As of 23 April 2021

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	A-League	Total
1	20	GK		Max Crocombe	2	2
Total					2	2

References

1. "Melbourne Victory signs shot-stopper Max Crocombe". Melbourne Victory. 1 October 2020.
2. "Melbourne Victory signs Jake Brimmer". Melbourne Victory. 9 October 2020.
3. Lynch, Michael (13 October 2020). "Victory sign ex-Premier League winger and FA Cup final man of match McManaman". The Age.
4. @DailyOzFootball (22 October 2020). "OFFICIAL: Nick Ansell has joined Melbourne Victory on a one-year deal" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. "Nick Ansell returns home". Melbourne Victory. 22 October 2020.
6. "Melbourne Victory signs Jacob Butterfield". Melbourne Victory. 26 October 2020.
7. Larkin, Steve (29 October 2020). "A-League's Victory laud 'very talented, bright future' Aussie signing". FTBL.
8. "Victory signs Dylan Ryan". Melbourne Victory. 11 November 2020.
9. "AFC Champions League squad for Qatar named". Melbourne Victory. 18 November 2020.
10. Mannion, Luke (17 December 2020). "Meet the new faces for 2020/21: Part 1". Melbourne Victory. Iannucci joined Victory from Melbourne City in November and will be keen to make his first A-League appearance under Brebner.
11. "Melbourne Victory signs Rudy Gestede". Melbourne Victory. 25 November 2020.
12. "Melbourne Victory signs Ryan Shotton". Melbourne Victory. 18 December 2020.
13. "A-League: Jets sign Victory defender but door still open for captain Nigel Boogaard to play on". newcastleherald.com.au. 5 June 2020.
14. "Migjen Basha returns to Europe". Melbourne Victory. 27 August 2020.
15. "Squad update". Melbourne Victory. 28 August 2020.
16. "Glory swoop for exciting Aussie duo". Perth Glory. 1 September 2020.
17. "Melbourne City FC Signs Talented Youth Trio". Melbourne City. 21 September 2020.
18. Radbourne, Lucas (21 September 2020). "Victory midfielder announces exit via Twitch stream". FTBL.
19. Markovic, Dalior (10 April 2021). "Western United sign talented full-back Dalibor Markovic". Western United.
20. "Victory and Shotton part ways". Melbourne Victory. 20 May 2021.
21. "Matt Acton re-signs on three-year deal". Melbourne Victory. 24 September 2020.
22. "Adama Traore extends contract for 2020/21". Melbourne Victory. 25 September 2020.
23. "Storm Roux extends Victory stay". Melbourne Victory. 26 September 2020.
24. "Elvis Kamsoba signs new Victory deal". Melbourne Victory. 27 September 2020.
25. "Trio of young guns locked in". Melbourne Victory. 29 September 2020.
26. "Grant Brebner appointed Head Coach". Melbourne Victory. 24 August 2020.
27. "Kean appointed Assistant Coach". Melbourne Victory. 23 October 2020.
28. "FFA Cup to introduce Hyundai A-League play-off process from 2020". Football Federation Australia. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2021.