Melbourne City Women’s 2025/26 Premiership and Championship triumph added another chapter to one of the most successful stories in Australian football.
After securing a third consecutive Premiers Plate before lifting the Ninja A-League Championship at AAMI Park, Michael Matricciani’s side became just the third Melbourne City Women’s team to complete the coveted Premiership and Championship double.
It’s an achievement reserved for the very best sides, teams capable of sustaining excellence across an entire season before delivering when the stakes are highest.
As City celebrates another historic campaign, we take a look back at the three double-winning seasons that have helped define one of the most successful women’s football programs in Australian sport.
2015/16: The Invincibles
Melbourne City Women couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to life in the competition.
In the Club’s inaugural season, Joe Montemurro assembled a star-studded squad featuring Matildas star Steph Catley and New Zealand international Rebekah Stott alongside international standouts Jess Fishlock, Kim Little and Jen Beattie.
What followed was one of the most remarkable campaigns the competition has seen.
City swept through the regular season unbeaten, winning all 12 matches to secure the Premiers Plate in emphatic fashion. Their dominance was built on a relentless attacking style, world-class talent and a winning mentality that quickly established the Club as the benchmark of the competition.
Hunting the double in their inaugural season, City survived a tense semi-final against Brisbane Roar, eventually progressing via a penalty shoot-out, before returning to AAMI Park for a Grand Final showdown with Sydney FC.
In front of a home crowd, City delivered a statement performance, defeating Sydney 4-1 to complete an historic Premiership-Championship double in the Club’s first-ever season.
The achievement cemented the foundations of Melbourne City Women’s success and remains one of the most impressive seasons in the competition’s history.
2019/20: Rado’s Unbeaten Champions
Four years later, Melbourne City once again produced an invincible campaign.
Under the guidance of the late Rado Vidosic, City assembled another powerhouse squad featuring Matildas stars Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Emily van Egmond and Lydia Williams, alongside Scottish international Claire Emslie and club stalwart Rebekah Stott.
The team stormed through the regular season undefeated, recording 11 wins and one draw to claim the Premiers Plate and continue the Club’s reputation as the competition’s standard-setter.
A dominant 5-1 Semi-Final victory over Western Sydney Wanderers followed, with Emslie, a Kyah Simon brace, Stott and an own goal sealing City’s place in the decider.
The Grand Final, played behind closed doors at AAMI Park due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would provide a fitting farewell for several of the Club’s biggest stars.
In a tightly contested affair, captain Steph Catley scored the decisive goal to secure a 1-0 win and City’s second Premiership-Championship double.
The match marked the end of an era, with Catley and Williams later joining Arsenal, Carpenter moving to French giants Lyon and Stott joining with Brighton & Hove Albion in England.
It was a champion team that left an enduring legacy both at City and on the international stage.
2025/26: A New Chapter of History
The latest chapter in Melbourne City Women’s remarkable story arrived this season.
Led by Michael Matricciani, City secured a third consecutive Premiers Plate, becoming the first club to achieve the feat across three straight full home-and-away seasons. The achievement also secured qualification for a third consecutive AFC Women’s Champions League campaign, another first.
Despite entering the Finals Series as the team to beat, City faced stern challenges along the way.
A Semi-Final clash with cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory saw City rise to the occasion, securing a 2-0 aggregate victory thanks to goals from Leticia McKenna and Shelby McMahon.
That set up a Grand Final meeting between the season’s two standout teams as Wellington Phoenix travelled to AAMI Park.
On the biggest stage, City delivered one final statement.
Golden Boot winner Holly McNamara scored twice, while McKenna added a spectacular long-range strike as City claimed a 3-1 victory and completed the Club’s third Premiership-Championship double.
From the Invincibles of 2015/16, to Rado Vidosic’s unbeaten champions in 2019/20, and now Michael Matricciani’s history-makers, Melbourne City Women’s three double-winning teams have each left a unique mark on the Club.
Different eras, different stars and different stories, but all united by the same pursuit of excellence.
Together, they form a legacy that continues to set the standard for women’s football in Australia.
