The Big Blue (A-League Men)

Last updated

The Big Blue
Pre-Game Sydney FC 2-0 Melbourne Victory Round 27 14.02.2010.JPG
Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, Allianz Stadium, February 2010
Location Melbourne
Sydney (Australia)
Teams Melbourne Victory
Sydney FC
First meeting28 August 2005
A-League
Sydney FC 1–1 Melbourne Victory
Latest meeting26 January 2024
A-League Men
Melbourne Victory 1–1 Sydney FC
Next meetingTBC
Statistics
Meetings total64
Most winsSydney FC (25)
Most player appearances Leigh Broxham (47)
Top scorer Archie Thompson (14)
Largest victoryMelbourne Victory 5–0 Sydney FC (16 October 2005)
Melbourne Victory 0–5 Sydney FC (26 January 2014)
Sydney FC 6–1 Melbourne Victory (12 May 2019)

The Big Blue, [1] [2] is the name of the soccer rivalry in Australia between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. While the main colour of both teams and their respective states are shades of the colour blue, in Australian English the word "blue" can also mean "a fight, brawl or heated argument". [3]

Contents

Sydney and Melbourne are the two largest cities in Australia, and Sydney FC and Victory are two of the league's most supported and most successful clubs. The rivalry was further sparked by a number of highly competitive meetings between the two teams in early seasons. The Big Blue generally attracts some of the largest crowds and TV audiences of the regular season.

History

Regional rivals

There has been a long-standing rivalry between the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities in Australia.

In soccer terms, the rivalry has existed for almost 140 years, starting with the first inter-colonial match between Victoria and New South Wales taking place on 16 August 1883 at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, which ended as a 2–2 draw in front of a crowd of 2,000. [4] These intercolonial and later interstate matches continued regularly as a highlight of early Australian soccer until the outbreak of World War I. Although there were many later matches between various mostly immigrant-founded teams from Melbourne and Sydney in the Australia Cup and the National Soccer League prior to the A-League Men era, the interstate rivalry aspect was not as much of a focus, given the context and identity of the clubs involved.

Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory FC were destined to become major rivals at the inception of the A-League Men due to the historic regional rivalry between their home cities. At the time, the A-League Men operated under the "one-team, one-city" model, [5] so the rivalry was almost instantaneous.

Significant moments

The 2015 A-League Grand Final at AAMI Park. 2015 A-League Grand Final AAMI Park panorama.jpg
The 2015 A-League Grand Final at AAMI Park.

The first competitive match between the two clubs was significantly played on the opening weekend of the inaugural 2005–06 A-League season. It was held on 28 August 2005 at Sydney FC's home ground, Sydney Football Stadium. Both teams were eager to stamp their authority as the biggest club in the league, with Sydney FC having already won the 2005 OFC Club Championship during pre-season. The match ended in a 1-all draw as Victory's first player signing and soon to become stalwart, Archie Thompson, cancelled out Sydney FC's marquee signing, Dwight Yorke's first half goal. [6] The second meeting on 16 October 2005 resulted in a landslide win for Victory at their then home ground, Olympic Park Stadium, defeating Sydney FC 5–0. [7] The result still stands as Sydney FC's worst defeat in this fixture.

The first encounter between the clubs during the 2006–07 A-League season (and fourth overall) entrenched the rivalry between the teams as passion and tension fueled the match. Sydney FC skipper, Mark Rudan was sent off after fourteen minutes and Victory player Fred elbowed Sydney FC defender Mark Milligan in the throat. Fred avoided sanction as he was substituted before the referee could see a replay on the big screen. [7] The ugly incident required urgent medical attention as it left Milligan struggling to breathe and there were fears he swallowed his tongue. [8] The following match in Melbourne, the sixth overall, set the record for attendance at an A-League match when 50,333 fans crammed into Etihad Stadium on 8 December 2006. The match ended in a nil-all draw. [7]

After sealing the 2010 Premiership at home on the final day of the season by beating Melbourne 2–0, Sydney FC went on to win the Championship Grand Final on penalties at Melbourne's home stadium.

The rivalry reached another level in 2011, with both teams in pursuit of the signature of Socceroo Harry Kewell pre-season. Melbourne Victory announced they had signed Kewell on 20 August and five days afterwards Sydney FC announced that they had signed Socceroo Brett Emerton from Blackburn Rovers. The teams played out a 0–0 stalemate in the first round of the 2011–12 A-League season, with Australia's head coach not picking either player for national duty, allowing the eagerly-anticipated match up to occur.

A Big Blue match has been played each Australia Day at either the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium or Docklands Stadium in Melbourne since the 2011–12 A-League season which ended in a 2–all draw. However, the 2014–15 A-League season did not feature this fixture due to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Since 2012, the teams have played for the BeyondBlue Cup, which is awarded to the winning team in the Big Blue. [9] Sydney FC claimed the inaugural BeyondBlue Cup by defeating Melbourne Victory 1–0 at Allianz Stadium on 10 March 2012.

On 10 November 2012, Melbourne Victory came from 2–0 down to win 3–2 at Allianz Stadium, with two late goals from substitute player Andrew Nabbout helping them achieve the result. This match turned out of be Ian Crook's last match as Sydney FC manager, as he announced his resignation shortly after the defeat, which was Sydney's fourth in six games.

The fixture played 8 December 2006 holds the record for the second highest attendance at a regular season match with 50,333 in attendance. Currently, three fixtures between the two sides make up the top ten of the League's highest regular season attendances. [10]

With Sydney defeating Melbourne on 3 March 2017 (36th match), they became the first side to win all 3 games of the rivalry in the normal season.

Melbourne Victory and Sydney met in the 2017 A-League Grand Final. Despite Sydney only losing 1 game throughout the whole season, it was Melbourne Victory who took the lead through a Besart Berisha goal. Sydney FC equalised after halftime thanks to Rhyan Grant. The game went to penalties and Sydney won 4–2 on penalties. It was exactly the same scoreline as there meeting in the 2010 Grand Final.

Head-to-head summary

As of 26 January 2024
CompetitionPlayedMelbourne Victory winsDrawsSydney FC wins
A-League Men regular season56161822
A-League Men finals (except Grand Finals)5311
A-League Men Grand Finals3102
A-League Men (overall)64201925
Australia Cup 0000
Total64201925

All-time results

Regular season matches

#DateHome teamScoreAway teamGoals (home)Goals (away)VenueAttendance
128 August 2005 Sydney1–1Melbourne Yorke (44) Thompson (72) Sydney Football Stadium 25,208
216 October 2005 Melbourne5–0Sydney Kitzbichler (34), Muscat (53, 78), Thompson (57, 69)— Olympic Park Stadium 18,208
33 December 2005 Sydney2–1Melbourne Corica (24), Carney (81) Allsopp (88)Sydney Football Stadium17,272
42 September 2006 Melbourne3–2Sydney Allsopp (8, 51), Muscat (11 p) Fyfe (18), Vargas (83 o.g.) Docklands Stadium 39,730
521 October 2006 Sydney1–2Melbourne Corica (8) Thompson (50, 73)Sydney Football Stadium20,881
68 December 2006 Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium50,333
76 October 2007 Sydney0–1Melbourne— Allsopp (82)Sydney Football Stadium18,436
810 November 2007 Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium31,884
920 January 2008 Sydney2–2Melbourne Corica (4), Brosque (62) Milligan (46 o.g.), Allsopp (76)Sydney Football Stadium33,458
1016 August 2008 Sydney0–0Melbourne——Sydney Football Stadium16,227
1125 October 2008 Melbourne0–2Sydney— Bridge (20), Aloisi (62)Docklands Stadium31,654
1227 December 2008 Melbourne3–2Sydney Thompson (14), Ward (78), Ney Fabiano (80) Cole (1), Gan (4)Docklands Stadium33,458
139 October 2009 Melbourne0–3Sydney— Brosque (14), Bridge (17, 19)Docklands Stadium30,668
1419 December 2009 Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium27,344
1514 February 2010 Sydney2–0Melbourne Kisel (34), Aloisi (49)—Sydney Football Stadium25,407
167 August 2010 Sydney3–3Melbourne Brosque (36), McFlynn (54), Cole (85) Broxham (66), Dugandzic (67), Celeski (73)Sydney Football Stadium12,106
1716 October 2010 Melbourne3–0Sydney Vargas (20), Hernández (49), Kruse (90)—Docklands Stadium17,299
1815 January 2011 Sydney1–1Melbourne Mäkelä (90) Allsopp (51)Sydney Football Stadium11,387
198 October 2011 Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium40,351
2026 January 2012 Melbourne2–2Sydney Cernak (45), Fabio (45+2) Cazarine (56), Ryall (90) Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 20,053
2110 March 2012 Sydney1–0Melbourne Kisel (34 p)—Sydney Football Stadium18,180
2210 November 2012 Sydney2–3Melbourne Yau (14), Bosschaart (48) Nabbout (75, 88), Thompson (83)Sydney Football Stadium21,531
2326 January 2013 Melbourne3–1Sydney Rojas (23, 73), Thompson (67) Griffiths (75)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium26,882
2416 March 2013 Sydney1–1Melbourne Yau (85) Milligan (3)Sydney Football Stadium22,233
259 November 2013 Sydney3–2Melbourne Garcia (3), Ryall (15), Del Piero (37 p) Thompson (18), Troisi (27)Sydney Football Stadium18,784
2626 January 2014 Melbourne0–5Sydney— Despotovic (11), Del Piero (20 p, 54), Ryall (25), Carle (87)Docklands Stadium24,354
2729 March 2014 Melbourne1–1Sydney Troisi (63) Chianese (48)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium20,447
2815 November 2014 Sydney0–0Melbourne——Sydney Football Stadium21,242
2913 December 2014 Melbourne3–3Sydney Thompson (23, 47, 79) Janko (17), Smeltz (51, 76)Docklands Stadium25,242
3014 February 2015 Sydney3–3Melbourne Janko (8 p), Smeltz (73 p, 85) Barbarouses (34), Finkler (41), Ansell (78)Sydney Football Stadium17,352
3114 November 2015 Sydney2–4Melbourne Hološko (5), Brosque (20) Berisha (9, 90+2), Finkler (28), Barbarouses (68)Sydney Football Stadium15,947
3226 January 2016 Melbourne1–0Sydney Jurman (79 o.g.)—Docklands Stadium30,493
3327 February 2016 Melbourne1–1Sydney Barbarouses (46) Carney (76)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium20,112
345 November 2016 Sydney2–1Melbourne Carney (63, 78) Austin (41)Sydney Football Stadium19,143
3526 January 2017 Melbourne1–2Sydney Troisi (18) Hološko (38), Ibini (65)Docklands Stadium30,262
363 March 2017 Sydney1–0Melbourne Bobô (20)—Sydney Football Stadium13,310
377 October 2017 Melbourne0–1Sydney— Deng (53 o.g.)Docklands Stadium24,804
3826 January 2018 Melbourne1–3Sydney Berisha (58 p) Bobô (60, p 78), Carney (84)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium21,037
3913 April 2018 Sydney1–0Melbourne Bobô (8)—Sydney Football Stadium15,567
4025 November 2018 Sydney1–2Melbourne Le Fondre (35) Toivonen (23), Honda (71 p) Jubilee Oval 19,081
4126 January 2019 Melbourne2–1Sydney Toivonen (20), Troisi (58) Ninkovic (63)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium21,085
426 April 2019 Sydney2–1Melbourne O'Neill (6), Ninkovic (90+3) Barbarouses (16) Sydney Cricket Ground 14,155
4317 November 2019 Sydney2–1Melbourne Le Fondre (61), Barbarouses (68) Toivonen (45)Jubilee Oval16,116
4424 January 2020 Melbourne0–3Sydney— Le Fondre (27), Barbarouses (53), Baumjohann (85)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium17,814
457 March 2020 Melbourne1–4Sydney Rojas (5) Ninkovic (43), Caceres (64), Le Fondre (66), Barbarouses (87 p)Docklands Stadium15,102
464 April 2021 Melbourne0–3Sydney— Bobô (42), Barbarouses (50), Baumjohann (84 p)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium5,347
4727 April 2021 Sydney1–0Melbourne Bobô (6)—Jubilee Oval4,816
4819 May 2021 Sydney2–0Melbourne Bobô (10), Barbarouses (83)—Jubilee Oval4,226
4925 January 2022 Melbourne2–2Sydney Folami (17), Kruse (77) Ninkovic (37), Bobô (81)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium10,496
507 May 2022 Sydney1–4Melbourne Le Fondre (16) D'Agostino (14), Brimmer (30), Geria (38), Hamill (87)Jubilee Oval11,404
518 October 2022 Sydney2–3Melbourne Mak (15), Donachie (79) D'Agostino (31), Ikonomidis (67), Brillante (83) Sydney Football Stadium 21,840
5226 January 2023 Melbourne1–2Sydney Brimmer (26) Burgess (32), Le Fondre (52)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium8,181
534 March 2023 Sydney1–0Melbourne Caceres (35)—Sydney Football Stadium15,167
5421 October 2023 Sydney0–2Melbourne— Fornaroli (62), Machach (86) Sydney Football Stadium 14,586
5516 December 2023 Melbourne3–0Sydney Arzani (20), Machach (24), Fornaroli (57)—Melbourne Rectangular Stadium14,607
5626 January 2024 Melbourne1–1Sydney Machach (17) Courtney-Perkins (10)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium18,012
League home record
Home teamMatchesWinsDrawsLosses
Sydney281288
Melbourne2881010
Overall league head-to-head record
MatchesSydney FC winsMelbourne Victory winsDraws
56221618

Finals series matches

#DateRoundHome teamScoreAway teamGoals (home)Goals (away)VenueAttendance
118 February 2010 Semi-final 1st legMelbourne2–1Sydney Mrdja (16), Hernández (40) Aloisi (43) Docklands Stadium 28,453
27 March 2010 Semi-final 2nd legSydney2–2 AETMelbourne Kisel (36 p), Bridge (54) Kruse (15), Thompson (114) Sydney Football Stadium 23,818
320 March 2010 Grand Final Melbourne1–1 ( a.e.t. )
(2–4 p)		Sydney Leijer (81) Bridge (63)Docklands Stadium44,560
418 April 2014 Elimination FinalMelbourne2–1Sydney Thompson (19), Finkler (90+2) Ryall (33)Docklands Stadium20,802
517 May 2015 Grand Final Melbourne3–0Sydney Berisha (33), Barbarouses (83), Broxham (90)— Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 29,843
67 May 2017 Grand Final Sydney1–1 ( a.e.t. )
(4–2 p)		Melbourne Grant (69) Berisha (20)Sydney Football Stadium41,546
728 April 2018 Semi-finalSydney2–3( a.e.t. )Melbourne Nigro (24 o.g.), Antonis (90+5 o.g.) Barbarouses (31), Troisi (47), Antonis (117)Sydney Football Stadium17,775
812 May 2019 Semi-finalSydney6–1Melbourne Calver (3), Brosque (43), Broxham (45+2 o.g.), Le Fondre (63 p, 68), Ninkovic (88) Toivonen (90+1) Jubilee Oval 12,141
Finals home record
Home TeamMatchesWinsLossesDraws
Sydney4211
Melbourne4310
Overall finals head-to-head record
MatchesSydney FC winsMelbourne Victory winsDraws
8341

Leading goalscorers (4+ goals)

As of 26 January 2024
PlayerClubGoals scored
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Archie Thompson Melbourne14
Flag of New Zealand.svg Kosta Barbarouses Melbourne/Sydney11
Flag of England.svg Adam Le Fondre Sydney8
Flag of Brazil.svg Bobô Sydney8
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Danny Allsopp Melbourne6
Flag of Albania.svg Besart Berisha Melbourne5
Flag of Australia (converted).svg James Troisi Melbourne5
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex Brosque Sydney5
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Bridge Sydney5
Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Carney Sydney5
Flag of New Zealand.svg Shane Smeltz Sydney4
Flag of Sweden.svg Ola Toivonen Melbourne4

Players who played for both clubs

As of 26 January 2024
PlayerNationMelbourneSydney FCTotal "Big Blues"
YearsRecordYearsRecordAppsGoalsRecord
Sebastian Ryall [11] Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2007–20092–1–02009–20188–12–629 (3 / 26)4 (0 / 4)10–13–6
Mark Milligan [12] [13] Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2012–2015,
2017–2018		4–5–32005–20081–3–319 (12 / 7)1 (1 / 0)5–8–6
Fabio [14] Flag of Brazil.svg 2011–20120–2–12012–20130–0–25 (3 / 2)1 (1 / 0)0–2–3
Danny Vukovic [15] [16] Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2015–20162–1–02016–20174–0–07 (3 / 4)06–1–0 [lower-alpha 1]
Terry Antonis [17] [18] Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2018–20193–0–32010–20151–5–214 (6 / 8)1 (1 / 0)4–5–5
Mitch Austin [19] [20] Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2016–20180–0–220190–0–02 (2 / 0)1 (1 / 0)0–0–2
Kosta Barbarouses Flag of New Zealand.svg 2013–2016, 2017–197–4–52019–20226–0–123 (16 / 7)11 (6 / 5)13–4–6
James Donachie Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2016–2018, 2019–201–0–102021–20232–1–216 (11 / 5)1 (0 / 1)3–1–12
Elvis Kamsoba Flag of Burundi.svg 2019–20211–0–72021–20220–1–110 (8 / 2)0 (0 / 0)1–1–8
Joshua Brillante Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2021–20232–1–12016–20199–0–316 (4 / 12)0 (0 / 0)11–1–4

Players in bold denote currently still active at either Melbourne Victory or Sydney FC

  1. ↑ Wins include 2017 A-League Grand Final won in penalty shootout

Played for one, managed the other

As of 28 April 2024
ManagerPlayed forManaged
TeamSpanLeague

apps

League

goals

TeamSpanGWDLWin %
Tony Popovic Sydney FC 2007–2008271 Melbourne Victory 2021–present9139252742.86

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Motorsport Video |Motorsport Highlights, Replays, News, Clips".
  2. ↑ Di Fabbio, Robbie (25 January 2013). "Big Blue, Australia's national derby". theroar.com.au. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Blue". The Macquarie Essential Dictionary. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. 1999. p. 81.
  4. ↑ INTERCOLONIAL FOOTBALL MATCH – VICTORIA v. NEW SOUTH WALES, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 August 1883
  5. ↑ Gorman, Joe (8 November 2012). "'Big Blue' still the A-League's big rivalry". theroar.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Round 1". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Bossi, Dominic (15 May 2015). "A-League grand final: 10 moments that define the Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory rivalry". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Bossi, Dominic (14 February 2015). "History fuels the rivalry between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory, says Mark Milligan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "The 'Big Blue' becomes the beyondblue Cup - Football Australia 2013". www.footballaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Statistics Attendance". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Ryall A-League opponents". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  12. ↑ "Milligan Record against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "Milligan Record against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  14. ↑ "Fabio A-League opponents". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  15. ↑ "Vukovic against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "Vukovic against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  17. ↑ "Antonis against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Antonis against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "Austin against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "Austin against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
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