The 2022-23 A-League Women regular season has ended in Australia with three of the four 2021-22 playoff teams repeating — Sydney FC, Melbourne City and two-time reigning champions Melbourne Victory — while surprise expansion side Western United of suburban Melbourne replaced Adelaide United, who struggled with goalscoring this season and never made a consistent playoff run.
This season was significant as the regular season was extended by four matches to 18, from 14 games in 2021-22. We will review this season more after the playoffs conclude in a few weeks, but now we look ahead to plans that the league is developing to drive future growth for the women’s game in the region.
The A-League has expanded each of the past two seasons; adding New Zealand’s Wellington Phoenix for the 2021-22 season and Western United of Melbourne in 2022-23. The league has another franchise joining for 2023-24 as the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford, New South Wales will take the league to 12 teams. The Mariners were one of the original eight sides in the then…
