Aussie Kicks: The 2021-22 Liberty A-League Season

Ben Gilby reviews a Liberty A-League season that looked routine and was anything but. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory met in a second consecutive Grand Final, Victory retaining the title at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in front of 5,027 after Amy Jackson headed in Kyra Cooney-Cross’s cross and Catherine Zimmerman doubled the lead. Beneath that, Wellington Phoenix entered with a squad of youngsters Gemma Lewis knew from New Zealand’s Under-20s, and Perth Glory were forced by Western Australian border rules to abandon home and base themselves 2,500 miles away in North Sydney for the whole campaign, still coming within one Canberra result of the Finals. Melbourne City’s Holly McNamara and Sydney’s Cortnee Vine broke through into the Matildas, and Adelaide reached a first Finals behind Fiona Worts’s thirteen goals.