2019–20 W-League

The 2019–20 W-League season was the twelfth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Nine teams competed in the league, with most of the players from Australia but 33 of them from 11 other countries.

Melbourne City was undefeated through the regular season, the third time this has occurred in the W-League and the second time it has been achieved by Melbourne City.

The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season has had a significant impact on the season. Apart from the need to defer a few matches, there were a number of matches that were played in a smoke haze, with some players requiring asthma medication during the matches.

The grand final was played behind closed doors, due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

The season was also notable for the number of high-profile players who left the W-League to join English teams. This included Sam Kerr moving to Chelsea, Hayley Raso to Everton, Caitlin Foord to Arsenal and Chloe Logarzo to Bristol City.

Clubs

Stadia and locations Team Location Stadium Capacity Adelaide United Adelaide Marden Sports ComplexCoopers Stadium Brisbane Roar Brisbane Suncorp StadiumLions Stadium Canberra United Canberra McKellar ParkSeiffert Oval Melbourne City Melbourne CB Smith ReserveAAMI Park Melbourne Victory Melbourne Lakeside StadiumEpping StadiumAAMI ParkLatrobe City StadiumMarvel Stadium Newcastle Jets Newcastle Newcastle Number 2 Sports GroundMcDonald Jones Stadium Perth Glory PerthBunbury Dorrien GardensHay Park – Sydney FC SydneyWollongong Seymour ShawJubilee OvalLeichhardt OvalWIN Stadium Western Sydney Wanderers Sydney Marconi StadiumANZ StadiumSpotless Stadium

Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturers Kit sponsors Adelaide United Ivan Karlović Amber Brooks Macron SA Power Networks Brisbane Roar Jake Goodship Clare PolkinghorneUmbro Brisbane Airport Canberra United Heather Garriock Nikola Orgill Karly Roestbakken Viva Teamwear University of Canberra Drake International Melbourne City Rado Vidošić Steph CatleyPuma Etihad Airways Melbourne Victory Jeff Hopkins Natasha DowieAdidas Back in Motion Newcastle Jets Ashley Wilson Cassidy Davis Gema Simon Clare Wheeler Viva Teamwear Greater Bank City of Newcastle Perth Glory Bobby Despotovski Natasha Rigby Macron BHP Sydney FC Ante Juric Teresa PoliasUnder Armour The Star Western Sydney Wanderers Dean Heffernan Erica Halloway Nike Intermain

Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Position on table Incoming manager Date of appointmentRef. Dan Barrett End of contractPre-season24 April 2019 Brisbane Roar Quit3 September 2019Newcastle Jets Craig Deans Assigned caretaker of men's squad7th8th Ashley Wilson(interim)(full-time)13 January 202022 February 2020

Transfers

Foreign players Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 Non-Visa foreigner(s) Former player(s) Adelaide United Lais Araujo Julia Ashley Amber Brooks Mallory Weber Brisbane Roar Rylee Baisden Celeste Boureille Shea Connors Carson Pickett Canberra United Camila Simone Charley Kaleigh Kurtz Katie Stengel Elise ThorsnesR Melbourne City Yukari Kinga Claire Emslie Milica Mijatović Lauren Barnes Rebekah StottA Ally WattG Melbourne Victory Natasha Dowie Haley Hanson Darian Jenkins Emily Menges Annalie LongoA Newcastle Jets Perth Glory Arianna Romero Celia Jiménez Delgado Morgan Andrews Crystal Thomas Stacey CavillA Sydney FC Lindsay Agnew Aubrey Bledsoe Sofia Huerta Veronica Latsko Western Sydney Wanderers Kristen Hamilton Abby Smith Sam Staab Denise O'SullivanG Lynn Williams The following do not fill a Visa position: A Australian citizens who have chosen to represent another national team; G Guest Players; R Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players

Regular season The regular season runs from 14 November 2019 to 1 March 2020, including a two-week break at the end of January and beginning of February. The season consists of 12 matches per team, 6 home and 6 away, usually with one match per week for each team. Because the league has an odd number of teams, at least one team each week does not play. In most weeks, the league has scheduled one match on Thursday and the remaining matches on Saturday and Sunday. To date, two matches have had to be rescheduled due to bushfires, either because of direct fire threat or because of smoke.

League table

Results

Fixtures

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Finals series The grand final was played behind closed doors, due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

Semi-finals

Grand final

Regular season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals1 Morgan AndrewsPerth Glory7 Natasha DowieMelbourne Victory Kristen HamiltonWestern Sydney Wanderers Remy SiemsenSydney FC5 Emily van EgmondMelbourne City66 Tara AndrewsNewcastle Jets5 Simone CharleyCanberra United Darian JenkinsMelbourne Victory Milica MijatovićMelbourne City10 Kyra Cooney-CrossWestern Sydney Wanderers4 Claire EmslieMelbourne City Hayley RasoBrisbane Roar Kyah SimonMelbourne City Mallory WeberAdelaide United Lynn WilliamsWestern Sydney Wanderers

Own goals PlayerClubAgainstRound Kaitlyn Torpey Brisbane Roar Melbourne Victory 2 Amber Brooks Adelaide United Sydney FC 7 Isabella Wallhead Perth Glory Western Sydney Wanderers 10 Lais Araujo Adelaide United Western Sydney Wanderers 11 Kim Carroll Perth Glory Sydney FC 13 Cassidy Davis Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory 13

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date Ref. Kristen Hamilton Western Sydney Wanderers Brisbane Roar 3–1

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Lydia WilliamsMelbourne City82 Aubrey BledsoeSydney FC73 Casey DumontMelbourne Victory54 Mackenzie ArnoldBrisbane Roar45 Abby SmithWestern Sydney Wanderers36 Sham KhamisCanberra United1 Claire CoelhoNewcastle Jets

Monthly awards

MonthPlayer of the monthCoach of the monthYoung player of the monthNameClubNameClubNameClubNovember 2019 Remy SiemsenSydney FC Dean HeffernanWestern Sydney Wanderers Kyra Cooney-CrossWestern Sydney WanderersDecember 2019 Denise O'SullivanWestern Sydney Wanderers Dean HeffernanWestern Sydney Wanderers Indiah-Paige RileyBrisbane RoarJanuary 2020 Natasha DowieMelbourne Victory Rado VidošićMelbourne City Ellie CarpenterMelbourne CityFebruary 2020 Morgan AndrewsPerth Glory Jeff HopkinsMelbourne Victory Hollie PalmerBrisbane Roar

End-of-season awards The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2019–20 Dolan Warren Awards night on 23 July 2020. Julie Dolan Medal – Kristen Hamilton (Western Sydney Wanderers) NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Ellie Carpenter (Melbourne City) Golden Boot Award – Morgan Andrews (Perth Glory), Kristen Hamilton (Western Sydney Wanderers), Remy Siemsen (Sydney FC), and Natasha Dowie (Melbourne Victory) (7 goals) Goalkeeper of the Year – Aubrey Bledsoe (Sydney FC) and Lydia Williams (Melbourne City) Coach of the Year – Rado Vidošić (Melbourne City) Fair Play Award – Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, and Perth Glory Referee of the Year – Rebecca Durcau Goal of the Year – Amy Jackson (Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory, 28 December 2019)

International competition

The W-League was represented in the first edition of the AFC Women's Club Championship, which took place from 26 to 30 November 2019 in Yongin, South Korea. Melbourne Victory were invited to participate in the tournament, as the Premiers of the 2018–19 season. They finished in last place with one point from their 3 matches.

As Premiers in 2019–20, Melbourne City qualify to the 2020 AFC Women's Club Championship.

2019–20 W-League

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