Once more unto the breach, dear friends, for the A-League Men is back, this time celebrating its 20th season. It’s a time for hope, for spirits swelled by the promise and potential that comes with the blank slate of a new season. And that goes not just for the 13 sides taking part in this year’s competition but, as has invariably been the case of late, also the league itself, which has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years to test the depths of even the most ardent supporter’s endurance.
It all begins on Friday, when Central Coast host Melbourne Victory in a rematch of the 2023-24 grand final. In that contest, the Mariners yet again defied their standing to emerge as champions of Australia for the second-straight season with a triumph that put a bow on a historic, treble-winning run of Premiership, Championship and AFC Cup.
