Sydney FC have become the 2022/23 A-League Women champions after a thumping 4-0 defeat over Western United in Sunday’s grand final.
Before this season, the Sky Blues had been grand final runners-up for three consecutive years, so it’s safe to say that this double title was a long time coming.
Despite speculations surrounding a potential lack of fan attendance, the grand final atmosphere was well and truly there, with an ALW record attendance of 9,519.
Sydney found their lead early with Madison Haley, who was later to be crowned player of the match, opening with a fiery header into the back of the net. Princess Ibini and captain Natalie Tobin also got their names on the score sheet, with Haley getting a second last-minute goal to bring the final score up to four.
It was a fairly one-sided match in the end, the determination of a hungry Sydney FC turned out to be simply unbreakable for Western United.
Sydney FC coach Ante Juric was proud of the fight that his side found to come out so strongly on top, but he disagrees with the belief that their hunger and determination stemmed from past grand final heartbreaks.
“I don’t care what happened in the past. We can’t change it,” Juric said.
“I look forward, not back, and today was forward.”
Juric believes that the multiple close misses in the past didn’t cause any extra pressure to win this season’s grand final. His sole focus on facing forwards was a mentality that he said he had hoped to instil in his squad, a mentality that could very well have been what helped to drive them to such a powerful victory on Sunday night.
Sydney FC’s consistency over the years, topped with this fresh double title, has reinforced their prestige and position as Australia’s most successful women’s club.
“That’s for other people to judge,” Ante said in response to a comment about being the most successful.
“I’m just proud of what we’ve done in these past three years especially.”
ALW grand final player of the match, Madison Haley, believes that Sydney FC’s continuous successes are the result of a “winning environment.”
“You rarely find teams that are winning consistently, that don’t have a strong culture,” Haley said.
“And Sydney most definitely has that.
“When you’ve got one hand on the trophy, essentially, you’ve gotta go and win it.”
This is the second time Sydney FC have been crowned with the double title and they have made it to every finals series since the beginning of the ALW.
It’s clear that the Sky Blues were well and truly prepared to finish their season with a grand final win.
Feature image credit: Jaime Castaneda
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