The Big Blue
Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory, Allianz Stadium, February 2010
LocationMelbourne
Sydney (Australia)
TeamsMelbourne Victory
Sydney FC
First meeting28 August 2005
A-League
Sydney FC 1–1 Melbourne Victory
Latest meeting16 December 2023
A-League Men
Melbourne Victory 3–0 Sydney FC
Next meeting26 January 2024
A-League Men
Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC
Statistics
Meetings total63
Most winsSydney FC (25)
Most player appearancesLeigh Broxham (47)
Top scorerArchie Thompson (14)
Largest victoryMelbourne Victory 5–0 Sydney FC (16 October 2005)
Melbourne Victory 0–5 Sydney FC (26 January 2014)
Sydney FC 6–1 Melbourne Victory (12 May 2019)

The Big Blue,[1][2] is the name of the soccer rivalry in Australia between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. While the main colour of both teams and their respective states are shades of the colour blue, in Australian English the word "blue" can also mean "a fight, brawl or heated argument".[3]

Sydney and Melbourne are the two largest cities in Australia, and Sydney FC and Victory are two of the league's most supported and most successful clubs. The rivalry was further sparked by a number of highly competitive meetings between the two teams in early seasons. The Big Blue generally attracts some of the largest crowds and TV audiences of the regular season.

History

Regional rivals

There has been a long-standing rivalry between the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities in Australia.

In soccer terms, the rivalry has existed for almost 140 years, starting with the first inter-colonial match between Victoria and New South Wales taking place on 16 August 1883 at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, which ended as a 2–2 draw in front of a crowd of 2,000.[4] These intercolonial and later interstate matches continued regularly as a highlight of early Australian soccer until the outbreak of World War I. Although there were many later matches between various mostly immigrant-founded teams from Melbourne and Sydney in the Australia Cup and the National Soccer League prior to the A-League Men era, the interstate rivalry aspect was not as much of a focus, given the context and identity of the clubs involved.

Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory FC were destined to become major rivals at the inception of the A-League Men due to the historic regional rivalry between their home cities. At the time, the A-League Men operated under the "one-team, one-city" model,[5] so the rivalry was almost instantaneous.

Significant moments

The 2015 A-League Grand Final at AAMI Park.

The first competitive match between the two clubs was significantly played on the opening weekend of the inaugural 2005–06 A-League season. It was held on 28 August 2005 at Sydney FC's home ground, Sydney Football Stadium. Both teams were eager to stamp their authority as the biggest club in the league, with Sydney FC having already won the 2005 OFC Club Championship during pre-season. The match ended in a 1-all draw as Victory's first player signing and soon to become stalwart, Archie Thompson, cancelled out Sydney FC's marquee signing, Dwight Yorke's first half goal.[6] The second meeting on 16 October 2005 resulted in a landslide win for Victory at their then home ground, Olympic Park Stadium, defeating Sydney FC 5–0.[7] The result still stands as Sydney FC's worst defeat in this fixture.

The first encounter between the clubs during the 2006–07 A-League season (and fourth overall) entrenched the rivalry between the teams as passion and tension fueled the match. Sydney FC skipper, Mark Rudan was sent off after fourteen minutes and Victory player Fred elbowed Sydney FC defender Mark Milligan in the throat. Fred avoided sanction as he was substituted before the referee could see a replay on the big screen.[7] The ugly incident required urgent medical attention as it left Milligan struggling to breathe and there were fears he swallowed his tongue.[8] The following match in Melbourne, the sixth overall, set the record for attendance at an A-League match when 50,333 fans crammed into Etihad Stadium on 8 December 2006. The match ended in a nil-all draw.[7]

After sealing the 2010 Premiership at home on the final day of the season by beating Melbourne 2–0, Sydney FC went on to win the Championship Grand Final on penalties at Melbourne's home stadium.

The rivalry reached another level in 2011, with both teams in pursuit of the signature of Socceroo Harry Kewell pre-season. Melbourne Victory announced they had signed Kewell on 20 August and five days afterwards Sydney FC announced that they had signed Socceroo Brett Emerton from Blackburn Rovers. The teams played out a 0–0 stalemate in the first round of the 2011–12 A-League season, with Australia's head coach not picking either player for national duty, allowing the eagerly-anticipated match up to occur.

A Big Blue match has been played each Australia Day at either the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium or Docklands Stadium in Melbourne since the 2011–12 A-League season which ended in a 2–all draw. However, the 2014–15 A-League season did not feature this fixture due to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Since 2012, the teams have played for the BeyondBlue Cup, which is awarded to the winning team in the Big Blue.[9] Sydney FC claimed the inaugural BeyondBlue Cup by defeating Melbourne Victory 1–0 at Allianz Stadium on 10 March 2012.

On 10 November 2012, Melbourne Victory came from 2–0 down to win 3–2 at Allianz Stadium, with two late goals from substitute player Andrew Nabbout helping them achieve the result. This match turned out of be Ian Crook's last match as Sydney FC manager, as he announced his resignation shortly after the defeat, which was Sydney's fourth in six games.

The fixture played 8 December 2006 holds the record for the second highest attendance at a regular season match with 50,333 in attendance. Currently, three fixtures between the two sides make up the top ten of the League's highest regular season attendances.[10]

With Sydney defeating Melbourne on 3 March 2017 (36th match), they became the first side to win all 3 games of the rivalry in the normal season.

Melbourne Victory and Sydney met in the 2017 A-League Grand Final. Despite Sydney only losing 1 game throughout the whole season, it was Melbourne Victory who took the lead through a Besart Berisha goal. Sydney FC equalised after halftime thanks to Rhyan Grant. The game went to penalties and Sydney won 4–2 on penalties. It was exactly the same scoreline as there meeting in the 2010 Grand Final.

Head-to-head summary

As of 16 December 2023
Competition Played Melbourne Victory wins Draws Sydney FC wins
A-League Men regular season55161722
A-League Men finals (except Grand Finals)5311
A-League Men Grand Finals3102
A-League Men (overall)63201825
Australia Cup0000
Total63201825

All-time results

Regular season matches

#DateHome teamScoreAway teamGoals (home)Goals (away)VenueAttendance
128 August 2005Sydney1–1MelbourneYorke (44)Thompson (72)Sydney Football Stadium25,208
216 October 2005Melbourne5–0SydneyKitzbichler (34), Muscat (53, 78), Thompson (57, 69)—Olympic Park Stadium18,208
33 December 2005Sydney2–1MelbourneCorica (24), Carney (81)Allsopp (88)Sydney Football Stadium17,272
42 September 2006Melbourne3–2SydneyAllsopp (8, 51), Muscat (11 p)Fyfe (18), Vargas (83 o.g.)Docklands Stadium39,730
521 October 2006Sydney1–2MelbourneCorica (8)Thompson (50, 73)Sydney Football Stadium20,881
68 December 2006Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium50,333
76 October 2007Sydney0–1Melbourne—Allsopp (82)Sydney Football Stadium18,436
810 November 2007Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium31,884
920 January 2008Sydney2–2MelbourneCorica (4), Brosque (62)Milligan (46 o.g.), Allsopp (76)Sydney Football Stadium33,458
1016 August 2008Sydney0–0Melbourne——Sydney Football Stadium16,227
1125 October 2008Melbourne0–2Sydney—Bridge (20), Aloisi (62)Docklands Stadium31,654
1227 December 2008Melbourne3–2SydneyThompson (14), Ward (78), Ney Fabiano (80)Cole (1), Gan (4)Docklands Stadium33,458
139 October 2009Melbourne0–3Sydney—Brosque (14), Bridge (17, 19)Docklands Stadium30,668
1419 December 2009Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium27,344
1514 February 2010Sydney2–0MelbourneKisel (34), Aloisi (49)—Sydney Football Stadium25,407
167 August 2010Sydney3–3MelbourneBrosque (36), McFlynn (54), Cole (85)Broxham (66), Dugandzic (67), Celeski (73)Sydney Football Stadium12,106
1716 October 2010Melbourne3–0SydneyVargas (20), Hernández (49), Kruse (90)—Docklands Stadium17,299
1815 January 2011Sydney1–1MelbourneMäkelä (90)Allsopp (51)Sydney Football Stadium11,387
198 October 2011Melbourne0–0Sydney——Docklands Stadium40,351
2026 January 2012Melbourne2–2SydneyCernak (45), Fabio (45+2)Cazarine (56), Ryall (90)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium20,053
2110 March 2012Sydney1–0MelbourneKisel (34 p)—Sydney Football Stadium18,180
2210 November 2012Sydney2–3MelbourneYau (14), Bosschaart (48)Nabbout (75, 88), Thompson (83)Sydney Football Stadium21,531
2326 January 2013Melbourne3–1SydneyRojas (23, 73), Thompson (67)Griffiths (75)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium26,882
2416 March 2013Sydney1–1MelbourneYau (85)Milligan (3)Sydney Football Stadium22,233
259 November 2013Sydney3–2MelbourneGarcia (3), Ryall (15), Del Piero (37 p)Thompson (18), Troisi (27)Sydney Football Stadium18,784
2626 January 2014Melbourne0–5Sydney—Despotovic (11), Del Piero (20 p, 54), Ryall (25), Carle (87)Docklands Stadium24,354
2729 March 2014Melbourne1–1SydneyTroisi (63)Chianese (48)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium20,447
2815 November 2014Sydney0–0Melbourne——Sydney Football Stadium21,242
2913 December 2014Melbourne3–3SydneyThompson (23, 47, 79)Janko (17), Smeltz (51, 76)Docklands Stadium25,242
3014 February 2015Sydney3–3MelbourneJanko (8 p), Smeltz (73 p, 85)Barbarouses (34), Finkler (41), Ansell (78)Sydney Football Stadium17,352
3114 November 2015Sydney2–4MelbourneHološko (5), Brosque (20)Berisha (9, 90+2), Finkler (28), Barbarouses (68)Sydney Football Stadium15,947
3226 January 2016Melbourne1–0SydneyJurman (79 o.g.)—Docklands Stadium30,493
3327 February 2016Melbourne1–1SydneyBarbarouses (46)Carney (76)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium20,112
345 November 2016Sydney2–1MelbourneCarney (63, 78)Austin (41)Sydney Football Stadium19,143
3526 January 2017Melbourne1–2SydneyTroisi (18)Hološko (38), Ibini (65)Docklands Stadium30,262
363 March 2017Sydney1–0MelbourneBobô (20)—Sydney Football Stadium13,310
377 October 2017Melbourne0–1Sydney—Deng (53 o.g.)Docklands Stadium24,804
3826 January 2018Melbourne1–3SydneyBerisha (58 p)Bobô (60, p 78), Carney (84)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium21,037
3913 April 2018Sydney1–0MelbourneBobô (8)—Sydney Football Stadium15,567
4025 November 2018Sydney1–2MelbourneLe Fondre (35)Toivonen (23), Honda (71 p)Jubilee Oval19,081
4126 January 2019Melbourne2–1SydneyToivonen (20), Troisi (58)Ninkovic (63)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium21,085
426 April 2019Sydney2–1MelbourneO'Neill (6), Ninkovic (90+3)Barbarouses (16)Sydney Cricket Ground14,155
4317 November 2019Sydney2–1MelbourneLe Fondre (61), Barbarouses (68)Toivonen (45)Jubilee Oval16,116
4424 January 2020Melbourne0–3Sydney—Le Fondre (27), Barbarouses (53), Baumjohann (85)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium17,814
457 March 2020Melbourne1–4SydneyRojas (5)Ninkovic (43), Caceres (64), Le Fondre (66), Barbarouses (87 p)Docklands Stadium15,102
464 April 2021Melbourne0–3Sydney—Bobô (42), Barbarouses (50), Baumjohann (84 p)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium5,347
4727 April 2021Sydney1–0MelbourneBobô (6)—Jubilee Oval4,816
4819 May 2021Sydney2–0MelbourneBobô (10), Barbarouses (83)—Jubilee Oval4,226
4925 January 2022Melbourne2–2SydneyFolami (17), Kruse (77)Ninkovic (37), Bobô (81)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium10,496
507 May 2022Sydney1–4MelbourneLe Fondre (16)D'Agostino (14), Brimmer (30), Geria (38), Hamill (87)Jubilee Oval11,404
518 October 2022Sydney2–3MelbourneMak (15), Donachie (79)D'Agostino (31), Ikonomidis (67), Brillante (83)Sydney Football Stadium21,840
5226 January 2023Melbourne1–2SydneyBrimmer (26)Burgess (32), Le Fondre (52)Melbourne Rectangular Stadium8,181
534 March 2023Sydney1–0MelbourneCaceres (35)—Sydney Football Stadium15,167
5421 October 2023Sydney0–2Melbourne—Fornaroli (62), Machach (86)Sydney Football Stadium14,586
5516 December 2023Melbourne3–0SydneyArzani (20), Machach (24), Fornaroli (57)—Melbourne Rectangular Stadium14,607
5626 January 2024MelbourneSydneyMelbourne Rectangular Stadium
League home record
Home team Matches Wins Draws Losses
Sydney 281288
Melbourne 278910
Overall league head-to-head record
Matches Sydney FC wins Melbourne Victory wins Draws
55221617

Finals series matches

#DateRoundHome teamScoreAway teamGoals (home)Goals (away)VenueAttendance
118 February 2010Semi-final 1st legMelbourne2–1SydneyMrdja (16), Hernández (40)Aloisi (43)Docklands Stadium28,453
27 March 2010Semi-final 2nd legSydney2–2 AETMelbourneKisel (36 p), Bridge (54)Kruse (15), Thompson (114)Sydney Football Stadium23,818
320 March 2010Grand FinalMelbourne1–1 (a.e.t.)
(2–4 p)		SydneyLeijer (81)Bridge (63)Docklands Stadium44,560
418 April 2014Elimination FinalMelbourne2–1SydneyThompson (19), Finkler (90+2)Ryall (33)Docklands Stadium20,802
517 May 2015Grand FinalMelbourne3–0SydneyBerisha (33), Barbarouses (83), Broxham (90)—Melbourne Rectangular Stadium29,843
67 May 2017Grand FinalSydney1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 p)		MelbourneGrant (69)Berisha (20)Sydney Football Stadium41,546
728 April 2018Semi-finalSydney2–3 (a.e.t.)MelbourneNigro (24 o.g.), Antonis (90+5 o.g.)Barbarouses (31), Troisi (47), Antonis (117)Sydney Football Stadium17,775
812 May 2019Semi-finalSydney6–1MelbourneCalver (3), Brosque (43), Broxham (45+2 o.g.), Le Fondre (63 p, 68), Ninkovic (88)Toivonen (90+1)Jubilee Oval12,141
Finals home record
Home Team Matches Wins Losses Draws
Sydney 4211
Melbourne 4310
Overall finals head-to-head record
Matches Sydney FC wins Melbourne Victory wins Draws
8341

Leading goalscorers (4+ goals)

As of 4 March 2023
Player Club Goals scored
Australia Archie Thompson Melbourne 14
New Zealand Kosta Barbarouses Melbourne/Sydney 11
England Adam Le Fondre Sydney 8
Brazil Bobô Sydney 8
Australia Danny Allsopp Melbourne 6
Albania Besart Berisha Melbourne 5
Australia James Troisi Melbourne 5
Australia Alex Brosque Sydney 5
Australia Mark Bridge Sydney 5
Australia David Carney Sydney 5
New Zealand Shane Smeltz Sydney 4
Sweden Ola Toivonen Melbourne 4
  • BOLD indicates player still playing for that club.

Players who played for both clubs

As of 8 October 2022
Player Nation Melbourne Sydney FC Total "Big Blues"
YearsRecordYearsRecord Apps Goals Record
Sebastian Ryall[11] Australia 2007–20092–1–02009–20188–12–6 29 (3 / 26)4 (0 / 4) 10–13–6
Mark Milligan[12][13] Australia 2012–2015,
2017–2018		4–5–32005–20081–3–3 19 (12 / 7)1 (1 / 0)5–8–6
Fabio[14] Brazil 2011–20120–2–12012–20130–0–2 5 (3 / 2)1 (1 / 0)0–2–3
Danny Vukovic[15][16] Australia 2015–20162–1–02016–20174–0–0 7 (3 / 4)06–1–0[lower-alpha 1]
Terry Antonis[17][18] Australia 2018–20193–0–3 2010–20151–5–2 14 (6 / 8)1 (1 / 0)4–5–5
Mitch Austin[19][20] Australia 2016–20180–0–2 20190–0–0 2 (2 / 0)1 (1 / 0)0–0–2
Kosta Barbarouses New Zealand 2013–2016, 2017–197–4–5 2019–20226–0–1 23 (16 / 7)11 (6 / 5)13–4–6
James Donachie Australia 2016–2018, 2019–201–0–10 2021–20232–1–2 16 (11 / 5)1 (0 / 1)3–1–12
Elvis Kamsoba Burundi 2019–20211–0–7 2021–20220–1–1 10 (8 / 2)0 (0 / 0)1–1–8
Joshua Brillante Australia 2021–20232–1–1 2016–20199–0–3 16 (4 / 12)0 (0 / 0)11–1–4

Players in bold denote currently still active at either Melbourne Victory or Sydney FC

  1. ↑ Wins include 2017 A-League Grand Final won in penalty shootout

Played for one, managed the other

As of 23 February 2023
Manager Played for Managed
Team Span League

apps

 League

goals

 Team Span G W D L Win %
Tony Popovic Sydney FC 2007–2008 27 1 Melbourne Victory 2021–present 71 32 17 22 45.07

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Motorsport Video |Motorsport Highlights, Replays, News, Clips".
  2. ↑ Di Fabbio, Robbie (25 January 2013). "Big Blue, Australia's national derby". theroar.com.au. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Blue". The Macquarie Essential Dictionary. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. 1999. p. 81.
  4. ↑ INTERCOLONIAL FOOTBALL MATCH – VICTORIA v. NEW SOUTH WALES, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 August 1883
  5. ↑ Gorman, Joe (8 November 2012). "'Big Blue' still the A-League's big rivalry". theroar.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Round 1". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Bossi, Dominic (15 May 2015). "A-League grand final: 10 moments that define the Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory rivalry". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Bossi, Dominic (14 February 2015). "History fuels the rivalry between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory, says Mark Milligan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "The 'Big Blue' becomes the beyondblue Cup - Football Australia 2013". www.footballaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Statistics Attendance". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Ryall A-League opponents". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  12. ↑ "Milligan Record against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "Milligan Record against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  14. ↑ "Fabio A-League opponents". ultimatealeague.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  15. ↑ "Vukovic against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "Vukovic against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  17. ↑ "Antonis against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Antonis against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "Austin against Sydney FC". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "Austin against Melbourne". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
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