The Original Rivalry

The Original Rivalry is a rivalry between South Australian-based club Adelaide United and Victorian-based club Melbourne Victory. It is also referred to as 'The Original Derby'.^[1][2]

The Original Rivalry

Panorama of Hindmarsh Stadium from the away end during an Original Rivalry match in 2016
Teams	Adelaide United Melbourne Victory
First meeting	7 May 2005 OFC Club Championship United 0–0 Victory
Latest meeting	21 September 2024 Australia Cup Victory 1–0 United
Next meeting	18 January 2025 A-League Men United v Victory
Stadiums	Hindmarsh Stadium Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Statistics
Meetings total	73
Most wins	Melbourne Victory (33)
Top scorer	Archie Thompson: 13 goals
All-time record	Adelaide United: 24 Drawn: 16 Melbourne Victory: 33
Largest victory	Victory 6–0 United (18 February 2007)
Longest win streak	Melbourne Victory: 10 (12 September 2008 – 29 October 2010)
Longest unbeaten streak	Melbourne Victory: 10 (12 September 2008 – 29 October 2010)
Current win streak	Melbourne Victory: 3 (30 December 2023 – present)
Current unbeaten streak	Melbourne Victory: 6 (14 January 2023 – present)

History

Early matches

The two teams first met in a 2005 Australian Club World Championship Qualifying Tournament match on 7 May 2005 with Adelaide progressing to the next round of qualifying, winning a penalty shootout after the match remained 0–0 after extra time.^[3] The teams met again in a friendly match on 26 June 2005 in Bendigo, with the teams finishing 0–0 at full time.

Beginning of rivalry

However, a proper rivalry between the two teams did not begin until 2010, when Adelaide United were defeated twice in an A-League Grand Final both in 2007 and 2009. During the 2008–09 season, they both finished on the top of the ladder equal on both points and the goal difference. The rivalry between both sets of fans remains very strong,^[4][5] since the majority of the matches get an attendance of at least over 12,500.

Another event that helped start the rivalry was in the 2006-07 season on the field included at the time Adelaide coach John Kosmina and Melbourne Victory Captain Kevin Muscat. The ball rolled out near the Adelaide technical area, Kosmina went to pick up the ball, only to be pushed to the ground by Muscat also trying to retrieve the ball himself. Kosmina responded by getting to his feet and grabbing the Victory captain by the throat. It’s an incident that has set the tone for what has followed in this fiery fixture.^[6]

Cup knockouts and title deciders

Adelaide and Melbourne have met twice in an A-League Grand Final, there have also been Original Rivalry games in the FFA Cup which have significantly contributed to one of the two clubs winning a trophy. These include:

• Melbourne Victory 6–0 Adelaide United (18 February 2007) The Grand Final match of the 2006–07 league campaign, with both Adelaide and Melbourne to reach their first A-League Finals trophy. The game had most goals and largest victory in an A-League Grand Final with Archie Thompson scoring five goals and Kristian Sarkies scoring the sixth goal in the third minute of stoppage time.

• Melbourne Victory 1–0 Adelaide United (28 February 2009) The Grand Final match of the 2008–09 league campaign, with Adelaide and Melbourne facing each other at Telstra Dome again since the 2007 A-League Grand Final. The final result was a 1–0 scoreline with Tom Pondeljak scoring the goal in the 60th minute.

• Melbourne Victory 3–1 Adelaide United (22 September 2015) The FFA Cup Quarter-Finals match to face Hume City next round.^[7] After seven minutes, Osama Malik had slid in to Fahid Ben Khalfallah who had given Victory a free kick. Guilherme Finkler opened the scoring after ten minutes via the free-kick. Kosta Barbarouses scored the second just before the half-time whistle. Adelaide had earned a penalty as Daniel Georgievski had fouled Craig Goodwin. Marcelo Carrusca the penalty taker had successfully converted spot-kick as Lawrence Thomas dived correctly. Besart Berisha had also scored his penalty with ten minutes to go, booking them to the cup semi-final against Hume City.

• Adelaide United 3–0 Melbourne Victory (23 August 2017) The FFA Cup Round of 16 match to face Heidelberg United next round.^[8] No goals were scored in the first half until Johan Absalonsen scored the opener in the 53rd. Ten minutes later, a penalty was awarded via a handball by Rhys Williams. The penalty was successfully converted by George Blackwood sending Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas the wrong way. Nathan Konstandopoulos in the final minute of regular time scored his first FFA Cup goal. After, stoppage time was up. The Reds moved on in the quarter-finals to face Heidelberg United in Melbourne.

Results

Adelaide United vs. Melbourne Victory

Venue	Date	Competition	Score	Home goalscorers	Away goalscorers	Attendance
Hindmarsh Stadium	7 May 2005	OFC Club Championship qualification	0–0 (4–1 pen.)			7,254
	9 September 2005	A-League	1–0	Brain 1'		8,785
	5 January 2006	A-League	1–0	Dodd 14'		13,427
	1 December 2006	A-League	1–3	Fernando 42'	Muscat 16' (pen.), Allsopp 61', Fred 86'	16,378
	28 January 2007	A-League Finals	0–0			15,575
	7 September 2007	A-League	1–1	Dodd 83' (pen.)	Vargas 80'	12,231
	12 October 2007	A-League	4–1	Milicevic 14' (o.g.), Dodd (2) 15', 54', Pantelis 90'	Thompson 45'	13,372
	31 October 2008	A-League	2–3	Dodd 28' (pen.), Cássio 67'	Muscat 55' (pen.), 81' (pen.), Celeski 84'	13,191
	7 February 2009	A-League Finals	0–2		Hernández 13', Allsopp 89'	14,119
	18 September 2009	A-League	0–2		Ward 7', Brebner 90'	15,038
Adelaide Oval	11 February 2011	A-League	2–1	Reid 6', Dodd 78'	Thompson 65'	21,083
Hindmarsh Stadium	14 October 2011	A-League	1–0	Van Dijk 52'		14,573
	7 December 2012	A-League	4–2	Kostopoulos (2) 3', 32', F. Ferreira 22', Carrusca 25'	Nabbout 6', Rojas 47'	14,115
	8 February 2013	A-League	1–0	Jerónimo 43'		12,029
	18 October 2013	A-League	2–2	Cirio 21' (pen.), Jerónimo 25'	Finkler 79', Troisi 90+3'	16,504
Adelaide Oval	17 October 2014	A-League	1–1	Cirio 85'	Khalfallah 89'	33,126
Hindmarsh Stadium	21 March 2015	A-League	2–2	Sánchez 43', McGowan 75'	Khalfallah 9', Thompson 77'	16,077
Adelaide Oval	9 October 2015	A-League	0–0			19,079
Hindmarsh Stadium	22 October 2016	A-League	1–2	Elrich 68'	Berisha 20', Rojas 90+3'	14,908
	7 January 2017	A-League	0–2		Troisi 22', Berisha 68'	10,036
Marden Sports Complex	23 August 2017	FFA Cup	3–0	Absalonsen 53', Blackwood 66' (pen.), N. Konstandopoulos 89'		3,342
Adelaide Oval	20 October 2017	A-League	2–2	Lia (2) 23', 62'	Berisha 13', Austin 82'	19,415
Hindmarsh Stadium	9 January 2019	A-League	2–0	Goodwin 18', Ilsø 21'		12,115
	19 April 2019	A-League	1–0	Blackwood 81'		12,866
	23 November 2019	A-League	3–1	McGree (2) 23', 68', Maria 63'	Toivonen 61'	12,198
	17 January 2020	A-League	1–0	Halloran 32'		11,412
	23 January 2021	A-League	1–0	M. Toure 53'		8,133
	11 December 2021	A-League Men	1–2	Spiranovic 70' (o.g.)	Margiotta 59', Velupillay 78'	8,145
	5 January 2022	FFA Cup	1–2	Goodwin 33'	Brillante 62', Margiotta 79' (pen.)	3,156
	2 April 2022	A-League Men	0–1		Rojas 7'	8,044
	11 November 2022	A-League Men	3–0	Ibusuki 37', Goodwin 86' (pen.), Warland 90+1'		13,504
	14 January 2023	A-League Men	1–1	Goodwin 7'	D'Agostino 49'	11,168
	9 March 2024	A-League Men	2–1	Irankunda 51'	Fornaroli (2) 33', 57' (pen.)	8,731
	18 January 2025	A-League Men

Melbourne Victory vs. Adelaide United

Venue	Date	Competition	Score	Home goalscorers	Away goalscorers	Attendance
Olympic Park	8 August 2005	Pre-Season Challenge Cup	0–0			4,687
	28 October 2005	A-League	0–1		Veart 83'	16,201
Aurora Stadium	16 July 2006	Pre-Season Challenge Cup	0–1		Veart 65'	6,834
Olympic Park	25 August 2006	A-League	2–0	Muscat 29', Claudinho 78'		15,781
Docklands Stadium	15 October 2006	A-League	0–1		Owens 83'	32,368
	4 February 2007	A-League Finals	2–1	Allsopp 48', Robinson 90+2'	Dodd 4'	47,413
	18 February 2007	A-League Finals	6–0	Thompson (5) 21', 29', 40', 56', 73', Sarkies 90+3'		55,436
Aurora Stadium	15 July 2007	Pre-Season Challenge Cup	1–1	Allsopp 74'	Dodd 9'	8,061
Docklands Stadium	8 December 2007	A-League	2–2	Muscat 71' (pen.), Alagich 90' (o.g.)	Agostino (2) 18', 50'	22,466
Aurora Stadium	20 July 2008	Pre-Season Challenge Cup	1–2	Ney Fabiano 8'	Cristiano (2) 21', 90'	4,720
Docklands Stadium	12 September 2008	A-League	1–0	Muscat 63'		24,812
	6 January 2009	A-League	1–0	Ward 58'		27,196
	14 February 2009	A-League Finals	4–0	Thompson 10', Hernández 24', Allsopp 44', Pondeljak 48'		34,476
	28 February 2009	A-League Finals	1–0	Pondeljak 60'		53,273
	24 October 2009	A-League	3–1	Dugandzic (2) 18', 56', Leijer 90'	Hughes 64'	21,182
	23 January 2010	A-League	2–0	Pondeljak 1', Muscat 90' (pen.)		20,351
	29 October 2010	A-League	2–1	Kruse 22', Hernández 68'	Fyfe 2'	16,269
AAMI Park	9 January 2011	A-League	1–4	Dugandzic 90+4'	Flores 12', Van Dijk (2) 57', 78', Barbiero 75'	18,558
Docklands Stadium	10 December 2011	A-League	1–1	Thompson 58'	Barbiero 81'	16,562
AAMI Park	13 January 2012	A-League	1–1	Thompson 6'	Van Dijk 53'	20,959
Docklands Stadium	19 October 2012	A-League	2–1	Milligan 52', Rojas 67'	Vidošić 49' (pen.)	19,174
	23 November 2013	A-League	3–0	Barbarouses 14', A. Thompson 68, Nichols 76'		20,064
AAMI Park	22 February 2014	A-League	4–3	Finkler (2) 15', 56', A. Thompson 66', Barbarouses 75'	Cirio (3) 3', 45', 83'	18,341
	28 November 2014	A-League	3–2	Boogaard 7' (o.g.), Cirio 16' (o.g.), Broxham 32'	Mabil 14', Carrusca 37'	22,334
	22 September 2015	FFA Cup	3–1	Finkler 10', Barbarouses 45+1', Berisha 82' (pen.)	Carrusca 78' (pen.)	10,521
Docklands Stadium	28 November 2015	A-League	2–1	Berisha 14' (pen.), Bozanic 30'	Carrusca 87' (pen.)	23,415
AAMI Park	19 February 2016	A-League	0–1		Kamau 90'	18,924
	25 February 2017	A-League	2–1	Rojas 66, Berisha 82'	Elrich 90'	19,035
Docklands Stadium	8 December 2017	A-League	1–2	Milligan 56'	Diawara 17', Blackwood 72'	16,778
AAMI Park	24 February 2018	A-League	3–0	Regan 22' (o.g.), George 29', Berisha 59'		18,924
	22 April 2018	A-League Finals	2–1	George 63', Berisha 89'	Mileusnic 57'	15,502
Docklands Stadium	8 December 2018	A-League	2–0	Barbarouses 62', Toivonen 81'		20,629
	29 February 2020	A-League	2–1	Rojas 57', Nabbout 90+1'	Opseth 7'	14,414
	13 March 2021	A-League	1–3	Brimmer 28'	Mauk (2) 35, 77', Yengi 61'	5,217
AAMI Park	23 May 2021	A-League	0–1		Goodwin 39'	5,413
	8 January 2022	A-League Men	1–1	D'Agostino 84'	Goodwin 90+1'	6,912
	26 February 2023	A-League Men	1–1	Fornaroli 81' (pen.)	Irankunda 87'	8,838
	4 November 2023[9]	A-League Men	1–1	Fornaroli 28'	Ibusuki 59'	15,229
	30 December 2023	A-League Men	2–0	Machach 73', Fornaroli 90'		15,216
	21 September 2024	Australia Cup	1–0	Valadon 88'		5,131
	29 March 2025	A-League Men

Statistics

As of 21 September 2024

Competition	Matches	Melbourne wins	Draw	Adelaide wins
A League Men regular season	57	24	13	20
A League Finals	7	6	1	0
FFA Cup/Australia Cup	4	3	0	1
Pre-Season Challenge Cup	4	0	2	2
OFC Club Championship qualification	1	0	1	0
Total	73	33	17	23

Players who played for both clubs

Despite the rivalry between the clubs, 13 players have played for Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory since 2005. The first player to have played for both clubs was Matthew Kemp who joined Adelaide United in 2005 and Melbourne Victory in 2007 Statistics are sourced from ALeagueStats.com^[10] and updated as of 27 June 2021.

Adelaide United, then Melbourne Victory

Name	Pos	Adelaide United			Melbourne Victory
		Career	Apps	Goals	Career	Apps	Goals
Matthew Kemp	DF	2005–07	47	1	2007–12	96	2
Daniel Mullen	DF	2008–12	79	5	2013	9	0
Marcos Flores	MF	2010–11	38	9	2012–13	24	4
Paul Izzo	GK	2011–15, 2017–2020	99	0	2022–	25	0
Tomi Juric	FW	2013, 2020–2021	25	11	2022–2023	7	1
Noah Smith	DF	2020–2021	10	0	2022–2023	7	0
Nathan Konstandopoulos	MF	2014–2016, 2017–2022	77	7	2022–2024	11	0
George Timotheou	DF	2020–2022	22	0	2022–2023	7	0
Bruce Kamau	FW	2014–2016	29	3	2023	9	0

Melbourne Victory, then Adelaide United

Name	Pos	Melbourne Victory			Adelaide United
		Career	Apps	Goals	Career	Apps	Goals
Vince Lia	MF	2005–07	31	0	2017–19	43	3
Kristian Sarkies	MF	2005–07	45	3	2007–09	44	3
Eugene Galekovic	GK	2005–07	22	0	2007–2017	285	0
Joe Keenan	MF	2007	17	0	2010–11	17	1
Mate Dugandzic	MF	2009–10	40	8	2015–16	21	1
James Jeggo	MF	2011–14	34	3	2014–16	51	4
Scott Galloway	DF	2013–16	65	1	2018–19	34	1
Jesse Makarounas	FW	2013–16	54	3	2016–17	13	1
James Troisi	MF	2013–19	126	32	2019–20	13	1
Nick Ansell	DF	2012–2017, 2018–2019, 2020–2021	92	1	2021–	15	1

Honours

As of 8 February 2022

National Competition	Adelaide United	Melbourne Victory
A-League Premiership	2	3
A-League Championship	1	4
Australia Cup	3	2

Highest attendances

• Melbourne 6–0 Adelaide; 55,436 (18 February 2007); Telstra Dome
• Melbourne 1–0 Adelaide; 53,273 (28 February 2009); Telstra Dome
• Melbourne 2–1 Adelaide; 47,413 (4 February 2007); Telstra Dome
• Adelaide 1–1 Melbourne; 33,126 (17 October 2014); Adelaide Oval
• Melbourne 0–1 Adelaide; 32,368 (15 October 2006); Telstra Dome

See also

• Sports rivalry

References

1. Greco, John (18 April 2019). "What is the Original Rivalry?". A-League. Football Australia.
2. "What is the Original Rivalry?". A-Leagues. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
3. "Live Match Update – Adelaide Utd v Melbourne Victory". A-League.com.au. Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 12 July 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
4. Windon, Jacob (19 April 2019). "Original Rivalry: Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory, by the numbers". My Football. Football Federation Australia.
5. Unwin, Dominic (7 December 2018). "Five of the best Original Rivalry clashes". My Football. Football Federation Australia.
6. Staff, KEEPUP (18 April 2019). "What is the Original Rivalry?". A-Leagues. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
7. "Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United". FFA Cup. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
8. Filosi, Gianluca (23 August 2017). "Reds topple Victory to make FFA Cup quarters". A-League.
9. Wood, Mike Meehall (4 November 2023). "Irankunda sent off as Original Rivalry kicks off big time with two reds, two goals and a heap of controversy". The Roar. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
10. "Player Statistics". ALeagueStats.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.