# 2017–18 Melbourne City FC season

The 2017–18 season was the eighth in the history of Melbourne City Football Club. In addition to the domestic league, the club competed in the FFA Cup for the fourth time.
On 19 June 2017, Warren Joyce was appointed manager of the club, Joyce having previously managed the Manchester United Reserves, Royal Antwerp and Wigan Athletic. On 7 November 2017, Joe Montemurro left his position as assistant coach of the club to take up the senior coaching position at Arsenal Women.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Dean Bouzanis |
| 2 | DF | MLT | Manny Muscat |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Scott Jamieson |
| 4 | DF | AUS | Harrison Delbridge |
| 5 | DF | NED | Bart Schenkeveld |
| 6 | DF | AUS | Osama Malik |
| 7 | FW | AUS | Nick Fitzgerald |
| 8 | MF | AUS | Oliver Bozanic |
| 10 | MF | AUS | Dario Vidošić |
| 11 | MF | AUS | Bruce Kamau |
| 13 | MF | AUS | Stefan Mauk (On loan from N.E.C.) |
| 14 | FW | AUS | Daniel Arzani |
| 15 | MF | AUS | Denis Genreau |
| 18 | GK | AUS | Eugene Galekovic |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | DF | AUS | Christian Cavallo |
| 21 | DF | AUS | Ruon Tongyik |
| 22 | DF | DEN | Michael Jakobsen (captain) |
| 23 | FW | URU | Bruno Fornaroli |
| 25 | MF | ITA | Iacopo La Rocca |
| 26 | MF | AUS | Luke Brattan (on loan from Manchester City) |
| 27 | MF | POL | Marcin Budziński |
| 30 | FW | AUS | Moudi Najjar (scholarship) |
| 34 | MF | AUS | Connor Metcalfe (scholarship) |
| 35 | MF | AUS | Ramy Najjarine (scholarship) |
| 36 | DF | AUS | Dylan Pierias |
| 37 | MF | AUS | Nathaniel Atkinson |
| 42 | GK | AUS | James Delianov |

## Transfers
### From youth squad

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Notes |
| 34 | MF | Connor Metcalfe | 17 | 1 year scholarship contract |
| 37 | MF | Nathaniel Atkinson | 18 | 2 year contract |
| 19 | DF | Christian Cavallo | 21 | 6 month contract |

### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 18 | GK | Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United | Free transfer | 2 years | 16 June 2017 |
| 3 | DF | Scott Jamieson | IFK Göteborg | Free transfer | 4 years | 3 July 2017 |
| 25 | DF | Iacopo La Rocca | Adelaide United | Free transfer | 2 years | 15 July 2017 |
| 30 | FW | John Roberts | FFA Centre of Excellence | Free transfer | 2 years | 18 July 2017 |
| 35 | MF | Ramy Najjarine | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 3 years | 18 July 2017 |
| 13 | MF | Stefan Mauk | N.E.C. | Loan | 1 year | 26 July 2017 |
| 5 | DF | Bart Schenkeveld | PEC Zwolle | Transfer | 2 years | 21 August 2017 |
| 9 | MF | Marcelo Carrusca | | Free transfer | 1 year | 12 September 2017 |
| 27 | MF | Marcin Budziński | Cracovia | Free transfer | 2 years | 18 September 2017 |
| 44 | FW | Ross McCormack | Aston Villa | Injury replacement loan | | 29 September 2017 |
| 4 | DF | Harrison Delbridge | FC Cincinnati | Free transfer | 3 years | 28 November 2017 |
| 10 | MF | Dario Vidošić | | Free transfer | 1.5 years | 29 December 2017 |
| 8 | MF | Oliver Bozanic | | Free transfer | 6 months | 10 February 2018 |
| 30 | FW | Moudi Najjar | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 2 years | 13 February 2018 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date |
| 9 | MF | Nicolás Colazo | Boca Juniors | Loan return | 1 May 2017 |
| 3 | DF | Joshua Rose | Unattached | End of contract | 1 May 2017 |
| 7 | FW | Corey Gameiro | Unattached | End of contract | 1 May 2017 |
| 28 | FW | Steve Kuzmanovski | Unattached | End of contract | 1 May 2017 |
| 18 | MF | Paulo Retre | Unattached | End of contract | 16 June 2017 |
| 5 | DF | Ivan Franjic | Daegu FC | Free transfer | 19 July 2017 |
| 1 | GK | Thomas Sørensen | Retired | Retired | 25 July 2017 |
| 10 | MF | Anthony Cáceres | Manchester City | Loan return | 29 July 2017 |
| 17 | FW | Tim Cahill | | Mutual contract termination | 6 December 2017 |
| 10 | MF | Fernando Brandán | Temperley | Loan return | 18 December 2017 |
| 30 | FW | John Roberts | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 4 January 2018 |
| 9 | MF | Marcelo Carrusca | Western Sydney Wanderers | Mutual contract termination | 11 January 2018 |
| 8 | MF | Neil Kilkenny | | Mutual contract termination | 23 January 2018 |
| 44 | FW | Ross McCormack | Aston Villa | Loan return | 25 January 2018 |
| 12 | FW | Braedyn Crowley | | Mutual contract termination | 13 February 2018 |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Name | Position | Duration | Date |
| 10 | Anthony Cáceres | Central midfielder | 1 year | 16 June 2017 |
| 26 | Luke Brattan | Central midfielder | 1 year | 1 August 2017 |
| 14 | Daniel Arzani | Winger | 1 year | 30 March 2018 |
* ↑ Cáceres's loan extension was cancelled by the end of July, after Manchester City accepted a loan deal for him at Emirati club Al-Wasl.
* ↑ Brattan's loan from Manchester City was extended an additional year from 1 August 2017.

## Technical staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Warren Joyce |
| Assistant coach | Tony Vidmar |
| Goalkeeping coach | Jess Vanstrattan |
| Head of Sport Science | Edward Leng |
| Club physio | Belinda Pacella |
| Youth team manager | Joe Palatsides |
| Youth Team Assistant | Patrick Kisnorbo |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League | 6 October 2017 | 14 April 2018 | Matchday 1 | 3rd | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 41 | 33 | +8 | 048.15 |
| A-League Finals | 20 April 2018 | 27 April 2018 | Elimination-finals | Semi-finals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 050.00 |
| FFA Cup | 1 August 2017 | 13 September 2017 | Round of 32 | Quarter-finals | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 066.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 32 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 49 | 39 | +10 | 050.00 |
Source: Soccerway

### A-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney FC | 27 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 64 | 22 | +42 | 64 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 50 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Champions League second preliminary round and Finals series |
| 3 | Melbourne City | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 41 | 33 | +8 | 43 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne Victory (C) | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 43 | 37 | +6 | 41 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 5 | Adelaide United | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 39 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Brisbane Roar | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 40 | −7 | 35 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 33 | |
| 8 | Perth Glory | 27 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 32 | |
| 9 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 31 | 55 | −24 | 21 | |
| 10 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 28 | 49 | −21 | 20 | |
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: ultimatealeague.com

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | L | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | D | W | L | L | L | D | W | W | W | L |
| Position | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Points | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 34 | 37 | 40 | 43 | 43 |

#### Finals series
### FFA Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League | A-League | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Dean Bouzanis | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Manny Muscat | 13(10) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | | Scott Jamieson | 27(1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Harrison Delbridge | 5(7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Bart Schenkeveld | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | | Osama Malik | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | Nick Fitzgerald | 16(11) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 2 |
| 8 | MF | | Oliver Bozanic | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Dario Vidošić | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 |
| 11 | FW | | Bruce Kamau | 11(5) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| 13 | MF | | Stefan Mauk | 22(1) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 6 |
| 14 | FW | | Daniel Arzani | 15(3) | 2 | 1(1) | 0 | 20 | 2 |
| 15 | MF | | Denis Genreau | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | GK | | Eugene Galekovic | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Ruon Tongyik | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | | Michael Jakobsen | 26 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 2 |
| 23 | FW | | Bruno Fornaroli | 8(2) | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 |
| 25 | DF | | Iacopo La Rocca | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | | Luke Brattan | 24(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| 27 | MF | | Marcin Budziński | 8(9) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| 34 | MF | | Connor Metcalfe | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 37 | DF | | Nathaniel Atkinson | 16(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Player(s) transferred out but featured this season ||||||||||
| 8 | MF | | Neil Kilkenny | 0(3) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | | Marcelo Carrusca | 0(3) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | | Braedyn Crowley | 0(3) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Tim Cahill | 1(5) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 44 | FW | | Ross McCormack | 14(3) | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 14 |

### Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Name | A-League | A-League | A-League | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | 6 | MF | Osama Malik | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | DF | Manny Muscat | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 4 | DF | Harrison Delbridge | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 5 | DF | Bart Schenkeveld | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 26 | MF | Luke Brattan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 14 | FW | Daniel Arzani | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 22 | DF | Michael Jakobsen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 25 | DF | Iacopo La Rocca | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 3 | DF | Scott Jamieson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 7 | FW | Nick Fitzgerald | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 11 | FW | Bruce Kamau | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 13 | MF | Stefan Mauk | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 23 | FW | Bruno Fornaroli | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 27 | MF | Marcin Budziński | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 37 | DF | Nathaniel Atkinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 44 | FW | Ross McCormack | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 1 | GK | Dean Bouzanis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 8 | MF | Neil Kilkenny | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 10 | MF | Dario Vidošić | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

### Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Players with no clean sheets not included in the list.
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Name | A-League | FFA Cup | Total |
| 1 | 1 | | Dean Bouzanis | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 18 | | Eugene Galekovic | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 10 | 1 | 11 |