# 2020–21 W-League

The 2020–21 W-League season was the thirteenth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. The season started on 29 December 2020 and ended with the Grand final on 11 April 2021.

## Clubs
### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Adelaide United | Adelaide | Marden Sports Complex Coopers Stadium | 6,000 16,500 |
| Brisbane Roar | Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium Lions Stadium | 52,500 5,000 |
| Canberra United | Canberra | Viking Park | 7,000 |
| Melbourne City | Melbourne | Frank Holohan Soccer Complex | 2,000 |
| Melbourne Victory | Melbourne | CB Smith Reserve Epping Stadium AAMI Park Latrobe City Stadium | 2,000 10,000 30,050 12,000 |
| Newcastle Jets | Newcastle | Newcastle Number 2 Sports Ground McDonald Jones Stadium | 5,000 33,000 |
| Perth Glory | Perth | Dorrien Gardens | 4,000 |
| Sydney FC | Sydney Wollongong | Seymour Shaw Jubilee Oval Leichhardt Oval WIN Stadium | 5,000 20,505 20,000 23,000 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Sydney | Marconi Stadium Stadium Australia Bankwest Stadium Wanderers Football Park | 9,000 83,500 30,000 1,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturers | Kit sponsors |
| Adelaide United | Adrian Stenta | Dylan Holmes | UCAN | SA Power Networks |
| Brisbane Roar | Jake Goodship | Clare Polkinghorne | Umbro | Fuel Your Life |
| Canberra United | Vicki Linton | Kendall Fletcher | Apelle | DKD Consulting |
| Melbourne City | Rado Vidošić | Emma Checker | Puma | Etihad Airways |
| Melbourne Victory | Jeff Hopkins | Angela Beard | Adidas | Fuel Your Life |
| Newcastle Jets | Ash Wilson | Cassidy Davis Gema Simon | Apelle | Greater Bank |
| Perth Glory | Alexander Epakis | Natasha Rigby | Macron | BHP |
| Sydney FC | Ante Juric | Teresa Polias | Under Armour | The Star |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Dean Heffernan | Caitlin Cooper Erica Halloway | Kappa | Intermain |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position on table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Canberra United | Heather Garriock | Sacked | 1 March 2020 | Pre-season | Vicki Linton | 31 July 2020 |
| Adelaide United | Ivan Karlović | Appointed Head of Women's Football | 4 August 2020 | Pre-season | Adrian Stenta | 4 August 2020 |
| Perth Glory | Bobby Despotovski | Resigned | 2 November 2020 | Pre-season | Alexander Epakis | 20 November 2020 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Non-Visa foreigner(s) | Former player(s) |
| Adelaide United | María José Rojas | Fiona Worts | Maruschka Waldus | Mallory Weber | | |
| Brisbane Roar | Mariel Hecher | Olivia Chance | | | | Billie Murphy |
| Canberra United | Paige Satchell | Kendall Fletcher | Chantel Jones | | | |
| Melbourne City | Margot Robinne | Chinatsu Kira | Noor Eckhoff | Samantha Johnson | Tyla-Jay Vlajnic$^A$ | |
| Melbourne Victory | Gaby Garton | Claudia Bunge | Kayla Morrison | Catherine Zimmerman | Natalie Martineau$^B$ Annalie Longo$^A$ | |
| Newcastle Jets | | | | | | |
| Perth Glory | Gemma Craine | Lily Alfeld | Elizabeth Anton | Malia Steinmetz | | |
| Sydney FC | | | | | | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Julie-Ann Russell | | | | | |
The following do not fill a Visa position: $^A$ Australian citizens who have chosen to represent another national team; $^B$ Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian citizenship; $^G$ Guest Players; $^R$ Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players

## Regular season

The regular season commenced on 29 December 2020, and ran until 31 March 2021.

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney FC | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 28 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 2 | Brisbane Roar | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 12 | +17 | 25 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 3 | Melbourne Victory (C) | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 23 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 4 | Canberra United | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 22 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 5 | Adelaide United | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 18 | +4 | 22 | |
| 6 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 21 | −8 | 13 | |
| 7 | Melbourne City | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 23 | −12 | 13 | |
| 8 | Newcastle Jets | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 7 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 12 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 32 | −25 | 1 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ADE | BRI | CNU | MCY | MVC | NEW | PER | SYD | WSW |
| Adelaide United | | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Brisbane Roar | 4–2 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | | |
| Canberra United | 4–3 | 4–1 | | 2–1 | | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Melbourne City | | 2–3 | | | 0–6 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 |
| Melbourne Victory | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | | 4–2 | 6–0 | | 1–0 |
| Newcastle Jets | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 0–2 | | | 1–2 | 4–1 |
| Perth Glory | 1–2 | | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–4 | | 2–6 | |
| Sydney FC | 2–1 | 1–4 | 4–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | | | 2–0 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | |

## Regular season statistics
### Leading goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Emily Gielnik | Brisbane Roar | 13 |
| 2 | Michelle Heyman | Canberra United | 10 |
| 3 | Remy Siemsen | Sydney FC | 7 |
| 4 | Tara Andrews | Newcastle Jets | 5 |
| 4 | Melina Ayres | Melbourne Victory | 5 |
| 4 | Kyra Cooney-Cross | Melbourne Victory | 5 |
| 4 | Chelsie Dawber | Adelaide United | 5 |
| 4 | Catherine Zimmerman | Melbourne Victory | 5 |
| 9 | Emily Condon | Adelaide United | 4 |
| 9 | Nickoletta Flannery | Canberra United | 4 |
| 9 | Rosie Galea | Western Sydney Wanderers | 4 |
| 9 | Mariel Hecher | Brisbane Roar | 4 |
| 9 | Princess Ibini-Isei | Sydney FC | 4 |
| 9 | Cortnee Vine | Sydney FC | 4 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
| Michelle Heyman | Canberra United | Adelaide United | 4–3 (H) | 30 December 2020 | |
| Emily Gielnik | Brisbane Roar | Adelaide United | 4–2 (H) | 12 March 2021 | |
Key :
| (H) | Home team |

## Finals series statistics
### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
| Melina Ayres | Melbourne Victory | Brisbane Roar | 6–2 (A) | 4 April 2021 | |

#### Notes

* (A) – Away team

## End-of-season awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2020–21 Dolan Warren Awards night on 23 June 2021.
* Julie Dolan Medal – Michelle Heyman (Canberra United)
* NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Kyra Cooney-Cross (Melbourne Victory)
* Golden Boot Award – Emily Gielnik (Brisbane Roar) (13 goals)
* Goalkeeper of the Year – Teagan Micah (Melbourne City)
* Coach of the Year – Jeff Hopkins (Melbourne Victory)
* Fair Play Award – Brisbane Roar
* Referee of the Year – Rebecca Durcau
* Goal of the Year – Lisa De Vanna (Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City, 10 January 2021)