This Day In Melbourne Victory

📅 ON THIS DAY | 7 NOVEMBER 2015 Victory secure first Cup title. On this day 11 years ago we played in and won our first FFA/Australia Cup trophy. In front of 15,000 at AAMI Park, we took control of the game late in the first half, with Oliver Bozanic and Besart Berisha giving us a 2-0 lead going into the break. That was a scoreline we'd hold onto until the final whistle. The only sour note was Carl Valeri picking up a second yellow with a handful of minutes left. (1/2)

🎂 HAPPY BIRTHDAY | MARCO ROJAS The Kiwi Messi turns 35 today. The star midfielder played over 100 games for us over three stints. His 2012-13 period was one full of personal honours. - 2012 OFC Player of the Year - 2012-13 Johnny Warren Medal - 2012-13 A-League Young Footballer of the Year - 2012-13 A-League PFA Team of the Season He was part of our 2021 FFA Cup winning side. What are your favourite Marco Rojas memories for the Vuck? (1/2)

📅 ON THIS DAY | 4 NOVEMBER 2022 Bruno Fornaroli debuts for Melbourne Victory. The signing of Bruno Fornaroli was an interesting one. One of the great names of our local rivals signed for us from Perth Glory, and was named amongst the substitutes for the Friday night clash against the Jets. A first half Jake Brimmer penalty, which was controversially won by Nani, was added to early in the second half by Chris Ikonomidis and Nick D'Agostino. On 75 minutes, it was D'Agostino that would make way for the new man Fornaroli. And it didn't take long for the talisman to get his name on the scoresheet. After VAR awarded us a penalty for handball, Fornaroli stepped up and made no mistake to get off the mark in Vuck colours. Fornaroli would go on to make 75 appearances in all competitions, bagging 31 goals, earning a call up to the Socceroos 2023 Asian Cup squad as a result of his form with the club. He remains involved with the club in a football department role. (1/2)

📅 ON THIS DAY | 3 NOVEMBER 2014 Victory win on Cup Eve and secure first Clean Sheet in 22 matches. As was tradition, the Vuck welcomed the Nix to Melbourne on the Monday before the Cup. We had a number of key players unavailable, with Adrian Leijer and Daniel Georgievski both suspended, and Besart Berisha and Matthieu Delpierre out injured. In front of a crowd of 24,000, we opened the scoring after 24 minutes. Gui Finkler stood over a free-kick wide out on the left. He swung a speculative ball into the box which flashed between Nix keeper Glen Moss and the pack of bodies and nestled into the back of the net. We'd have to wait til just after the hour mark to extend the lead. A typical Melbourne Victory counter finished off by Connor Pain, who'd been on for less than a minute, with his first touch of the ball. The clean sheet was our first in 22 games, when we beat Perth Glory by the same scoreline nearly 12 months earlier. (1/2)

🆚 OPPONENT PREVIEW | CENTRAL COAST MARINERS Round 3 and we face off against the Mariners at home. This is our 63rd encounter in all competitions. Overall we have a dominant head-to-head record, however of course our opponents have won the recent one that matters. We do have that Cup Final win in the bank I guess. My favourite regular season match against the Mariners is the 3-3 draw at the Dome back in 2006. 5 goals in the first 23 minutes saw us down 2-3, and at half time we're down to nine men. In typical Vuck fashion at the time we were all attack in the second half, finally smashing the door down in the 86th minute through Danny Allsopp. One of those draws that 100% felt like a win at the time. 24 players have represented both teams, including current Vuck Jack Warshawsky.

📅 ON THIS DAY | 31 OCTOBER 2016 🎃 A Halloween Demolition Job Against the Nix On the Monday of the Cup long weekend in 2016, we welcomed Wellington Phoenix across the Tasman for a Round 4 clash at Etihad Stadium. The Victory made two changes from the 2-1 away win against Adelaide the week before in the league, with Rashid Mahazi replacing Carl Valeri in midfield, and James Troisi coming onto the bench to replace Sebastian Pasquali. Mid-week we were knocked out of the Cup at Semi Final stage by our cross-town rivals. The Phoenix contained familiar names in Ernie Merrick, Glen Moss, Vince Lia and Kosta Barbarbouses. And for the first time as an opponent, Gui Finkler. After a goalless first 20 minutes, the Vuck took control of the game with two penalties in two minutes converted by Besart Berisha. On the hour mark Dylan Fox got his marching orders after a second yellow, but it was the visitors who responded better. A few minutes later it was Krishna who stepped up and scored from the spot to make it 2-1. From here Victory put their foot down. Two goals in the last 20 minutes from Marco Rojas, and goals from Berisha completing his hattrick and Mitch Austin secure the big 6-1 win. The win gave us a 2-1-1 start to the season. We'd go on to finish a distant second and we'd qualify for the grand final in which nothing of note took place.