A-League: Top three grand finals

The 18th edition of the A-League grand final will take place next weekend when Melbourne City and Central Coast Mariners go head-to-head, and we should be in for an exciting game.

What	Melbourne City v Central Coast Mariners
Where	CommBank Stadium, Sydney
When	19:45 (AEST) Saturday 3rd June, 2023
How to watch	Paramount+, 10Bold
Odds	Melbourne City 2.00, Draw 3.80, Central Coast Mariners 3.30

City and the Mariners have been the best two sides in the A-League this season as their ladder position showed. 

Not only that they impressed in finals when seeing off Sydney FC and Adelaide United respectively to book their place at the big dance. 

They have both been the entertainers in the A-League, scoring the most goals, with Melbourne firing home 61 and the Mariners 55. 

City striker Jamie Maclaren finished the regular season as the leading goalscorer, with Mariners ace Jason Cummings in second spot. So everything is set up for a high-scoring, entertaining grand final, possibly the best yet. 

However, there have been some crackers down the years. Let’s take a look back at the top three.

Brisbane Roar v Central Coast Mariners (2011)

The Mariners have already been involved in one of the all-time greatest A-League grand finals back in 2011. 

Many believe it has to go down as the best ever, and it is easy to see why. Brisbane were the dominant team in the A-League at the time but they looked on course for grand final heartbreak. 

90 minutes of soccer could not separate the two sides, but the game really burst into life in extra-time as the Mariners went 2-0 ahead. 

With the game almost done, Roar snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with two goals in the last four minutes of extra-time to take it to penalties. 

Roar managed to win the shoot-out to complete the best ever comeback in A-League grand final history.

Brisbane Roar v Western Sydney Wanderers (2014) 

Brisbane were involved in another thriller three years later as they beat the Wanderers 2-1 after extra time. 

Suncorp Stadium was again packed to the rafters, and on this occasion, the 6,000 travelling army of Wanderers fans took the atmosphere to another level. 

Urged on by the large travelling support, Wanderers took the lead midway through the second half when Matthew Spiranovic powered home a header from a corner. 

There was however time for more late drama as Besart Berisha levelled the game five minutes from the end to take it to extra time. 

Henrique, who scored one of the crucial late goals against the Mariners, did it again in extra time to seal another memorable comeback victory for Roar.

Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory (2017) 

These two great rivals were involved in a couple of great A-League grand finals with Sydney winning both of them after extra time and penalties. 

Both finished 1-1 after 120 minutes of soccer, and both were won by Sydney 4-2 on penalties. The first ‘Big Blue’ grand final was in 2010, with the second in 2017. 

The atmosphere inside the stadium was hot in 2017 and it was that man again, Berisha, now playing for Victory that gave his side the lead. 

Rhyan Grant equalised for Sydney with 20 minutes left on the clock, before the grand final went to penalties, with Milos Ninkovic scoring the winner.