Of the 31 trophies that have been awarded over the 16-year history of the A-League Women, Sydney FC and Melbourne City have been responsible for 16 of them.
And of those 16 trophies, both the Sky Blues and Citizens won four championships each, with Sydney just barely edging out City in overall premiership wins (5-3).
So, in layman’s terms: these two clubs have lifted half of the trophies that were ever up for grabs in the competition’s history, and all of those titles were shared roughly equally between them.
So, it is not out of place to say that today’s grand final is really a clash between the two biggest and most successful clubs of the A-League Women era.
Each have had almost opposite trajectories over that long period of time, with Sydney FC dominating the early years (2009-13) and later years (2020-23), while City, who entered the league in 2015, were at the top until 2020.
Both clubs have been responsible for producing many of the Matildas that captured our imaginations during the 2023 Women’s World Cup, while many more internationals have donned either of the light blue jerseys on their own journeys.
However, in recent years, as senior Australians have moved abroad in search of full-time football, both Sydney and City realized they had to change their identity and have since become two of the hothouses most important for the development of young talents in the country.
Much of this talent will be on display today, giving us all a glimpse into not only the future of Dub, but also the future of the Matildas.