Another A-League Women season is coming into view, the long winding path of the offseason getting smaller in the rearview.
There have been mass changes in the league, with the most significant player exodus since 2020 when the Matildas' golden generation made their moves to Europe.
But as each team stands at the bottom of the mountain, ready to climb once again in pursuit of silverware, their motivations differ wildly.
The Central Coast Mariners and Canberra United can play uninhibited by the extinction threats and stranding they faced in the offseason after both teams were acquired by new owners.
Melbourne City's pursuit of excellence will see them once again try to claim the treble that eluded the last two seasons, while fighting off the challenges of the likes of Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory.
Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers have had a long time to think about how they avoid being in the wooden spoon conversation while the Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory attempt to get out of the middle of the pack.
Brisbane Roar will be hoping a new coach can push them to the top, while a fresh look for Adelaide United is their chosen strategy as they look to win.
As with every season there will be chaos and spectacular goals. Fans and coaches and players will hope that in May it is their team, looking out from the mountaintop, trophies in hand.
Samantha Lewis and Marissa Lordanic and run the rule of all 11 teams in this year's competition to see what the future may bring for your favourite side.
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Adelaide United
2025-26 finish: 5th, elimination final
Coach: Theo Tsiounis
ICYMI: Springboarding off a record-equalling third-placed finish in 2024-25, Adelaide slid back to the middle of the pack last season, falling to fifth after a campaign bookended by a slow start and a winless final month.
Of all the teams that qualified for the finals series, the Reds had the lowest number of goals scored (24), though just a single point separated them from Brisbane (4th) and Canberra (3rd) in what became one of the tightest A-League seasons in recent memory.
A crumbling 3-0 defeat to a spirited Roar in the elimination final was a disappointing conclusion to the tenures of a core group of players who had been with Adelaide through multiple highs and lows, with a large squad turnover in the offseason signalling a new direction -- for better or for worse -- for the South Australian club.
KEY QUESTION: With so many core players departing, can Adelaide stem their slide back into mediocrity?
Achieving back-to-back finals appearances for the first time in their history suggested that Adelaide United's longer-term vision for their women's program was finally coming to life, but the news in May that the club would be undertaking significant cost-cutting measures -- including an "overhaul" of the women's team -- quickly dashed those hopes.
These changes resulted in the core of Adelaide's squad, including captain Isabel Hodgson, veterans Dylan Holmes, Emily Condon, and Matilda McNamara, strikers Erin Healy and Fiona Worts, and familiar local names in Ella Tonkin, Zoe Tolland, Katie Bowler, and Sarah Morgan all departing in the offseason, either for overseas opportunities, other A-League clubs, or nothing at all.
The club's recruitment has not filled the gaps left by these key players, with only Claudia Cicco from Newcastle having any substantial A-League experience, while the handful of new international signings from middling leagues elsewhere are untested in this competition. The Reds look particularly thin in attack, which won't help address their low goal return from last year, and the loss of both experienced starting centre backs for two totally new replacements could be a campaign-killer. -- Lewis
Brisbane Roar
2025-26 finish: 4th, semifinal
Coach: Johnathan Clemente
ICYMI: A blistering start to the season petered off midway through but Brisbane Roar rallied to finish fourth on the table and book a spot in finals for the first time since the 2020-21 season. Dutch national Bente Jansen led the way for the Roar with eight goals and three assists in the regular season.
But there were plenty of obstacles that the Roar needed to overcome. There was the midseason transfer of starting centre back Leia Varley, ACL tears to Sharn Freier and Grace Kuilamu, and Tameka Yallop missing for large swathes of the campaign through injury.
Brisbane rallied and the team found ways to score and win, earning the three points in five of their last six games to secure finals. In the end, they were bested by the Nix in an entertaining semifinal.
KEY QUESTION: With some heart and soul players leaving and the youngest coach in A-Leagues history now at the helm, what can Brisbane Roar do this season?
Brisbane didn't just lose some big names, they lost standard setters and culture makers. The departure of Yallop was so massive for the Roar they decided to retire her number as a mark of how much she had done for the club. Momo Hayashi donned the armband for all but one game in the regular season, popped up with four goals, and leaves a hole on the pitch and the locker room. Brisbane have also lost Angie Beard, Aimee Medwin, Alicia Woods, and coach Alex Smith.
In his place, 27-year-old Johnathan Clemente. He has experience in the NPL Victoria and as an assistant at Melbourne Victory but being given the keys to a team that just made finals and experienced some big departures is a huge task for any coach, let alone in his first head coaching role at the highest level.
He has brought in experienced A-League players in the likes of former Adelaide United captain Hodgson, Natalie Tathem, Annabel Martin, and Maja Markovski. Philippines women's national team captain Hali Long will wear orange this season with her international teammate Katrina Guillou joining her. Arguably most excitingly for Brisbane, they will welcome back Kuilamu and Freier from their knee injuries at some point this season.
Whether or not the Roar have recruited the required cover both defensively and in front of goal remains to be seen, but if all of the pieces they do have click together, another finals appearance is possible. -- Lordanic
Canberra United
2025-26 finish: 3rd, elimination final
Coach: Antoni Jagarinec
ICYMI: Canberra made it two finals appearances on the trot last season, an impressive feat after a few years in the finals wilderness. And while their third-placed finish continued a consistent trend up the table over the last few years, this season once again took place while ownership issues simmered under the surface, forcing the club to confront a future where it didn't exist.
With that as the backdrop, the team in green was led by Michelle Heyman with six goals in the regular season -- a smaller output than fans are used to from the league's greatest goal scorer. Sally James stood up in goal with five clean sheets and fans were treated to impressive seasons from the likes of Sasha Grove, Bethany Gordon, and American import Josie Aulicino.
An elimination final exit at the hands of Melbourne Victory -- who squeaked into finals -- was disappointing not only because they finished above them on the table but because, at the time, there was no guarantee that the club would ever play again, meaning a storied club would go out not with a bang but a whimper.
KEY QUESTION: What can this team achieve when they aren't in an existential crisis?
Thankfully, Canberra has been rescued with new owners, Australian Sports Group, officially taking control and ending two offseasons of uncertainty. While there are still challenges to navigate -- as the league as whole approaches the season start date without a CBA in place -- Canberra has been able to retain a lot of key players across the pitch.
Heyman will once again run out in green, hoping to up her output from last season and streak further away from the rest of the competition's top goal-scorers. The retention of Grove is hugely important to how Canberra wants to play, while the signing of players like Condon from Adelaide, Kelli Brown from Newcastle, and Madison Ayson from Sydney could prove to be key -- with Condon and Brown's attacking strengths of particular interest. The losses of Aulicino and Tegan Bertolissio are big but should be covered.
All in all, the hope is that the team, who managed to succeed under a dark cloud, can make finals once again and reach new heights now that they are unburdened by off-field issues. -- Lordanic
Central Coast Mariners
2025-26 finish: 7th
Coach: Dean Heffernan
ICYMI: The comedown was swift and harsh for the Central Coast Mariners following their fairytale championship win in 2024-25. While that remarkable campaign gave us one of the A-League's greatest-ever storylines, it resulted in the poaching of their transformational coach Emily Husband by the Matildas, and the exit of a number of key players, including most of their goal-scorers.
They fell to seventh on the ladder last year, missing out on finals only on goal difference but with the equal-highest number of draws in the league. The February loss of striker Annalise Rasmussen, who joined Juventus after scoring 11 of their 27 total goals, was a hammerblow, with the team scoring just three goals in their final five games without her, which included three 0-0 draws.
KEY QUESTION: With so much change and instability in the offseason, can the Mariners settle and return to finals?
The turnover of players has continued into this season, triggered in large part by the off-field drama of the club's new ownership, TSG Holdings, deciding not to invest in the women's program when they took over earlier this year. An 11th-hour investment by the Holman Barnes Group (HBG), owners of Wests Tigers and APIA Leichhardt in the NSW NPL, has seemingly saved the women's team from going under, but not before their head coach Kory Babington and several players escaped what they believed, at the time, was a sinking ship.
On the field, their biggest loss has been Julie Dolan medallist Isabel Gomez, the heart and engine of their title-winning team, who joined Rosengard in Sweden in the offseason. Avaani Prakash, Annabel Martin, Sarah Langman, Baxter Thew and Tamar Levin have all joined other A-League clubs, while their two internationals Blake Hughes and Millie Farrow have returned overseas. They've made some of the better offseason moves, though, including former Sydney striker Skye Halmarick, goalkeeper Morgan Aquino, New Zealand internationals Charlotte Lancaster, Rebecca Lake and Te Reremoana Walker, while experienced defenders Danika Matos and Alexia Karrys-Stahl will fill some gaps.
The biggest mystery, though, is new head coach Heffernan, who's had seemingly nothing to do with women's football since his last stint in the league with Western Sydney Wanderers in 2020-21. The leadership of veteran players like Taren King, Liz Barwick-Grey, and Lorena Baumann will be crucial as this in-flux club tries to find stability and chemistry amongst a new group of players and coaches, and with questions still lingering over the direction of the club under this new operational arrangement. -- Lewis
Melbourne City
2025-26 finish: 1st, champions
Coach: Michael Matricciani
Few doubted that the Melbourne City machine would continue chugging along after their undefeated 2024-25 season, with the only blip on their record being their shock Grand Final loss to the charmed Mariners. And so it was: while they couldn't match their points record or win tally from the previous season, they still finished top by six points, having lost just four games.
Key to their successes over these years has been a core group of players who have stayed largely together over multiple campaigns. This included Matildas striker and last season's Golden Boot winner Holly McNamara, their consistent midfield triumvirate of Leticia McKenna, Leah Davidson, and Laura Hughes, the centre back pairing of Taylor Otto and Rebekah Stott, and the impressive Malena Mieres in goal. Sprinkled with some emerging young talents like Shelby McMahon, Alexia Apostolakis, Danella Brutus, Aideen Keane, and Bryleeh Henry -- the latter two of whom really found their feet last year -- there was a feeling of inevitability to City's title double, taking out the premiership with a round to spare while picking apart their only real challenger, Wellington Phoenix, in the Grand Final.
KEY QUESTION: Can anything stop Melbourne City from winning a record four premierships in a row?
That feeling is noticeably absent this season as almost all of the aforementioned core players have left the club in pursuit of overseas opportunities, with City losing their best striker, their entire midfield, and one of the league's best centre backs.
The flipside to a club that has created an environment that has allowed such players to develop into international prospects is that this is the same environment that many other talents want to be part of. While other clubs experiencing mass squad turnover have struggled to fill the gaps, City has attracted some of the biggest names in the league this season including Cortnee Vine, Jessika Nash, Momo Hayashi, Melina Ayres, Taylor Ray, Aimee Medwin, and Avaani Prakash.
The biggest test for coach Michael Matricciani will be how to get so many new players to gel together in the short runway of the A-League's preseason. Success takes time, which is a luxury not afforded to this competition, and so smart recruitment and even smarter coaching is crucial to making all the pieces fall into place, especially with the AFC Women's Champions League to compete in at the same time.
Ultimately, it may not be the on-field chemistry that rattles the back-to-back-to-back premiers, but rather the ripple-effects of the recent Manchester City ruling, where the club -- and, by extension, the City Football Group that runs it and all its satellite clubs around the world -- could face fines, expulsion, and the total collapse of their commercial and operational apparatus, which would certainly reach Australia's shores.
In any case, Melbourne City's season will be one to keep a close eye on, as they could make history in more ways than one. -- Lewis
Melbourne Victory
2025-26 finish: 6th, semifinals
Coach: Jeff Hopkins
ICYMI: Victory built a squad filled with of talented players from other clubs with the likes of Taylor Ray, Rhianna Pollicina, and Grace Maher joining the ranks. However, the team wasn't cohesive enough consistently enough to pose a massive threat, slipping into finals in sixth place.
And while they comfortably defeated Canberra in the elimination finals, a pair of 1-0 losses across the two legs of the semifinal to crosstown rivals and eventual champions, Melbourne City, meant their wait for more silverware continued.
KEY QUESTION: Victory have played finals for eight consecutive seasons, but haven't won a trophy since 2022, is this the year that changes?
It must be noted that three years isn't that long a time to not win a trophy. There are teams who have never hoisted a cup or raised a premier's plate. But these teams were never even in contention. Victory's finals record means they have been contenders for a long time, with the Mariners in penalty shootouts proving to be an Achilles heel in two of the last three years.
There's been a school of thought that while Victory undeniably had talented players on their books, the mix of those players on the pitch had never been right. Certain combinations would unlock particular players and stifle others. But with a bit of movement this offseason, Hopkins will once again try and crack the combination to get Victory on the winner's podium.
The departures of Kennedy White and Pollicina are big with the pair scoring majority of the team's goals last season. Rachel Lowe moved overseas, Ray moved across town, and Sofia Sakalis joined Pollicina in Western Sydney. In their place are some really exciting recruits. Julie Dolan medallist Sophie Harding returns to the league and should go some way to filling the goal-scoring void left behind. Beard returns for another stint with Victory, with Brisbane Roar teammate Woods also making the move down south. The team should be defensively strong again, and play finals again, but they might not have cracked the code yet to win another trophy. -- Lordanic
Newcastle Jets
2025-26 finish: 9th
Coach: Stephen Hoyle
ICYMI: It was yet another season to forget for one of the A-League's founding clubs, with the Newcastle Jets sputtering and stumbling their way to a ninth-placed finish, just four points ahead of the bottom two. Inconsistency was the defining feature of their campaign, squeezing out wins against some teams before losing to them -- sometimes significantly -- elsewhere in the season.
Were it not for top goal-scorers Melina Ayres (8) and Kelli Brown (6), who scored half the club's goals despite blowing hot and cold across the year, the Jets could have had their worst finish since 2022-23 where they escaped the wooden spoon by just one point. Indeed, with the second-highest number of goals conceded in the league, last season's defensive display will be a continued concern for head coach Stephen Hoyle, which perhaps explains the exit of four defenders and a goalkeeper in the offseason.
KEY QUESTION: Where will Newcastle's goals come from?
Ultimately, though, you need to score goals if you hope to win games, and the biggest worry for Newcastle this year will be how effectively they have replaced both Ayres and Brown, each of whom signed for other clubs, alongside the departure of the club's Player of the Year Sophie Hoban and retirement of experienced winger Lauren Allan. In total, 26 of their 30 goals from last year have walked out the door.
The three forwards they've signed in recent weeks -- Tamar Levin from the Mariners, Akeisha Sandhu from the Victorian NPLW, and American Allie Thornton -- who join re-signed Josie Allan and Alexis Collins are all largely inexperienced at this level, and with such a short preseason window, will take time to settle into their new combinations on the field.
For a region that has produced so much Matildas-level talent, the chronic under-performance of the Newcastle Jets remains a mystery. Off-field chaos over the past few years regarding club ownership has certainly contributed to their instability, but with a relatively calm offseason coming into 2026-27, the excuses are running out for why this long-standing club has only made finals three times in the past 19 years. -- Lewis
Perth Glory
2025-26 finish: 8th
Coach: Stephen Peters
ICYMI: Perth Glory never really got going in season 2025-26 with a slow start making sure they stayed middle of the pack. A midseason burst of four wins in five games gave them some hope but they couldn't crank out the required results to push them into the finals conversation.
Across the board, Perth season wasn't diabolically bad like the teams from Sydney and Western Sydney, but it wasn't good enough to make finals either. It was firmly, indisputably mid.
KEY QUESTION: Perth Glory hasn't played finals in seven seasons. Do they break the drought or make it eight?
The short answer is not gr8. Poor puns aside, the finals drought looks set to continue out west. Their seven seasons without finals is the longest drought in the league and looking at the moves they have made this offseason in comparison to the rest of the league, other teams seem further ahead of them and more likely to make finals.
Peters retained a large chunk of his squad from last season headlined by Emma Tovar (Perth's assists leader), captain Isobel Dalton, Rola Badawiya (Glory's top goal-scorer), Julia Sardo, and Teresa Morrissey (six clean sheets in 14 appearances). That consistency may prove to be helpful, allowing the team to bypass some of the gelling time required by other teams.
But their departures are major with Grace Johnston, who played every minute of every game, moving to Charlton Athletic, and Tijan McKenna, who won the club's Player of the Year award, swapping Perth for Valerenga. New Zealand forward Maggie Jenkins is an intriguing inclusion, and one of a number of signings from Essendon Royals in NPLW Victoria, but overall, Glory have not done enough to change their fortunes. -- Lordanic
Sydney FC
2025-26 finish: 10th
Coach: James Slaveski
ICYMI: In Ian Fleming's famous novel "Goldfinger," the title character says to James Bond during one of their confrontations: "Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time it's enemy action.'"
For Sydney FC, their past two disastrous seasons -- which saw them finish 9th and then 10th after having only ever finished inside the top four since the league began -- are perhaps a coincidence. The sudden exodus of core players, the drop in quality overseas signings, the lack of effective goal-scorers, and the over-reliance on internally-developed youth players have coalesced into two of the club's worst ever seasons back-to-back.
Their 2025-26 campaign was particularly bad, where they won just four games all year and finished on equal points with last-placed Western Sydney, only escaping the wooden spoon on goal difference. Two poor runs in a row led to the midseason resignation of long-time coach Ante Juric and the stepping-up of his assistant, Slaveski, who is now at the helm for his first full season in charge.
KEY QUESTION: Will Sydney getting the old band back together be enough to return them to finals?
In order to recapture former glories, Slaveski has overseen the return of a few key players who were part of those title-winning sides from yesteryear. Defenders Charlotte McLean and Natalie Tobin are back, as is goalkeeper Jada Whyman, with midfielder Sarah Hunter given a contract extension. However, the signing of these players has been counterbalanced by the departure of some of the old core including Mackenzie Hawkesby, Tori Tumeth, Kirsty Fenton, and Abbey Lemon.
So what will be different this year? Having scored just 18 times last year, there was a clear need to find some serious fire-power upfront, and American Faith Webber -- the only inbound player the club paid a transfer fee for -- might be the answer. The former Denver Summit striker joins Riley Cohn (nee Tanner), Amber Luchtmeijer, and a returned Indiana Dos Santos from injury in a new-look front line which, complemented by a strengthened back line, could be the start of an about-face for the league's equal-most successful team.
However, their rebuild coincides with yet another period of homelessness, with Leichhardt Oval undergoing renovations over the next two seasons and forcing Sydney FC to ground-hop starting this year. With "home" games stretching from Moore Park to Homebush and even down to Wollongong, any kind of home-ground advantage and consistent fan support will take a hit, which is a particular shame with the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup less than a year away. -- Lewis
Wellington Phoenix
2025-26 finish: 2nd, runners-up
Coach: Bev Priestman
ICYMI: The league witnessed the Bev-olution in season 2025-26 with gold medal-winning coach Bev Priestman taking the reins at the Phoenix following the conclusion of her suspension from football after the Canada Soccer drone scandal.
The Phoenix established a young core including the likes of Pia Vlok, Manaia Elliott, Mackenzie Barry, and Marisa van der Meer. While the lure of Priestman was able to bring players like Football Fern Victoria Esson and Nepal international Sabitra Bhandari to the league while coaxing others like Brooke Nunn and Lucia Leon from other clubs.
This combination saw Wellington produce their best ever A-League Women season, finishing second on the table, qualifying for finals for the first time, but ultimately falling to Melbourne City in the Grand Final.
KEY QUESTION: Do the Wellington Phoenix have what it takes to turn their runners-up medal into a championship trophy?
Frankly, yes.
Since their heartbreaking Grand Final defeat, the Phoenix have arguably only gotten stronger in their second season under Priestman. Matildas and A-League legend Yallop made the move across the ditch from Brisbane Roar to be closer to family and, assuming she can stay fit, remains one of the best players in the league.
Young, exciting Football Ferns Milly Clegg and Indiah-Paige Riley have returned to the league after stints abroad and will want to prove themselves once again. While veteran defender Abby Erceg returns to the league for the first time in more than a decade and brings with her experiences from across the globe.
Throw in the retention of midseason signing Makala Woods, defender Ellie Walker, and forward Brooke Nunn, plus the opportunity for bigger seasons from some injured-affected players like Alyssa Whinham and Bhandari, as well as CJ Bott returning from giving birth, and this Phoenix squad -- on paper -- appears stronger than last season's outfit. It won't be a walk in the park but there's no reason to think Wellington can't go one better this season. -- Lordanic
Western Sydney Wanderers
2025-26 finish: 11th
Coach: Geoff Abrahams
ICYMI: They've been part of the A-League for 14 seasons, and yet despite the huge resources and enormous player catchment at their disposal, the Western Sydney Wanderers have been the competition's most disappointing underperformers. The Wanderers have dwelled around the bottom of the ladder almost every year of their existence (aside from their shock fourth-placed finish in the 2019-20 season), but their back-to-back wooden spoons over the past two years mark their worst-ever period.
So what's gone wrong at this club? It seems like not even they know at this point, which perhaps explains their complete squad overhaul in the offseason. In total, 19 players have departed the Wanderers in the past five months, including their entire leadership group of Amy Harrison, Olivia Price, Sham Khamis and Danika Matos, their internationals, and all but four of their total season's goal-scorers, in what has been the biggest exodus of players from any club this season.
KEY QUESTION: Will a complete overhaul help the Wanderers avoid a third straight wooden spoon?
Perhaps there is some method in the madness? Retaining their brightest young talents in Talia Younis, Allyssa Ng-Saad, and Frida Karaberis on multiyear deals, bringing in some experienced senior players such as Rhianna Pollicina (Melbourne Victory), Tiana Jaber (Wellington Phoenix), and Sarah Langman (Central Coast Mariners), and signing some highly credentialed internationals, the most exciting of which is Germany international Samantha Iredale, this total reset could be what the club has needed.
In light of their last two campaigns, the only way forward, surely, is up. Head coach Abrahams is in charge for a full season once again, but does not have much time to integrate and begin building relationships among his new starting players (particularly those who come swinging in with big personalities). While they may have found a bit more spark in attack, the team's defensive stock is looking thin, with only five players listed as such at the time of writing, and only two of them (Jaber and Tegan Bertolissio from Canberra United) with any substantial league experience. Not to mention they're now anchored at the back by two inconsistent and error-prone goalkeepers.
With no old guard to set culture or expectations, and a whole new group of cobbled-together players with varying levels of experience and talent, will this be yet another season of disappointment for the Wanderers? Or will it be the "turn the whole thing off and on again" reset they have desperately needed? -- Lewis