2016–17 Melbourne City FC season explained

Club:	Melbourne City
Season:	2016–17
Owner:	City Football Group
Chairman:	Khaldoon Al Mubarak
Manager:	John van 't Schip (to 3 January 2017) Michael Valkanis (from 3 January 2017)
Stadium:	AAMI Park
League:	A-League
League Result:	4th
Cup1:	A-League Finals
Cup1 Result:	Elimination-finals
Cup2:	FFA Cup
Cup2 Result:	Winners
League Topscorer:	Bruno Fornaroli (17)
Season Topscorer:	Bruno Fornaroli (20)
Highest Attendance:	24,706 vs. Melbourne Victory (17 December 2016) A-League
Lowest Attendance:	7,745 vs. Newcastle Jets (10 November 2016) A-League
Average Attendance:
Largest Win:	5–1 vs. Wellington Phoenix (18 February 2017) A-League 4–0 vs. Newcastle Jets (18 March 2017) A-League
Largest Loss:	0–3 vs. Sydney FC (1 April 2017) A-League
Pattern B1:	_melbournecity1617h
Leftarm1:	87CEFA
Rightarm1:	87CEFA
Socks1:	87CEFA
Leftarm2:	FF0000
Pattern B2:	_melbourcecity1617a
Rightarm2:	FF0000
Shorts2:	FF0000
Prevseason:	2015–16
Nextseason:	2017–18

The 2016–17 season was the seventh in the history of Melbourne City Football Club. In addition to the domestic league, the club competed in the FFA Cup for the third time.

The club won the FFA Cup, its first ever silverware as a senior men's team. On 3 January 2017, manager John van 't Schip resigned from his position to return to the Netherlands and help care for his terminally-ill father.^[1] Michael Valkanis was subsequently appointed manager for the remainder of the season.^[2]

Transfers

Transfers in

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref
2			Wellington Phoenix	Free transfer	2 years	3 March 2016	^[3]
11			Adelaide United	Free transfer	2 years	6 May 2016	^[4]
14			Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	10 June 2016	^[5]
26				Loan	1 year	29 June 2016	^[6]
21			Adelaide United	Undisclosed Fee	2 years	8 July 2016	^[7]
8			Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	19 July 2016	^[8]
27				Loan	2 years	26 July 2016	^[9]
17			Unattached	Free transfer	3 years	11 August 2016	^[10]
3			Central Coast Mariners	Free transfer	1 year	12 August 2016	^[11]
22				Free transfer	2 years	1 September 2016	^[12]
29				Free transfer	2 years	6 September 2016	^[13]
9				Loan	1 year	20 September 2016	^[14] ^[15]

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
2			Sydney FC	Free transfer	26 April 2016	^[16]
3			Unattached	Free transfer	26 April 2016	^[17]
14			Unattached	Free transfer	28 April 2016
16			Unattached	Free transfer	28 April 2016
17			Unattached	Free transfer	28 April 2016
26			Unattached	Free transfer	28 April 2016
24			Retired		1 May 2016	^[18]
11			Sydney FC	Free transfer	12 May 2016	^[19]
19			Adelaide United	Free transfer	16 June 2016	^[20]
9				$500,000	22 June 2016	^[21]
8				Free transfer	29 June 2016
22			Western Sydney Wanderers	Free transfer	12 August 2016	^[22]
25			Western Sydney Wanderers	Free transfer	12 August 2016
34				Undisclosed Fee	18 December 2016	^[23]
4				Undisclosed Fee	23 January 2017	^[24]

Contract extensions

Name	Position	Duration	Contract Expiry	Notes
Nick Fitzgerald	Attacking midfielder	2 years	2018
Anthony Cáceres	Central midfielder	1 year	2017
Bruno Fornaroli	Central striker	3 years	2019	^[25]
Dean Bouzanis	Goalkeeper	3 years	2020	^[26]

Competitions

A-League

See main article: article and 2016–17 A-League.

Finals series

FFA Cup

See main article: article and 2016 FFA Cup.

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.^[27]

			Name	A-League		FFA Cup		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK			7(1)	0	3	0	11	0
2	DF			12(2)	0	3	0	17	0
3	DF			23	0	3	0	26	0
5	DF			20(1)	1	1(1)	0	23	1
6	MF			15(3)	0	4	0	22	0
8	MF			25	2	4	0	29	2
9	MF			18(4)	4	1(1)	0	24	4
10	MF			16(11)	2	3(1)	1	31	3
11	FW			19(7)	1	4	0	30	1
12	FW			9(14)	4	3(2)	1	28	5
14	FW			0(6)	0	0(1)	0	7	0
17	FW			18(4)	11	3(1)	2	26	13
18	MF			4(7)	0	1(2)	0	14	0
20	GK			21(1)	0	2	0	24	0
21	DF			13(2)	0	0	0	15	0
22	DF			17	0	3	1	20	1
23	FW			27	17	5	3	32	20
26	MF			24(2)	1	5	1	31	2
27	MF			13(6)	3	3(2)	2	24	5
28	MF			0	0	0(1)	0	1	0
29	FW			0(1)	0	0	0	1	0
34	MF			2(2)	0	0	0	4	0
35	DF			0(1)	0	0	0	1	0
36	DF			1	0	0	0	1	0
—	DF			0	0	0(1)	0	1	0
Player(s) transferred out but featured this season
4	MF			4(1)	0	3(1)	0	9	0
22	DF			0	0	1	0	1	0

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.^[27]

Rank				Name	A-League			FFA Cup			Total
1	27	MF		<	--A-League-->	5	0	1	1	0	0	6	0	1
2	17	FW		<	--A-League-->	4	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	1
3	1	GK		<	--A-League-->	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
4	2	DF		<	--A-League-->	7	1	0	0	0	0	7	1	0
5	8	MF		<	--A-League-->	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0
6	6	MF		<	--A-League-->	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0
7	26	MF		<	--A-League-->	7	0	0	1	0	0	8	0	0
8	3	DF		<	--A-League-->	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0
	23	FW		<	--A-League-->	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0
10	10	MF		<	--A-League-->	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	21	DF		<	--A-League-->	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	22	DF		<	--A-League-->	3	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	0
13	9	MF		<	--A-League-->	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	18	MF		<	--A-League-->	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
	20	GK		<	--A-League-->	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
16	5	DF		<	--A-League-->	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	12	FW		<	--A-League-->	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
	34	MF		<	--A-League-->	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
19	4	MF		<	--A-League-->	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	11	FW		<	--A-League-->	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.

Rank			Goalkeeper	A-League	FFA Cup	Total
1	20			2 (1)	2	5
2	1			1 (1)	0	2
Total				5	2	7

External links

• Official Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Melbourne City boss John van ‘t Schip resigns from A-League job. Fox Sports. 3 January 2017.
2. Web site: Michael Valkanis Appointed Melbourne City FC Head Coach. Melbourne City FC. 25 January 2017.
3. Web site: City Sign Manny Muscat. Melbourne City. 3 March 2016.
4. Web site: Melbourne City FC Signs Bruce Kamau. Melbourne City. 6 May 2016.
5. Web site: Melbourne City FC Re-Sign Fitzgerald, Sign Arzani. Melbourne City. 10 June 2016.
6. News: Melbourne City FC Player Update. Melbourne City FC. 29 June 2016. 30 June 2016. 3 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160703080557/http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/melbourne-city-fc-player-update/1n1zdb8j3i7f6146kxvdiez250. dead.
7. Web site: City signs 19-year-old defender. Melbourne City. 8 July 2016. 8 July 2016. 4 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161104165624/http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/city-signs-19-year-old-defender/1k1ffhhdbphcc1hsvrl1ov7wfs. dead.
8. Web site: Melbourne City signs Neil Kilkenny. SBS. The World Game. 19 July 2016.
9. Web site: Melbourne City FC Signs Argentinian Fernando Brandan. Melbourne City. 26 July 2016.
10. News: A-League soccer: Tim Cahill signs with Melbourne City. Ronny. Lerner. The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 August 2016.
11. Web site: Melbourne City FC Signs Josh Rose. Melbourne City FC. 12 August 2016.
12. News: Melbourne City sign Danish international defender Michael Jakobsen. Michael. Lynch. The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 September 2016.
13. Web site: City signs 19-year-old striker. Melbourne City. 6 September 2016.
14. Web site: City sign Argentine. FourFourTwo. 5 September 2016. 5 September 2016. 6 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160906213907/http://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/city-sign-argentine-436270. dead.
15. Web site: City Signs Colazo. Melbourne City. 20 September 2016.
16. Web site: Sydney FC sign Socceroo Alex Wilkinson. 26 April 2016. A-League.
17. Web site: Melbourne City FC Player Update. Melbourne City. 28 April 2016. 28 April 2016. 4 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161104165901/http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/melbourne-city-fc-player-update/1la72hvsa1u5w1qz9p857zri5t. dead.
18. Web site: Club Captain Kisnorbo Announces Retirement. Melbourne City. 1 May 2016. 1 May 2016. 6 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160506193223/http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/club-captain-kisnorbo-announces-retirement/wjymbpapshqo19p7bhfmu1fxm. dead.
19. Web site: Transfer news: Sydney FC sign Socceroos defender. A-League. 12 May 2016.
20. Web site: Ben Garuccio Departs To Pursue A-League Opportunity. Melbourne City. 16 June 2016.
21. Web site: Melbourne City FC agrees Novillo transfer. Melbourne City. 22 June 2016.
22. Web site: Wanderers sign departing City duo Melling and Clisby. SBS. The World Game. 12 August 2016.
23. Web site: Zinni returns home for 2017 season. George. Kouroumalis. South Melbourne. 18 December 2016.
24. News: Confirmed: Chapman exits for Korea. FourFourTwo. 23 January 2017.
25. Web site: Fornaroli recommits to City with new three-year deal. Melbourne City. 8 August 2016.
26. Web site: Goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis Re-Signs with Melbourne City FC. Melbourne City. 17 January 2017.
27. Web site: Squad. Soccerway.