| Club: | Melbourne City |
| Season: | 2020–21 |
| Owner: | City Football Group |
| Chairman: | Khaldoon Al Mubarak |
| Manager: | Patrick Kisnorbo |
| Stadium: | AAMI Park |
| League: | A-League |
| League Result: | 1st |
| League2: | A-League Finals |
| League2 Result: | Winners |
| Cup1: | FFA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Cancelled |
| Cup2: | AFC Champions League |
| Cup2 Result: | Withdrew |
| League Topscorer: | Jamie Maclaren (25) |
| Highest Attendance: | 14,031 vs. Melbourne Victory (17 April 2021) A-League |
| Lowest Attendance: | 3,370 vs. Adelaide United (13 May 2021) A-League |
| Average Attendance: | |
| Largest Win: | 7–0 (17 April 2021) A-League |
| Largest Loss: | 0–3 vs. Brisbane Roar (A) (25 May 2021) A-League |
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| Prevseason: | 2019–20 |
| Nextseason: | 2021–22 |
The 2020–21 season was the eleventh in the history of Melbourne City Football Club. The club competed in the A-League for the eleventh time. The club was scheduled to play in the 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs in June 2021, but withdrew from the competition on 4 June 2021.[1]
See also: 2019–20 Melbourne City FC season.
On 26 June 2019, Melbourne City appointed Frenchman Erick Mombaerts as new head coach leading the club in being runners-up in the 2019–20 A-League regular season, 2020 A-League Grand Final and 2019 FFA Cup.
The 2020 FFA Cup was cancelled on 3 July 2020.[2]
Nathaniel Atkinson had departed the club for Perth Glory on 1 September 2020.[3] Two days later, the club appointed former assistant coach Patrick Kisnorbo to the head manager position prior to the start of the season on 3 September, after previous coach Erick Mombaerts left the club to return to his native country France.[4] Lachlan Wales was released following the end of his contract,[5] while Aiden O'Neill joined for City's first signing of the season on 8 September.[6]
City signed three youthful players, Taras Gomulka, Marco Tilio and Matt Sutton along with the departure of Gianluca Iannucci on 21 September.[7] Nathaniel Atkinson would then only after 23 days after departing City, had returned[8] within Joshua Brillante leaving two days later.[9] The next day had Andrew Nabbout join City after his short stint with Perth Glory.[10]
Joe Gauci left the club without a single appearance for City and joined Adelaide United on 7 October.[11] The following day, Ramy Najjarine was loaned to Newcastle Jets and Moudi Najjar loaned to Macarthur FC.[12] A week later, Ben Garuccio made a return signing on 16 October.[13]
On 16 November, City played their first friendly of the season, against rivals Melbourne Victory in a game with three 45-minute halves at Marvel Stadium which resulted in a 3–3 draw with a goal by Curtis Good and two from Jamie Maclaren.[14] City returned to the City Football Academy for their second friendly of the season against Western United on 28 November, with a 2–1 win via goals by Andrew Nabbout and Jamie Maclaren.[15]
| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Type/fee | Contract length | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Free transfer | 3 years | 9 September 2020 | |||||
| 16 | Adelaide United | Free transfer | 3 years | 21 September 2020 | ||||
| 23 | Sydney FC | Free transfer | 3 years | 21 September 2020 | ||||
| 33 | Melbourne Victory | Free transfer | 2 years | 21 September 2020 | ||||
| 13 | Perth Glory | Free transfer | 2 years | 23 September 2020 | ||||
| 15 | Perth Glory | Free transfer | 1 year | 24 September 2020 | ||||
| 19 | Unattached | Free transfer | 2 years | 16 October 2020 | [16] | |||
| 14 | Loan | 1 year | 5 December 2020 | [17] | ||||
| 4 | Free transfer | 3 years | 18 January 2021 | [18] | ||||
| 39 | Unattached | Scholarship | 3 months | 21 April 2021 | [19] | |||
| 5 | Western Sydney Wanderers | Injury replacement | 3 months | 29 April 2021 | [20] [21] |
| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Macarthur FC | Free transfer | 28 July 2020 | [22] | |||
| 13 | Perth Glory | Free transfer | 1 September 2020 | ||||
| 19 | Unattached | End of contract | 9 September 2020 | ||||
| 37 | Unattached | End of contract | 21 September 2020 | ||||
| 6 | Mutual contract termination | 23 September 2020 | [23] | ||||
| 46 | Adelaide United | End of contract | 7 October 2020 | ||||
| 21 | Newcastle Jets | Loan | 8 October 2020 | ||||
| 30 | Macarthur FC | Loan | 8 October 2020 | ||||
| 38 | Adelaide United | Free transfer | 27 October 2020 | [24] | |||
| 40 | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 2 December 2020 | [25] | |||
| 4 | Unattached | End of contract | 5 January 2021 | [26] | |||
| 37 | Adelaide United | Mutual contract termination | 13 April 2021 | [27] | |||
| 5 | Unattached | End of contract | 9 June 2021 | [28] |
| No. | Name | Position | Duration | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Defensive midfielder | 2 years | 23 September 2020 | |||
| 10 | Attacking midfielder | 1 year | 23 September 2020 | |||
| 1 | Goalkeeper | 2 years | 11 January 2021 | [29] | ||
| 22 | Centre-back | 3 years | 11 January 2021 | |||
| 36 | Centre-back | 2 years | 21 April 2021 | |||
| 15 | Winger | 3 years | 10 June 2021 | [30] |
Supplier: Puma / Sponsor: Etihad Airways / Sleeve sponsor: McDonald's
The league fixtures were announced on 24 November 2020.[31]
See main article: article and 2021 AFC Champions League.
See main article: article and 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs.
Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.[32]
| Name | A-League | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Finals series | ||||||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||||
| 1 | GK | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 15+4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 3 | ||
| 3 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 19 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 3 | ||
| 4 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 13+5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| 5 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 7 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 18+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | ||
| 8 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 10+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| 9 | FW | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 23+1 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 25 | ||
| 10 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 17+7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
| 11 | FW | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 22+1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 6 | ||
| 13 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 9+3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 14 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 8+7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
| 15 | FW | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 15+1 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 17 | 3 | ||
| 16 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 3+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 17 | FW | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 2+17 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 3 | ||
| 18 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 5 | ||
| 19 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 9+11 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| 20 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 16+6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 3 | ||
| 22 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | ||
| 23 | FW | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 8+12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 2 | ||
| 33 | GK | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 35 | FW | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 36 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 39 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 43 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 49 | FW | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
| Rank | Name | A-League | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Finals series | ||||||||||||||
| < | --Two yellows that make a red--> | < | --Straight red--> | < | --Two yellows that make a red--> | < | --Straight red--> | < | --Two yellows that make a red--> | < | --Straight red--> | ||||
| 1 | 3 | DF |  | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 20 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 36 | DF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 8 | MF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | MF |  | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 18 | MF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | 7 | MF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | MF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 19 | DF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10 | 4 | DF | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 22 | DF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 23 | FW | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 43 | DF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 14 | 2 | DF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | DF | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 15 | FW | | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 17 | FW |  | < | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total< | --A-League (Regular season)--> | 39 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 3 | 0 | |||||
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.
The winner of the award was chosen via a poll on Twitter.
| Month | Player | Votes | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December / January | 43.6% | [33] | ||
| March | 46.3% | [34] |