| Competition: | A-League Men finals series |
| Season: | 2022–23 |
| Dates: | 5 May – 3 June 2023 |
| Matches: | 7 |
| Total Goals: | 23 |
| League Topscorer Section: | Top scorers |
| League Topscorer: | Jason Cummings (4 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (Semi-finals, 19 May 2023) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (Elimination-finals, 6 May 2023) (Semi-finals, 13 May 2023) |
| Highest Scoring: | (Grand Final, 3 June 2023) |
| Highest Attendance: | 27,288 Western Sydney Wanderers 1–2 Sydney FC (Elimination-finals, 6 May 2023) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 9,223 Melbourne City 4–0 Sydney FC (Semi-finals, 19 May 2023) |
| Winners: | Central Coast Mariners |
| Prevseason: | 2022 |
| Nextseason: | 2024 |
The 2023 A-League Men finals series was the 18th annual edition of A-League finals series, the playoffs tournament staged to determine the champion of the 2022–23 A-League Men season. The series was played over four weeks culminating in the 2023 A-League Men Grand Final, where the Central Coast Mariners won their second championship 6–1 against premiers Melbourne City.
It featured the first A-League Men Grand Final played at a fixed location (outside the 2020 Grand Final), which was played at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, based on an Australian Professional Leagues decision in December 2022 for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 A-Leagues Grand Finals to be played in Sydney in a deal with Destination NSW,[1] which met fan backlash[2] [3] and soonly scrapped in October 2023.
See also: 2022–23 A-League Men.
Melbourne City was first to qualify for the 2023 finals series at Round 21, after a 1–1 draw with Macarthur FC and to claim the league premiership with two rounds left.[4] Central Coast Mariners finished second as the other team heading directly into the semi-finals with Melbourne City.[5] Elimination-finalists Adelaide United, Western Sydney Wanderers, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix were the other four qualifying for the finals series.[6]
| Sydney | Melbourne | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Allianz Stadium | CommBank Stadium | AAMI Park | |
| Capacity: 42,500 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 30,050 | |
| Gosford | Adelaide | ||
| Industree Group Stadium | Coopers Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 20,059 | Capacity: 16,500 | ||
The system used for the 2023 A-League Men finals series is the modified top-six play-offs by the A-Leagues. The top two teams enter the two-legged semi-finals receiving the bye for the elimination-finals in which the teams from third placed to sixth place enter the elimination-finals with "third against sixth" and "fourth against fifth". Losers for the elimination-finals are eliminated, and winners qualify for the two-legged semi-finals.
First placed team in the semi-finals plays the lowest ranked elimination-final winning team and secon placed team in the semi-finals plays the highest ranked elimination-final winner. Home-state advantage goes to the team with the higher ladder position, except for the Grand Final in this series.
The first elimination-finals match occurred between third-placed Adelaide United and sixth-placed Wellington Phoenix at Coopers Stadium. Adelaide won 2–0 thanks to a Craig Goodwin double into the two-legged semi-finals.[7]
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See also: Sydney Derby (A-League Men). The second elimination-finals match occurred between fourth-placed Western Sydney Wanderers and fifth-placed Sydney FC at Bankwest Stadium; the first time a Sydney Derby was played in the finals series of the A-League Men. Despite Wanderers scoring first through a Morgan Schneiderlin penalty, Sydney made the comeback 2–1 over Western Sydney sent them to the two-legged semi-finals via Róbert Mak and Adam Le Fondre.[9]
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Sydney FC qualified for the two-legged semi-finals against Melbourne City starting off at home at Allianz Stadium[10] which finished as a 1–1 draw with Mathew Leckie scoring first for City and Adam Le Fondre equalizing in a second-half penalty.[11] The following week at AAMI Park, saw City breeze 4–0 with goals by Curtis Good, Marco Tilio, Richard van der Venne and an own goal winning 5–1 on aggregate heading to the Grand Final.[12]
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Melbourne City won 5–1 on aggregate.
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Adelaide United qualified for the two-legged semi-finals against Central Coast Mariners starting off at back home at Coopers Stadium[10] which despite Adelaide scoring first, had Central Coast comeback 2–1.[15] The following week at Industree Group Stadium fully attended, Central Coast extended their advantage by winning 2–0 thanks to goals by Samuel Silvera and Marco Túlio; winning 4–1 on aggregate to qualify for the Grand Final against Melbourne City.[16]
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Central Coast Mariners won 4–1 on aggregate.
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See main article: 2023 A-League Men Grand Final.
The Grand Final featured Melbourne City in their fourth consecutive Grand Final, against the Central Coast Mariners appearing in their first Grand Final in a decade and fifth overall.[17] Central Coast scored the first and second goals through Jason Cummings and Samuel Silvera, with City getting one back by substitute Richard van der Venne, with Mariners leading 2–1 at half time. Since, they scored through two penalties by Cummings completing his hat-trick and further goals by Béni Nkololo and Moresche in stoppage time. Central Coast Mariners became champions of the A-League Men after defeating Melbourne City 6–1 in the Grand Final.[18]
