Auckland FC captain Hiroki Sakai (left) and his opposite number Rhyan Grant of Sydney FC before the A-League Men grand final in Auckland. Photograph: Blake Armstrong/AAP
Sydney out to spoil Auckland party in first trans-Tasman A-League Men grand final. A win for the Black Knights in front of a fervent home crowd could sell its own story, but Patrick Kisnorbo’s dogged Sky Blues stand in the way.
The best-laid plans of the A-League Men often go awry. A grand final filled with the romance of one, perhaps even two, perennial underachievers capping their resurgence by reaching the decider was all but written in the stars this year. But Sydney FC and Auckland FC flipped the script against the premiers Newcastle Jets and regular season runners-up Adelaide United. Rather than a finale between two sides packed with bright young things who have helped give an embattled league a lift, Saturday’s grand final will instead be a meeting between the most successful club in the history of the competition and upstarts from across the ditch.
There is cause to celebrate with a title decider to be held in New Zealand for the first time, after Auckland reached the grand final from third place and ahead of Sydney’s regular season finish in fifth. It is hard to argue the Black Knights do not deserve their spot after marching through with a commanding win in Adelaide. The Sky Blues also earned admiration when extending their flawless record in league shootouts to end the Jets’ dreams of a fairytale in dramatic fashion.
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But how Australian football has filled the space left behind by an overseas decider leaves reason for debate. The airing of dirty laundry – including Football Australia’s financial woes and confirmation of Western United’s exclusion from the A-Leagues next season – could hardly have been more poorly timed. The Australian Professional Leagues extending its broadcast deal with Paramount+, again with one men’s game a week on Network 10’s main free-to-air channel, brings relief and three years of stability rather than hope for a more lucrative future.
There are captivating stories to fill the pages even before kickoff in Auckland, not least that of a powerhouse club returning to the final through a back door as it searches for a first men’s league trophy since doing the double in 2019-20. Sydney FC are one win away from a record-extending sixth championship crown less than two months after it looked more likely that a finals campaign would be about simply making up the numbers. A season that was petering out then got the jolt it needed with the departure of head coach Ufuk Talay to arch-rivals Western Sydney Wanderers. In his place came Patrick Kisnorbo and a seven-match unbeaten run has since followed.
Head coach Patrick Kisnorbo speaks to his Sydney FC team during a training session. Photograph: Dave Rowland/Getty Images
The former coach of the two Melbourne clubs has won trophies in the past and soon turned Sydney FC’s form around as he instilled a new belief. That hit new heights in their semi-final victory over the highly-fancied Jets, off the back of intense physicality and determined defending that was a reminder of how their new boss once played. The Sky Blues have been the stingiest side this season with only 27 goals conceded in the league, while the Black Knights are the only team to score more than once against them since Kisnorbo took charge in March. The attack has been less convincing with Al Hassan Touré and 19-year-old midfielder Tiago Quintal leading their scoring with only five goals each. But Kisnorbo has already revealed the ace up his sleeve when turning to forward Akol Akon, who only turned 17 this week, to start the elimination final against Victory and in both semi-final legs.
The managerial disruption could hardly have worked better in the Sky Blues’ favour with Wanderers backing a coach who came with mixed reviews from the other side of town, while Kisnorbo has led them to a final and this week inked a three-year deal to stay at the club. Another former Sky Blues coach will stand in the opposite dugout at Go Media Stadium on Saturday, with club great Steve Corica now pulling the strings at the Black Knights as they seek to claim a second piece of silverware.
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The picture is rosier in the land of the long white cloud, where Auckland will host the men’s grand final in just their second season in the league. The club burst on to the scene when lifting the premiers plate in their debut campaign before a shock loss came on home soil to Victory despite taking a 1-0 advantage into the second leg of the semi-final. They avoided making the same mistake when starting this year’s semi-final at home for a 1-1 draw with Adelaide, then steamrolling them in the return leg for a 3-0 win that laid down a marker for the 2026 decider. The Black Knights have had a better balance between attack and defence throughout the season, with England import Sam Cosgrove the co-winner of the ALM golden boot while scoring 12 goals and Lachlan Brook and Jesse Randall adding to the firepower in the final third.
The first ALM grand final played between teams from each side of the Tasman could be the start of a new rivalry, even if neutral fans are unlikely to simply nail their colours to the mast of their national compatriots. A win for the Black Knights in front of a fervent, capacity crowd could sell its own story, but the Sky Blues under Kisnorbo are just the sort of side that would relish spoiling the party.
