2026/27 A-League season to begin with Sydney derby: sources

[p]According to sources, the 2026/27 men's A-League season is set to commence on Friday 16 October with a night-time Sydney derby at Allianz Stadium between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sydney-fc/6JsBlXVI/"]Sydney FC[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/western-sydney-wanderers/l00pXxBN/"]Western Sydney Wanderers[/a], which will be even spicier with former Sky Blues head coach Ufuk Talay making his league debut as Wanderers boss against his previous employers. [/p][p]October 16 is also going to serve as the start date for the A-League Women's season as well as the second running of the Australian Championship, a national second-tier competition which was won by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-melbourne/6ciKPSEO/"]South Melbourne[/a] in 2025. [/p][p]The A-League Men's grand final is scheduled to take place on the weekend of 5-6 June in 2027, three weeks after the women's season comes to a conclusion with its own grand final.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/auckland-fc/2J7jacL6/"]Auckland FC[/a] are the competition's defending men's champions after defeating Sydney FC 1-0 on home soil in May, whilst [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-city/rBPup6iT/"]Melbourne City[/a]'s women's team won their third consecutive Premiership with a 3-1 demolition of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wellington-phoenix/YTnQRHr5/"]Wellington Phoenix[/a] at AAMI Park.[/p][p]The 2026 Australian Championship will again have 55 matches in total with 16 teams split into four groups of four. [/p][p]Careful consideration has also been given to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil in regards to the timing of the domestic women's season, which begins on 24 June, with the A-League Women's campaign to wrap up well before the June international window which will serve as a crucial warm-up period for the tournament.[/p][p]The final of the 2026 Australia Cup, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/soccer-australia-cup-who-are-the-32-clubs-competing-in-the-2026-australia-cup/ljQrOGUb/"]which begins its Round of 32 on Tuesday night[/a], has been booked in for Saturday 10 October.[/p][h2]Key dates for 2026-27 domestic football season[/h2][p][b]A-League Men[/b]: 16 October 2026 to 5-6 June 2027[/p][p][b]A-League Women[/b]: 16 October 2026 to 15-16 May 2027[/p][p][b]Australian Championship[/b]: 16 October 2026 to 12-13 December 2026[/p][p][b]Australia Cup:[/b] 14 July 2026 to 10 October 2026[/p][p][b]AFC Champions League group stage[/b]: 15-17 September 2027 to 16-18 March 2027[/p][p][b]AFC Women's Champions League group stage[/b]: 1-7 November 2027[/p][p][b]NPL seasons[/b]: 5-7 February 2027 to 10-12 September 2027[/p][p][i](2026 NPL season to end on 11-13 September 2026)[/i][/p]