Saturday 3rd June (yes it's in two weeks time)
Melbourne City FC vs Central Coast Mariners
Venue: Seeing as MC won the right to host the GF it is being held at their home stadium CommBank Stadium in Sydney
Kick-off: 7:45pm

This is what MC are offering for travelling fans:
https://melbournecityfc.com.au/news/join-our-epic-grand-final-road-trip

They didn't even bother listing the package pricing apart from stating a $100 deposit is required. How are fans that are keen to go meant to evaluate their options without pricing. They also posted that article at 1pm yesterday and fans have until 12pm today to register their interest. In other words, "we at CFG really don't care about our fans so we'll give you this vague package and no time to consider it because we really don't want to organise anything for you".

I’m conflicted as to who I want to win this.

I’d usually want CCM to win, but not after everyone has jumped on their bandwagon, which will no doubt mean a solid GF crowd and hand Danny Townsend an undeserved Victory.

Or City whose total disregard and lack of fucks given to their own fan base is one of the worst cnut acts Australian football has ever seen.

Personally, my head says I want City to win. I prefer it when the premiers win the double as there is no argument over who the 'champions' are. They were the best team again this season and that's what should count.
However, there is part of me that says I want CCM to win as it would be fantastic for Monty to get some silverware as recognition for the fantastic job he has done at the Mariners.

Monty missed the 2013 GF win for the Mariners because of suspension.Would be great for him to coach them to a win.

Evidently he is not eligible for Coach of the Year as he was given a red card earlier in the season.

City were the best side throughout the season no doubt and are now the premiers. A begrudging congratulations to them.
   Now we move on to the cup competition where the ruthless and fast finishing Mariners should edge it and will be the cup-winners. Just too strong 
Should be a cracking game either way.

..so when exactly does the week long festival of football start anyway?  Are we in it now??  If it doesn’t start until this weekend then what does that make this weird period… the off-season?! 😂

All very valid questions. Nobody seems to have any answers to any of them. Anyone have any insight?
If someone (not sure who exactly) wanted to take a week off work to fully take advantage of this festival of football, what would they experience? I've checked Keep-up and Visit NSW websites but am unable to find anything. Has this hypothetical person used up valuable annual leave for nothing?

I believe next weekend was when the Bayern Munich game was scheduled but they pulled out as evidently they were not happen with the money on offer.

Why is it in two weeks time?  

What a massive massive cock up if the grand final was pushed back f\or a game that wasn't secured....actually pushing it back for another game is a joke as it is. 

How does this clown have a role?

Loss of GF momentum can only mean loss of interest for non-rusted ons.

Lunacy...

Guys I think you are all being a little harsh on Danny T.... Yes he's an arsehat but the board behind him makes the calls and he is the used car salesman that has to "sell it" to the consumers..... or go hide under the bed which is his usual tactic?!?!?

Also, need at least 2 x weeks to arrange the cruise ship for all the Melbourne City supporters maybe ?

To allow travelling fans to organise themselves to get there. 

Apparently.

lol.

are we on record to have one of the lowest crowd attendances for an AL Grand Final? 

Last year was pretty low (22k) and that was with the game hosted in the same city the teams are based and with a bunch of freebies handed out.
Hard to say about this one. Tickets seem to be affordably priced. I imagine plenty of Mariners fans will happily make the drive down (only 1 - 1.25 hrs). Especially seeing as it's pretty rare for CCM to make it to the GF. They had 20k last week so they could pull some good numbers. 
As for MC fans, I doubt many will make the trip. They consistently got less than 6k to their home games this season so it's unlikely they will have any substantial numbers eager to travel. There is also the principle of the thing. Like any interstate fans, many would not travel purely on principle.
Then there is the neutrals. Sure there might be some (especially if enough free tickets are handed out), but Sydney people are not very likely to pay to go to a game that their team is not part of. 
I reckon the number will be higher than last year, but I also think there will be plenty of free tickets around to boost those numbers.

https://www.timeout.com/sydney/sport-and-fitness/football-week-headlined-by-the-isuzu-ute-a-league-grand-final

Make history by joining Australia’s first annual Football Week celebrations, ending with the pinnacle Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final

This first-of-its-kind, week-long celebration is a chance for football fans and the community to revel in their love of the game at events on and off the pitch. Everyone is invited to celebrate Australia’s thriving football culture and the end of the season at the A-League Grand Final Party on Friday June 2 from 5-9pm at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park. Entry is free for this epic Football Week party and you can also enjoy pumping music, 5-a-side football, food and more. You may even brush shoulders with special guests from both finalist teams, as well as a cast of football greats that will be attending.

Oh, dear, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I hope they at least have a face painting tent and a ball pit for the kiddies. hahahahahahah A "week long" celebration that goes for 4 hours the day before the GF?!?!?!?!?!  I guess free entry is a good thing. hahahahahahah 

I guess they aren't expecting anyone from the "football community" in NSW would be interested in attending the GF either considering the scheduling? Even the Mariners academy players wont get to the GF in time......  what a farce.

5th appearance - only MVC and SFC have appeared in more.

Appearances by club

Bold indicates they won the finals series that year. Team names in italics indicates the club is a former A-League member.

Rank	Club	Appearances	Years
1	Sydney FC	13	2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
	Adelaide United		2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
3	Queensland/Brisbane Roar	12	2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021
	Melbourne Victory		2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
5	Central Coast Mariners	10	2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2023
	Melbourne Heart/City		2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
7	Wellington Phoenix	8	2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
8	Perth Glory	7	2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020
9	Newcastle Jets	5	2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2018
	Western Sydney Wanderers		2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2023
11	Gold Coast United	2	2010, 2011
	Western United		2020, 2022
13	Macarthur FC	1	2021
14	New Zealand Knights	0
	North Queensland Fury

no doubt they'll request the game to be moved. 
But It will be up to Sutherland if they want to move it or not. 

Looking forward to the game got some tickets... 

Think we are in with a shout.... defence is our biggest issue and one thing MC have is attacking weapons... 

Feeling nervous ... looks like both sides are at full strength and both have had the same time off .... 

Both attacking sides... 

Rare in recent history though. Last one was a decade ago and I think there were 4 wooden spoons during that time. Long decade for a CCM fan.

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The time off is a negative though. Both clubs will have only played 3 games in 5 weeks. Players hate having a week off. They like the consistency of the routine. Train all week, play on the weekend, repeat. Just look at the first leg of the semis. Both MC and CCM were not as good in the first leg as they were in the 2nd leg. It still should be a good game, but it might not be as crisp as it could have been. Both teams are dangerous up front, could see this one going into extra time.

you have always come across to me as being an authentic football person. This is an events for plastics, scabs, bandwagoners as maybe theatre goers. It's disappointing you're going. 

Thats a poor approach mate... The whole Aleague is a series of random matches/events with lopsided draws and artificial teams for "plastics, scabs, bandwagoners as maybe theatre goers", whats changed now?

Nothing wrong with a bloke happy to see his team play in a grand final. Middie, enjoy the day son. I hope your "Sea Bogans" destroy the foreigners.... FORZA MARINERS!!!!!!!

eh reh no way FORZA appropiate for the bogans, oi oi mariners or aussie aussie aussie or whatever, wish them well hope they win against the sand barrons.

LOL F T B, Mids got to go they haven't contested for yonks.

This is so much fun.....

They don’t fill two bays at Aami