A-Leagues Release Ninja A-League 2025/26 Season Fixtures

Thursday 11 September, 2025: The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) has today released the full fixtures for the Ninja A-League Women 2025/26 season as the countdown begins for another huge season of women’s football.

The Ninja A-League will kick off on Friday 31 October, with a 22-round regular season. The Finals Series will begin on the weekend of 24-26 April, culminating in the Ninja A-League Grand Final 2026 to be held on the weekend of 15-17 May.

Commenting on the season ahead, Stephen Conroy, APL Executive Chairman said:

“The Ninja A-League has established itself as the top ranked league in Asia and the proven pathway for our next generation of national team heroes.”

“Last season, 22 Ninja A-League Women players were called up to CommBank Matildas squads from nine clubs, and this season again provides another fantastic opportunity for players to break through and stake their claim as stars of the future.”

“We’re lucky to have an incredible group of footballers and role models across our league who continue to inspire the next generation of fans, players and coaches in our sport, and we look forward to another memorable season.”

Competition overview

The Ninja A-League 2025/26 season will be played across 22 rounds, with each club playing 20 home-and-away fixtures, plus two bye rounds, following Western United FC being placed into conditional hibernation.

The 2026 Finals Series will follow last season’s format with the top six sides qualifying. Week one of the Finals will see third face sixth, and fourth take on fifth in two Elimination Finals. The two winners will advance to a two-legged Semi Final against the top two sides, with the winners qualifying for the Ninja A-League Grand Final 2026.

The complete Round 1 fixture is shown below, while the full season 2025/26 fixture, round by round, can be seen via the A-Leagues website.

AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026

The Ninja A-League 2025/26 season will also see a two-week pause from late February to mid March for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The domestic competition will return on 13 March during the knock-out stages of the continental tournament to maximise continuity for the majority of players and to avoid fixture congestion.

Working closely with Football Australia and the local organising committee for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the APL has ensured that all Ninja A-League Women matches scheduled during the knock-out stages will be played at a different time, in a different market, to avoid any clash with Asian Cup fixtures and to maximise cross-promotional opportunities.

The Ninja A-League Women season will also observe the October, February and April FIFA international windows, with the Ninja A-League Women again playing up to five matches through the November window.

Family-friendly fixtures:

The 2025/26 fixture has also taken into account club, partner and fan feedback to ensure more games can be played at more family-friendly times, and where possible, avoid simultaneous kick-offs and clashes with grassroots football.

The season’s fixture has also seen a reduction in double-headers. This has been a concerted effort from Clubs and the league to tie these to select, marquee matches only, and to increase the number of standalone fixtures to develop uniquely A-League Women’s match day experiences and bring fans closer to their heroes in smaller venues.

There has also been a continued effort to minimise the number of simultaneous kick-offs across each round allowing fans to enjoy as many matches as possible every weekend.

Engaging more fans across Australia and New Zealand

Paramount Australia remains the exclusive home of Australian football for the 2025/26 season with football fans across Australia able to enjoy access to a mountain of football with every single A-Leagues match available to stream live on Paramount+.

Building on the success of last season, Network 10 and naming rights partner Shark Ninja, have teamed up again to continue to elevate the women’s game with select Ninja A-League games to be shown on free-to-air across 10 Drama in season 2025/26.

The APL, Network Ten and Shark Ninja are working through the free-to-air schedule to maximise cross-promotional opportunities and will confirm the specific fixtures shortly. Last season, the Ninja A-League reached over 900k Australians on 10 and Paramount+, and on 10 streaming and Paramount+ the league had over 1 million stream starts across the 2024/25 season.

For New Zealand fans, Sky remains the exclusive home of the Ninja A-League Women. For season 2025/26, matches will broadcast live on Sky Sport, Sky Sport Now and Sky Go, and selected A-Leagues games will be available to watch free-to-air on Sky Open.

Ninja A-League season broadcast notes, include:

Every Ninja A-League match will be made available live on 10 streaming and Paramount+.

This season, select Ninja A-League matches will be broadcast live and free on 10 Drama.

Minis, highlights and replays are also available to stream exclusively on Paramount+.

In New Zealand, matches will be broadcast live on Sky Sport, Sky Sport Now and Sky Go, with select games available to watch free-to-air on Sky Open.

Substitution Changes:

Following a successful trial in the 2025 Final Series, this Ninja A-League season Clubs will be able to select six substitutes per match; one nominated goalkeeper and up to five outfield Players. Within this provision of six Players, the FIFA Laws of the Game permit that, a maximum of five Players can be replaced at one of three permitted substitution opportunities.

Regulations factored into fixturing:

The ‘Summer Period’, which was extended by a month in 2024/25, will remain in place from early December (Round 6) through to mid-March (Round 21) to avoid teams playing through the hottest part of the day in the cities prone to extreme heat across these months.

During the ‘Summer Period’ there will be no 3pm kick off times, with all matches kicking off from 5pm local time - with the exception of a few matches due to time zones and broadcast commitments.

Following an off-season analysis on weather patterns across Australia and New Zealand, the ‘Summer Period’ will be slightly shorter in Newcastle and Victoria running from Round 7 to 18, where temperatures historically do not exhibit extreme temperatures for as long. Given the cooler climate in Wellington, there is no ‘Summer Period’ factored into the New Zealand schedule.

The A-Leagues Heat Policy, recognised as a conservative policy by international standards, remains part of each match’s operational assessment and will be implemented for any match in or outside the ‘Summer Period’ where extreme weather conditions may present a risk for players and the comfort of fans.

AFC Club Competitions: AFC Women’s Champions League

Melbourne City will once again represent the Ninja A-League in the AFC Women’s Champions League - one of the richest competitions in women’s professional team sport.

It’s City’s second appearance at the competition after falling just short of taking out the tournament in its inaugural year in May, losing out to China’s Wuhan Jiangda in the Final on penalties.

The draw is scheduled for September 11, with the Group Stages to be played across one week in a central location from November 9. Should Melbourne City progress to the Quarter Finals stage in March, considerations will be given to their adjacent fixtures should the team need to travel.

The dates of each stage of the AFC Women’s Champions League group, include:

Group Stage (location details, TBC): Sunday 9 November - Sunday 23 November

Quarter Finals (played either home or away): Friday 22 March - Saturday 23 March

Semi Finals & Final (played in one central location; TBC): Thursday 21 May - Sunday 24 May (post the 2024/25 Ninja A-League Women Grand Final)

To find out more about A-Leagues, visit: www.aleagues.com.au

Notes:

Ninja A-League Women 2025/26 - Round 1

Western Sydney Wanderers vs Perth Glory - Friday 31 October, Wanderers Football Park at 7:00pm AEDT

Sydney FC vs Melbourne City - Saturday 1 November, Leichhardt Oval at 2:15pm AEDT

Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne Victory - Saturday 1 November, Imperial Corp Stadium at 5:00pm AEDT

Central Coast Mariners vs Adelaide United - Sunday 2 November, polytec Stadium at 2:15pm AEDT

Canberra United vs Newcastle Jets - Sunday 2 November, McKellar Park at 4:00pm AEDT

Wellington Phoenix - BYE

Sydney Derby - Sydney FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers

Sunday 7 December, Marconi Stadium at 5:00pm AEDT

Saturday 31 January, Allianz Stadium at 5:00pm AEDT

Melbourne Derby - Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory

Fixture to be confirmed

Sunday 15 February, ctrl:cyber Pitch at 5:00pm AEDT

F3 Derby - Central Coast Mariners vs Newcastle Jets

Saturday 6 December, polytec Stadium at 5:00pm AEDT

Saturday 10 January, No.2 Sportsground at 6:00pm AEDT

Big Blue - Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC

Sunday 25 January, Home of the Matildas at 5:00pm AEDT

Saturday 28 March, Leichhardt Oval at 5:00pm AEDT

Original Rivalry - Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory

Saturday 13 December, AAMI Park at 4:50pm AEDT

Saturday 17 January, Coopers Stadium at 4:50pm AEDT

Ninja A-League Women 2025/26 - other notable fixtures

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners - Saturday 15 November, Home of the Matildas at 5:00pm AEDT (Grand Final rematch)

Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets - Sunday 16 November, Porirua Park at 2pm AEDT

Canberra United vs Sydney FC - Saturday 29 November, McKellar Park at 3:00pm AEDT

Central Coast Mariners vs Brisbane Roar - Wednesday 31 December at 4:15pm AEDT (New Year’s Eve game)

Wellington Phoenix vs Perth Glory - Friday 6 February, Sky Stadium at 5:45pm AEDT (Waitangi Day)

Brisbane Roar vs Sydney FC - Friday 13 February, Imperial Corp Stadium, 7:00pm AEDT

Adelaide United vs Perth Glory - Friday 13 March, Coopers Stadium at 7:00pm (International Women’s Day celebration)

Melbourne Victory vs Western Sydney Wanderers - Saturday 14 March, Home of the Matildas at 6:00pm AEDT

Perth Glory vs Central Coast Mariners - Saturday 21 March, Sam Kerr Football Centre at 5:00pm AEDT

Adelaide United vs Newcastle Jets - Saturday 28 March, Service FM Stadium at 3:00pm AEDT

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