but the season did bring long term positives. The acquisition of future team of the decade players Carlos Hernández, Matthew Kemp, and Tom Pondeljak would ensure on-field strength for next three seasons. The 2008–09 season brought more success for the club in achieving its first treble. The last A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup of 2008, finishing top of the ladder as premiers resulting in qualifying a second time in the AFC Champions League for the 2010 campaign, and being crowned champions after defeating Adelaide United a second time in a grand final in front of a crowd of 53,273, which as of January 2019, is still the second largest attendance for an A-League grand final behind the 2007 final. The 2009–10 season saw Victory be serious competitors for first position but would ultimately and narrowly finish behind Sydney FC, whom Victory would lose 2–4 on penalties in the grand final weeks later. It would prove to be the last grand final for manager Ernie Merrick and for Kevin Muscat as captain, with Victory finishing fifth for the 2010–11 season, and losing to Gold Coast in first round of the finals. Exit Lord, enter Di Pietro, and the rebuild (2011–2013) The conclusion of the 2010–11 A-League season saw inaugural president Geoff Lord resign from the club, hailing from the success of two championships, two premierships and the last pre-season challenge cup. Fruit and vegetable heavyweight and shareholder Anthony Di Pietro became the second president in the club's history, hired internally after being an inaugural director alongside Lord from the beginning. Di Pietro was also an occasional stand-in president when Lord was unable to perform duties due to illness on multiple occasions in 2011, making his first public speech ever being stand in chairman at the time during a Victory in Business luncheon at the Crown Palladium Ballroom. Along with the resignation of Lord, inaugural chief executive officer Geoff Miles also resigned from the club, with mortgage firm businessman, shareholder and inaugural director Richard Wilson being hired internally prior to the 2011–12 season alongside Di Pietro. Ernie Merrick would depart as coach to be replaced by Mehmet Duraković and later Jim Magilton for the 2011–12 season. Di Pietro & Wilson quickly sacked Merrick following multiple missed targets both on & off the field, with the 5–1 loss to Gamba Osaka in the 2011 AFC Champions League campaign being the last straw. Kevin Muscat