accepted O'Donovan's immediate apology after full-time. The achievement made Victory leaders in the number of championships won by an A-League club, as well as being the first team to win a grand final after finishing fourth place in the regular season, the lowest ladder position. Weeks later, six grand final players departed the club, including Besart Berisha being sold for an undisclosed fee to Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Despite the unexpected grand final achievement, Muscat would commence a recruiting drive that would see eight players join preseason, including 2018 World Cup players and Keisuke Honda and Ola Toivonen. Mid-season transfers saw the undisclosed sale of Nick Ansell, and the recruitment of Elvis Kamsoba and Anthony Lesiotis, this first ever former Melbourne City player to represent Victory. Despite being more competitive than the season prior considering that Honda was sidelined more over a third of the season with injury, it would ultimately end in disappointment. The squad would finish third by one point behind the second placed and eventual champions Sydney FC, meaning that Victory would not receive direct entrance into the group stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League, but would have to enter a play-off first. The true realization of the disappointment in finishing third would be realized in the semi-final against Sydney away, who would exact revenge for their 2017–18 semi final upset in which Victory were defeated 1–6 away. Despite having one more season on his contract, Muscat resigned from the club weeks later for personal reasons, closing a fourteen-year stint at the club as a player, captain, assistant manager, and head coach. Post-Muscat era (2019–2021) Following Muscat's early departure, the Melbourne Victory board interviewed multiple foreign and local coaches for the senior role. It was announced in late June 2019 that former Adelaide United coach Marco Kurz was signed on a two-year deal. During the recruitment process, nine players departed the club, including the retirement of captain Carl Valeri who would become an office administrator for the club. Eight senior players were signed including the return of team of the decade defender Adama Traoré, and the youth academy had promoted defensive players Benjamin Carrigan and Brandon Lauton. In early October, weeks before the first round of the 2019–20 season, Ola Toivonen was appointed captain. In January 2020, after just 6 months in the role Kurz was dismissed by the club. Kurz left having managed the Victory for just