Unite Round was an A-Leagues event in which all fixtures were played in one city for one week during the A-League Men's and Women's season. The event was held twice during the 2023–24 and 2024–25 A-League seasons in Sydney, in partnership with Destination NSW. It was not renewed for the 2025–26 season.[1]
In December 2022, the Australian Professional Leagues made a decision to move the following three A-Leagues Grand Finals (2023, 2024 and 2025) which would be hosted in Sydney in a deal with Destination NSW. The decision was met with universal backlash from fans and clubs. The decision had the possibility of being reversed during September 2023, in response to the unpopularity with the fans on the decision, and the potential to be replaced with a "Magic Round-style" event.[2]
History
On 18 October 2023, the Australian Professional Leagues officially reversed the decision on the Grand Final hosts, renegotiating the contract into a Unite Round as a replacement.[3][4][5]
It was first held in January 2024, with twelve fixtures of all participating A-League Men and Women teams in the 2023–24 season, played at three stadiums ( Allianz Stadium, CommBank Stadium, and Leichhardt Oval).[6] As Unite Round was introduced after the release of the 2023–24 A-Leagues fixtures, the 2023–24 Unite Round event changed fixture details in certain match weeks of both the A-League Men's and Women's original fixture lists. The men's Unite Round fixtures were used as an additional match week (Round 27) to the regular season, and the women's Unite Round fixtures replaced the existing match week of Round 12 where the venues and times were changed to the specific Unite Round details.[7] The 2023–24 Unite Round event attracted a total attendance of 47,425.
A second Unite Round (as part of the 2024–25 A-Leagues seasons) was played during November 2024, using Allianz Stadium and Leichhardt Oval.[8] Due to the 2024–25 A-League Men season having an odd number amount of teams, this meant Melbourne City received a bye for this event. The Unite Round hosted two derbies for the first time, those being the F3 Derby and Sydney Derby.
On 25 July 2025, it was announced alongside the release of Football Australia's 2025/26 Domestic Match Calendar, that Unite Round would not be renewed for the upcoming season.[1]
