By Emma Burke 30/10/25
Above: Melissa Barbieri in the VIC NPLW for Boroondara-Carey Eagles. Photo: Football Victoria
Ahead of the A-League Women season, Emma Burke spoke to a mainstay of the league and one of the biggest names in Australian football, Melissa Barbieri.
“The best job in the world,” is what Melissa Barbieri, affectionately known as ‘Bubs’, says of being a professional football player, she would know, she’s been doing it for about 30 years now.
Barbieri is now gearing up for her ninth season with Melbourne City, after having joined their goalkeeping contingent in 2017, and now also works with the team as an assistant coach.
“I love preseason… I’ve loved being challenged every day and that’s probably why I still play, because I wake up every day wanting to get to training and every time I leave training I want to get back here as soon as possible to keep improving,” she said.
Melbourne City will play their first game of the 25/26 A-League Women’s season on Sunday, facing old rivals Sydney FC in Sydney.
“Sydney always play well against us,” said Barbieri.
“I know they [Sydney FC] have recruited very well in the offseason, they’ve built from a strong foundation and Ante [Juric] will no doubt have brought everyone together on the same page.”
City are also part of the Asian Women’s Champions League (AWCL), having secured their spot for the second time in a row by lifting the Premiers’ Plate last season.
They narrowly missed out on lifting the inaugural AWCL Trophy in May this year, losing in a penalty shootout to Wuhan Jiangda.
Barbieri welcomes the extra challenge and travel, as in just over two weeks time her team will head to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam for the Group Stage.
“It impacts us in a lot of ways where we’ve got to move our A-League games around to fit in the [AWCL] schedule, and that makes us feel that little bit more professional.”
“It makes it harder for us in the league but it also challenges us and keeps us on our toes, so I don’t think it’s a detriment,” she said.
With the Women’s Asian Cup happening in March next year, and having won one herself while Captain of the Matildas back in 2010, Barbieri has a unique view on the upcoming tournament, and exactly what it takes to lift the trophy.
“It’s really about the moments, the moments that you get, whether you play all the minutes or none of the minutes, it’s about the moments you get to play your role to the best of your ability and recognise that each and every player is important in their position in the team whether you’re Sam Kerr, Steph Catley, or the newbie coming in.”
Barbieri attributes the longevity of her career to a lot of things, mentions “listening to your doctors and your medical people,” as well as, “treating yourself with a huge amount of respect and understanding,” but it was Melbourne City’s director of Football, Michael Petrillo, who described it best to her.
“Everyone talks about how the wine gets better with age, and he [Petrillo] said it’s actually how you store the wine.”
It is a good analogy and Melbourne City are the proud home of a rare vintage.
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