A- League fixture hands Melbourne the blockbusters

MELBOURNE will be the blockbuster capital of the A-League next season, with a glut of high profile Victory and City matches scheduled for AAMI Park and Etihad Stadium in 2015- 16.

And in an added treat for Victory fans, their club will be the “away” team against Central Coast in a January 8 game in Geelong, giving it 14 games in Victoria when it was only meant to have 13.

Victory will host big city clubs Adelaide, Sydney, Western Sydney and Brisbane twice this season, while City also get repeat home games against Victory, the Sky Blues and Wanderers.

Kevin Muscat's men will begin their title defence against the Reds at Adelaide Oval on Friday, October 9, before hosting the season's first derby at Etihad Stadium the following Saturday.

Victory general operations manager Trent Jacobs said eight- day breaks between A-League matches for the club's first three Asian Champions League games was also a welcome relief.

“The FFA have a difficult job in constructing the fixture around two confirmed and one potential Champions Leaguequalified teams,” Jacobs said.

“But we think they've given that due consideration and are certainly going to give us, Sydney and Adelaide the best chance of being successful in both competitions.”

Victory last year signed a three- year deal with Geelong to play one game a season at Simonds Stadium.

The Mariners will host next season's game under Football Federation Australia's market development fixture policy after coming to a commercial arrangement with Victory.

Last season City was condemned to six home matches at the unpopular time of 5pm on Sundays, but in 2015- 16 only has two, and City hopes to increase its attendance average over the season.