Melina Ayres (born 13 April 1999) is an unattached Australian

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. She has previously played for Melbourne City,

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

, and

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

WNPL

In 2017, Ayres signed for her junior club South Melbourne FC after spending the previous WNPL Victoria season at Alamein FC. Ayres went on to sign for South Melbourne the following year.

Club career

Melbourne City, 2015–2017

In September 2015 at age 16, Ayres signed with Melbourne City for the 2015–16 season playing primarily in a striker position. She scored her first goal for the club during injury time of the team's inaugural match against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

solidifying the 6–0 win.

Melbourne Victory, 2017–2023

On 22 September, Ayres joined

on a one-year deal. Highlights of her 2017/2018 season include a stunning goal against Melbourne City FC in round 11 when she won the ball from Alanna Kennedy and chipped Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams from close to halfway. Just one week earlier, Ayres scored another cracker of a strike against ladder leaders Brisbane Roar. With no clear options on hand, Ayres hit a right foot rocket past Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold into the top right bin, leaving the keeper with no chance. In October 2020, Ayres signed a three-year extension with Melbourne Victory. In August 2023, Ayres departed the club.

Breiðablik, 2022

In April 2022, Ayres joined Breiðablik of the Icelandic Besta-deild kvenna on a loan from Melbourne Victory.

Newcastle Jets, 2023–2024

In August 2023, Ayres joined

. In October 2024, Ayres announced that after nine consecutive seasons, she's taking a break from football.

International career

Ayres played in Malaysia for the under-16 national team. Ayres was called up to the Australian under-20 squad for the

2016 AFF Women's Championship The 2016 AFF Women's Championship was the ninth edition of the AFF Women's Championship, an international women's football tournament organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). The tournament was held in Mandalay, Myanmar between 26 July to ...

in July 2016 held in Myanmar.

Personal life

Ayres is currently studying a Bachelor of Environmental Science at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

Honours

Individual

* Women's National Premier League Golden Boot: (24 goals)

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Women's National Premier League Golden Boot: (40 goals) 2017

References

External links

Melbourne City player profile
* 1999 births Living people Australian women's soccer players 21st-century Australian sportswomen Women's association football forwards Melbourne City FC (women) players Melbourne Victory FC (women) players Newcastle Jets FC (women) players Breiðablik women's football players Besta deild kvenna players Soccer players from Melbourne Australian expatriate women's soccer players Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland Australian expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Sportswomen from Victoria (state) {{Australia-women-footy-bio-stub