Everything you need to know about the A-League Men’s season climax, at Go Media Stadium on Saturday night.

Before this season, no New Zealand side had made an A-League final. On Saturday, Auckland FC, resplendent in black and blue, will be the second – and they’ll be hoping to go one better than the Phoenix Women who fell valiantly at the final hurdle last weekend.

Here’s what you need to know. 

Start with the essentials. When and where? 

Auckland FC and Sydney FC meet in the A-League final, kickoff 8.10pm on Saturday May 23 at Go Media Stadium aka Mt Smart. It’s sold out – 27,000-plus will be there – and it will be televised live on Sky Sport and delayed on Sky Open. 

If you’re heading along to Fortress Penrose, public transport is free with your match ticket. There’s also a watch party down at Britomart. The weather forecast is promising.  

Aren’t they playing at Eden Park?

Ah, no. You must be thinking of Auckland FC B.

Come again?

Auckland FC’s second team play South Melbourne in the OFC Pro League final – a weird new Fifa-concocted competition – on Sunday afternoon in Mt Eden. 

Let’s stick with Saturday night. Are these the top two teams in the A-League?

Neither side in the final made the top two – the first time that has happened in the league’s history. Both had to win a playoff then went into two-leg semifinals, in which Auckland FC gave Adelaide FC a shellacking away, 3-0, and the Sky Blues of Sydney overcame Newcastle Jets, who had topped the normal-season table by five points, on penalties. Auckland gets the home final by virtue of having finished above Sydney in the league.

What is the form guide?

Auckland FC had a spluttery final stretch but burst to life in that away game at Adelaide – their first normal-time victory in eight games. Sydney, chasing a record sixth A-League title, have only won two of their last 10 matches in regular play. Both sides had to win a penalty shoot-out on their way to the final. 

This is just Auckland’s second season. Where did it all go so right? 

Auckland FC exceeded all expectations in their debut season, winning the Premier’s Plate for topping the table, before falling in their semifinal. To make the final in season number two is something remarkable. 

The success is in part down to the steady leadership of head coach Steve Corica, who has drawn on vast experience as a player (including long service at Sydney FC) and in coaching. The squad was selected from a blank page with much dependence on data, along with a commitment to ensuring a local core within the group.

And the crowd!

Auckland FC, the third time of trying a fully professional team in the city, has exorcised the demons of efforts past by developing meaningful relationships with existing clubs across the city, leveraging growing appetite for the sport and building a superb matchday experience for fans, from the family-friendly hoopla at one end of the stadium to the joyous animal choir of the Port at the other. As the song goes, we’re black and blue, bay 22. (If you’re in bays 21-23, by the way, it’s about as reasonable to get salty at anyone jumping around and singing as it is to get mad about bouncing on a bouncy castle.) Kudos goes to CEO Nick Becker, whose commitment to the cause is epitomised in his being spotted tearing it up with the small, diehard posse of away fans at Adelaide last weekend. 

It doesn’t hurt, either, that there has been some hefty investment from Bill Foley, the Las Vegas billionaire financier, occasional Trump backer, sporting magnate and Master of the Foleyverse.

The Foleyverse?

His Black Knight Sports and Entertainment empire includes the Vegas Golden Knights, who play ice hockey in the desert, and interests in a number of football teams. Top of the list is AFC Bournemouth, who have enjoyed a scintillating season in the English Premier League, and stand on the brink of qualification for the Champions League. It’s an extraordinary achievement for a club that plays at a ground where the capacity currently stands at 11,307, well less than half the size of Mt Smart.

Other clubs with Black Knight funds include Lorient in France and Moreirense in Portugal. They recently sold their stake in Scotland’s Hibernian, and are reportedly poised to take ownership of the Exeter Chiefs rugby union side. If you’re reading this, Bill, can we interest you in a dynamic Auckland-based rugby franchise?

Who are the players to watch on Saturday night?

In goal, Michael Woud had a tough gig as successor to crowd favourite Alex Paulsen, but he’s really proved his mettle in recent weeks, with a handful of killer, clutch saves in knockout games. Captain and former Japanese international Hiroki Sakai is a talismanic presence on the right of defence. Francis de Vries is returning to full fitness at just the right time. They should name a stand after his left foot. 

Up front, Englishman Sam Cosgrove is hardly balletic, but a master of making a nuisance, and you cannot argue with a goalscoring record that made him joint winner of the league’s golden boot. Alas Uruguayan Guillermo May is injured, but as a consolation the month has been named after him. The stage is set for Jesse Randall, in his swansong before heading to Dundee United. At his best he glides across a different pitch from everyone else. 

And should a super-sub needed, cometh the hour for hometown hero Liam Gillion, football’s swashbuckling answer to Westley from The Princess Bride. 

Do the other lot have any players?

Sure. Sydney keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares, glows like a road cone and saves like a roadblock, having kept 11 clean sheets this season. Tiago Quintal, a 19-year-old with immense potential, is a danger from midfield.

Got any omens?

Of course. 

1. Sydney FC have never beaten Auckland FC in a competitive match. 
2. The first ever A-League final, in 2005, was played in Sydney. Steve Corica scored the winning goal for Sydney FC. This is the first ever A-League final to be played in Auckland. The Auckland FC head coach is Steve Corica. 
3. Success, they say, has many parents. Steve Corica and Patrick Kisnorbo, coaches of the two finalists, both have Italian parents. Italy’s beloved football league, Serie A, finishes this weekend, but already Inter Milan have been crowned champions, ahead of Napoli. Inter Milan play in black and blue vertical stripes. Napoli play in sky blue.*

Hurray for the final. Boo for the end of the season. It will be quite a wait, right?

Beautiful-game enthusiasts can enjoy the Champions League final early New Zealand time on Sunday May 31. And then face a yawning, agonising gap of 12 days until the World Cup starts.

*Sydney FC will presumably play in their white away strip but this tortured omen still works because Napoli’s away strip is also white.