Once more unto the breach, dear friends, for the A-League Men is back, this time celebrating its 20th season. It’s a time for hope, for spirits swelled by the promise and potential that comes with the blank slate of a new season. And that goes not just for the 13 sides taking part in this year’s competition but, as has invariably been the case of late, also the league itself, which has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years to test the depths of even the most ardent supporter’s endurance.

It all begins on Friday, when Central Coast host Melbourne Victory in a rematch of the 2023-24 grand final. In that contest, the Mariners yet again defied their standing to emerge as champions of Australia for the second-straight season with a triumph that put a bow on a historic, treble-winning run of Premiership, Championship and AFC Cup.

The 21,379 fans in the stands that day set a new attendance record for Central Coast Stadium, and the mass of humanity that poured onto the field in the aftermath of the game gave the Australian top flight one of the most striking images of its 20 seasons – a perfect moment of club, community and cause coming together to be sealed in silverware.

But on the eve of a new season, it increasingly feels like this is the time that modern football finally extracts its toll on the Mariners. The club has become something of a Ship of Theseus in recent years, plugging new players, coaches and even administrators into an existing framework and culture to maintain their success despite their lack of resources. But yet another off-season of upheaval represents particularly jagged rocks.

Tempting as it is to point at the pre-season exit of chairman Richard Peil as an omen of doom, a 50 dollar note never played a through ball. It is the off-season exit of two-time championship-winning midfielders Max Balard and Josh Nisbet, in particular, as well as the vacuum in goal left by Danny Vuković’s retirement and captain Trent Sainsbury going down with a chest injury that will keep him out until the new year, that would seem the more pressing on-field dilemma. Under coach Mark Jackson, the Mariners will always have the ability to surprise but early showings in the Asian Champions League have not been promising.

And just at a time when the well of Mariners magic may be showing signs of running dry, there are signs, no doubt to the delight of the league’s marketing types, that Goliath is beginning to stir.

Throughout the time of their shared existence in the A-League Men, Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Melbourne City have all had periods of success, sometimes domination, but at least one, more often than not two, have been simultaneously experiencing a down at the same time. But while the ALM can never be fully predictable – few would have tipped Central Coast and Wellington to top the league last season – early indications are that these four clubs are legitimate contenders in 2024-25.

For all the talk of austerity gripping the competition, this is highlighted by two of the biggest signings in the league’s history landing on different sides of the Sydney divide: Brazilian star Douglas Costa linking up with the Sky Blues and the Wanderers securing the services of Spanish World Cup winner Juan Mata.

With reports indicating that each club is footing the bill for the duo, their arrival doesn’t quite signal a return to the subsidised marquee policy of the league’s yesteryear. But that hasn’t stopped the league from pouncing on their star power, making them the face of a round one highlighted by a Sydney Derby. And given Mata was mostly invisible during his last stint with J1 League outfit Vissel Kobe, getting in early may be prudent.

Beyond Costa, Sydney have invested significantly to assemble a high-powered strikeforce that has them shaping as outright favourites this season, while Victory have pushed their chips to the centre of the table in appointing former City legend Patrick Kisnorbo as coach, banking that he can put together wins and go one better than now-Socceroos boss Tony Popovic did last season before fans completely turn on the move.

For the league as a whole, many of the trends from recent years will continue. After rights distributions were slashed in the off-season, rosters continue to be centred around youth – more than half the league fielding team lists that are mostly under-23s – and foreign signings such as Brisbane Roar’s Rafael Struick are increasingly being secured not just for their immediate impact but for what kind of re-sale value they hold.

Inevitably, young stars will emerge over the coming months, and twists and turns will be added to the unique tapestry that is the A-League Men. In Auckland FC, a 13th franchise and second in New Zealand has been added and the Bill Foley-owned entity, sitting alongside Bournemouth in the American billionaire’s stable, has invested to be competitive early. And in what is supposed to be a fresh football-focused era, we might even see more popular contortions such as the return to goal difference as the primary league tiebreaker, as announced on Thursday, after last year’s dalliance with prioritising wins.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends. The 20th season of the A-League Men is here. Let’s hope we can keep talking about the football as the season goes on.