Derbies are almost always fiery but nothing fuels a flashpoint like an unresolved hangover from seasons past.

There's extra spice when a coach or player comes up against a former club, or a set of fans feel it necessary to right a perceived wrong. With that in mind season 2018/19 throws up some tasty grudge matches.

Payback can be brutal.

Brisbane Roar v Central Coast - Round 'n' round the Mulvey bush

Round 1: Sunday October 21, 2018 - Suncorp Stadium

This is all about one man – Mariners coach Mike Mulvey. The 55-year-old's career took an unexpected detour into Malaysian football after he was unceremoniously dumped by Roar just six games into the 2014-15 season. He might have expected the club to cut him some slack after taking Roar to the premiership-championship double the season before. No such luck. Mulvey has a rep in the A-League for turning strugglers into contenders but has his work cut out for him with last season’s wooden spooners. He might have preferred to make his return to Suncorp later in the draw but it is what it is. 

Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets - They never saw it coming!

Round 2: Friday October 26, 2018 - Coopers Stadium

Not so much a grudge match as a get square. This fixture in Round 24 last season provided the hammer blow to the Jets' premiership hopes. Newcastle's fairytale rise from last in 2016/17 to contenders in 2017/18 was in full swing when they rocked up to Coopers. Everything was in place for a walk-over. A six-game unbeaten streak, undefeated in the past six trips into Adelaide's territory, and against a side with a measly two points from their previous four matches. What could go wrong? A 5-2 shellacking that's what! It was the beginning of a three-game losing streak in which Ernie Merrick's men coughed up 10 goals and any chance of securing the plate. Hurt much? Jets get a chance to return the favour early in the piece.

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory – Grand Final rematch!

Round 3: Saturday November 3, 2018 - McDonald Jones Stadium

Talk about scores to settle. The bogus goal that gifted Victory the 2018 Grand Final is still fresh in the minds of the Squadron. At home the Jets had whooped Muscat’s men 4-1 and 2-0 last season and went into the decider full of confidence. That lasted all of…nine minutes. VAR malfunctioned for 30 crucial seconds allowing a clear offside in the build up to the only goal of the match. Fall-out was immediate. Jets’ faithful were fuming that Victory celebrated without a blush. Federal Member for Shortland, Pat Conroy, called for heads to roll at FFA. Meanwhile, Victory felt aggrieved that their record fourth Grand Final win wasn't given the proper kudos outside the Melbourne city limits. With all that swirling around A-League bosses will hope this one doesn’t boil over. It's probably fortunate that Newcastle striker Roy O’Donovan will still be serving his 10-match ban for the horror tackle on goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas in the closing stages of the decider.

Perth Glory v Brisbane Roar – Welcome back Taggs!

Round 3: Saturday November 3, 2018 - nib Stadium

A chance for Glory fans to give a 'very warm welcome back' to former Perth striker Adam Taggart. Glory threw the 2013/14 Golden Boot winner a lifeline last season and despite some fitness issues the 25-year-old repaid them by smashing in nine goals from nine league starts. Then-coach, Kenny Lowe, even touted the attacker as a World Cup bolter. So when Brisbane Roar snatched the golden goose at the end of the season it got ugly…fast. Glory owner Tony Sage unloaded both barrels on the striker. "It's not only extremely disappointing when you take a player who is at the crossroads in his career with injury, nurse him through at great expense and finally we get him right and then leaves with no thanks or even the decency to tell us," Sage wrote on Facebook. "He said he would wait till our new coach was appointed… so a liar as well...He would have been our highest paid player but all we got was a two fingered salute.”  Taggs, rather more diplomatically, thanked Glory fans and his former teammates, denying the club was blindsided. Still you don’t walk back that talk easily. Should be a cracker.

Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix – Big Blue Man faces the Silver Fox

Round 7: Saturday December 8, 2018 - Jubilee Oval

Sydney FC legend and new Wellington Phoenix coach Mark Rudan takes on the Sky Blues. Known affectionately by the harbour-siders as the Big Blue Man, the Sydney FC hall of famer was the club’s inaugural captain, and led them through the dark days of Terry Butcher’s reign. Late in his career he came up against Sydney during a brief stint with Adelaide, but how will the home crowd react to seeing him bump tactics with former teammate, Steve Corica.

As fate would have it Rudan and Corica make their top flight coaching debuts in 2018/19. It’s not the first time Rudan’s legacy and ambition have clashed. In 2014 he urged Western Sydney Wanderers to turn out in numbers for his Sydney United 58’s FFA Cup clash against Sydney. Faced with blow-back from The Cove, Rudan responded: “I have nothing but respect for Sydney FC fans. They know how great they were towards me and how much they meant to me.” Only one thing would make this better - holding it at the old stomping ground, Allianz Stadium, where the two former titans of the Sydney XI once strode. With the stadium undergoing an upgrade Jubilee will have to do.

Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets – Search for Redemption

Round 9: Sunday December 23, 2018 – Central Coast Stadium

To understand this one you have to go back to the last regulation round of 2017/18. It was a blood bath! Jets blew the Mariners out of the water with an 8-2 thrashing that broke all sorts of records. It was the highest scoring game and the biggest away win in A-League history, as Newcastle marched towards the Grand Final. Needless to say it was the Mariners worst flogging and condemned the home side to the wooden spoon where the Jets had been just one year earlier. The game marked the retirement of Mariners stalwart Josh Rose, memorable now for all the wrong reasons. You can’t rewrite the pages of history but the yellow and navy will be hoping to add a positive margin scribble with this one.

Melbourne City v Western Sydney Wanderers – You want some of this?

Round 14: January 22, 2019 – AAMI Park

What happened to Bruce Kamau? The speedster will be hoping to answer that question this season, and there’s no better place to do it than AAMI Park. A grand final winner with the Reds, he was banging goals in for fun at the beginning of last season for City. In October the Kenyan-born winger went on a 60 metre raid to deliver the decisive blow in the Melbourne Derby. That was the third goal in two games for the 23-year-old who looked unstoppable and was talked about as a potential World Cup bolter. But with just 11 league starts, Kamau's rising star was eclipsed by teammate Daniel Arzani. Kamau, Nick Fitzgerald and Ruon Tongyik have been snapped up by the Wanderers and nothing would please the ex-City trio more than to stage a smash and grab in January.

Wanderers v Perth Glory – Popa’s 'home'!

Round 20: Spotless Stadium

This one will give the RBB fans whiplash with Wanderers greats at both ends of the football pitch. Popovic earned his place in Western Sydney football lore by taking them to the Premiership in their inaugural year before following it up with AFC Champions League glory. Now the 45-year-old has been lured by a different kind of Glory, popping up on the other side of the continent with his former Wanderers assistant (and interim WSW coach) Hayden Foxe, RBB favourite Brendon Santalab and former Wanderers star Matthew Spiranovic. Fans won’t forget Popovic quit the club on the eve of 2017/18 for an ill-fated stint at Turkish Süper Lig club Karabükspor, condemning  the Red and Black to a rollercoaster ride under Josep Gombau. Once the darling of the RBB how will Popa cope being on the opposing side of the league’s most raucous fanbase?

Leroy George and Daniel de Silva - Watch this space?

Leroy George chipped in with nine goals and 14 assists last season so his decision to quit Victory wasn't taken lightly by the club. In a case of he said/they said, George complained that the club reneged on a performance agreement. Victory says he turned down a 'substantially improved offer'. The Dutch wizard has a number of overseas offers in the fire as well as ongoing negotiations with three A-League clubs. If he stays in Oz his first meeting against Kevin Muscat's men should be a doozy. Meanwhile, wantaway Daniel de Silva - a pre-season no-show for Central Coast Mariners - has been linked with Sydney FC. Expect fireworks if he makes the move to the harbour city!