The 2014–15 season saw a major recruiting drive in the signings of Besart Berisha, Carl Valeri, Daniel Georgievski, Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Mathieu Delpierre, who would all go onto achieve multiple personal and club accolades respectively. Late in the season on 28 March 2015, the club announced its team of the decade at the Crown palladium ballroom with five of the announced players still contracted to victory at the time, with then coach Kevin Muscat also being listed. This time of the season also saw captaincy of the club change with Adrian Leijer departing the Victory for Chinese Super League club Chongqing Lifan on an undisclosed transfer for a major salary increase, with teammate Mark Milligan becoming interim captain for the remainder of the season. After a six-year wait, Victory would finish first on the ladder and would later defeat Sydney FC 3–0 in the grand final. Team of the decade substitute goalkeeper Nathan Coe, who would miss the grand final due to injury announced his retirement shortly after the achievement.