This is a list of National Soccer League (NSL) champions. The NSL was the elite football (soccer) competition in Australia from 1977 until 2004,[1] when the competition was scrapped and replaced in 2005 by the fully professional A-League .[2]
National Soccer League Champions [ edit ] From 1977 until 1983, the winner was the top placed team at the end of the season. From 1984 until 1986, the competition was split into two conferences, with playoffs to decide two grand finalists who met over two legs. In 1987 the system reverted to the pre 1984 system. From 1988 until the demise of the league in 2004, various playoff systems were used to decide the champion.
Season Grand Final Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location GF Attendance Joe Marston Medal 1977 — Sydney City (1) By Table Marconi Stallions — — — 1978 — West Adelaide (1) By Table Sydney City — — — 1979 — Marconi Stallions (1) By Table Heidelberg United — — — 1980 — Sydney City (2) By Table Heidelberg United — — — 1981 — Sydney City (3) By Table South Melbourne — — — 1982 — Sydney City (4) By Table St George — — — 1983 — St George (1) By Table Sydney City — — — 1984 24 October 1984 South Melbourne (1) 2–1 Sydney Olympic Olympic Park , Melbourne (1) 10,000 — 28 October 1984 1–2 St. George Stadium , Sydney (1) 11,221 1985 4 September 1985 Brunswick Juventus (1) 0–1 Sydney City St. George Stadium , Sydney (2) 2,491 — 8 September 1985 1–0 Olympic Park , Melbourne (2) 7,560 1986 12 October 1986 Adelaide City (1) 0–1 Sydney Olympic Hindmarsh Stadium , Adelaide (1) 12,232 — 19 October 1986 3–1 Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (1) 14,032 1987 — APIA Leichhardt (1) By Table Preston Lions — — — 1988 4 September 1988 Marconi Stallions (2) 2–2 (5–4 Penalties) Sydney United Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (2) 17,064 — 1989 13 August 1989 Marconi Stallions (3) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Sydney Olympic Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (3) 23,387 — 1989–90 20 May 1990 Sydney Olympic (1) 2–0 Marconi Stallions Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (4) 26,353 Abbas Saad (Sydney Olympic ) 1990–91 5 May 1991 South Melbourne (2) 1–1 (5–4 Penalties) Melbourne Knights Olympic Park , Melbourne (3) 21,338 Josip Biskic (Melbourne Knights ) 1991–92 3 May 1992 Adelaide City (2) 0–0 (4–2 Penalties) Melbourne Knights Olympic Park , Melbourne (4) 15,463 Alex Tobin (Adelaide City ) 1992–93 16 May 1993 Marconi Stallions (4) 1–0 Adelaide City Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (5) 13,376 Milan Ivanovic (Adelaide City ) 1993–94 1 May 1994 Adelaide City (3) 1–0 Melbourne Knights Olympic Park , Melbourne (5) 13,790 Alex Tobin (Adelaide City ) 1994–95 7 May 1995 Melbourne Knights (1) 2–0 Adelaide City Hindmarsh Stadium , Adelaide (2) 15,573 Steve Horvat (Melbourne Knights ) 1995–96 26 May 1996 Melbourne Knights (2) 2–1 Marconi Stallions Olympic Park , Melbourne (6) 14,258 Andrew Marth (Melbourne Knights ) 1996–97 25 May 1997 Brisbane Strikers (1) 2–0 Sydney United Lang Park , Brisbane (1) 40,446 Alan Hunter (Brisbane Strikers ) 1997–98 16 May 1998 South Melbourne (3) 2–1 Carlton S.C. Olympic Park , Melbourne (7) 16,000 Fausto De Amicis (South Melbourne ) 1998–99 30 May 1999 South Melbourne (4) 3–2 Sydney United Olympic Park , Melbourne (8) 15,194 Goran Lozanovski (South Melbourne ) 1999–2000 11 June 2000 Wollongong Wolves (1) 3–3 (7–6 Penalties) Perth Glory Subiaco Oval , Perth (1) 43,242 Scott Chipperfield (Wollongong Wolves ) 2000–01 3 June 2001 Wollongong Wolves (2) 2–1 South Melbourne Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (6) 13,402 Matthew Horsley (Wollongong Wolves ) 2001–02 12 May 2002 Sydney Olympic (2) 1–0 Perth Glory Subiaco Oval , Perth (2) 42,735 Ante Milicic (Sydney Olympic ) 2002–03 1 June 2003 Perth Glory (1) 2–0 Sydney Olympic Subiaco Oval , Perth (3) 38,111 Simon Colosimo (Perth Glory ) 2003–04 4 April 2004 Perth Glory (2) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Parramatta Power Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (7) 9,630 Ahmad Elrich (Parramatta Power )
The numbers in brackets indicate the number of championships won by a team, or the number of Grand Finals held in a city.
Playoff Series Champions [ edit ] From 1977–1983 and 1987, the top placed team at the end of the regular season was declared champion. However a compromise format was devised between the traditional first past the post system and the Australian system of finals. A Playoff series was conducted in these years except for the 1977, 1981 & 1983 seasons, however the winner of the Playoff Series didn't become champion of the NSL.
Season Grand Final Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location GF Attendance 1978 17 September 1978 Sydney City (1) 4–2 Marconi Stallions Sydney Sports Ground , Sydney (1) 9,136 1979 28 October 1979 4 November 1979 Sydney City (2) 1–0 1–1 Brisbane City Wentworth Park , Sydney (1) Perry Park , Brisbane (1) 2,532 4,200 1980 26 October 1980 Heidelberg United (1) 4–0 Sydney City Canberra Stadium , Canberra (1) 11,126 1982 3 October 1982 St George (1) 3–1 Sydney City Penrith Stadium , Sydney (1) 6,495 1987 1 November 1987 St George (2) 4–0 APIA Leichhardt Parramatta Stadium , Sydney (1) 6,961
The numbers in brackets indicate the number of playoff series won by a team, or the number of Grand Finals held in a city.
NSL Cup Winners [ edit ] The NSL also held a cup competition , which was held initially during the regular season, before gradually becoming a pre-season warm-up tournament. It was discontinued after the 1996–97 season.
Season Cup Final Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location Cup Final Attendance 1977 9 October 1977 Brisbane City (1) 1–1 (5–3 Penalties) Marconi Stallions Perry Park , Brisbane (1) 9,000 1978 8 October 1978 Brisbane City (2) 2–1 Adelaide City Perry Park , Brisbane (2) 6,964 1979 30 September 1979 Adelaide City (1) 3–1 St George Olympic Sports Field , Adelaide (1) 9,554 1980 5 October 1980 15 October 1980 Marconi Stallions (1) 0–0 (a.e.t.) 3–0 (Replay) Heidelberg United Olympic Park , Melbourne (1) Marconi Stadium , Sydney (1) 7,000 5,000 1981 20 September 1981 Brisbane Lions (1) 3–1 West Adelaide Canberra Stadium , Canberra (1) 6,132 1982 12 September 1982 APIA Leichhardt (1) 2–1 Heidelberg United Olympic Park , Melbourne (2) 7,000 1983 6 November 1983 13 November 1983 Sydney Olympic (1) 1–0 1–0 Heidelberg United St. George Stadium , Sydney (1) Olympic Park , Melbourne (3) 9,420 6,000 1984 13 September 1984 Newcastle Rosebud United (1) 1–0 Melbourne Knights Olympic Park , Melbourne (4) 5,000 1985 11 August 1985 Sydney Olympic (2) 2–1 Preston Lions St. George Stadium , Sydney (2) 11,187 1986 17 September 1986 Sydney City (1) 3–2 (a.e.t.) West Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium , Adelaide (1) 5,200 1987 14 October 1987 18 October 1987 Sydney United (1) 1–0 1–0 South Melbourne St. George Stadium , Sydney (3) Olympic Park , Melbourne (5) 5,845 6,000 1988 14 August 1988 APIA Leichhardt (2) 0–0 (5–3 Penalties) Brunswick Juventus Marconi Stadium , Sydney (2) 5,200 1989 20 August 1989 Adelaide City (2) 2–0 Sydney Olympic Hindmarsh Stadium , Adelaide (2) 10,000 1989–90 25 April 1990 South Melbourne (1) 4–1 Sydney Olympic Olympic Park , Melbourne (6) 7,000 1990–91 7 April 1991 Parramatta Eagles (1) 1–0 Preston Lions Marconi Stadium , Sydney (3) 8,749 1991–92 7 April 1992 Adelaide City (3) 2–1 Marconi Stallions Hindmarsh Stadium , Adelaide (3) 6,500 1992–93 18 April 1993 Heidelberg United (1) 2–0 Parramatta Eagles Marconi Stadium , Sydney (4) 4,596 1993–94 17 October 1993 Parramatta Eagles (2) 2–0 Sydney United Marconi Stadium , Sydney (5) 5,156 1994–95 16 October 1994 Melbourne Knights (1) 6–0 Heidelberg United Olympic Park , Melbourne (7) 6,000 1995–96 27 January 1996 South Melbourne (2) 3–1 Newcastle Breakers Lakeside Stadium , Melbourne (1) 5,000 1996–97 6 October 1996 Collingwood Warriors (1) 1–0 Marconi Stallions Lakeside Stadium , Melbourne (2) 2,327
The numbers in brackets indicate the number of cups won by a team, or the number of Cup Finals held in a city.
National Youth League [ edit ] The NSL also had a national youth competition , consisting of a variety teams, both from within and outside of the NSL's membership. The competition began in 1984, and was ended at the same time as the NSL, in 2004.
See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] External links [ edit ]
Seasons Grand Finals Clubs
Competition Statistics and awards Associated competitions