1977 National Soccer League

The 1977 National Soccer League season was the first season of the National Soccer League of Australia. The league was not only the first national soccer league in Australia but the first of any of the forms of football in Australia. Clubs predominantly joined from the top leagues in each state, with some clubs forming in 1977 to join the league. The inaugural champions were Eastern Suburbs.

National Soccer League
Season1977
Dates2 April — 26 September
Matches played182
Goals scored498 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorerDixie Deans (16)[1]
Biggest home winAdelaide City 10–3 Mooroolbark
(5 September 1977)
Biggest away winFitzroy United 1–8 Marconi Fairfield
(20 June 1977)
Highest scoringAdelaide City 10–3 Mooroolbark
(5 September 1977)
1978 →

Background
Further information: National Soccer League § History

Attempts had been made to start a national league several times during the 1960s and 1970s, however it wasn't until 1975 that the talk became serious. In April 1975, nine clubs from New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia agreed to form a national league in either 1976 or 1977. Frank Lowy, president of Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs and Alex Pongrass, St George-Budapest president led a concerted effort to bring in teams from Victoria over objections from the state association. Eventually, four Victorian clubs joined with the addition of a team from the Australian Capital Territory.[2][3]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Adelaide City Adelaide Olympic Sports Field 5,000
Brisbane City Brisbane Perry Park 5,000
Brisbane Lions Brisbane Perry Park 5,000
Canberra City Canberra
Queanbeyan		 Manuka Oval
Seiffert Oval		 16,000
?
Fitzroy Melbourne Olympic Park Stadium 18,500
Footscray Melbourne Middle Park 18,000
Marconi Sydney Marconi Stadium 9,000
Mooroolbark Melbourne Middle Park
Esther Park
Wembley Park		 18,000
?
?
South Melbourne Melbourne Middle Park 18,000
St George Sydney Sydney Sports Ground
Marconi Stadium		 35,000
9,000
Eastern Suburbs Sydney Sydney Sports Ground 35,000
Sydney Olympic Sydney Sydney Sports Ground
Wentworth Park		 35,000
?
Western Suburbs Sydney Sydney Sports Ground
Englefield Stadium		 35,000
?
West Adelaide Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium 16,500

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
1 Eastern Suburbs (C) 26 13 11 2 52 28 +24 37
2 Marconi 26 15 7 4 42 21 +21 37
3 Fitzroy 26 12 8 6 41 34 +7 32
4 Adelaide City 26 12 7 7 50 31 +19 31
5 Western Suburbs 26 11 7 8 38 29 +9 29
6 St George 26 7 14 5 39 35 +4 28
7 West Adelaide 26 8 10 8 38 32 +6 26
8 Footscray 26 9 6 11 36 39 −3 24
9 Brisbane Lions 26 9 5 12 27 41 −14 23
10 Brisbane City 26 8 6 12 30 35 −5 22
11 South Melbourne 26 7 8 11 27 35 −8 22
12 Sydney Olympic 26 7 7 12 25 38 −13 21
13 Canberra City 26 5 7 14 22 39 −17 17
14 Mooroolbark (R) 26 5 5 16 31 61 −30 15 Relegation to the 1978 Victoria Metropolitan League Three
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Results
Home \ Away ADE BRC BRL CAN FIT FOO MAR MOO SOU STG SYC SYO WSA WST
Adelaide City — 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 4–1 1–0 10–3 2–0 1–1 1–2 3–0 2–2 1–2
Brisbane City 1–0 — 3–1 0–1 1–1 1–3 0–1 3–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 3–0 1–0 0–1
Brisbane Lions 1–1 2–1 — 0–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–4 0–2 1–4 4–0
Canberra City 1–1 2–0 1–2 — 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–4 0–2 2–2 0–0 4–0 1–3 0–3
Fitzroy 1–0 3–2 4–1 2–0 — 2–0 1–8 2–0 5–2 1–2 1–3 2–0 0–0 2–2
Footscray 3–4 2–1 4–2 3–0 1–3 — 3–4 1–0 2–2 0–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 2–1
Marconi 0–4 1–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 — 1–0 3–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 3–0
Mooroolbark 1–3 1–1 0–1 3–2 1–2 2–2 2–3 — 2–4 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–2
South Melbourne 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–0 — 2–3 0–0 1–1 1–2 2–0
St George 0–2 3–2 0–0 2–0 1–2 2–2 1–3 5–1 1–1 — 1–1 3–3 1–0 1–1
Eastern Suburbs 6–1 3–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 4–3 2–4 3–0 0–1 2–2 — 2–0 1–1 2–1
Sydney Olympic 3–1 4–0 1–0 2–2 3–1 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–2 2–0 0–0 — 0–4 0–3
West Adelaide 1–3 3–3 5–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–2 0–2 2–0 1–3 0–4 — 0–3
Western Suburbs 0–0 0–0 3–0 3–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 5–0 2–0 3–2 3–4 0–2 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: OzFootball.net
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Scoring

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Murray BarnesEastern SuburbsAdelaide City6–1 (H)7 May 1977[4]
Terry SmithEastern SuburbsBrisbane Lions4–0 (A)5 June 1977[5]
Ernie CampbellMarconiFitzroy8–1 (A)20 June 1977[6]
Tom MurrayBrisbane LionsWestern Suburbs4–0 (H)25 July 1977[7]
Peter OllertonSouth MelbourneMooroolbark4–2 (A)29 August 1977[8]
Dixie DeansAdelaide CityMooroolbark10–3 (H)5 September 1977[9]
Dixie DeansAdelaide CityFootscray4–3 (A)12 September 1977[10]

Awards
AwardNameClub
Player of the Year Jimmy Rooney Marconi
U-21 Player of the Year John Kosmina West Adelaide
Coach of the Year Rale Rasic Marconi

References

Footnotes
  1. "Striker made his point". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 October 1977. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "National Soccer!". The Sun-Herald. 6 April 1975. Retrieved 27 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Mossop, Brian (10 July 1976). "National Soccer of 14 clubs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Curran, Brian (8 May 1977). "Barnes hits form with three goals". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "'Supermac' spot on for new club". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 June 1977. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "City hit back for top spot". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 June 1977. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Footscray's star guests clinch it". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 July 1977. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Marconi and East head Soccer table". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 August 1977. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Thirteen-goal Soccer spree - Deans hits four". 5 September 1977. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Upset by 'basement' team". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 September 1977. Retrieved 21 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

General references
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