Season | 1984 |
---|---|
Dates | 4 March – 28 October 1984 |
Champions | South Melbourne 1st title |
Premiers | Sydney City (Northern) South Melbourne (Southern) |
Relegated | Melita Eagles |
Matches played | 350 |
Goals scored | 969 (2.77 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Duggie Brown (22) |
Biggest home win | West Adelaide 7–0 Sunshine George Cross (29 April 1984) Sydney City 8–1 Newcastle Rosebud United (9 May 1984) South Melbourne 7–0 Newcastle Rosebud United (22 July 1984) |
Biggest away win | Penrith City 1–7 Marconi Fairfield (22 April 1984) |
Highest scoring | Sydney City 8–1 Newcastle Rosebud United (9 May 1984) |
Highest attendance | 12,000 Brunswick Zebras 2–1 South Melbourne (8 April 1984) |
Lowest attendance | 250 Penrith City 2–0 Brisbane City (15 April 1984) |
Total attendance | 885,776 |
Average attendance | 2,788 |
← 1983 1985 → |
The 1984 National Soccer League season was the eighth season of the National Soccer League in Australia. This season saw a restructure of the league, introducing a split into two geographical divisions, and an expansion from 16 to 24 teams. A Northern Conference comprised 12 clubs from New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, and a Southern Conference consisted of 12 Victorian, South Australian, and Queensland clubs.
This season also saw the introduction of the two well-supported Croatian clubs, Melbourne Croatia and Sydney Croatia, both of which had had recent success in the state-leagues.
For the first time in the competition, a finals system was introduced, whereby the five highest finishing teams in each conference had a playoff to determine a conference winner. The two conference winners then played each other in a two-legged Grand Final to be declared champions. The Grand Final was won by South Melbourne over Sydney Olympic.
Teams
[edit]Twenty-four teams competed in the league (twelve in the Northern Conference and twelve in the Southern Conference) – the sixteen teams from the previous season and eight teams accepted from their respective state leagues.
Stadiums and locations
[edit]- Note: Table lists in alphabetical order by conference.
Managerial changes
[edit]The Australian Soccer Annual 1984 reported 11 managerial changes.[1]
Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adelaide City | ![]() |
1984 | Pre-season | ![]() |
1984 |
Brisbane City | ![]() |
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Canberra Arrows | ![]() |
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Heidelberg United | ![]() |
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Marconi Fairfield | ![]() |
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West Adelaide | ![]() |
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Wollongong City | ![]() |
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Green Gully | ![]() |
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Melbourne Croatia | ![]() |
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Sydney Croatia | ![]() |
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Penrith City | Inaugural | ![]() |
League tables
[edit]Northern Conference
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sydney City | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 67 | 21 | +46 | 42 | Qualification to Finals series |
2 | Sydney Olympic | 28 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 61 | 27 | +34 | 40 | |
3 | Marconi Fairfield | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 58 | 39 | +19 | 32 | |
4 | APIA Leichhardt | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 43 | 35 | +8 | 32 | |
5 | Blacktown City | 28 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 30 | |
6 | Sydney Croatia | 28 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 27 | |
7 | Penrith City | 28 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 29 | 41 | −12 | 26 | |
8 | Newcastle Rosebud United | 28 | 11 | 4 | 13 | 35 | 52 | −17 | 26 | |
9 | Canberra Arrows | 28 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 25 | |
10 | St George-Budapest | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 25 | |
11 | Melita Eagles (R) | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 23 | 38 | −15 | 24 | Relegation to the 1985 NSW State League |
12 | Wollongong City | 28 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 22 | 59 | −37 | 15 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated
Southern Conference
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | South Melbourne (C) | 28 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 48 | 20 | +28 | 40 | Qualification to Finals series |
2 | Heidelberg United | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 35 | |
3 | Melbourne Croatia | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 33 | |
4 | Brisbane Lions | 28 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 30 | |
5 | Brunswick Juventus | 28 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 30 | |
6 | Preston Makedonia | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 28 | |
7 | Adelaide City | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 33 | 34 | −1 | 25 | |
8 | Footscray JUST | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 25 | |
9 | Green Gully | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 24 | |
10 | West Adelaide | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 21 | |
11 | Brisbane City | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 39 | −18 | 21 | |
12 | Sunshine George Cross | 28 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 24 | 57 | −33 | 16 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Results
[edit]Five matches occurred where the fixture was played a third time in the 1984 season.
- St George-Budapest 0–1 Blacktown City
- Brisbane City 1–0 Brisbane Lions
- St George-Budapets 1–2 Sydney Olympic
- West Adelaide 0–3 Adelaide City
- Footscray JUST 1–3 Green Gully
Finals series
[edit]Northern Conference
Elimination and qualifying Finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Northern Final | |||||||||||||||
1 | Sydney City | 1 (4) | 1 | Sydney City | 1 | |||||||||||||
2 | Sydney Olympic | 1 (2) | 2 | Sydney Olympic | 2 | |||||||||||||
2 | Sydney Olympic | 2 | 2 | Sydney Olympic | 3 | |||||||||||||
3 | Marconi Fairfield | 1 | 4 | APIA Leichhardt Tigers | 0 | |||||||||||||
3 | Marconi Fairfield | 3 (3) | ||||||||||||||||
4 | APIA Leichhardt Tigers | 3 (4) | ||||||||||||||||
4 | APIA Leichhardt Tigers | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Blacktown City | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Southern Conference
Elimination and qualifying Finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Southern Final | |||||||||||||||
1 | South Melbourne | 3 | 1 | South Melbourne | 4 | |||||||||||||
3 | Melbourne Croatia | 2 | 2 | Heidelberg United | 2 | |||||||||||||
2 | Heidelberg United | 1 | 2 | Heidelberg United | 3 | |||||||||||||
3 | Melbourne Croatia | 2 | 3 | Melbourne Croatia | 1 | |||||||||||||
2 | Heidelberg United | 0 (3) | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Brisbane Lions | 0 (2) | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Brunswick Juventus | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Grand Final
[edit]South Melbourne | 2–1 | Sydney Olympic |
---|---|---|
Egan ![]() |
Koussas ![]() |
Sydney Olympic | 1–2 | South Melbourne |
---|---|---|
Theodorakopoulos ![]() |
Crino ![]() Yzendoorn ![]() |
- South Melbourne win 4–2 on aggregate
Individual awards
[edit]Award | Winner | Club |
---|---|---|
National Soccer League Player of the Year | ![]() |
Adelaide City |
National Soccer League Under 21 Player of the Year | ![]() |
Canberra City |
National Soccer League Coach of the Year | ![]() |
Sydney City |
References
[edit]- ^ Australian Soccer Annual 1984: Eleven coaching changes for '84. Soccer Action. p. 11.