National Soccer League
Season1978
Dates5 March — 17 September 1978
Matches played182
Goals scored532 (2.92 per match)
Top goalscorerKen Boden
Clive Eaton
(14 goals each)
Best goalkeeperAllan Maher
(10 clean sheets)
Biggest home winEastern Suburbs 5–0 Sydney Olympic
(28 March 1978)
South Melbourne 5–0 Adelaide City
(13 August 1978)
Highest scoringMarconi Fairfield 6–2 Western Suburbs
(16 April 1978)
Longest winning run8 matches
West Adelaide
Longest unbeaten run13 matches
Marconi Fairfield
Longest winless run15 matches
Canberra City
Longest losing run7 matches
Brisbane City
Highest attendance18,000
South Melbourne 1–1 Fitzroy United
(2 April 1978)
Lowest attendance330
Brisbane Lions 1–1 South Melbourne
(26 March 1978)
Total attendance848,226
Average attendance4,686
← 1977
1979 →

The 1978 National Soccer League was the second season of the National Soccer League, the former top-tier Australian soccer league, since its establishment in 1977. The premiers were West Adelaide.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

1978 National Soccer League is located in Australia
Melbourne
Sydney
Adelaide City
Brisbane City
Brisbane Lions
Canberra City
Newcastle KB United
West Adelaide
Sydney teams: Eastern Suburbs Marconi Fairfield St George-Budapest Sydney Olympic Western Suburbs
Melbourne teams: Fitzroy United Footscray JUST South Melbourne
Locations of the 1978 National Soccer League teams

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
15,000
Eastern Suburbs Sydney Sydney Sports Ground 35,000
Fitzroy United Melbourne Olympic Park Stadium 18,500
Footscray Melbourne Middle Park 18,000
Marconi-Fairfield Sydney Marconi Stadium 9,000
South Melbourne Melbourne Middle Park 18,000
St George Sydney Sydney Sports Ground
Marconi Stadium 		35,000
9,000
Sydney Olympic Sydney Sydney Sports Ground
Wentworth Park 		35,000
10,000
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 Qualification
1 West Adelaide (C) 26 16 4 6 42 27 +15 36 Qualification to Finals series[a]
2 Eastern Suburbs 26 15 5 6 49 27 +22 35
3 South Melbourne 26 12 8 6 45 30 +15 32
4 Marconi Fairfield 26 12 6 8 46 31 +15 30
5 Fitzroy United 26 9 8 9 39 39 0 26
6 Brisbane Lions 26 8 10 8 37 39 −2 26
7 St George-Budapest 26 11 3 12 41 40 +1 25
8 Sydney Olympic 26 9 7 10 35 43 −8 25
9 Western Suburbs 26 9 6 11 41 45 −4 24
10 Adelaide City 26 9 6 11 38 44 −6 24
11 Newcastle KB United 26 6 10 10 33 40 −7 22
12 Footscray JUST 26 7 8 11 29 37 −8 22
13 Canberra City 26 5 10 11 28 41 −13 20
14 Brisbane City 26 7 3 16 29 49 −20 17
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ The Finals series was not considered the championship for the 1978 National Soccer League.

Results

Home \ Away ADC BRC BRL CAN ESU FIT FOO MAR NUN SME STG SYO WSA WSU
Adelaide City — 3–2 1–4 3–1 0–1 3–2 0–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–2 4–2
Brisbane City 2–1 — 0–1 1–0 0–3 1–1 3–0 0–3 1–2 3–4 1–4 3–2 0–1 0–0
Brisbane Lions 3–1 1–2 — 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–3 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–2 1–0 3–1
Canberra City 2–2 4–0 2–1 — 1–2 2–2 1–1 0–0 2–2 0–3 1–1 1–3 1–1 2–2
Eastern Suburbs 1–2 2–0 1–3 3–0 — 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 4–2 5–0 2–1 3–0
Fitzroy United 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 — 0–1 4–1 1–0 4–1 1–4 3–1 1–1 0–3
Footscray 0–1 2–2 4–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 — 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–0 2–3 2–2 2–3
Marconi Fairfield 1–1 3–2 3–1 2–0 1–2 4–0 1–2 — 4–2 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–0 6–2
Newcastle KB United 2–2 2–3 2–2 3–0 1–4 2–2 1–1 1–0 — 1–1 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–1
South Melbourne 5–0 0–1 2–1 0–0 3–0 1–1 4–0 0–3 3–0 — 5–2 1–1 0–2 2–1
St George-Budapest 2–1 2–0 2–2 2–1 1–3 2–0 3–1 2–1 2–3 0–2 — 1–2 0–1 1–0
Sydney Olympic 2–1 2–1 2–4 1–2 0–2 1–3 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 — 2–4 0–1
West Adelaide 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–0 3–2 3–2 1–2 2–1 1–0 3–1 1–4 0–1 — 2–0
Western Suburbs 2–3 3–1 2–2 1–0 3–2 2–3 0–0 3–1 1–1 3–0 2–1 2–2 1–2 —
Source: OzFootball.net
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

The top four teams in the league entered a playoff series, however the winner of the grand final match was not considered the overall winner of the NSL season, unlike other NSL grand finals.[1]

Individual awards

Notes

  1. ^ Curran, Brian (20 September 1978). "'Think Australian' advice to Soccer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

References

Categories