National Soccer League
Season1979
Dates9 March – 4 November 1979
ChampionsMarconi Fairfield
1st National Soccer League title
RelegatedSydney Olympic
Matches played182
Goals scored488 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorerMark Jankovics
(18 goals)
Biggest home winMarconi Fairfield 6–0 South Melbourne
(22 April 1979)
Biggest away winBrisbane Lions 0–6 Adelaide City
(17 June 1979)
Highest scoringMarconi Fairfield 4–4 Adelaide City
(1 April 1979)
Heidelberg United 6–2 Brisbane City
(19 October 1979)
Longest winning run5 matches
Sydney City
Longest unbeaten run10 matches
Heidelberg United
Marconi Fairfield
Longest winless run10 matches
Canberra City
Longest losing run5 matches
St George-Budapest
Sydney Olympic
Highest attendance18,376
Newcastle KB United 2–0 Sydney Olympic
(14 April 1979)
Lowest attendance500
Sydney City 1–1 Brisbane Lions
(22 August 1979)
Heidelberg United 6–2 Brisbane City
(19 October 1979)
Total attendance777,635
Average attendance4,273
← 1978
1980 →

The 1979 National Soccer League was the third season of the National Soccer League, the former top Australian semi-professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1977. Marconi Fairfield secured a first National Soccer League title.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Marconi Fairfield (C) 26 15 6 5 58 32 +26 40[a] Qualification to Finals series[b]
2 Heidelberg United 26 14 7 5 44 30 +14 36[a]
3 Sydney City 26 15 3 8 47 29 +18 34[a]
4 Brisbane City 26 14 5 7 38 30 +8 34[a]
5 Adelaide City 26 13 6 7 43 27 +16 33[a]
6 Newcastle KB United 26 11 9 6 43 30 +13 32[a]
7 West Adelaide 26 10 4 12 28 31 −3 25[a]
8 APIA Leichhardt 26 11 3 12 29 37 −8 25
9 Brisbane Lions 26 8 6 12 28 40 −12 22
10 Footscray JUST 26 8 3 15 29 43 −14 20[a]
11 St George-Budapest 26 7 6 13 27 43 −16 20
12 Canberra City 26 6 8 12 25 41 −16 20
13 Sydney Olympic (R) 26 7 5 14 23 30 −7 19 Relegated to the 1980 NSW State League
14 South Melbourne 26 6 3 17 26 45 −19 16[a]
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i A Bonus Point was awarded for victories of 4 goals or more.
  2. ^ The Finals series was not considered the championship for the 1979 National Soccer League.

Results

Home \ Away ADE API BRC BRL CAN FOO HEI MAR NKU SOU STG SYC SYO WES
Adelaide City — 0–1 2–4 2–0 2–1 1–2 2–0 2–4 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0
APIA Leichhardt 1–1 — 1–1 2–1 3–0 3–2 1–0 0–0 1–3 2–1 1–0 0–3 0–2 0–1
Brisbane City 2–1 2–0 — 0–0 0–1 2–1 3–1 3–4 1–1 1–0 4–0 0–1 2–1 2–0
Brisbane Lions 0–6 2–1 1–2 — 3–0 1–0 1–3 0–4 3–0 2–0 2–3 1–2 0–0 2–3
Canberra City 0–2 0–0 0–0 1–2 — 0–3 1–2 3–1 1–5 3–2 1–1 1–3 1–3 0–0
Footscray JUST 0–2 5–1 2–0 3–1 1–2 — 2–2 0–5 2–0 0–2 1–3 1–0 0–1 0–1
Heidelberg United 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 — 3–2 2–4 3–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 3–1
Marconi Fairfield 4–4 2–0 3–3 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–4 — 2–1 6–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 2–1
Newcastle KB United 0–0 1–0 4–1 2–2 0–2 3–0 3–3 2–1 — 3–0 4–2 0–1 2–0 0–0
South Melbourne 1–0 1–2 4–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–2 — 2–0 1–2 0–3 3–4
St George-Budapest 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–1 2–4 0–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 — 0–5 2–0 2–0
Sydney City 2–3 2–3 0–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 1–3 0–4 2–0 2–0 3–1 — 3–4 3–0
Sydney Olympic 1–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 0–3 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 — 2–0
West Adelaide 1–2 3–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 5–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–0 —
Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

The top four teams in the league entered a play-off series. The winner of the Finals series was not considered the overall winner of the 1979 National Soccer League.[1]

Round 1

7 October 1979 Brisbane City 2–0 Sydney City Brisbane
  • Campbell 48', 63'
 Report Stadium: Perry Park
Attendance: 3,200
Referee: Jim Reeves
7 October 1979 Marconi Fairfield 2–1 Heidelberg United Sydney
 Report
Stadium: Marconi Oval
Attendance: 6,523
Referee: Jim Allen

Round 2

14 October 1979 Brisbane City 2–1 Marconi Fairfield Brisbane
 Report
Stadium: Perry Park
Attendance: 5,100
Referee: Chris Bambridge
14 October 1979 Heidelberg United 1–3 Sydney City Melbourne
 Report
Stadium: Olympic Park No. 2
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Don Campbell

Round 3

19 October 1979 Heidelberg United 6–2 Brisbane City Melbourne
 Report
Stadium: Olympic Park
Attendance: 500
Referee: Tony Boskovic
21 October 1979 Marconi Fairfield 0–1 Sydney City Sydney
Report
Stadium: Marconi Oval
Attendance: 4,782
Referee: Stewart Mellings

Grand Final

28 October 1979 First Leg Sydney City 1–0 Brisbane City Sydney
  • M. Silva 78'
 Report Stadium: Wentworth Park
Attendance: 2,523
Referee: Ken Allen
4 November 1979 Second Leg Brisbane City 1–1
(1–2 agg.)		 Sydney City Brisbane
  • Kelso 78'
 Report
  • Trenter 84'
 Stadium: Perry Park
Attendance: 4,200
Referee: Don Campbell

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals[2]
1 Australia Mark Jankovics Marconi Fairfield 18
2 Australia Eddie Krncevic Marconi Fairfield 13
3 Australia Ken Boden Newcastle KB United 12
4 Scotland Kevin Low Newcastle KB United 11
Australia Jamie Paton Heidelberg United
6 Australia Tony Brennan Brisbane Lions 10
Australia Gary Cole Heidelberg United
Australia Peter Sharne Marconi Fairfield
England Terry Smith Sydney City
10 Australia Terry Byrne Canberra City 9

Individual awards

References

  1. ^ Curran, Brian (20 September 1978). "'Think Australian' advice to Soccer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  2. ^ "1979 National Soccer League Top Goalscorers". ozfootball.net. 15 June 2021.
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