National Soccer League
Season1980
Dates9 March – 28 September 1980
ChampionsSydney City
2nd National Soccer League title
RelegatedSt George-Budapest
Matches played182
Goals scored513 (2.82 per match)
Top goalscorerGary Cole (21 goals)
Biggest home winMarconi Fairfield 9–0 Blacktown City
(16 March 1980)
Biggest away winAPIA Leichhardt 0–5 Heidelberg United
(17 June 1979)
Highest scoringMarconi Fairfield 9–0 Blacktown City
(16 March 1980)
Longest winning run5 matches
Heidelberg United
Marconi Fairfield
Sydney City
Longest unbeaten run10 matches
Marconi Fairfield
Longest winless run14 matches
Brisbane Lions
Longest losing run5 matches
Blacktown City
West Adelaide
Highest attendance15,000
Heielberg United 1–2 South Melbourne
(6 July 1980)
Lowest attendance800
Footscray JUST 0–1 Canberra City
(28 June 1980)
Total attendance670,068
Average attendance3,682
← 1979
1981 →

The 1980 National Soccer League season was the fourth season of the National Soccer League in Australia. The champions were Sydney City SC, their second title after winning the 1977 season (as Eastern Suburbs).

Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league.

Stadiums and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Adelaide City Adelaide (Norwood) Olympic Sports Field 8,000
APIA Leichhardt Sydney (Leichhardt) Lambert Park 7,000
Blacktown City Sydney (Seven Hills) Gabbie Stadium 5,000
Brisbane City Brisbane (Newmarket) Spencer Park 5,000
Brisbane Lions Brisbane (Inala) Lions Stadium 5,000
Canberra City Canberra Canberra Stadium 25,011
Footscray JUST Melbourne (Footscray) Schintler Reserve ?
Heidelberg United Melbourne (Brunswick) Olympic Village 12,000
Marconi Fairfield Sydney (Bossley Park) Marconi Stadium 9,000
Newcastle KB United Newcastle Newcastle International Sports Centre 30,000
South Melbourne Melbourne (Middle Park) Middle Park 18,000
St George-Budapest Sydney (Mortdale) St George Stadium 12,000
Sydney City Sydney (Bondi) ES Marks Athletics Field 8,000
West Adelaide Adelaide (City of Adelaide) Hindmarsh Stadium 16,500

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sydney City (C) 26 16 5 5 51 26 +25 37 Qualification to Finals series[a]
2 Heidelberg United 26 15 6 5 55 33 +22 36
3 South Melbourne 26 15 5 6 42 21 +21 35
4 Marconi Fairfield 26 14 6 6 53 32 +21 34
5 Adelaide City 26 13 4 9 40 27 +13 30
6 Newcastle KB United 26 12 6 8 32 31 +1 30
7 Brisbane Lions 26 7 11 8 28 32 −4 25
8 APIA Leichhardt 26 8 7 11 27 35 −8 23
9 Footscray JUST 26 7 9 10 32 41 −9 23
10 Canberra City 26 7 7 12 34 33 +1 21
11 Blacktown City 26 9 3 14 34 55 −21 21
12 Brisbane City 26 4 10 12 29 36 −7 18
13 West Adelaide 26 7 3 16 24 46 −22 17
14 St George-Budapest (R) 26 5 4 17 32 65 −33 14 Relegated to the 1981 NSW State League
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. ^ The Finals series was not considered the championship for the 1980 National Soccer League.

Results

Home \ Away ADE API BLA BRC BRL CAN FOO HEI MAR NKU SOU STG SYC WES
Adelaide City — 3–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 4–1 1–0 0–1 1–3 0–1 6–1 1–0 1–0
APIA Leichhardt 2–1 — 0–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 0–0 0–5 2–2 1–0 1–0 1–2 2–2 2–0
Blacktown City 1–2 0–0 — 3–1 4–1 1–0 3–0 1–2 5–1 1–1 0–3 4–2 1–3 1–0
Brisbane City 1–2 1–0 1–2 — 1–1 1–1 1–1 7–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–1
Brisbane Lions 1–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 — 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–4 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–1
Canberra City 1–0 2–2 0–1 1–1 2–4 — 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 4–1 2–3 4–3
Footscray JUST 1–3 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 0–1 — 0–2 0–4 2–1 3–0 5–3 1–2 0–3
Heidelberg United 0–0 5–1 5–1 3–1 1–0 2–0 3–2 — 3–3 4–0 1–2 4–2 0–0 4–2
Marconi Fairfield 2–1 1–2 9–0 4–0 2–1 3–2 2–2 1–1 — 4–1 1–4 0–0 2–0 2–1
Newcastle KB United 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–4 0–0 3–1 0–1 — 1–0 2–1 0–3 2–0
South Melbourne 2–1 1–0 5–0 3–3 2–2 1–0 3–0 0–0 3–1 0–0 — 2–1 1–2 2–0
St George-Budapest 1–4 1–0 4–1 1–1 2–3 1–5 1–1 3–5 0–3 0–3 0–3 — 0–2 3–1
Sydney City 2–1 4–2 3–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 2–2 1–1 2–1 2–0 2–1 4–1 — 7–0
West Adelaide 0–2 0–4 4–2 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 —
Source: OzFootball
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

The Finals series was not considered the championship for the 1980 National Soccer League.

Semi-finalsPreliminary finalGrand final
1Sydney City21Sydney City0
2Heidelberg United02Heidelberg United4
2Heidelberg United4
3South Melbourne1
3South Melbourne4
4Marconi Fairfield3

Semi-finals

11 October 1980 Qualifying final Sydney City 2–0 Heidelberg United Sydney
  • Trenter 35'
  • Boden 39' (pen.)
 Report Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground
Attendance: 3,457
Referee: Tony Boskovic
12 October 1980 Elimination final South Melbourne 4–3Marconi FairfieldMelbourne
 Report
Stadium: Middle Park Soccer Stadium
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Chris Bambridge

Preliminary final

18 October 1980 Heidelberg United 4–1South MelbourneMelbourne
 Report
Stadium: Olympic Park
Attendance: 7,700
Referee: Tim Davies

Grand final

Sydney City0–4Heidelberg United
Report
Bruce Stadium, Canberra
Attendance: 11,126
Referee: Don Campbell

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals[1]
1 Australia Gary Cole Heidelberg United 21
2 Australia Mark Jankovics Marconi Fairfield 16
3 Australia Jamie Paton Heidelberg United 15
4 Australia Ken Boden Sydney City 13
Australia Eddie Krncevic Marconi Fairfield
6 Australia John Nyskohus Adelaide City 12
7 Australia Dennis Duarte St George-Budapest 11
8 Australia Murray Barnes Sydney City 10
Australia Branko Buljevic South Melbourne
Australia Phil O'Connor APIA Leichhardt

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Australia Gary Cole Heidelberg United West Adelaide 4–2 (H)[2] 16 March 1980
Australia Eddie Krncevic Marconi Fairfield Blacktown City 9–0 (H)[2]
Australia Mark Jankovics
Australia Gary Cole Heidelberg United APIA Leichhardt 5–0 (A)[3] 6 April 1980
Australia Murray Barnes Sydney City West Adelaide 7–0 (H)[3]
Australia Gary Cole Heidelberg United Blacktown City 3–1 (H)[4] 13 April 1980
Australia John Nyskohus Adelaide City St George-Budapest 4–1 (A)[4]
Australia Barry Kelso Brisbane City Heidelberg United 7–0 (H)[5] 27 July 1980
Australia Dennis Duarte St George-Budapest West Adelaide 3–1 (H)[6] 28 September 1980

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 Australia Peter Laumets South Melbourne 12
2 Australia Allan Maher Marconi Fairfield 10
3 Australia Peter Marshall Adelaide City 8
Australia Greg Woodhouse APIA Leichhardt
5 Scotland Dennis Boland Footscray JUST 7
6 Australia Martyn Crook West Adelaide 6
New Zealand Tony Scalan Brisbane Lions
New Zealand Richard Wilson Canberra City
9 Australia Yakka Banovic Heidelberg United 5
New Zealand Phil Dando Newcastle KB United

Discipline

Player

Club

Awards

Annual awards

Award Winner Club
National Soccer League Player of the Year Scotland Jim Hermiston Brisbane Lions
National Soccer League Under 21 Player of the Year Australia John Spanos Sydney City
National Soccer League Coach of the Year Australia John Margeritis South Melbourne

References

General

Specific

  1. ^ Stock, Greg. "1980 National Soccer League Top Goalscorers". OzFootball.net.
  2. ^ a b "SOCCER Drubbing for PSL newcomer". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 244. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 March 1980. p. 16. Retrieved 29 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b "WESTFIELD SCOREBOARD". Soccer World. 10 April 1980. p. 4.
  4. ^ a b "PHILIPS SOCCER LEAGUE Cole takes Heidelberg to top of ladder". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 272. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 April 1980. p. 18. Retrieved 29 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "SOCCER". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 377. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 28 July 1980. p. 15. Retrieved 29 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Final effort for 3 top teams". The Canberra Times. Vol. 55, no. 16, 439. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 28 September 1980. p. 23. Retrieved 29 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
Categories