1981 National Soccer League

The National Soccer League 1981 season was the fifth season of the Australian National Soccer League (NSL). The league was known as the Philips Soccer League (PSL) in a sponsorship arrangement with Dutch electronics company Philips. The champions were Sydney Slickers, winning their third title.

National Soccer League
Season1981
Dates14 February–13 September
ChampionsSydney Slickers (3rd title)
PromotedPreston Rams
Sydney Olympians
Wollongong Wolves
RelegatedBlacktown Demons
Matches played240
Goals scored626 (2.61 per match)
Best PlayerBobby Russell
Top goalscorerGary Cole (16)
← 1980
1982 →
Any extra information here.

Changes from 1980

The league increased from 14 to 16 teams prior to the 1981 season. Despite finishing second last—ordinarily a relegation position—in 1980, West Adelaide (known as Adelaide Hawks in 1981) were retained for 1981. Wooden-spooner St George were the only team to be relegated, with three new teams being introduced - Preston Makedonia (nicknamed Rams in 1981) Sydney Olympic (Sydney Olympians in 1981) and Wollongong City (Wollongong Wolves).[1]

Prior to the season commencing, in what was described as "Australianisation" of the national league, nicknames were imposed on the clubs, some of which were not popular with the teams themselves. Marconi President, Tony Labbozzetta expressed his dislike of the enforced nickname Leopards, suggesting "Call us Datsun", referring to a naming rights deal the club had made with the Japanese carmaker.[2][3] Along with the new nicknames, new macho logos were introduced. John Clark, a marketing executive at the Australian Soccer Federation, claimed that "we are not trying to take ethnicism out of soccer" and that they were trying to appeal to boys "not following in their fathers' footsteps, boys now into space invaders, Buck Rogers in the 25th century, who aren't following soccer."[4][5]

The league consisted of a double round-robin format, played between February and September. The league was required to finish by the end of September due to Australia's hosting of the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship in October.[6] Unlike the 1980 season, a post-season finals series was not held and the league championship was awarded to the team at the top of the table. The final series was reintroduced the following year.[7][8]

Teams
Location of teams in 1981 National Soccer League
Team
Other names		CityStadium
Adelaide Giants
Adelaide City		AdelaideOlympic Sports Field
Hindmarsh Stadium
Adelaide Hawks
West Adelaide		AdelaideHindmarsh Stadium
Blacktown Demons
Blacktown City		SydneyGabbie Stadium
Brisbane Gladiators
Brisbane City		BrisbaneSpencer Park
Ballymore
Brisbane LionsBrisbaneRichlands Stadium
Canberra Arrows
Canberra City		CanberraBruce Stadium
Footscray Eagles
Footscray JUST		MelbourneSchintler Reserve
Heidelberg WarriorsMelbourneOlympic Park
Leichhardt Strikers
APIA Leichhardt		SydneyLambert Park
Marconi-Datsun Leopards
Marconi Stallions		SydneyMarconi Stadium
Newcastle KB RaidersNewcastleInternational Sports Centre
Preston Rams
Preston Makedonia		MelbourneConnor Reserve
South Melbourne Gunners
South Melbourne Hellas		MelbourneMiddle Park
Sydney OlympiansSydney OlympicSydneyPratten Park
Sydney Slickers
Sydney City		SydneySydney Athletic Field
St George Stadium
Wollongong Wolves
Wollongong City		WollongongWollongong Showground

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sydney Slickers (C) 30 19 5 6 59 30 +29 43 1981 National Soccer League Champions
2 South Melbourne Gunners 30 13 13 4 41 27 +14 39
3 Brisbane Gladiators 30 12 11 7 37 25 +12 35
4 Leichhardt Strikers 30 12 11 7 39 33 +6 35
5 Canberra Arrows 30 13 7 10 41 32 +9 33
6 Brisbane Lions 30 11 11 8 41 33 +8 33
7 Adelaide Giants 30 13 6 11 46 42 +4 32
8 Heidelberg Warriors 30 12 7 11 48 40 +8 31
9 Sydney Olympians 30 11 9 10 46 46 0 31
10 Newcastle KB Raiders 30 11 8 11 41 41 0 30
11 Wollongong Wolves 30 8 12 10 35 39 −4 28
12 Preston Rams 30 9 7 14 39 41 −2 25
13 Footscray Eagles 30 9 7 14 32 48 −16 25
14 Marconi-Datsun Leopards 30 9 7 14 23 45 −22 25
15 Blacktown Demons (R) 30 6 9 15 32 47 −15 21 Relegated to the 1982 NSW State League
16 Adelaide Hawks 30 5 4 21 26 57 −31 14
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Results
Home \ Away AG AH BD BG BL CA FE HW LS ML NR PR SM SO SS WW
Adelaide Giants — 2–1 0–0 1–0 3–2 1–0 1–3 3–1 0–0 0–1 4–1 1–0 2–0 3–1 0–1 1–2
Adelaide Hawks 0–3 — 2–0 1–1 1–3 1–1 3–2 0–5 1–2 2–0 0–1 4–0 0–2 0–1 1–2 0–0
Blacktown Demons 1–5 4–0 — 1–2 2–2 0–2 1–1 3–1 0–1 0–2 1–2 0–0 2–2 1–4 1–0 0–1
Brisbane Gladiators 3–1 2–1 2–1 — 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–2 0–0 4–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 3–0 2–0 1–0
Brisbane Lions 2–1 3–1 0–1 1–0 — 1–0 4–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 4–3 1–1
Canberra Arrows 0–0 1–2 2–2 3–0 2–3 — 5–0 1–5 0–1 0–0 4–1 1–0 2–2 2–1 2–0 2–0
Footscray Eagles 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–1 — 2–2 2–1 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–1
Heidelberg Warriors 1–2 2–0 3–1 2–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 — 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–3 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–3
Leichhardt Strikers 3–0 1–0 3–2 2–2 0–0 4–0 2–0 2–2 — 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–1 1–0
Marconi-Datsun Leopards 1–4 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–2 1–3 3–1 0–2 — 1–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–1
Newcastle KB Raiders 2–2 4–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–2 4–1 2–0 — 4–0 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–1
Preston Rams 3–0 2–0 2–3 1–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 0–2 3–1 0–0 3–1 — 1–1 3–1 0–2 6–0
South Melbourne Gunners 0–0 5–0 2–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 4–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 — 1–1 1–3 1–0
Sydney Olympians 3–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 0–2 0–0 2–1 1–3 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 — 2–2 2–1
Sydney Slickers (C) 5–3 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 1–0 3–0 5–0 4–1 2–0 1–1 5–4 — 1–0
Wollongong Wolves 4–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 2–1 3–4 1–1 4–0 0–0 2–2 1–1 3–1 0–5 —
Source: OzFootball
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Individual awards

Footnotes
  1. Curran, Brian (1 November 1980). "Saints out of bigger PSL". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 70. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Schwab, Laurie (16 February 1981). "Hellas by any other name–No". The Age. p. 31. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Curran, Brian (29 January 1981). "Marconi seal $250,000 contract with car firm". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 32. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Larkin, John (6 August 1981). "Aussie image". The Age. p. 2. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Schwab, Laurie (28 January 1981). "Giants, Wolves, Gunners and a Packer look". Soccer Action. p. 3. Retrieved 19 May 2020 – via Melbourne Soccer.
  6. "Bigger PSL will feel the squeeze". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 November 1980. p. 83. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Curran, Brian (3 November 1980). "Top-four scrapped in PSL shake-up". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Grand final in Philips League". The Age. 21 December 1981. p. 19. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Russell is Soccer's top player". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 October 1981. p. 41. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Schwab, Laurie (14 September 1981). "Cole again wins soccer goal title". The Age. p. 30. Retrieved 27 August 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

References

See also
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