1984 National Soccer League
The National Soccer League 1984 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.
NSL 1984 | |
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League | National Soccer League |
Sport | Association football |
Duration | 1984 |
Number of teams | 24 |
NSL season | |
Champions | South Melbourne |
Top scorer | Doug Brown (22) |
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.
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 | Qualified for the 1984 National Soccer League Northern Conference Finals |
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 Tigers | 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 KB United | 28 | 11 | 4 | 13 | 35 | 52 | −17 | 26 | |
9 | Canberra City | 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 | Relegated to the 1985 NSW Division One |
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.
Finals
Elimination and Qualifying Finals | Semi Finals | Preliminary Final | Northern Final | |||||||||||||||
1 | Sydney City | 1 (4) | ||||||||||||||||
2 | Sydney Olympic | 1 (2) | 1 | Sydney City | 1 | |||||||||||||
2 | Sydney Olympic | 2 | 2 | Sydney Olympic | 3 | 2 | Sydney Olympic | 2 | ||||||||||
3 | Marconi Fairfield | 1 | 4 | APIA Leichhardt Tigers | 0 | |||||||||||||
3 | Marconi Fairfield | 3 (3) | ||||||||||||||||
4 | APIA Leichhardt Tigers | 3 | 4 | APIA Leichhardt Tigers | 3 (4) | |||||||||||||
5 | Blacktown City | 1 |
Southern Conference
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | South Melbourne (C) | 28 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 48 | 20 | +28 | 40 | 1984 National Soccer League Champions |
2 | Heidelberg United | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 35 | Qualified for the 1984 National Soccer League Southern Conference Finals |
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) Champion.
Finals
Elimination and Qualifying Finals | Semi Finals | Preliminary Final | Southern Final | |||||||||||||||
1 | South Melbourne | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Melbourne Croatia | 2 | 1 | South Melbourne | 4 | |||||||||||||
2 | Heidelberg United | 1 | 2 | Heidelberg United | 3 | 2 | Heidelberg United | 2 | ||||||||||
3 | Melbourne Croatia | 2 | 3 | Melbourne Croatia | 1 | |||||||||||||
2 | Heidelberg United | 0 (3) | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Brisbane Lions | 4 | 4 | Brisbane Lions | 0 (2) | |||||||||||||
5 | Brunswick Juventus | 2 |
Grand final
South Melbourne | 2–1 | Sydney Olympic |
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Egan ![]() |
Koussas ![]() |
Sydney Olympic | 1–2 | South Melbourne |
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Theodorakopoulos ![]() |
Crino ![]() Yzendoorn ![]() |
- South Melbourne win 4–2 on aggregate
Individual awards
- Player of the Year: Sergio Melta (Adelaide City)
- U-21 Player of the Year: Tony Franken (Canberra City)
- Top Scorer(s): Doug Brown (South Melbourne – 22 goals)
- Coach of the Year: Eddie Thomson (Sydney City)