2008 NSW Premier League season

The 2008 TeleChoice Premier League season was the eighth season of the revamped NSW Premier League. This season also marked the promotion of two new teams, in the West Sydney Berries and the Macarthur Rams from the Super League (one division lower). This increased the teams competing in the competition from 10 to 12 teams and the number of rounds from 18 to 22 in the regular season.

NSW Premier League
ChampionsWollongong FC
PremiersSutherland Sharks FC
Top goalscorerRobert Younis (21)
← 2007
2009 →

The 2008 season officially began on 22 February and concluded with the Grand Final between Wollongong FC and the Sutherland Sharks on 7 September.

Before the start of the season, all the 2008 teams competed in the Johnny Warren Cup, the official pre-season tournament. On 16 February, Sydney Olympic defeated the Sutherland Sharks 2 goals to 1 at Seymour Shaw Park to win the Johnny Warren Cup.[1]

Throughout the season many Premier League, Super League, Division One and Division Two teams competed in an FA Cup-style knockout competition in which the Bankstown City Lions and Sydney Olympic contested the Grand Final with Bankstown prevailing 3-1 winners.[2]

Changes from Previous Season

The number of teams competing increased from 10 to 12, with the inclusion of the West Sydney Berries and the Macarthur Rams. The regular season remained a home-away round-robin format, thus increasing the number of rounds from 18 to 22. The final series was therefore also adapted. The number of teams competing in the finals series increased from 4 to 5. The finals series used a 5-team McIntyre System to determine the champions.

Clubs

Teams promoted from Super League:
(After the end of the 2007 season.)

Teams relegated to Super League:
(After the end of the 2007 season.)

  • Nil
Club Ground Capacity
A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers Lambert Park 7,000
Bankstown City Lions FC Jensen Oval 8,000
Blacktown City Demons FC Fairfax Community Stadium 7,500
Macarthur Rams Campbelltown Stadium 20,000
Manly United FC Cromer Park 5,000
Marconi Stallions FC Marconi Stadium 11,500
Penrith Nepean United FC CUA Stadium 21,000
Sutherland Sharks FC Seymour Shaw Park 5,000
Sydney Olympic FC Belmore Sports Ground 25,000
Sydney United FC Sydney United Sports Centre 12,000
West Sydney Berries FC Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre 18,000
Wollongong FC John Crehan Park 7,500

Regular season

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sutherland Sharks 22 12 8 2 48 19 +29 44 Qualified for the Championship Finals Series
2 Wollongong FC (C) 22 13 5 4 39 19 +20 44
3 Sydney Olympic 22 12 5 5 38 23 +15 41
4 Manly United 22 12 3 7 42 21 +21 39
5 Sydney United 22 9 7 6 29 21 +8 34
6 APIA Leichhardt Tigers 22 9 7 6 41 35 +6 34
7 Bankstown City 22 7 6 9 27 27 0 27
8 West Sydney Berries 22 7 3 12 30 41 −11 24
9 Marconi Stallions 22 3 10 9 29 41 −12 19
10 Macarthur Rams (R) 22 4 7 11 16 41 −25 19 Relegation to Super League
11 Penrith Nepean United 22 3 8 11 25 50 −25 17
12 Blacktown City 22 3 7 12 14 40 −26 16
Source: NSW Premier League Ladder @ SportingPulse
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Results
Home \ Away API BAN BLC MAR MAN MST PNU SUT SYO SYU WSB WOL
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 1–1 3–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 7–0 2–2 3–4 0–3 3–2 1–1
Bankstown City 3–0 4–0 2–1 0–3 0–2 1–1 0–0 3–0 0–0 1–2 1–2
Blacktown City 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–4 2–1 0–0 3–1 0–2 1–3 0–2 1–1
Macarthur Rams 0–3 0–4 1–0 0–1 0–1 3–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 0–1
Manly United 3–3 0–1 3–0 2–2 3–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–2 2–1 0–1
Marconi Stallions 2–2 1–3 0–1 1–1 3–3 0–0 3–0 1–3 2–2 2–2 1–1
Penrith Nepean United 3–4 3–0 2–2 1–3 0–4 3–3 0–2 2–4 0–4 4–1 0–1
Sutherland Sharks 4–1 3–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 7–0 3–0 4–2 6–0 1–1
Sydney Olympic 3–0 1–1 1–0 5–0 1–2 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 4–0
Sydney United 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 3–0 2–2 2–2 0–1 1–0 0–2
West Sydney Berries 1–1 2–0 4–1 1–2 0–4 5–2 1–1 0–4 3–1 0–1 0–2
Wollongong FC 2–0 3–0 3–0 7–0 1–4 3–2 0–0 1–2 1–2 3–0 2–0
Updated to match(es) played on 3 August 2008. Source: socceraust.co.uk
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals Series
 
  Qualifying Finals Semi Finals Preliminary Final Grand Final
                                     
1 Sutherland Sharks 1  
    2 Wollongong FC 2         2 Wollongong FC 4
2 Wollongong FC 3     1 Sutherland Sharks 2   1 Sutherland Sharks 2
3 Sydney Olympic FC 2       3 Sydney Olympic FC 1  
3 Sydney Olympic 2
4 Manly United FC 2   4 Manly United FC 1  
5 Sydney United FC 1

Qualifying Finals
15 August 2008 Qualifying Final Wollongong FC 3–2 Sydney Olympic FC WIN Stadium, Wollongong
19:30 UTC+10 Ilija Prenzoski  12', 90'
Matt Bailey  84'		 Report Siraj Al Tall  73'
Matthew Mayora  75'		 Attendance: 1,200 approx.
Referee: Strebre Delovski
15 August 2008 Elimination Final Manly United FC 2–1 Sydney United FC Cromer Park, Sydney
19:45 UTC+10 Craig Midgley  56', 85' Report Luka Glavaš  61' Attendance: 1,000 approx.
Referee: Peter Vrtkovski

Semi Finals
24 August 2008 Minor Semi-final Sydney Olympic FC 2–1 Manly United FC Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney
15:00 UTC+10 Paul Wither  32', 61' Report Michael Lloyd-Green  47' Attendance: 900 approx.
Referee: Atila Stibinger
24 August 2008 Major Semi-final Sutherland Sharks FC 1–2 Wollongong FC Seymour Shaw Park, Sydney
15:00 UTC+10 Jim Bakis  10' Report Matt Bailey  66'
Ilija Prenzoski  106'		 Attendance: 983
Referee: Peter Vrtkovski

Preliminary Final
20 August 2008 Sutherland Sharks FC 2–1 Sydney Olympic FC Seymour Shaw Park, Sydney
19:30 UTC+10 David Reid  13'
Nick Stavroulakis  25'		 Report Anthony Hartshorn  53' Attendance: 1,020
Referee: James Lewis

Grand Final
7 September 2008 Wollongong FC 4–2 Sutherland Sharks FC CUA Stadium, Sydney
15:00 UTC+10 Matt Bailey  28'
Tynan Diaz  38'
Chris Price  60' (pen.)
Samet Kaynak  90 + 3'		 Report Nick Stavroulakis  8'
Neil Jablonski  90+2'		 Attendance: 4,586 approx.
Referee: Jonathan Streater

Gold Medal Dinner

At the end of the season, Football NSW hosted the Gold Medal Dinner, where players, coaches and referees were awarded for their work throughout the Premier League season.[3]

AwardGradeNameClub
Player of the YearFirst GradeBrendan GanSutherland Sharks
Andreas Golden BootFirst GradeRobert YounisA.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers
Player of the Year20'sDaniel RezoSydney United
Golden Boot20'sBrodie MooyMarconi Stallions
Goalkeeper of the YearFirst GradeMatthew NashA.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers
Coach of the YearFirst GradeBrian BrownSutherland Sharks
Referee of the Year-Jonathan Streater-

All-Stars Team

Cummins
Zunino
Arrarte
Boyle
Boardman
All-Stars Team

Based on a points system in which all match reporters took part in during the course of the 22 rounds, eleven players were selected in various positions highlighting their performances for season 2008.

Goalkeeper: Matthew Nash (A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers)

Defence: Emmanuel Zunino (Sydney Olympic), Pedj Bojić (Sutherland Sharks), Danial Cummins (Wollongong FC), Shane Webb (Bankstown City Lions)

Midfield: Nahuel Arrarte (Marconi Stallions), Robbie Cattanach (Manly United), Brendan Gan (Sutherland Sharks), Christopher Boyle (Sydney United)

Attack: Robert Younis (A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers), Brad Boardman (Sutherland Sharks)

Coach: Brian "Bomber" Brown

See also

References
  1. "10-man Olympic clinch Johnny Warren Cup".
  2. "Bankstown City Lions clinch 2008 Tiger Turf Cup".
  3. "2008 Gold Medal Dinner a huge success as Brendan Gan scoops major award". Football NSW. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
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