# 1981 Wollongong City FC season

The 1981 season was the first in the history of Wollongong City Football Club (now Wollongong Wolves). It was also the first season in the National Soccer League. In addition to the domestic league, they also participated in the NSL Cup. Wollongong City finished 11th in their National Soccer League season, and were eliminated in the NSL Cup second round by APIA Leichhardt.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Jim Preston |
| 2 | MF | AUS | Peter Willis |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Tony Dickinson |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Chris Dunleavy (Captain) |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Jeff Ainsworth |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Lee Adam |
| 7 | FW | AUS | Glen Fontana |
| 8 | MF | ENG | John Fleming |
| 9 | MF | NZL | Clive Campbell |
| 10 | MF | ENG | John Lathan |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Jock Morlando |
| 13 | FW | NZL | Brian Turner |
| 14 | DF | NZL | Willem de Graaf |
| 15 | DF | AUS | Ray Mohring |
| 16 | MF | AUS | Peter Tredinnick |
| 17 | | ENG | Jim McBreen |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Ken Morton |
| 19 | MF | AUS | Paul Kay |
| 22 | GK | AUS | Natch Vardareff |
| — | DF | AUS | Arno Bertogna |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| National Soccer League | 15 February 1981 | 13 September 1981 | Matchday 1 | 11th | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 026.67 |
| NSL Cup | 21 March 1981 | 6 May 1981 | First round | Second round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 028.13 |
Last updated: complete Source: Competitions

### National Soccer League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Sydney City (C) | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 59 | 30 | +29 | 43 | |
| 2 | South Melbourne | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 41 | 27 | +14 | 39 | |
| 3 | Brisbane City | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 35 | |
| 4 | APIA Leichhardt | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 35 | |
| 5 | Canberra City | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 33 | |
| 6 | Brisbane Lions | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 41 | 33 | +8 | 33 | |
| 7 | Adelaide City | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 32 | |
| 8 | Heidelberg United | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 31 | |
| 9 | Sydney Olympic | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 31 | |
| 10 | Newcastle KB United | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 30 | |
| 11 | Wollongong City | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 28 | |
| 12 | Preston Makedonia | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 25 | |
| 13 | Footscray JUST | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 25 | |
| 14 | Marconi Fairfield | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 45 | −22 | 25 | |
| 15 | Blacktown City (R) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 47 | −15 | 21 | Relegated to the 1982 NSW State League |
| 16 | West Adelaide | 30 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 26 | 57 | −31 | 14 | |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 26 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 13 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | D | D | D | D | D | L | D | W | D | L | L | D | L | D | D | W | L | D | L | W | D | L | W | L | L | W | L |
| Position | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Points | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 28 |

#### Matches
### NSL Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | National Soccer League | National Soccer League | NSL Cup | NSL Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Jim Preston | 11+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 2 | MF | | Peter Willis | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Tony Dickinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Chris Dunleavy | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 2 |
| 5 | DF | | Jeff Ainsworth | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | | Lee Adam | 29 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 5 |
| 7 | FW | | Glen Fontana | 19+2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| 8 | MF | | John Fleming | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| 9 | MF | | Clive Campbell | 17+6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 5 |
| 10 | MF | | John Lathan | 27+1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 5 |
| 11 | FW | | Jock Morlando | 6+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | | Brian Turner | 5+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | | Willem de Graaf | 22+3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | | Ray Mohring | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | | Peter Tredinnick | 30 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 5 |
| 17 | — | | Jim McBreen | 25+1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 8 |
| 18 | MF | | Ken Morton | 1+7 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | | Paul Kay | 4+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | | Natch Vardareff | 19+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| — | DF | | Arno Bertogna | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |

### Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Goalkeeper | NSL | NSL Cup | Total |
| 1 | 22 | | Natch Vardareff | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | 1 | | Jim Preston | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 6 | 1 | 7 |