# 1981 South Melbourne FC season

The 1981 season was the fifth in the National Soccer League for South Melbourne Football Club. In addition to the domestic league, they also participated in the NSL Cup. South Melbourne finished 2nd in their National Soccer League season, and were eliminated in the first round of the NSL Cup.

## 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 | AUS | Peter Laumets |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Vince Bannon |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Alan Davidson |
| 4 | DF | AUS | Bertie Lutton |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Arthur Xanthopoulos |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Billy Rogers |
| 8 | MF | AUS | George Christopoulos |
| 9 | FW | AUS | Duncan Cummings |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Alun Evans |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Branko Buljevic |
| 13 | FW | AUS | Steve Wooddin |
| 14 | FW | SCO | George Campbell |
| 15 | MF | AUS | John Stevenson |
| 16 | MF | SCO | Jim Shirra |
| 19 | DF | AUS | Steve Blair |
| 20 | GK | GRE | Lou Tsigaras |
| — | MF | AUS | Socrates Nicolaides |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| 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 | 2nd | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 41 | 27 | +14 | 043.33 |
| NSL Cup | 11 March 1981 | 11 March 1981 | First round | First round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 31 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 41 | 29 | +12 | 041.94 |
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 summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: worldfootball.net

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 13 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | D | W | D | L | D | D | D | W | L | W | D | W | D | W | W | D | L | L | D | W | D |
| Position | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Points | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 36 | 38 | 39 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### NSL Cup

Win  Draw  Loss

## 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 | | Peter Laumets | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Vince Bannon | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | | Alan Davidson | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | | Bertie Lutton | 9+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Arthur Xanthopoulos | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | | Billy Rogers | 23+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | George Christopoulos | 14+3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 7 |
| 9 | FW | | Duncan Cummings | 14+7 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 22 | 3 |
| 10 | FW | | Alun Evans | 27 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 14 |
| 11 | FW | | Branko Buljevic | 26+2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 3 |
| 13 | FW | | Steve Wooddin | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 |
| 14 | FW | | George Campbell | 10+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | | John Stevenson | 30 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| 16 | MF | | Jim Shirra | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| 19 | DF | | Steve Blair | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 2 |
| — | MF | | Socrates Nicolaides | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |

### Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | National Soccer League | National Soccer League | National Soccer League | NSL Cup | NSL Cup | NSL Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | 10 | FW | | Alun Evans | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 16 | MF | | Jim Shirra | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | DF | | Vince Bannon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 6 | MF | | Billy Rogers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 3 | DF | | Alan Davidson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 4 | DF | | Bertie Lutton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 9 | FW | | Duncan Cummings | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 13 | FW | | Steve Wooddin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 | 1 | | Peter Laumets | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 11 | 0 | 11 |