# 2000 National Soccer League Grand Final

The 2000 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 11 June 2000 between Perth Glory and Wollongong Wolves at Subiaco Oval. Perth Glory had gained home-ground advantage as they were the higher ranked team from the regular season, finishing first to the Wolves's third. Perth started the match strong, going 3–0 up in the first half, however Wollongong came back with three second half goals. The scores remained level after extra time, before Wollongong won in a tense penalty shootout. Scott Chipperfield was awarded the Joe Marston Medal. It has been regarded as one of the greatest grand finals of all time.

## Route to the final
### League Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Perth Glory | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 60 | 42 | +18 | 64 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 2 | Wollongong Wolves (C) | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 72 | 44 | +28 | 60 | Qualification for the Finals series and the Oceania Club Championship |
| 3 | Carlton | 34 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 58 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 4 | Adelaide Force | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 56 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 5 | Sydney Olympic | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 56 | 40 | +16 | 55 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 6 | Marconi Fairfield | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 55 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 7 | Newcastle Breakers | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 51 | |
| 8 | Auckland Kingz | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 57 | 59 | −2 | 50 | |
| 9 | Brisbane Strikers | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 46 | 40 | +6 | 49 | |
| 10 | South Melbourne | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 51 | +4 | 49 | |
| 11 | Parramatta Power | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 52 | 47 | +5 | 47 | |
| 12 | Melbourne Knights | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 45 | |
| 13 | Northern Spirit | 34 | 11 | 3 | 20 | 41 | 58 | −17 | 36 | |
| 14 | Canberra Cosmos | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 44 | 64 | −20 | 36 | |
| 15 | Gippsland Falcons | 34 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 23 | 49 | −26 | 29 | |
| 16 | Sydney United | 34 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 19 | 58 | −39 | 20 | |

### Finals Bracket

| Elimination Finals | Elimination Finals | Elimination Finals | Elimination Finals | Elimination Finals | Major/Minor Semifinals | Major/Minor Semifinals | Major/Minor Semifinals | Major/Minor Semifinals | Major/Minor Semifinals | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | | | 21 May & 27 May 2000 | 21 May & 27 May 2000 | 21 May & 27 May 2000 | 21 May & 27 May 2000 | 21 May & 27 May 2000 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | Wollongong Wolves | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | Perth Glory | 3 (6) |
| | | | | | 1 | Perth Glory | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 June 2000 | 4 June 2000 | 4 June 2000 | Wollongong Wolves (p) | Wollongong Wolves (p) | 3 (7) |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Wollongong Wolves | 2 | | | |
| 6 | Marconi Fairfield | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 2 | Wollongong Wolves | 2 | | | |
| 6 | Marconi Fairfield | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 3 | Carlton | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Carlton SC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 28 May 2000 | 3 | Carlton | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Carlton SC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Carlton | Carlton | Carlton | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 5 | Sydney Olympic | Sydney Olympic | Sydney Olympic | 1 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Sydney Olympic | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | Sydney Olympic | Sydney Olympic | Sydney Olympic | 1 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Adelaide Force | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Match
### Details

| GK | 23 | Jason Petkovic |
| DF | 2 | Rob Trajkovski |
| DF | 3 | Jamie Harnwell |
| MF | 7 | Scott Miller | | 63' |
| MF | 8 | Troy Halpin |
| FW | 9 | Alistair Edwards (c) |
| FW | 10 | Bobby Despotovski | | 68' |
| MF | 11 | Kasey Wehrman |
| MF | 15 | Edgar Aldrighi |
| MF | 21 | Ivan Ergić | | 84' |
| DF | 22 | Ljubo Miličević | 16' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 20 | Tony Franken |
| FW | 4 | Aurelio Schwertz | 75' | 68' |
| DF | 6 | Gareth Naven | | 84' |
| MF | 13 | James Afkos | | 63' |
| DF | 14 | Dion Valle |
| Manager: ||
| Bernd Stange ||
| Joe Marston Medal ||
| Scott Chipperfield (Wollongong Wolves) ||
| GK | 1 | Les Pogliacomi |
| DF | 3 | Alvin Ceccoli |
| DF | 4 | Robert Stanton | 82' |
| DF | 5 | David Cervinski | | 46' |
| MF | 6 | Matt Horsley (c) |
| MF | 7 | Paul Reid |
| FW | 10 | Stuart Young |
| DF | 11 | Scott Chipperfield | 90' |
| MF | 13 | Noel Spencer | | 46' |
| FW | 17 | Esala Masi | | 66' |
| MF | 23 | Dino Mennillo | 28' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 20 | Daniel Beltrame |
| DF | 2 | George Sounis | | 46' |
| FW | 14 | Sasho Petrovski | | 66' |
| MF | 15 | David Huxley |
| DF | 21 | Mark Robertson | 106' | 46' |
| Manager: ||
| Nick Theodorakopoulos ||
| Assistant referees: Fourth official: | Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. |