# 1982 National Soccer League

The 1982 National Soccer League was the sixth season of the National Soccer League, the former top-flight league in Australia. Sydney City won the championship for the third consecutive season.

## Teams

Sixteen teams competed in the league.

### Stadiums and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Adelaide City | Adelaide (Norwood) | Olympic Sports Field | 8,000 |
| APIA Leichhardt | Sydney (Leichhardt) | Lambert Park | 7,000 |
| Brisbane City | Brisbane (Newmarket) | Spencer Park | 5,000 |
| Brisbane Lions | Brisbane (Inala) | Lions Stadium | 5,000 |
| Canberra City | Canberra | Canberra Stadium | 25,011 |
| Footscray JUST | Melbourne (Preston) | Schintler Reserve | ? |
| Heidelberg United | Melbourne (Collingwood) | Olympic Village | 12,000 |
| Marconi Fairfield | Sydney (Smithfield) | Marconi Stadium | 9,000 |
| Newcastle KB United | Newcastle | Newcastle International Sports Centre | 30,000 |
| Preston Makedonia | Melbourne (Fitzroy) | B.T. Connor Reserve | 4,000 |
| South Melbourne | Melbourne (St Kilda West) | Middle Park | 18,000 |
| St George-Budapest | Sydney (Mortdale) | St George Stadium | 12,000 |
| Sydney City | Sydney (Bondi) | ES Marks Athletics Field | 8,000 |
| Sydney Olympic | Sydney (Waterloo) | Pratten Park | 15,000 |
| West Adelaide | Adelaide (City of Adelaide) | Hindmarsh Stadium | 16,500 |
| Wollongong City | Wollongong | Wollongong Showground | 22,000 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Sydney City (C) | 30 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 68 | 28 | +40 | 45 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 2 | St George-Budapest | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 47 | 40 | +7 | 36 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 3 | Wollongong City | 30 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 43 | 46 | −3 | 35 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 4 | Heidelberg United | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 34 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 5 | Preston Makedonia | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 45 | 41 | +4 | 34 | |
| 6 | South Melbourne | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 31 | |
| 7 | APIA Leichhardt | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 49 | 54 | −5 | 31 | |
| 8 | Sydney Olympic | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 52 | 42 | +10 | 30 | |
| 9 | West Adelaide | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 44 | 40 | +4 | 28 | |
| 10 | Marconi Fairfield | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 44 | 43 | +1 | 28 | |
| 11 | Brisbane Lions | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 39 | 42 | −3 | 28 | |
| 12 | Newcastle KB United | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 43 | 52 | −9 | 27 | |
| 13 | Adelaide City | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 36 | 44 | −8 | 24 | |
| 14 | Footscray JUST | 30 | 5 | 14 | 11 | 34 | 46 | −12 | 24 | |
| 15 | Canberra City | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 24 | |
| 16 | Brisbane City | 30 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 32 | 55 | −23 | 21 | |
* ↑ The Finals series was not considered the championship for the 1982 National Soccer League.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ADE | API | BRC | BRL | CAN | FOO | HEI | MAR | NKU | PRE | SOU | STG | SYC | SYO | WES | WOL |
| Adelaide City | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| APIA Leichhardt | 4–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Brisbane City | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 |
| Brisbane Lions | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | 7–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Canberra City | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Footscray JUST | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Heidelberg United | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Marconi Fairfield | 1–0 | 7–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Newcastle KB United | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Preston Makedonia | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| South Melbourne | 0–3 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| St George-Budapest | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Sydney City | 6–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | 2–1 | 5–2 | 3–3 |
| Sydney Olympic | 1–3 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| West Adelaide | 2–1 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 4–0 |
| Wollongong City | 2–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | John Kosmina | Sydney City | 23 |
| 2 | Charlie Egan | South Melbourne | 20 |
| 3 | Dez Marton | St George-Budapest | 18 |
| 4 | Mark Koussas | Sydney Olympic | 16 |
| 4 | Phil O'Connor | Wollongong City | 16 |
| 6 | Graham Honeyman | West Adelaide | 14 |
| 6 | Marshall Soper | APIA Leichhardt | 14 |
| 8 | Jim Campbell | Heidelberg United | 12 |
| 8 | Gary Cole | Heidelberg United | 12 |
| 8 | Sebastian Giampaolo | APIA Leichhardt | 12 |
| 8 | Mark Jankovics | Marconi Fairfield | 12 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Graham Honeyman | West Adelaide | Wollongong City | 4–0 (H) | 28 February 1982 |
| Mark Koussas | Sydney Olympic | Brisbane City | 5–0 (H) | 18 April 1982 |
| John Kosmina | Sydney City | St George-Budapest | 3–1 (H) | 2 May 1982 |
| John Kosmina | Sydney City | Marconi Fairfield | 3–1 (H) | 16 May 1982 |
| Craig Johnston | Newcastle KB United | Brisbane Lions | 3–1 (H) | 26 June 1982 |
| John Kosmina$^4$ | Sydney City | Brisbane City | 5–2 (H) | 4 July 1982 |
| Peter Katholos | Sydney Olympic | APIA Leichhardt | 3–0 (A) | 11 July 1982 |
| John Kosmina | Sydney City | West Adelaide | 5–2 (H) | 5 September 1982 |

##### Notes

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Jeff Olver | Heidelberg United | 10 |
| 2 | Todd Clarke | Sydney City | 9 |
| 3 | Martyn Crook | West Adelaide | 8 |
| 3 | Mike Fraser | St George-Budapest | 8 |
| 5 | Bobby Ferguson | Adelaide City | 7 |
| 5 | Allan Maher | Marconi Fairfield | 7 |
| 7 | Milutin Ciric | Footscray JUST | 5 |
| 7 | Jim Preston | Wollongong City | 5 |
| 7 | Peter Wilson | Sydney Olympic | 5 |
| 7 | Greg Woodhouse | APIA Leichhardt | 5 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| National Soccer League Player of the Year | Peter Katholos | Sydney Olympic |
| National Soccer League Under 21 Player of the Year | David Lowe | Newcastle KB United |
| National Soccer League Coach of the Year | Frank Arok | St George-Budapest |