# 1996–97 National Soccer League

The 1996–97 National Soccer League season, was the 21st season of the National Soccer League in Australia.

## Teams

| Team | Home city | Home ground |
| Adelaide City | Adelaide | Hindmarsh Stadium |
| Brisbane Strikers | Brisbane | Lang Park |
| Canberra Cosmos | Canberra | Bruce Stadium |
| Collingwood Warriors | Melbourne | Victoria Park Olympic Park |
| Gippsland Falcons | Morwell | Falcons Park |
| Marconi-Stallions | Sydney | Marconi Stadium |
| Melbourne Knights | Melbourne | Knights Stadium |
| Newcastle Breakers | Newcastle | Breakers Stadium |
| Perth Glory | Perth | Perth Oval |
| South Melbourne | Melbourne | Lakeside Stadium |
| Sydney United | Sydney | Edensor Park |
| UTS Olympic | Sydney | Belmore Oval |
| West Adelaide | Adelaide | Hindmarsh Stadium |
| Wollongong City | Wollongong | Brandon Park |

## Season overview

It was contested by 14 teams, and Brisbane Strikers won the championship. Perth Glory and Collingwood Warriors entered the competition.

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney United | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 67 | 33 | +34 | 56 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 2 | Brisbane Strikers (C) | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 55 | 40 | +15 | 47 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 46 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 4 | Adelaide City | 26 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 43 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 5 | Marconi Fairfield | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 40 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 6 | Melbourne Knights | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 32 | +4 | 39 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 7 | Perth Glory | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 38 | |
| 8 | West Adelaide | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 33 | |
| 9 | UTS Olympic | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 32 | |
| 10 | Wollongong Wolves | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 32 | |
| 11 | Newcastle Breakers | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 30 | |
| 12 | Gippsland Falcons | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 33 | 41 | −8 | 30 | |
| 13 | Collingwood Warriors | 26 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 44 | −12 | 27 | |
| 14 | Canberra Cosmos | 26 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 30 | 69 | −39 | 11 | |

## Finals series

| Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Grand final | Grand final |
| | | | | | 1 | Sydney United | 0 | 2 | (2) | | | Sydney United | 0 |
| | | | | | 2 | Brisbane Strikers (a) | 1 | 1 | (2) | | | Brisbane Strikers | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Sydney United | 1 | | |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 4 | 3 | (7) | | | | | | Sydney United | 1 | | |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 4 | 3 | (7) | | | | | | South Melbourne | 0 | | |
| 6 | Melbourne Knights | 1 | 0 | (1) | | | | | | South Melbourne | 0 | | |
| 6 | Melbourne Knights | 1 | 0 | (1) | | South Melbourne | South Melbourne | South Melbourne | 1 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Adelaide City | Adelaide City | Adelaide City | 0 | | | | |
| 4 | Adelaide City | 0 | 4 | (4) | | Adelaide City | Adelaide City | Adelaide City | 0 | | | | |
| 5 | Marconi Fairfield | 3 | 0 | (3) | | | | | | | | | |

### Grand Final
## Individual awards

* Player of the Year: Kresimir Marusic (Sydney United)
* U-21 Player of the Year: Kasey Wehrman (Brisbane Strikers)
* Top Scorer: David Zdrilic (Sydney United) – 21 goals
* Coach of the Year: Branko Culina (Sydney United)