# 1977 National Soccer League

The 1977 National Soccer League season was the first season of the National Soccer League of Australia. The league was not only the first national soccer league in Australia but the first of any of the forms of football in Australia. Clubs predominantly joined from the top leagues in each state, with the exception of Tasmanian and Western Australia, and Canberra City forming in 1977 to join the league. The inaugural champions were Eastern Suburbs.

## Background

Attempts had been made to start a national league several times during the 1960s and 1970s, however it wasn't until 1975 that the talk became serious. In April 1975, nine clubs from New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia agreed to form a national league in either 1976 or 1977. Frank Lowy, president of Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs and Alex Pongrass, St George-Budapest president led a concerted effort to bring in teams from Victoria over objections from the state association. Eventually, four Victorian clubs joined with the addition of a team from the Australian Capital Territory.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Adelaide City | Adelaide | Olympic Sports Field | 5,000 |
| Brisbane City | Brisbane | Perry Park | 5,000 |
| Brisbane Lions | Brisbane | Perry Park | 5,000 |
| Canberra City | Canberra Queanbeyan | Manuka Oval Seiffert Oval | 16,000 15,000 |
| Fitzroy | Melbourne | Olympic Park Stadium | 18,500 |
| Footscray | Melbourne | Middle Park | 18,000 |
| Marconi | Sydney | Marconi Stadium | 9,000 |
| Mooroolbark | Melbourne | Middle Park Esther Park Wembley Park | 18,000 ? ? |
| South Melbourne | Melbourne | Middle Park | 18,000 |
| St George | Sydney | Sydney Sports Ground Marconi Stadium | 35,000 9,000 |
| Eastern Suburbs | Sydney | Sydney Sports Ground | 35,000 |
| Sydney Olympic | Sydney | Sydney Sports Ground Wentworth Park | 35,000 10,000 |
| Western Suburbs | Sydney | Sydney Sports Ground Englefield Stadium | 35,000 ? |
| West Adelaide | Adelaide | Hindmarsh Stadium | 16,500 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs (C) | 26 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 52 | 28 | +24 | 37 | |
| 2 | Marconi Fairfield | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 42 | 21 | +21 | 37 | |
| 3 | Fitzroy United | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 41 | 34 | +7 | 32 | |
| 4 | Adelaide City | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 50 | 31 | +19 | 31 | |
| 5 | Western Suburbs | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 29 | |
| 6 | St George-Budapest | 26 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 28 | |
| 7 | West Adelaide | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 26 | |
| 8 | Footscray JUST | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 36 | 39 | −3 | 24 | |
| 9 | Brisbane Lions | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 27 | 41 | −14 | 23 | |
| 10 | Brisbane City | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 30 | 35 | −5 | 22 | |
| 11 | South Melbourne | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 22 | |
| 12 | Sydney Olympic | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 21 | |
| 13 | Canberra City | 26 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 39 | −17 | 17 | |
| 14 | Mooroolbark (R) | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 31 | 61 | −30 | 15 | Relegation to the 1978 Victoria Metropolitan League Three |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ADE | BRC | BRL | CAN | FIT | FOO | MAR | MOO | SOU | STG | SYC | SYO | WSA | WST |
| Adelaide City | — | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 10–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Brisbane City | 1–0 | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Brisbane Lions | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 4–0 |
| Canberra City | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 |
| Fitzroy | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–8 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Footscray | 3–4 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | — | 3–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Marconi Fairfield | 0–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Mooroolbark | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | — | 2–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| South Melbourne | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| St George-Budapest | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 6–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Sydney Olympic | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–4 | 0–3 |
| West Adelaide | 1–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–4 | — | 0–3 |
| Western Suburbs | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Dixie Deans | Adelaide City | 16 |
| 2 | Terry Smith | Eastern Suburbs | 14 |
| 3 | Murray Barnes | Eastern Suburbs | 12 |
| 3 | John Kosmina | West Adelaide | 12 |
| 5 | Gary Cole | Fitzroy United | 11 |
| 6 | Geoff Morris | Brisbane Lions | 10 |
| 7 | Branko Buljevic | Fitzroy United | 9 |
| 7 | Graham Norris | Western Suburbs | 9 |
| 7 | John Nyskohus | Adelaide City | 9 |
| 7 | Peter Sharne | Marconi Fairfield | 9 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Murray Barnes | Eastern Suburbs | Adelaide City | 6–1 (H) | 7 May 1977 |
| Terry Smith | Eastern Suburbs | Brisbane Lions | 4–0 (A) | 5 June 1977 |
| Ernie Campbell | Marconi | Fitzroy | 8–1 (A) | 20 June 1977 |
| Tom Murray | Brisbane Lions | Western Suburbs | 4–0 (H) | 25 July 1977 |
| Peter Ollerton | South Melbourne | Mooroolbark | 4–2 (A) | 29 August 1977 |
| Dixie Deans | Adelaide City | Mooroolbark | 10–3 (H) | 5 September 1977 |
| Dixie Deans | Adelaide City | Footscray | 4–3 (A) | 12 September 1977 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Alan Maher | Marconi Fairfield | 12 |
| 2 | Terry Eaton | Western Suburbs | 11 |
| 3 | Peter Blasby | Fitzroy United | 9 |
| 3 | Roger Romanowicz | Adelaide City | 9 |
| 5 | Gary Meier | Sydney Olympic | 8 |
| 6 | Dennis Boland | Footscray JUST | 7 |
| 6 | Osvaldo Borzi | Brisbane City | 7 |
| 6 | Jack Reilly | South Melbourne | 7 |
| 9 | Martyn Crook | West Adelaide | 6 |
| 9 | Phil Dando | Brisbane Lions | 6 |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 7
** Kevin Mullen (Eastern Suburbs)
* Most red cards: 2
** Alan Niven (Brisbane Lions)
** Graham Norris (Western Suburbs)
** Graham Honeyman (West Adelaide)
** Dave Pillans (West Adelaide)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 29
** West Adelaide
* Fewest yellow cards: 5
** Fitzroy United
* Most red cards: 5
** West Adelaide
* Fewest red cards: 0
** Seven teams

## Awards

| Award | Name | Club |
| Player of the Year | Jimmy Rooney | Marconi |
| Young Player of the Year | John Kosmina | West Adelaide |
| Coach of the Year | Rale Rasic | Marconi |
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