# 1988 National Soccer League

The 1988 National Soccer League season, was the 12th season of the National Soccer League in Australia.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Wollongong City | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 44 | 32 | +12 | 34 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 2 | Sydney Croatia | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 34 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 34 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 4 | Marconi Fairfield (C) | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 46 | 26 | +20 | 32 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 5 | Sydney Olympic | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 27 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 6 | Adelaide City | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 27 | |
| 7 | Sunshine George Cross | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 27 | |
| 8 | St George-Budapest | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 26 | |
| 9 | Melbourne Croatia | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 28 | 33 | −5 | 24 | |
| 10 | Footscray JUST | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 23 | |
| 11 | APIA Leichhardt | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 35 | −7 | 23 | |
| 12 | Preston Makedonia | 26 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 22 | |
| 13 | Brunswick Juventus (R) | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 31 | 43 | −12 | 19 | Relegation to the Victorian State League |
| 14 | Brisbane Lions (R) | 26 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 28 | 59 | −31 | 12 | Relegation to the Brisbane Premier League |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ADE | API | BRI | BRU | FOO | MAR | MEL | PRE | SOU | STG | SGC | SYC | SYO | WOL |
| Adelaide City | | 0–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| APIA Leichhardt | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Brisbane Lions | 1–3 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Brunswick Juventus | 0–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Footscray JUST | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Marconi Fairfield | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Melbourne Croatia | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Preston Makedonia | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 |
| South Melbourne | 2–1 | 5–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| St George-Budapest | 6–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Sunshine George Cross | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Sydney Croatia | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Sydney Olympic | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 0–1 |
| Wollongong City | 2–1 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | |

## Finals series

| Elimination and qualifying Finals | Elimination and qualifying Finals | Elimination and qualifying Finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Wollongong City | 0 (3) | | | | 2 | Sydney Croatia | 2 (4) |
| | | | 2 | Sydney Croatia (p) | 0 (4) | | | | 4 | Marconi Fairfield (p) | 2 (5) |
| 2 | Sydney Croatia | 2 | | | | 1 | Wollongong City | 0 | | | |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 1 | | | | 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 2 | | | |
| | | | 3 | South Melbourne | 1 | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 2 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Sydney Olympic | 1 | | | | | | | | | |

## Individual awards

* Player(s) of the Year: Paul Wade (South Melbourne); Frank Farina (Marconi Fairfield)
* U-21 Player of the Year: Paul Trimboli (South Melbourne)
* Top Scorer: Frank Farina (Marconi Fairfield) – 16 goals
* Coach of the Year: Brian Garvey (South Melbourne)