National Soccer League

The **National Soccer League** (**NSL**) was a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. It had 28 seasons and existed from 1977 until 2004, when it was replaced by the A-League. It was run by Soccer Australia.

The NSL was actually one of Australia's oldest nationwide sports leagues, being older than the Australian Football League (AFL) in Australian rules football and the National Rugby League (NRL) in rugby league.

## Clubs

Throughout its history, the NSL had 42 teams, 41 based in Australia and one based in New Zealand. In all 28 seasons, 13 clubs have won the grand final at least once.

While the clubs were not restricted to people of a certain background, many of the teams had strong connections to multicultural communities in Australia. Many of the clubs were founded by migrants from Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia, and one club was founded by the Jewish community.

Throughout its history, clubs came from Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra/Queanbeyan, Melbourne, Morwell, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney and Wollongong.

|Team|Location|Also called|Years in the NSL|Total NSL seasons|NSL Honours|Current status|P|W|D|L|GF|GA|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**Adelaide City**|Adelaide|Adelaide Juventus Adelaide City Giants Adelaide City Zebras Adelaide (City) Force|1977–2003|27|1986, 1991–92, 1993–94 National Soccer League 1979, 1989, 1991–92 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues South Australia|768|321|194|253|1134|913|
|**Adelaide United**|Adelaide||2003–2004|1||A-League|28|13|7|8|34|35|
|**APIA Leichhardt**|Sydney|Leichhardt Strikers|1979–1992|14|1987 National Soccer League 1982, 1988 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues NSW|371|135|104|132|462|471|
|**Blacktown City**|Sydney||1980–1981 1984–1986 1989–1990|7||National Premier Leagues NSW|181|51|39|91|222|328|
|**Brisbane City**|Brisbane|Azzurri Brisbane City Gladiators|1977–1986|10||National Premier Leagues Queensland|266|75|72|119|292|407|
|**Brisbane Lions**|Brisbane|Hollandia|1977–1986 1988|11||A-League as Brisbane Roar National Premier Leagues Queensland as Queensland Lions|294|92|79|123|362|442|
|**Brisbane Strikers**|Brisbane|Brisbane United|1991–2004|13|1996–97 National Soccer League|National Premier Leagues Queensland|358|129|79|150|506|539|
|**Brunswick Juventus**|Melbourne|Brunswick Pumas Melbourne BUSC Melbourne Zebras|1984–1988 1993–1995|7|1985 National Soccer League|Victorian State League Division 3 as Brunswick Zebras|180|67|37|76|207|251|
|**Canberra City**|Canberra|Canberra City Arrows Canberra City Olympians|1977–1986|10||National Premier Leagues Capital Football|266|79|67|120|335|394|
|**Canberra Cosmos**|Canberra||1995–2001|6||Defunct|176|35|40|101|216|362|
|**Canterbury-Marrickville**|Sydney|Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic|1986|1||NSW League One as CanterBury-Bankstown FC|22|2|7|13|17|41|
|**Carlton**|Melbourne||1997–2001|4||Defunct|104|45|24|35|168|127|
|**Collingwood Warriors**|Melbourne||1996–1997|1|1996–97 NSL Cup|Defunct|26|6|9|11|32|41|
|**Football Kingz**|Auckland (NZ)|Auckland Kingz|1999–2004|5||Defunct|135|38|27|70|182|265|
|**Footscray JUST**|Melbourne|Footscray Eagles Melbourne City JUST|1977–1989|13||Defunct|346|100|96|150|379|502|
|**Green Gully**|Melbourne|Green Gully Ajax|1984–1986|3||National Premier Leagues Victoria|72|17|18|37|74|103|
|**Heidelberg United**|Melbourne|Fitzroy United Heidelberg Alexander|1977–1987 1989 1990–1995|17|1992–93, 1996–97 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues Victoria|451|160|122|169|595|651|
|**Inter Monaro**|Canberra-Queanbeyan||1985–1986|2||National Premier Leagues Capital Football as Monaro Panthers|44|10|11|23|47|80|
|**Marconi**|Sydney|Marconi-Fairfield Marconi-Datsun Leopards Marconi Stallions|1977–2004|28|1979, 1988, 1989, 1992–93 National Soccer League 1980 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues NSW|786|356|186|244|1293|986|
|**Melbourne Knights**|Melbourne|Essendon Lions Melbourne Croatia Melbourne CSC|1984–2004|21|1994–95, 1995–96 National Soccer League 1994–95 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues Victoria|579|248|130|201|877|779|
|**Mooroolbark**|Melbourne|Mooroolbark United|1977|1||Victorian State League Division 2|26|5|5|16|31|61|
|**Morwell Falcons**|Morwell|Gippsland Falcons Eastern Pride|1992–2001|10||Latrobe Valley Soccer League as Falcons 2000|254|66|69|119|265|403|
|**Newcastle Breakers**|Newcastle|Newcastle BHP Breakers|1991–1994 1995–2000|9||Defunct|225|62|63|110|276|365|
|**Newcastle KB United**|Newcastle|Newcastle United Newcastle KB Raiders|1978–1984|7||Defunct|||||||
|**Newcastle Rosebud United**|Newcastle|Adamstown Rosebuds|1984–1986|3|1984 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues Northern NSW as Adamstown Rosebud|||||||
|**Newcastle United**|Newcastle||2000–2004|4||A-League as Newcastle Jets|||||||
|**Northern Spirit**|Sydney||1998–2004|6||National Premier Leagues NSW as NWS Spirit FC|174|62|32|80|223|284|
|**Parramatta Eagles**|Sydney|Parramatta Melita|1984 1989–1995|7|1990–91, 1993–94 NSL Cup|NSW League Two as Parramatta FC|185|61|53|71|212|235|
|**Parramatta Power**|Sydney||1999–2004|5||Defunct|147|68|23|56|250|204|
|**Penrith City**|Sydney||1984–1985|2||Defunct|50|12|16|22|53|76|
|**Perth Glory**|Perth||1996–2004|8|2002–03, 2003–04 National Soccer League|A-League|242|138|46|58|484|286|
|**Preston Lions**|Melbourne|Preston Rams Preston Makedonia|1981–1993|13||National Premier Leagues Victoria 2|347|121|101|125|442|424|
|**South Melbourne**|Melbourne|South Melbourne Hellas South Melbourne Gunners South Melbourne Lakers|1977–2004|28|1984, 1990–91, 1997–98, 1998–99 National Soccer League 1989–90, 1995–96 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues Victoria|791|378|183|230|1260|917|
|**St George Saints**|Sydney|St George-Budapest|1977–1980 1982–1991|14|1983 National Soccer League|NSW League One|371|135|103|133|516|520|
|**Sunshine George Cross**|Melbourne||1984–1991|8||National Premier Leagues Victoria 3 as Caroline Springs George Cross|202|56|51|95|229|320|
|**Sydney City**|Sydney|Eastern Suburbs Hakoah Sydney City Slickers|1977–1987|11|1977, 1980, 1981, 1982 National Soccer League 1986 NSL Cup|NSW League One as Hakoah Sydney City East|273|155|66|52|529|273|
|**Sydney Olympic**|Sydney|Pan-Hellenic Sydney Olympians UTS Olympic Olympic Sharks|1977–1979 1981–2004|27|1989–90, 2001–02 National Soccer League 1983, 1985 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues NSW|770|325|192|253|1124|963|
|**Sydney United**|Sydney|Sydney Croatia Sydney CSC Sydney United Pumas|1984–2004|21|1987 NSL Cup|National Premier Leagues NSW|576|239|144|193|762|721|
|**West Adelaide**|Adelaide|West Adelaide Hellas West Adelaide Hawks (West) Adelaide Sharks|1977–1986 1989–1990 1991–1999|19|1978 National Soccer League|National Premier Leagues South Australia|511|170|105|236|634|780|
|**Western Suburbs**|Sydney||1977–78|2||Amalgamated in 1979 with APIA Leichhardt|52|20|13|19|79|74|
|**Wollongong Macedonia**|Wollongong|Wollongong United Illawarra Lions|1990–1991|1||Illawarra Premier League as Wollongong United|26|3|9|14|23|53|
|**Wollongong Wolves**|Wollongong|Wollongong City|1981–1986 1988–2004|23|1999–2000, 2000–01 National Soccer League|National Premier Leagues NSW|632|211|166|255|867|966|
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