1985 National Soccer League

The 1985 National Soccer League was the ninth season of the National Soccer League. The season was again played with two Conferences as separate leagues, followed by a conference playoff final. The Grand Final was won by Brunswick Juventus 2–0 on aggregate over Sydney City. The season began on 9 March 1985, and concluded on 8 September 1985.

National Soccer League
Season1985
Dates9 March – 8 September 1985
ChampionsBrunswick Juventus
1st title
PremiersSydney City (Northern)
South Melbourne (Southern)
RelegatedPenrith City
Matches played276
Goals scored769 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorerCharlie Egan (21 goals)
Biggest home winMarconi Fairfield 6–0 Penrith City
(28 July 1985)
Biggest away winAPIA Leichhardt 0–4 Sydney City
(17 March 1985)
Highest scoringBrunswick Juventus 5–4 Brisbane City
(19 May 1985)
1984
1986

Teams

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Twenty-four teams competed in the league (twelve in the Northern Conference and twelve in the Southern Conference) – the sixteen teams from the previous season and eight teams accepted from their respective state leagues.

Stadiums and locations

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Note: Table lists in alphabetical order by conference.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Northern Conference
APIA Leichhardt Sydney (Leichhardt) Lambert Park 7,000
Blacktown City Sydney (Seven Hills) Gabbie Stadium 5,000
Canberra City Canberra Canberra Stadium 25,011
Inter Monaro Queanbeyan Seiffert Oval 15,000
Marconi Fairfield Sydney (Bossley Park) Marconi Stadium 9,000
Newcastle Rosebud United Newcastle Adamstown Oval 2,000
Penrith City Penrith Cook Park 1,000
St George-Budapest Sydney (Mortdale) St George Stadium 12,000
Sydney City Sydney (Bondi) ES Marks Athletics Field 8,000
Sydney Croatia Sydney (Edensor Park) King Tomislav Park 10,000
Sydney Olympic Sydney (Waterloo) Pratten Park 15,000
Wollongong City Wollongong Wollongong Showground 22,000
Southern Conference
Adelaide City Adelaide (Kensington) Olympic Sports Field 8,000
Brisbane City Brisbane (Newmarket) Spencer Park 5,000
Brisbane Lions Brisbane (Inala) Lions Stadium 5,000
Brunswick Juventus Melbourne (Brunswick) Olympic Park No. 2 6,000
Footscray JUST Melbourne (Footscray) Schintler Reserve ?
Green Gully Melbourne (St Albans) Green Gully Reserve 10,000
Heidelberg United Melbourne (Brunswick) Olympic Village 12,000
Melbourne Croatia Melbourne (Essendon) Olympic Park 18,500
Preston Makedonia Melbourne (Fitzroy) B.T. Connor Reserve 5,000
South Melbourne Melbourne (Middle Park) Middle Park 18,000
Sunshine George Cross Melbourne (City of Melbourne) Chaplin Reserve 5,000
West Adelaide Adelaide (City of Adelaide) Hindmarsh Stadium 16,500

Head coach changes

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The Australian Soccer Annual 1985 reported seven managerial changes.[1]

Team Outgoing head coach Date of vacancy Position in the table Incoming head coach Date of appointment
Adelaide City   Frank Pimblett 1985 Pre-season   Tony Lowndes 1985
Brunswick Juventus   John Margaritis   Tommy Traynor
Inter Monaro   Josef Procop
Melbourne Croatia   Tony Vrzina   Tommy Cumming
Preston Makedonia   Frank McAleer   Willie Murray
Sunshine George Cross   Billy Wilkinson   John Gardiner
West Adelaide   Sam Salabsides   Neil McGachey

Regular season

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League tables

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Northern Conference
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sydney City 22 15 5 2 42 19 +23 35 Qualification to Finals series
2 Sydney Croatia 22 14 5 3 50 22 +28 33
3 Marconi Fairfield 22 11 7 4 44 23 +21 29
4 Sydney Olympic 22 12 3 7 29 25 +4 27
5 St George-Budapest 22 7 8 7 31 26 +5 22
6 Canberra City 22 8 6 8 33 35 −2 22
7 Inter Monaro 22 7 6 9 29 37 −8 20
8 Blacktown City 22 7 4 11 30 34 −4 18
9 APIA Leichhardt 22 7 2 13 20 34 −14 16
10 Wollongong City 22 5 6 11 29 46 −17 16
11 Penrith City (R) 22 4 6 12 24 35 −11 14 Relegation to the 1986 NSW State League
12 Newcastle Rosebud United 22 4 4 14 20 45 −25 12
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated
Southern Conference
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 South Melbourne 22 14 5 3 39 21 +18 33 Qualification to Finals series
2 Brunswick Juventus (C) 22 11 7 4 33 19 +14 29
3 Heidelberg United 22 10 7 5 29 17 +12 27
4 Melbourne Croatia 22 9 6 7 29 21 +8 24
5 Preston Makedonia 22 9 6 7 30 28 +2 24
6 Sunshine George Cross 22 8 7 7 25 22 +3 23
7 Brisbane Lions 22 9 4 9 29 29 0 22
8 Green Gully 22 6 6 10 24 29 −5 18
9 Adelaide City 22 6 6 10 29 35 −6 18
10 West Adelaide 22 6 5 11 24 37 −13 17
11 Brisbane City 22 6 5 11 25 42 −17 17
12 Footscray JUST 22 5 2 15 25 41 −16 12
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Results

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Northern Conference
Home \ Away API BLA CAN INT MAR NRU PEN STG SCI SCR SOL WOL
APIA Leichhardt 0–3 0–1 0–1 4–1 1–0 1–0 1–4 0–4 1–3 1–2 4–2
Blacktown City 1–1 2–3 1–0 0–2 4–0 1–1 0–3 1–2 1–1 1–0 3–0
Canberra City 0–0 3–2 1–2 1–1 3–1 2–2 0–1 1–3 2–4 1–3 1–1
Inter Monaro 0–3 2–1 0–3 1–0 1–2 3–1 1–1 2–3 1–1 3–1 1–1
Marconi Fairfield 0–0 2–1 4–1 4–1 2–2 6–0 1–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 6–1
Newcastle Rosebud United 2–1 0–3 2–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 3–4 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–3
Penrith City 0–1 0–1 1–2 3–4 1–3 4–1 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–0
St George-Budapest 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 3–2 0–1 1–3 0–1 1–1
Sydney City 2–0 3–1 4–2 2–2 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 5–2
Sydney Croatia 3–0 4–0 1–0 2–0 3–3 2–0 2–2 2–2 2–0 5–0 5–1
Sydney Olympic 2–1 3–2 0–1 1–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 3–1 0–1 3–1 2–0
Wollongong City 1–0 3–0 0–2 4–2 2–3 1–2 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 1–2
Source: OzFootball
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Southern Conference
Home \ Away ADE BRC BRL BRU FOO GRE HEI MEL PRE SOU SGC WES
Adelaide City 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 4–1
Brisbane City 2–1 0–2 0–0 3–2 3–0 0–3 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–0
Brisbane Lions 3–0 3–0 0–0 1–0 3–1 1–2 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–0
Brunswick Juventus 3–1 5–4 2–1 3–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–2 3–0 0–1
Footscray JUST 1–0 1–3 1–2 1–1 1–0 3–3 0–2 1–2 0–1 0–3 2–1
Green Gully 2–3 4–1 2–0 0–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–1
Heidelberg United 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 1–3 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 1–0
Melbourne Croatia 3–0 4–1 2–3 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–0
Preston Makedonia 4–2 3–0 4–0 0–0 2–0 0–1 1–4 3–2 0–1 2–1 1–1
South Melbourne 2–1 4–1 0–0 1–3 3–1 3–2 1–0 1–2 3–0 2–1 4–2
Sunshine George Cross 1–2 3–0 3–2 0–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 0–2 2–2 0–1 1–0
West Adelaide 2–1 1–3 5–3 2–1 1–5 2–0 1–1 0–3 3–1 0–3 0–1
Source: OzFootball
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Finals series

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Northern Conference

Southern Conference

Grand Final

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Sydney City0 – 1Brunswick Juventus
Incantalupo   38'
Attendance: 2,491
Referee: Peter Rampley

Brunswick Juventus1 – 0Sydney City
Incantalupo   41'
Attendance: 7,560
Referee: Don Campbell
  • Brunswick Juventus win 2–0 on aggregate

Individual awards

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Award Winner Club
National Soccer League Player of the Year   Graham Honeyman West Adelaide
National Soccer League Under 21 Player of the Year   Alan Hunter Brisbane Lions
National Soccer League Coach of the Year   Eddie Thomson Sydney City

References

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  1. ^ Australian Soccer Annual 1985 – Seven coaching changes for 1985. Soccer Action. p. 7.