Loading AI tools
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.
| Season | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 9 March – 8 September 1985 |
| Champions | Brunswick Juventus 1st title |
| Premiers | Sydney City (Northern) South Melbourne (Southern) |
| Relegated | Penrith City |
| Matches played | 276 |
| Goals scored | 769 (2.79 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Charlie Egan (21 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Marconi Fairfield 6–0 Penrith City (28 July 1985) |
| Biggest away win | APIA Leichhardt 0–4 Sydney City (17 March 1985) |
| Highest scoring | Brunswick Juventus 5–4 Brisbane City (19 May 1985) |
← 1984 1986 → | |
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
- Note: Table lists in alphabetical order by conference.
Head coach changes
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 |
League tables
- 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
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
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Results
- 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 | — |
- 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 | — |
Northern Conference
| Elimination and qualifying Finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Northern Final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Sydney City | 1 | 1 | Sydney City | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Sydney Croatia | 0 | 3 | Marconi Fairfield | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Sydney Croatia | 2 | 2 | Sydney Croatia | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Marconi Fairfield | 1 | 3 | Marconi Fairfield | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Marconi Fairfield | 3 (7) | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Sydney Olympic | 3 (6) | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Sydney Olympic | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | St George-Budapest | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Southern Conference
| Elimination and qualifying Finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Southern Final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | South Melbourne | 0 | 2 | Brunswick Juventus | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Brunswick Juventus | 1 | 5 | Preston Makedonia | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Brunswick Juventus | 2 | 1 | South Melbourne | 4 (4) | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Heidelberg United | 0 | 5 | Preston Makedonia | 4 (5) | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Heidelberg United | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Preston Makedonia | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Melbourne Croatia | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Preston Makedonia | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Grand Final
| Sydney City | 0 – 1 | Brunswick Juventus |
|---|---|---|
Incantalupo  38' |
| Brunswick Juventus | 1 – 0 | Sydney City |
|---|---|---|
| Incantalupo 41' |
- Brunswick Juventus win 2–0 on aggregate
| 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 |
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
