2001 National Soccer League Grand Final

The 2001 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 3 June 2001 between Wollongong Wolves and South Melbourne at Parramatta Stadium. Soccer Australia deemed Wollongong's 14,000 capacity home ground WIN Stadium too small for the centrepiece of the NSL season. Ironically the crowd attendance was 13,402. Wollongong won the match 2–1, with two goals in as many minutes from Sasho Petrovski and Stuart Young putting them ahead. Although John Anastasiadis got a goal for South Melbourne, it wasn't enough. This won the Wolves their second consecutive National Soccer League championship and their second overall. Matt Horsley won the Joe Marston Medal.[1]

2001 National Soccer League Grand Final
Event2000–01 National Soccer League
Wollongong Wolves South Melbourne
2 1
Date3 June 2001 (2001-06-03)
VenueParramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Man of the MatchMatt Horsley
(Joe Marston Medal)
RefereeEddie Lennie
Attendance13,402

Route to the Final

As top-two finishers, South Melbourne and Wollongong Wolves were placed into the second week of the final series, with the winner to host the grand final. Wollongong won both legs 2–1 to qualify for the grand final with a 4–2 aggregate. In the preliminary final, South Melbourne defeated fourth-placed Sydney Olympic to qualify for the final.[2]

Soccer Australia chose Parramatta Stadium as the grand final venue, expecting a larger crowd than the WIN Stadium could hold.[3][4][5]

The Soccer Australia board initially refused an offer from the Seven Network to show the match live on free-to-air television. The board intended for the match to be played at 3pm, however Seven had pre-existing Australian Football League (AFL) commitments. Eventually, the board changed the time to midday and Seven showed the match live outside of Sydney.[6][7][8]

League Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 South Melbourne 30 21 6 3 70 24 +46 69 Qualification for the Finals series
2 Wollongong Wolves (C) 30 18 7 5 80 40 +40 61
3 Perth Glory 30 18 7 5 73 33 +40 61
4 Sydney Olympic 30 17 6 7 58 37 +21 57
5 Marconi Fairfield 30 14 8 8 42 33 +9 50
6 Melbourne Knights 30 14 7 9 61 46 +15 49
7 Adelaide Force 30 12 7 11 54 54 0 43
8 Football Kingz 30 12 7 11 52 52 0 43
9 Parramatta Power 30 13 3 14 42 44 −2 42
10 Sydney United 30 12 6 12 46 56 −10 42
11 Canberra Cosmos 30 11 4 15 49 55 −6 37
12 Brisbane Strikers 30 9 8 13 52 56 −4 35
13 Northern Spirit 30 8 8 14 39 50 −11 32
14 Newcastle United 30 7 9 14 37 56 −19 30
15 Eastern Pride 30 5 5 20 32 61 −29 0[lower-alpha 1]
16 Carlton 30 0 0 30 0 90 −90 0[lower-alpha 2] Withdrew
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. Eastern Pride were stripped of all their points following a breach of regulations.[9]
  2. Carlton withdrew after eight rounds. All games against them were awarded 3–0.

Finals Bracket

Match

Details
Wollongong Wolves2 – 1South Melbourne
Petrovski 56'
Young 57'		 Reports[10] Anastasiadis 78'
Attendance: 13,402
Referee: Eddie Lennie

Assistant referees:
Fourth official:

Match rules

References
  1. Cockerill, Michael (4 June 2001). "Wily Wolves fly like Hawks". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 33. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. Desira, Peter (28 May 2001). "South wins final berth". Herald Sun.
  3. Desira, Peter (22 May 2001). "In the South smiles". Herald Sun.
  4. "Grand larceny; Kick in the guts as Wolves lose home grand final". Illawarra Mercury. 22 May 2001.
  5. Cockerill, Michael (22 May 2001). "Wolves lose out as Sydney gets the grand final". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 42. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  6. Lynch, Michael (18 May 2001). "Calls fail to change finals kick-offs for TV". The Age.
  7. Taylor, John (25 May 2001). "At last some vision -- NSL final to be televised". Daily Telegraph.
  8. Lewis, David (29 May 2001). "Wolves tip poor grand final crowd". Daily Telegraph.
  9. "Australia 2000/01". RSSSF. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  10. "2001 National Soccer League Playoff results". www.ozfootball.net. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
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