National Soccer League 1984

The National Soccer League 1984 season was the eighth season of the National Soccer League in Australia. This season saw a restructure of the league, introducing a split into two geographical divisions, and an expansion from 16 to 24 teams. A "Northern Conference" comprised 12 clubs from NSW and ACT, and a "Southern Conference" consisted of 12 Victorian, South Australian, and ironically, Queensland clubs.

For the first time in the competition a finals system was introduced, whereby the five highest finishing teams in each conference would playoff to determine a conference winner. The two conference winners would then play each other in a two-legged Grand Final to be declared champions. The Grand Final was won by South Melbourne over Sydney Olympic.

Northern Conference

Finals

:Elimination Semi-final: APIA Leichhardt 3 d. Blacktown City 1:Preliminary Semi-final: Sydney Olympic 2 d. Marconi Fairfield 1:Minor Semi-final: APIA Leichhardt 3 d. Marconi 3 (4-3 on penalties):Major Semi-final: Sydney City 1 d. Sydney Olympic 1 (4-2 on penalties):Preliminary Final: Sydney Olympic 3 d. APIA Leichhardt 0:Final: Sydney Olympic 2 d. Sydney City 1

Northern Conference winners: Sydney Olympic

Southern Conference

Finals

:Elimination Semi-final: Brisbane Lions 4 d. Brunswick Juventus 2:Preliminary Semi-final: Melbourne CSC 2 d. Heidelberg United 1:Minor Semi-final: Heidelberg United 0 d. Brisbane Lions 0 (3-2 on penalties):Major Semi-final: South Melbourne 3 d. Melbourne CSC 2 :Preliminary Final: Heidelberg United 3 d. Melbourne CSC 1:Final: South Melbourne 4 d. Heidelberg United 2

Southern Conference winners: South Melbourne

Grand final

footballbox
date = First Leg
24 October, 1984
team1 = South Melbourne
score = 2 – 1
report =
team2 = Sydney Olympic
goals1 = Egan goal|43, goal|64
goals2 = Koussas goal|5
stadium = Melbourne
attendance =
referee = ----footballbox
date = Second Leg
28 October, 1984
team1 = Sydney Olympic
score = 1 – 2
report =
team2 = South Melbourne
goals1 = Theodorakopoulos goal|34
goals2 = Crino goal|10
Yzendoorn goal|18
stadium = Sydney
attendance =
referee =
*"South Melbourne win 4-2 on aggregate"

Individual Awards

*Player of the Year: Sergio Melta (Adelaide City)
*U-21 Player of the Year: Tony Franken (Canberra City)
*Top Scorer(s): Doug Brown (South Melbourne – 22 goals)
*Coach of the Year: Eddie Thomson (Sydney City)

References

* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/1984/NSLTable.html OzFootball Archives - 1984 NSL Season]