2001 National Soccer League Grand Final

Football match

2001 National Soccer League Grand FinalEvent| 2000–01 National Soccer League

|

| Wollongong Wolves | South Melbourne

|

2 | 1
Date| 3 June 2001 (2001-06-03)
Venue| Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Man of the Match| Matt Horsley
(Joe Marston Medal)
Referee| Eddie Lennie
Attendance| 13,402

<- 2000

2002 ->

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]

## Route to the Final

[edit]

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

[edit]

Pos | Team

* v
* t
* e

| 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[a]
16  | Carlton | 30  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0  | 90  | −90  | 0[b] | 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

[edit]

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Elimination finals| | | Major/Minor semifinals| | | Preliminary final| | | Grand Final
| | | | 3 June 2001
| 2| Wollongong Wolves| 2| 2| 4| | Wollongong Wolves| 2
| | | |
| 1| South Melbourne| 1| 1| 2| | | | | | South Melbourne| 1
| | |
| | 1| South Melbourne| 2|
| 6| Melbourne Knights (a)| 0| 2| 2| | | | |
| | | | | 4| Sydney Olympic| 0| |
| 3| Perth Glory| 0| 2| 2| | | | | | |
| | | 6| Melbourne Knights| 0|
| | | | |
| | | 4| Sydney Olympic| 1| |
| 4| Sydney Olympic| 3| 2| 5| | | |
| | |
| 5| Marconi Fairfield| 1| 0| 1| |
| | | | | |

## Match

[edit]

### Details

[edit]

3 June 2001
AEST

Wollongong Wolves| 2 - 1| South Melbourne

|
|

Petrovski 56'
Young 57' | Reports[10] | Anastasiadis 78'

Parramatta Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 13,402

Referee: Eddie Lennie

|  |

|

GK | 26 |  Dean Anastasiadis
DF | 2 |  George Sounis
DF | 3 |  Alvin Ceccoli |  79'
DF | 5 |  David Cervinski
MF | 6 |  Matt Horsley (c)
MF | 7 |  Paul Reid
FW | 9 |  Sasho Petrovski |  |  73'
FW | 10 |  Stuart Young
MF | 15 |  David Huxley
DF | 17 |  Ben Blake
MF | 27 |  Robbie Middleby |  |  90+1'
Substitutes:
GK | 1 |  Daniel Beltrame
DF | 4 |  Robert Stanton |  |  73'
MF | 8 |  Max Nicholson
FW | 14 |  Jay Lucas
MF | 23 |  Dino Mennillo |  |  90+1'
Manager:
Ron Corry

Joe Marston Medal:
Matt Horsley (Wollongong Wolves)
|  |

|

GK | 1 |  Michael Petkovic
MF | 2 |  Steve Iosifidis |  36' |  71'
DF | 3 |  Fausto De Amicis (c) |  89'
DF | 4 |  Mehmet Durakovic
MF | 7 |  Steve Panopoulos
FW | 8 |  Vaughan Coveny
MF | 10 |  Con Boutsianis
FW | 13 |  Andrew Vlahos
FW | 14 |  Vas Kalogeracos |  |  65'
DF | 16 |  Zeljko Susa |  |  65'
DF | 25 |  Simon Colosimo
Substitutes:
GK | 20 |  Chris Jones
MF | 6 |  David Clarkson
FW | 9 |  Paul Trimboli |  |  65'
FW | 11 |  John Anastasiadis |  |  71'
MF | 15 |  Goran Lozanovski |  |  65'
Manager:
Mike Petersen

Assistant referees:
Fourth official:

Match rules

* 90 minutes.
* 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
* Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.

|

## References

[edit]

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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South Melbourne FC matches

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| NSL Grand Finals|

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|

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|

*[Pos]: Position
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points