1997 National Soccer League Grand Final

The 1997 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 25 May 1997 between Brisbane Strikers and Sydney United at Lang Park. Brisbane gained home advantage because despite finishing below United on the league standings, they defeated the Sydney side in the major semi-final two weeks prior. The teams were all locked up at half time, however two goals for the Strikers by Frank Farina and Rod Brown secured their first NSL championship.^[1][2][3] Alan Hunter won the Joe Marston Medal.

1997 National Soccer League Grand Final

Event	1996–97 National Soccer League
Brisbane Strikers Sydney United 2 0
Date	25 May 1997 (1997-05-25)
Venue	Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia
Man of the Match	Alan Hunter (Joe Marston Medal)
Referee	Simon Micallef
Attendance	40,446
← 1996 1998 →

Route to the final

League Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sydney United	26	17	5	4	67	33	+34	56	1997 National Soccer League Finals
2	Brisbane Strikers (C)	26	15	2	9	55	40	+15	47	1996-97 National Soccer League Champions
3	South Melbourne	26	14	4	8	39	25	+14	46	1997 National Soccer League Finals
4	Adelaide City	26	11	10	5	32	22	+10	43
5	Marconi Stallions	26	12	4	10	41	37	+4	40
6	Melbourne Knights	26	11	6	9	36	32	+4	39
7	Perth Glory	26	11	5	10	48	41	+7	38
8	West Adelaide	26	10	3	13	39	51	−12	33
9	UTS Olympic	26	8	8	10	41	46	−5	32
10	Wollongong Wolves	26	8	8	10	42	48	−6	32
11	Newcastle Breakers	26	7	9	10	40	46	−6	30
12	Gippsland Falcons	26	8	6	12	33	41	−8	30
13	Collingwood Warriors (R)	26	6	9	11	32	44	−12	27	Disbanded at end of season
14	Canberra Cosmos	26	2	5	19	30	69	−39	11

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated

Finals Bracket

	Elimination finals							Semifinals							Preliminary final					Grand final
								1	Sydney United	0	2	(2)									Sydney United	0
								2	Brisbane Strikers (a)	1	1	(2)									Brisbane Strikers	2
																Sydney United	1
	3	South Melbourne	4	3	(7)
																South Melbourne	0
	6	Melbourne Knights	1	0	(1)
									South Melbourne			1
									Adelaide City			0
	4	Adelaide City	0	4	(4)
	5	Marconi Fairfield	3	0	(3)

Match

Details

25 May 1997
15:00 AEST

Brisbane Strikers	2 – 0	Sydney United
Farina   47' Brown   69'	Reports^[4]

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Attendance: 40,446

Referee: Simon Micallef

GK 1   Clint Bolton DF 2   Glen Gwynne   88' DF 3   Alan Hunter FW 5   Frank Farina   80' MF 6   Sean Cranney FW 7   Rod Brown FW 9   Danny Wright MF 11   Troy Cranney MF 15   Chay Hews   79' DF 16   Kasey Wehrman FW 17   Craig Williams Substitutes: FW 8   Matt Bell   88' FW 10   Reece Tollenaere   80' MF 12   Jeremy Harris   79' Manager:   Frank Farina Joe Marston Medal: Alan Hunter (Brisbane Strikers)

GK 1   Zeljko Kalac DF 2   Rob Trajkovski   63' DF 5   Velimir Kupresak DF 7   Mark Babic MF 10   Richard Plesa MF 11   Kresimir Marusic MF 12   Ante Moric FW 14   Ante Milicic MF 15   Aytec Genc FW 17   David Zdrilic MF 23   Paul Bilokapic   81' Substitutes: MF 3   Jason Culina   63' DF 25   Mark Rudan   81' Manager:   Branko Culina

Assistant referees: Fourth official:

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

References

1. "Australian National League" (PDF). Hyundai A-League season guide 2019–20: 322.
2. "1997 National Soccer League Playoff results". www.ozfootball.net. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
3. Lutton, Phil (10 March 2011). "Strikers miracle to spur on Roar". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
4. "1997 NSL Final". Oz Football. Retrieved 30 December 2022.