1998–99 National Soccer League

The 1998–99 National Soccer League season, known under a sponsorship arrangement as the 1998–99 Ericsson Cup, was the 23rd season of the National Soccer League in Australia.

NSL 1998-99
League	National Soccer League
Sport	Association football
Duration	1998-99
Number of teams	15
NSL season
Champions	South Melbourne
Top scorer	Mile Sterjovski Pablo Cardozo (18 each)
National Soccer League seasons
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Overview

It was contested by 15 teams, and South Melbourne won the championship. Northern Spirit FC entered the competition.^[1]

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sydney United	28	18	4	6	53	33	+20	58	Qualification for the Finals series
2	South Melbourne (C)	28	17	6	5	50	26	+24	57	Qualification for the Oceania Club Championship
3	Perth Glory	28	16	5	7	62	37	+25	53	Qualification for the Finals series
4	Marconi Fairfield	28	15	3	10	53	47	+6	48
5	Northern Spirit	28	14	4	10	36	35	+1	46
6	Adelaide City	28	13	6	9	39	26	+13	45
7	Sydney Olympic	28	12	7	9	46	36	+10	43
8	Newcastle Breakers	28	11	7	10	29	33	−4	40
9	Brisbane Strikers	28	11	6	11	41	47	−6	39
10	Wollongong Wolves	28	8	8	12	45	52	−7	32
11	Carlton	28	9	4	15	47	47	0	31
12	Melbourne Knights	28	8	5	15	32	43	−11	29
13	West Adelaide	28	7	6	15	36	46	−10	27
14	Gippsland Falcons	28	5	10	13	17	44	−27	25
15	Canberra Cosmos	28	4	3	21	21	55	−34	15

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

Finals series

Bracket

	Elimination Finals							Major/Minor semi-finals							Preliminary Final					Grand Final
								9 & 16 May 1999												30 May 1999
								2	South Melbourne	2	0	2								South Melbourne		3
								1	Sydney United	1	0	1			23 May 1999					Sydney United		2
															1	Sydney United	2
	6	Adelaide City	0	1	1
								15 May 1999							3	Perth Glory	1
	3	Perth Glory	0	2	2
								3	Perth Glory			1
								4	Marconi Stallions			0
	5	Northern Spirit	0	1	1
	4	Marconi Stallions	0	2	2

Elimination finals

• Northern Spirit 0-0 : 1-2 Marconi Stallions
• Adelaide City 0-0 : 1-2 Perth Glory

Major semi-final

• South Melbourne 2-1 : 0-0 Sydney United

Minor semi-final

• Perth Glory 1-0 Marconi Stallions

Preliminary final

• Sydney United 2-1 Perth Glory

Grand Final

Main article: 1999 National Soccer League Grand Final

30 May 1999
15:15 AEST

South Melbourne	3 – 2	Sydney United
Trimboli   53' Anastasiadis   63,87'	(report)	Sterjovski   8' Townsend   90+'

Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne

Attendance: 15,194

Referee: Simon Michallef

SOUTH MELBOURNE: GK 1   Michael Petkovic MF 2   Steve Iosifidis DF 3   Fausto De Amicis DF 4   Nick Orlic DF 5   Con Blatsis MF 6   David Clarkson MF 7   Steve Panopoulos FW 8   Vaughan Coveny FW 9   Paul Trimboli (c)   68' FW 10   Michael Curcija   63' MF 15   Goran Lozanovski   81' Substitutes: GK 20   Chris Jones FW 11   John Anastasiadis   63' MF 16   George Goutzioulis   68' FW 17   Jim Tsekinis   81' DF 18   Robert Liparoti Manager:   Ange Postecoglou Joe Marston Medal:   Goran Lozanovski

SYDNEY UNITED: GK 30   Mike Gibson DF 2   David Barrett DF 4   Velimir Kupresak (c) DF 5   Richard Plesa DF 6   Joe Vrkic MF 7   Jacob Burns   88' FW 9   Mile Sterjovski FW 10   Nathan Day   64' MF 11   Steve Berry DF 17   Michael Santalab   68' MF 28   Peter Bennett Substitutes: GK 20   Barney Smith DF 8   Walter Ardone   88' MF 15   Danny Townsend   68' FW 19   Joel Griffiths   64' MF 25   Ante Moric Manager:   David Mitchell

Footnotes

1. Reid, Michael (5 October 1998). "Foot soldiers". The Age. p. 44. Retrieved 30 August 2022.

References

• Australia - List of final tables (RSSSF)