2001–02 National Soccer League

The 2001–02 National Soccer League season, was the 26th season of the National Soccer League in Australia. Prior to the start of the season, Canberra Cosmos and Eastern Pride were removed from the competition, reducing the league to 13 teams. The league premiership was won by Perth Glory and the championship won by Olympic Sharks.

NSL 2001–02
League	National Soccer League
Sport	Association football
Duration	2001–2002
Number of teams	13
NSL season
Champions	Olympic Sharks
Top scorer	Damian Mori (17)
National Soccer League seasons
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Perth Glory	24	16	7	1	52	23	+29	55	Qualification for the Finals series
2	Newcastle United	24	10	12	2	33	21	+12	42
3	Olympic Sharks (C)	24	12	4	8	37	24	+13	40
4	Brisbane Strikers	24	10	7	7	40	34	+6	37
5	South Melbourne	24	10	6	8	30	22	+8	36
6	Melbourne Knights	24	11	3	10	41	40	+1	36
7	Parramatta Power	24	10	4	10	34	30	+4	34
8	Northern Spirit	24	9	7	8	36	39	−3	34
9	Marconi Fairfield	24	8	6	10	33	36	−3	30
10	Wollongong Wolves	24	6	7	11	28	43	−15	25
11	Sydney United	24	6	6	12	27	37	−10	24
12	Adelaide Force	24	4	8	12	27	39	−12	20
13	Football Kingz	24	3	5	16	28	58	−30	14

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

Finals series

Bracket

	Elimination finals							Semifinals							Preliminary final					Grand final
								1	Perth Glory	4	0	4								Perth Glory		0
								2	Newcastle United	1	2	3								Olympic Sharks		1
															2	Newcastle United	0
	6	Melbourne Knights	0	2	2
															3	Olympic Sharks	1
	3	Olympic Sharks	0	6	6
								3	Olympic Sharks			2
								5	South Melbourne			1
	5	South Melbourne	2	2	4
	4	Brisbane Strikers	0	1	1

Elimination Final 1

Leg	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Date
1	South Melbourne	2–0	Brisbane Strikers	Bob Jane Stadium	8,450	14 April 2002
2	Brisbane Strikers	1–2	South Melbourne	Ballymore	5,391	21 April 2002

Elimination Final 2

Leg	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Date
1	Melbourne Knights	0–0	Olympic Sharks	Knights Stadium	3,421	14 April 2002
2	Olympic Sharks	6–2	Melbourne Knights	Toyota Park	5,850	21 April 2002

Major semi Final

Leg	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Date
1	Perth Glory	4–1	Newcastle United	Subiaco Oval	31,963	20 April 2002
2	Newcastle United	2–0	Perth Glory	Energy Australia Stadium	17,503	26 April 2002

Minor semi Final

Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Date
Olympic Sharks	2–1	South Melbourne	Marconi Stadium	6,341	28 April 2002

Preliminary Final

Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Date
Newcastle United	0–1	Olympic Sharks	Energy Australia Stadium	17,708	5 May 2002

Grand Final

Main article: 2002 National Soccer League Grand Final

12 May 2002
13:00 AWST

Perth Glory	0 – 1	Olympic Sharks
	Reports^[1]	Miličić   48'

Subiaco Oval, Perth

Attendance: 42,735

Referee: Mark Shield

GK 1   Jason Petkovic MF 2   Matt Horsley DF 3   Jamie Harnwell MF 7   Scott Miller FW 10   Bobby Despotovski (c)   15' MF 12   Bradley Hassell   69' MF 15   Edgar Aldrighi FW 16   Damian Mori MF 17   Gary Faria   69' DF 18   Shane Pryce DF 23   David Tarka Substitutes: GK 30   Vince Matassa DF 5   Craig Deans DF 6   Gareth Naven FW 9   Alistair Edwards   69' FW 26   Nik Mrdja   69' Manager:   Mich d'Avray Joe Marston Medal: Ante Milicic (Olympic Sharks)

GK 1   Clint Bolton DF 4   Paul Kohler MF 6   Wayne Srhoj   45+1'   69' DF 7   Lindsay Wilson MF 8   Tom Pondeljak MF 11   Jade North MF 14   Greg Owens   88' FW 16   Jeromy Harris   81' FW 19   Ante Milicic DF 23   Andrew Packer DF 28   Ante Jurić (c) Substitutes: GK 30   Brett Hughes DF 2   Stephen Laybutt   88' FW 9   Dylan Macallister   69' FW 12   Elias Augerinos MF 27   Hiroyuki Ishida   81' Manager:   Gary Phillips

Assistant referees: Fourth official:

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

Individual awards

• Player of the Year: Fernando Rech (Brisbane Strikers)
• U-21 Player of the Year: Joseph Schirripa (Newcastle United)
• Top Scorer(s): Damian Mori (Perth Glory – 17 goals)
• Coach of the Year: Ian Crook (Newcastle United)

References

1. "2002 National Soccer League Playoff results". www.ozfootball.net. Retrieved 30 December 2022.

• OzFootball Archives - 2001–02 NSL Season