2001 National Soccer League Grand Final

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]

2001 National Soccer League Grand Final
Event2000–01 National Soccer League
Wollongong Wolves South Melbourne
2 1
Date3 June 2001 (2001-06-03)
VenueParramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Man of the MatchMatt Horsley
(Joe Marston Medal)
RefereeEddie Lennie
Attendance13,402

Route to the Final

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 14,000-capacity WIN Stadium could hold.[3][4]

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.[5][6][7]

League Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 South Melbourne 30 21 6 3 70 24 +46 69 2001 National Soccer League Finals
2 Wollongong Wolves (C) 30 18 7 5 80 40 +40 61 2000–01 National Soccer League Champions
3 Perth Glory 30 18 7 5 73 33 +40 61 2001 National Soccer League Finals
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 Auckland 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 (R) 30 11 4 15 49 55 −6 37 Disbanded at end of season
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 (R) 30 5 5 20 32 61 −29 0[lower-alpha 1]</ref> Disbanded at end of season
16 Carlton SC (R) 30 0 0 30 0 90 −90 0[lower-alpha 2] Team withdrew
Updated to match(es) played on 19 April 2001. Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Eastern Pride were stripped of all their points following a breach of regulations.<ref name='RSSSF Australia 2000/01'>"Australia 2000/01". rsssf.com. RSSSF. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  2. Carlton SC withdrew after eight rounds. All games against them were awarded 3-0.[8]

Finals Bracket
  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Preliminary Final Grand Final
                                           
 
2  Wollongong Wolves  2  2  4    Wollongong Wolves  2
1  South Melbourne  1  1  2            South Melbourne  1
       
       
         
  6  Melbourne Knights (a)  0  2 2           1  South Melbourne  2  
  3  Perth Glory  0  2  2         4  Sydney Olympic  0
       
       
        6  Melbourne Knights  0  
        4  Sydney Olympic  1
     
     
  4  Sydney Olympic  3  2  5  
  5  Marconi Fairfield  1  0  1

Match

Details
Wollongong Wolves2 – 1South Melbourne
Petrovski  56'
Young  57'		 (report) Anastasiadis  78'
Attendance: 13,402
Referee: Eddie Lennie

References
  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. Lynch, Michael (18 May 2001). "Calls fail to change finals kick-offs for TV". The Age.
  6. Taylor, John (25 May 2001). "At last some vision -- NSL final to be televised". Daily Telegraph.
  7. Lewis, David (29 May 2001). "Wolves tip poor grand final crowd". Daily Telegraph.
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