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)

Overview

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

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 Finals series and 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

References

• Australia - List of final tables (RSSSF)