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)

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	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

• OzFootball Archives - 2001–02 NSL Season