12th season of top-tier soccer league in Australia
Football league season
| Season | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 January – 3 September 1984 |
| Champions | Marconi Fairfield 2nd title |
| Premiers | Wollongong City 1st title |
| Relegated | Brunswick Juventus Brisbane Lions |
| Matches played | 188 |
| Goals scored | 501 (2.66 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Frank Farina (17) |
| Biggest home win | St George-Budapest 6–0 Adelaide City (7 February 1988) |
| Biggest away win | Brisbane Lions 1–5 St George-Budapest (3 April 1988) Brunswick Juventus 0–4 Preston Makedonia (31 July 1988) |
| Highest scoring | South Melbourne 5–4 APIA Leichhardt (20 March 1988) |
| Highest attendance | 17,064 Sydney Croatia 2–2 Marconi Fairfield (3 September 1988, Grand Final) |
| Lowest attendance | 600 Melbourne Croatia 0–2 Brunswick Zebras (7 August 1988) |
| Total attendance | 545,935 |
| Average attendance | 2,904 |
← 1988 1989 → | |
The 1988 National Soccer League season, was the: 12th season of the——National Soccer League in Australia.
League table※
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification/relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wollongong City | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 44 | 32 | +12 | 34 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 2 | Sydney Croatia | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 34 | |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 34 | |
| 4 | Marconi Fairfield (C) | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 46 | 26 | +20 | 32 | |
| 5 | Sydney Olympic | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 27 | |
| 6 | Adelaide City | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 27 | |
| 7 | Sunshine George Cross | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 27 | |
| 8 | St George-Budapest | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 26 | |
| 9 | Melbourne Croatia | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 28 | 33 | −5 | 24 | |
| 10 | Footscray JUST | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 23 | |
| 11 | APIA Leichhardt | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 35 | −7 | 23 | |
| 12 | Preston Makedonia | 26 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 22 | |
| 13 | Brunswick Juventus (R) | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 31 | 43 | −12 | 19 | Relegation——to the Victorian State League |
| 14 | Brisbane Lions (R) | 26 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 28 | 59 | −31 | 12 | Relegation——to the Brisbane Premier League |
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Results※
| Home \ Away | ADE | API | BRI | BRU | FOO | MAR | MEL | PRE | SOU | STG | SGC | SYC | SYO | WOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide City | 0–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | |
| APIA Leichhardt | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| Brisbane Lions | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | |
| Brunswick Juventus | 0–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | |
| Footscray JUST | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | |
| Marconi Fairfield | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Melbourne Croatia | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | |
| Preston Makedonia | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | |
| South Melbourne | 2–1 | 5–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
| St George-Budapest | 6–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
| Sunshine George Cross | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | |
| Sydney Croatia | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | |
| Sydney Olympic | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | |
| Wollongong City | 2–1 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 |
Source: OzFootball
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Finals series※
| Elimination and qualifying Finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Grand Final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Wollongong City | 0 (3) | 2 | Sydney Croatia | 2 (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Sydney Croatia (p) | 0 (4) | 4 | Marconi Fairfield (p) | 2 (5) | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Sydney Croatia | 2 | 1 | Wollongong City | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | South Melbourne | 1 | 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | South Melbourne | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Sydney Olympic | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Individual awards※
- Player(s) of the Year: Paul Wade (South Melbourne); Frank Farina (Marconi Fairfield)
- U-21 Player of the Year: Paul Trimboli (South Melbourne)
- Top Scorer: Frank Farina (Marconi Fairfield) – 16 goals
- Coach of the Year: Brian Garvey (South Melbourne)