1989 National Soccer League
# 1989 National Soccer League

The 1989 National Soccer League season, was the 13th season of the National Soccer League (NSL) in Australia.

## Background

The Australian Soccer Federation began the year by announcing that the NSL would be televised on ABC rather than on SBS who had shown the league since 1979. SBS challenged the decision in the New South Wales Supreme Court and were allowed to show matches in rounds 1 and 2 before the court found in favour of the ABC.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Marconi Fairfield (C) | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 62 | 24 | +38 | 38 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 2 | St George-Budapest | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 33 | 24 | +9 | 32 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 3 | Sydney Olympic | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 31 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne Croatia | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 44 | 35 | +9 | 31 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 5 | Preston Makedonia | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 30 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 6 | Adelaide City | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 28 | |
| 7 | Sydney Croatia | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 28 | |
| 8 | South Melbourne | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 26 | |
| 9 | Wollongong City | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 22 | 29 | −7 | 23 | |
| 10 | APIA Leichhardt | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 23 | |
| 11 | Sunshine George Cross | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 19 | |
| 12 | Blacktown City | 26 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 19 | |
| 13 | Melbourne JUST (R) | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 24 | 37 | −13 | 18 | Relegation to the Victorian State League |
| 14 | Heidelberg United (R) | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 22 | 45 | −23 | 18 | Relegation to the Victorian State League |

## Finals series

| Elimination and qualifying Finals | Elimination and qualifying Finals | Elimination and qualifying Finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | 1 | Marconi Fairfield | 1 | | | | 1 | Marconi Fairfield | 1 |
| | | | 2 | St George-Budapest | 0 | | | | 2 | Sydney Olympic | 0 |
| 2 | St George-Budapest | 1 | | | | 2 | St George-Budapest | 0 | | | |
| 3 | Sydney Olympic | 0 | | | | 3 | Sydney Olympic | 1 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Sydney Olympic | 3 | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Melbourne Croatia | 2 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Melbourne Croatia | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Preston Makedonia | 0 | | | | | | | | | |

## Individual awards

* Player of the Year: Zlatko Nastevski (Marconi Fairfield)
* U-21 Player of the Year: Paul Trimboli (South Melbourne)
* Top Scorer: Zlatko Nastevski (Marconi Fairfield) – 20 goals
* Coach of the Year: Bertie Mariani (Marconi Fairfield)
