National Soccer League 2003-04
Encyclopedia
The 2003–04 National Soccer League season was the 28th and final season of the National Soccer League
in Australia
. Perth Glory were crowned both premiers and champions after winning both the league and grand final.
into soccer in Australia. The end of the NSL led to the formation of the A-League
, a new national competition that began in 2005.
The season was played as a single league, home-and-away format with top six teams qualifying for a finals series. Adelaide City
withdrew from the competition shortly before the start of the season, leading to the hasty formation of Adelaide United to take their place.
At the beginning of the season, it became obvious that the title would be fought between Perth Glory and Parramatta Power. The Champions Glory lost several of their title-winning squad, most notably their dominant midfield, most of whom to the Power. Parramatta, backed by the Leagues Club, bought big for the last year including notably Ante Milicic
and Sasho Petrovski
, looking to simply buy the title.
This tactic seemed to be working for a large part of the season, as Power held off major challengers Perth, including a memorable 6-0 hiding, Glory's worst-ever loss. However, a turning point came and Perth began to close the gap both in results and performance terms, and won the Premiership by 6 points in the end. Neither of these sides were ever really matched by other sides during the season. Perhaps the surprise of the season was Adelaide United, who surprised all by making the finals and nearly breaking Perth's all-time average season record attendance in the process, with the biggest crowds of the season. This was most notable as the club was thrown together just a few weeks before the season to take the place of former heavyweight Adelaide City
.
In the finals series, notably Perth were comprehensively beaten in both legs of the major semi-final, while Adelaide progressed to the minor semi-final in their first ever season, only to be thrashed by Glory, just highlighting the gap between the top two sides and the rest of the league.
The last ever NSL Grand Final was held at Parramatta Stadium, due to Power winning the major semi-final. The Final was attended by a very measly crowd of just over 9,000, and played in thick rain from kick-off. Power's slick passign game was somewhat hurt by the poor conditions, and the game turned into something of a scrap. No goals were scored in 90 minutes of football, so the game went to extra-time where yound Glory striker Nick Mrdja slotted to give Glory their fifth National League title and second NSL Championship, while Power finished the season with nothing to show for their quality and dominance.
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style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=center>
PERTH GLORY:
|
GK
1
Jason Petkovic
DF
3
Matthew Bingley
DF
5
Shaun Murphy
(c)
FW
10
Bobby Despotovski
MF
11
Jade North
DF
12
Mark Byrnes
MF
15
Tom Pondeljak
FW
16
Damian Mori
DF
19
Jamie Harnwell
FW
21
Adrian Caceres
DF
24
Jamie Coyne
Substitutes:
MF
4
Bradley Hassell
FW
9
Nik Mrdja
Manager:
Mich d'Avray
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Perth Glory were crowned both premiers and champions after winning both the league and grand final.
Overview
The season was remembered as the end of an era for the national league, following the announcement in 2003 that the national competition would be wholly scrapped in response to the Crawford Report2003 Report of the Independent Soccer Review Committee
The Independent Soccer Review Committee published a report in 2003 on the governance of Association Football in Australia popularly called the Crawford Report. The committee was announced by the then Minister for Sport Rod Kemp and the Australian Parliament after extensive media publicity...
into soccer in Australia. The end of the NSL led to the formation of the A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
, a new national competition that began in 2005.
The season was played as a single league, home-and-away format with top six teams qualifying for a finals series. Adelaide City
Adelaide City
Adelaide City is a football club in Adelaide, South Australia. They are also known as The Zebras. They played in the National Soccer League for 27 Seasons but withdrew just prior to the 2003/2004 season. They now play in the South Australian Super League. City won the inaugural Super League...
withdrew from the competition shortly before the start of the season, leading to the hasty formation of Adelaide United to take their place.
At the beginning of the season, it became obvious that the title would be fought between Perth Glory and Parramatta Power. The Champions Glory lost several of their title-winning squad, most notably their dominant midfield, most of whom to the Power. Parramatta, backed by the Leagues Club, bought big for the last year including notably Ante Milicic
Ante Milicic
Ante Milicic is an Australian former football player. He is currently one of the assistant managers of A-League club Melbourne Heart. He is of Croatian Australian origin....
and Sasho Petrovski
Sasho Petrovski
Sasho Petrovski is an Australian football player. He is a striker who last played for the Newcastle Jets in the Hyundai A-League. Petrovski has two caps for the Australian national team...
, looking to simply buy the title.
This tactic seemed to be working for a large part of the season, as Power held off major challengers Perth, including a memorable 6-0 hiding, Glory's worst-ever loss. However, a turning point came and Perth began to close the gap both in results and performance terms, and won the Premiership by 6 points in the end. Neither of these sides were ever really matched by other sides during the season. Perhaps the surprise of the season was Adelaide United, who surprised all by making the finals and nearly breaking Perth's all-time average season record attendance in the process, with the biggest crowds of the season. This was most notable as the club was thrown together just a few weeks before the season to take the place of former heavyweight Adelaide City
Adelaide City
Adelaide City is a football club in Adelaide, South Australia. They are also known as The Zebras. They played in the National Soccer League for 27 Seasons but withdrew just prior to the 2003/2004 season. They now play in the South Australian Super League. City won the inaugural Super League...
.
In the finals series, notably Perth were comprehensively beaten in both legs of the major semi-final, while Adelaide progressed to the minor semi-final in their first ever season, only to be thrashed by Glory, just highlighting the gap between the top two sides and the rest of the league.
The last ever NSL Grand Final was held at Parramatta Stadium, due to Power winning the major semi-final. The Final was attended by a very measly crowd of just over 9,000, and played in thick rain from kick-off. Power's slick passign game was somewhat hurt by the poor conditions, and the game turned into something of a scrap. No goals were scored in 90 minutes of football, so the game went to extra-time where yound Glory striker Nick Mrdja slotted to give Glory their fifth National League title and second NSL Championship, while Power finished the season with nothing to show for their quality and dominance.
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Round 5
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Round 6
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Round 7
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Round 8
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Round 9
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Round 10
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Round 11
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Round 12
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Round 13
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Round 14
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Round 15
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Round 16
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Round 17
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Round 18
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Round 19
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Round 20
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Round 21
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Round 22
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Round 23
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Round 24
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Round 25
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Round 26
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Elimination Final 1 (3rd v 6th)
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- Adelaide United progress on away goals rule (4-4 on aggregate)
Elimination Final 2 (4th v 5th)
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- South Melbourne progress 2-0 on aggregate
Major Semi Final (1st v 2nd)
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- Parramatta Power progress 6-2 on aggregate
Minor Semi Final
----Preliminary Final
----Grand Final
----| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> | PARRAMATTA POWER: | |||
| GK | 1 | Clint Bolton Clint Bolton Clint Brian Bolton is an Australian football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Melbourne Heart in the Australian A-League. He was one of the most experienced goalkeepers in the history of the National Soccer League, which preceded the A-League... |
||
| DF | 3 | Alvin Ceccoli Alvin Ceccoli Alvin Warren Ceccoli is an Australian football player of Sammarinese heritage who played for three A-League clubs and was capped internationally for Australia.-Club career:Alvin started his National Soccer League career at Wollongong Wolves in 1995 as a 21 year old... (c) |
||
| DF | 4 | Simon Colosimo Simon Colosimo Simon Colosimo is an Australian football player who plays as a central defender for Melbourne Heart. He has represented the Australia national team on over twenty-five occasions.-Club career:... |
||
| DF | 5 | Michael Beauchamp Michael Beauchamp Michael Francis Beauchamp is an Australian football player. He currently plays for Sydney FC. He was a member of the Australian 2006 World Cup squad.-Club career:... |
||
| FW | 7 | Travis Dodd Travis Dodd Travis Dodd is an Indigenous Australian football player who plays for Perth Glory in the A-League. He plays as an attacking midfielder or winger.-Club career:... |
||
| MF | 8 |  Andre GumprechtAndre Gumprecht André Gumprecht is a former German football player who is currently playing for Australian club Lake Macquarie City FC-Club career:... |
||
| FW | 9 | Ante Milicic Ante Milicic Ante Milicic is an Australian former football player. He is currently one of the assistant managers of A-League club Melbourne Heart. He is of Croatian Australian origin.... |
||
| DF | 13 | Paul O'Grady Paul O'Grady Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as... |
||
| FW | 14 | Sasho Petrovski Sasho Petrovski Sasho Petrovski is an Australian football player. He is a striker who last played for the Newcastle Jets in the Hyundai A-League. Petrovski has two caps for the Australian national team... |
||
| FW | 21 | Ahmad Elrich |
||
| MF | 22 | Peter Zorbas Peter Zorbas Peter Zorbas is an Australian association footballer currently playing for Sydney United in the New South Wales Premier League.-Club career:... |
||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| MF | 6 | Matt Thompson Matt Thompson Matthew Thompson is an Australian football player who currently plays for Melbourne Heart.He is currently the most capped player in the A-League's history with 156 appearances.... |
||
| MF | 10 |  Fernando RechFernando Rech Fernando Rech is a Brazilian former football player. He played either as a striker or an attacking midfielder.-Life and career:... |
||
| Manager: | ||||
| Nick Theodorakopoulos Nick Theodorakopoulos Nick Theodorakopoulos is a football coach from Australia.-Managerial career:He previously coached in the predecessor to the A-League, the NSL with now-defunct Parramatta Power.... Joe Marston Medal: Ahmad ElrichAssistant Referees: Fourth Official: |
||||
Jason PetkovicJason Petkovic
Jason Petkovic is an Australian football player with Croatian origins and the brother of Michael Petkovic.-Club career:...
Matthew BingleyMatthew Bingley
Matthew Bingley is a former Australian football player. A utility who can play in midfield or defence, he has played over 300 matches in nearly 20 years at the highest level of domestic football in Australia...
Shaun MurphyShaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy may refer to:*Shaun Murphy , English snooker player*Shaun Murphy , retired Australian soccer player*Shaun Murphy , aka Stoney, American singer-See also:...
(c)
Bobby Despotovski Jade NorthJade North
Jade Bronson North is an Indigenous Australian association football player. He played as a centre back or full back for the FC Tokyo in the J. League Division 2...
Mark ByrnesMark Byrnes
Mark John Byrnes is an Australian football defender who currently plays for the APIA Leichhardt Tigers in the New South Wales Premier League.-Club career:...
Tom PondeljakTom Pondeljak
Tomislav Pondeljak is an Australian football player, who is currently playing for A-league club Melbourne Victory.-Club career:...
Damian MoriDamian Mori
Damian Mori is an Australian football player who is the top scorer for the Socceroos...
Jamie HarnwellJamie Harnwell
Jamie Richard Harnwell is an Australian football player. He last played as a centre half for Sorrento FC.-Perth Glory:...
Adrian CaceresAdrian Caceres
Claudio Adrian Caceres is an Argentine-Australian football player who currently is playing for Real Mataram.-Club career:...
Jamie CoyneJamie Coyne
Jamie Coyne is an Australian football player. He currently plays as a right full back for the A-League club Sydney FC. He is also the younger brother of Chris Coyne who plays for Perth Glory....
Bradley Hassell Nik MrdjaNik Mrdja
Nik Mrdja is an Australian football player of Serbian ethnicity. He currently plays as a striker for the Australian A-League club the Central Coast Mariners.-Club career:...
Mich d'AvrayJean-Michel d'Avray
Jean-Michel d'Avray is a former professional association footballer who spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town...
Individual awards
- Johnny Warren MedalJohnny Warren MedalThe Johnny Warren Medal is the award for best player in the Australian national football club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the A-League, the competition in Australia...
(Player of the Year): Ante MilicicAnte MilicicAnte Milicic is an Australian former football player. He is currently one of the assistant managers of A-League club Melbourne Heart. He is of Croatian Australian origin....
(Parramatta PowerParramatta PowerParramatta Power were a football team which was based in western Sydney. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999/2000 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were runners up to Perth Glory in the 2003/04 season of the NSL after Perth made the Grand Final look easy in...
) - U-21 Player of the Year: Alex BrosqueAlex BrosqueAlex Brosque is an Australian professional football player who currently plays for J. League side Shimizu S-Pulse...
(Marconi StallionsMarconi StallionsThe Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian football club located in Sydney, Australia. The club won the National Soccer League title a record four times, along with South Melbourne FC and Sydney City SC...
) - Top Scorer(s): Ante MilicicAnte MilicicAnte Milicic is an Australian former football player. He is currently one of the assistant managers of A-League club Melbourne Heart. He is of Croatian Australian origin....
(Parramatta PowerParramatta PowerParramatta Power were a football team which was based in western Sydney. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999/2000 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were runners up to Perth Glory in the 2003/04 season of the NSL after Perth made the Grand Final look easy in...
– 20 goals)