National Soccer League

            

This blog is dedicated to shining a light on the players who thrilled passionate football crowds week in-week out in Australia from 1977-2004. The A-League Men professional competition has been able to keep it's greatest players in the spotlight with the advantage of committed broadcasting deals and online exposure, however, the stars of the mostly semi-professional National Soccer League were arguably as talented.

Some of these players were trailblazers, some of them represented the Socceroos with distinction - but all of them had a certain quality that brought spectators through the turnstiles each week and left a mark on Australian football. 

The NSL should be acknowledged in particular for being responsible for the Socceroos' "Golden Generation" - through a development system from juniors to first team football that the A-League Men competition could learn from.

These biographies are an acknowledgement to the players who graced Australia's first national sporting competition and created unforgettable memories for the passionate football fans of a generation past. 

I have selected 150 players in particular who left an indelible mark on the competition, however there were many other players who could just as easily have been selected on the list. Please share any information or memories you have of the NSL so that we can keep the conversation going in recognising our rich football history. 

Player selection criteria

The on-field performances of the players I have selected proved invaluable to the sides that they represented, both from a talent standpoint and in terms of team success. There are a number of players that may be considered "surprise exclusions" which I will elaborate on -

Mature stars: Australia had some truly brilliant footballers during the 1970s and some of them continued their playing careers in the national league when it was formed in 1977. Despite some becoming stars of the league and some earning additional Socceroos caps, I have excluded these players from the list based purely on their age and international experience.

Jimmy Rooney, Peter Wilson, John Perin, Col Curran, George Harris, Rudi Gnavi, Branko Buljević, Peter Ollerton and Ivan Grujičić

Premature stars: One of the selection criteria for players on the list is to have played a minimum of two full NSL seasons. Certain players have been selected over others for having exerted indisputable dominance very early in their NSL careers. The players that I have excluded from the list, despite their obvious talent, became dominant players either while playing overseas or during the A-League era.

Jason Culina, Lorenz Kindtner, Vince Grella, Mark Bresciano, Ivan Ergić, Alex Brosque, Nick Carle, Ned Zelic, Mile Sterjovski, Josip Šimunić, Zlatko Arambašić, Jade North, Archie Thompson, Danny Tiatto, David Mitchell, Paul Reid, Joel Griffiths and Jason van Blerk

Prolific scorers: The NSL averaged 560 regular season goals over 28 seasons. A big reason for this was the number of deadly finishers that plied their trade in the league. There were many that I had to leave out in order to have a fair representation of keepers and all other outfield players, therefore, the goalscorers that were excluded had little or no influence in the national team.

Pablo Cardozo, Francis Awaritefe, Ivan Kelic, Vaughan Coveny, Andy Harper, Paul Lewis, Adrian Cervinski, Michael Curcija, Tony Krslovic, Norman Tome, Jamie Paton, Brad Hassell, John Nyskohus, John Buonavoglia, Gary Ward, Andy Vlahos, Saso Petrovski, Claudio Pelosi, Dixie Deans and Toto Da Costa

Injury-prone stars: The NSL saw some exceptionally skilful players, unfortunately for some, injuries affected their top flight careers. As consistency factored in to the players that made the list of 150, some outstanding players narrowly missed the cut.

Joe Picioane, Gus Cerro, Sebastian Giampaolo, Ian Souness, Mark Koussas, George Christopoulos, Gabriel Méndez, Steve Refenes, Ian Hunter and Hilton Silva 

General shortlist players: Depending on any individual fan's opinion, a number of players that I am naming on the shortlist should be one the list of 150 and I'm sure there are many players that I have failed to include that deserve a mention. Despite these players finding success and/or longevity in the league, I have left them out for having either less of an impact than the players of the list or for having somewhat overachieved in their careers.

David Ratcliffe, Charlie Yankos, Ransford Banini, Robbie Ironside, John Yzendoorn, Dean Anastasiadis, Scott Miller, David Huxley, David Cervinski, the O'Shea brothers, Robbie Hooker, Greg Woodhouse, Phil Traianedes, Martyn Crook, David Barrett, Bob Catlin, Matt Bingley, Robbie Stanton, Gary Meier, Craig Mason, Steve Jackson, Mike Gibson, Shaun Parton, Tom McCulloch, Ante Kovacevic, Robert Enes, Mark Babic, Ante Juric, Dominic Longo, Peter Kotamanidis, Vlatko Belić, Jim Cant, Claude Lucchesi, Brian Brown, Gary McDowall, Les Pogliacomi, Robbie Wheatley, John Gibson, Joe Palinkas, Walter Ardone and Peter Tsekinis.