Abbas Saad

NSL Career: Sydney City, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, Northern Spirit 185 (56) / 1986 - 1999/00

Socceroos Career: 4 (0) A Internationals / 2 (0) B Internationals

Stunted by a famous match-fixing scandal in Malaysia while at the peak of his career, Abbas Saad was nevertheless a highly talented forward who was the first NSL player to be awarded the Joe Marston Medal and the first Lebanese-Australian to make his mark on Australian football - paving the way for future NSL footballers such as Michael Reda, Buddy Farah, Hussein Jomaa and the Elrich brothers.

Born in Lebanon, Saad began playing street football in Beirut before moving to Australia at the age of nine, with his family seeking refuge from the Lebanese Civil War. Saad began his junior career with Kingsgrove YMCA before moving to Sydney Olympic where he played up to the reserve grade before being released by the club despite his promising talent.

Shortly after leaving Olympic, Saad took up an offer to trial with NSL club Sydney City where he immediately joined the reserve team before making his first debut in the NSL at the age of 18 and scored his first NSL goal against Sydney Olympic in round seven of the 1986 season. 

Saad made 15 league appearances in his debut season and helped the side win the 1986 NSL Cup. Saad scored the opening goal in the final of the 1987 Oceania Cup Winners' Cup where City defeated New Zealand's North Shore United two-nil before joining Sydney Olympic as City pulled-out of the league at the start of the 1987 season. 

In his first season at Olympic, Saad competed for a spot in the forward line with Terry Patalis, Stuart Johnston and Andy Harper - making just 12 league appearances. Saad became a regular in the 1988 season, playing behind strikers John Kosmina and Marshall Soper and scored five goals in 23 league games as Olympic reached the elimination semi-final. 

Olympic continued to improve under Saad's former Sydney City coach Eddie Thomson and the forward scored the winning goal in Olympic's preliminary final win over St George to book the club's place in the 1989 NSL Grand Final. Following a close contest where Saad linked up well with his strike partner Alistair Edwards, Marconi scored a late header to win the grand final before Olympic played in the NSL Cup Final a week later, losing two-nil to Adelaide City. 

Determined to make amends for their short-falls in the 1989 season, Olympic brought in talented forwards Scott Ollerenshaw and Tony Perinovic and narrowly qualified for the finals series under coach Mick Hickman, who replaced Thomson early in the season. Saad took his game to another level during the 1989/90 season, finishing equal third in the NSL goalscoring charts before scoring a brilliant individual effort against Melbourne Croatia to secure back-to-back grand final appearances for Olympic.  

Utilising his blistering pace and excellent ball skills, Saad put constant pressure on the Marconi defence to claim the first ever Joe Marston Medal, awarded to the best player in a NSL Grand Final as Olympic won their first NSL Championship. Just a few days later, Saad played in consecutive NSL Cup Finals for Olympic as they went down four-one to South Melbourne. Saad's impressive form during the season saw him become the first Lebanese-Australian to earn a Socceroos cap in January 1990, coming on as a substitute against Russian club Torpedo in a B international.

Saad joined Olympic strike partner Edwards at Singapore FA (competed in Malaysia) during the NSL off-season, opening Australian football up to a new market where they scored a combined 24 league goals and helped the side finish runners-up in the Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1 and Malaysia Cup. Following the 1990 season in Malaysia, Saad and Edwards returned to Olympic where Saad scored eight goals in just 12 league appearances, however the club missed out on the finals series for just the second time in their previous eight seasons.

Saad and Edwards returned to Malaysia with Johor during the off-season, winning the league and cup double as Saad finished the season as the league's top scorer. The dynamic striker returned to Olympic a third of the way in to the 1991/92 season where he played a key role in getting the side in to the minor semi-final, scoring in a two-one loss to Adelaide City.

Returning to Johor, Saad was unable to help the club return to glory but earned his full international debut for Australia against Malaysia. Saad then returned to Singapore FA, helping them secure promotion back to the first division and finish runners-up in the 1993 Malaysia Cup. Following the 1993 Malaysian season, Saad briefly returned to Sydney Olympic - scoring one goal in five league games.

In 1994, the fully professional Liga Perdana was formed, with Singapore FA being a foundation club. In career best form, Saad scored a hat-trick before setting up Singapore's fourth goal in Singapore  FA's Malaysia Cup Final victory over Pahang. Following the cup victory, Saad helped the side win the league before receiving offers from European clubs. Saad had hit the peak of his career before getting caught up in Singapore's match-fixing scandal in 1995.

A team mate of Saad's put the club on notice after betting on their games and accused the Australian striker of scoring goals for financial gain. Saad was wrongfully convicted and was given a playing ban from FIFA which kept him out of the game until the striker's FIFA appeal was overturned. 

With Asian football still off-limits (Singapore ban was lifted in 2009), Saad returned to Sydney Olympic during the 1996/97, making just 12 appearances in an injury-interrupted season. Saad moved to Sydney United for the 1997/98 season where he returned to form, leading the club in goalscoring and earned a Socceroos call-up for the first time since 1992. 

The experienced forward made just one appearance during the 1998/99 due to a serious ACL injury before moving to Northern Spirit where he made just 13 appearances during the 1999/00 season. At the end of the season, Saad retired from top flight football at the age of 32. 

Saad continued his playing career in New South Wales with stints at top and lower division sides before hanging up his boots at the age of 35. Following his playing career, Saad became a football analyst in Asia and has had head coaching roles in NPL NSW as well as an assistant coaching role with Singapore Premier League side Geylang.