1978 was South Melbourne Hellas' 19th season of senior men's competition.
Competing in the National Soccer League, 1978 was the club's second season at national league level.
Overview[]
League: National Soccer League
Finishing Position: 3rd of 14[1] (qualified for top-four series)
Coach: Dave MacLaren (all games except for Round 19); Ted Smith (caretaker Round 19)
Captain: Peter Ollerton (until round 13)
Best and Fairest:
Leading Goalscorer: Duncan Cummings (12)
President: Sam Papasavas
Major sponsor:
Apparel sponsor:
Membership slogan:
No 1 ticket holder:
Match results and season summary[]
Summary[]
National Soccer League season, and NSL Cup results[]
| Competition | Round | Opposition | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSL | 1 | St George | St George Stadium | 2-0 |
| NSL | 2 | Sydney Olympic | Middle Park Stadium | 1-1 |
| NSL | 3 | Newcastle KB United | Middle Park Stadium | 3-0 |
| NSL | 4 | Brisbane Lions | Perry Park | 1-1 |
| NSL | 5 | Fitzroy United Alexander | Middle Park Stadium | 1-1 |
| NSL | 6 | Footscray JUST | Olympic Park | 2-0 |
| NSL | 7 | Brisbane City | Middle Park Stadium | 0-1 |
| NSL | 8 | Marconi Fairfield | Middle Park Stadium | 0-3 |
| NSL | 9 | Eastern Suburbs Hakoah | Wentworth Park | 0-0 |
| NSL | 10 | Western Suburbs | Middle Park Stadium | 2-1 |
| NSL | 11 | Adelaide City | Olympic Sports Park | 1-1 |
| NSL | 12 | West Adelaide Hellas | Hindmarsh Stadium | 1-3 |
| NSL | 13 | Canberra City | Middle Park Stadium | 0-0 |
| NSL Cup | 1 | Footscray JUST | Olympic Park | 2-1 |
| NSL | 14 | Sydney Olympic | Erskineville Oval | 2-1 |
| NSL | 15 | St George | Middle Park Stadium | 5-2 |
| NSL | 16 | Newcastle KB United | International Sports Field | 1-1 |
| NSL | 17 | Brisbane Lions | Middle Park Stadium | 2-1 |
| NSL | 18 | Fitzroy United Alexander | Olympic Park | 1-4 |
| NSL | 19 | Footscray JUST | Middle Park Stadium | 4-0 |
| NSL | 20 | Brisbane City | Perry Park | 4-3 |
| NSL | 21 | Marconi Fairfield | Marconi Stadium | 1-1 |
| NSL | 22 | Eastern Suburbs Hakoah | Middle Park Stadium | 3-0 |
| NSL Cup | 2 | Fitzroy United Alexander | Olympic Park | 1-2[2] |
| NSL | 23 | Western Suburbs | Wentworth Park | 0-3 |
| NSL | 24 | Adelaide City | Middle Park Stadium | 5-0 |
| NSL | 25 | West Adelaide Hellas | Middle Park Stadium | 0-2 |
| NSL | 26 | Canberra City | Bruce Stadium | 3-0 |
| NSL Top Four Series | SF | Marconi Fairfield | Middle Park Stadium | 2-3 |
| Friendly | Australia Under 19s | Middle Park Stadium | ??? | |
| Friendly | Olympiakos | Olympic Park | 1-2 |
Ladder[]
West Adelaide Hellas won the title in a first-past-the-post format.
The top four side qualified for an end-of-season finals series, which had no bearing on the championship.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Adelaide Hellas | 26 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 42 | 27 | 36 |
| 2 | Eastern Suburbs Hakoah | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 49 | 27 | 35 |
| 3 | South Melbourne Hellas | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 45 | 30 | 32 |
| 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 46 | 31 | 30 |
| 5 | Fitzroy United Alexander | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 39 | 39 | 26 |
| 6 | Brisbane Lions | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 37 | 39 | 26 |
| 7 | St George | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 41 | 40 | 25 |
| 8 | Sydney Olympic | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 35 | 43 | 25 |
| 9 | Western Suburbs | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 41 | 45 | 24 |
| 10 | Adelaide City | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 38 | 44 | 24 |
| 11 | Newcastle KB United | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 33 | 40 | 22 |
| 12 | Footscray JUST | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 29 | 37 | 22 |
| 13 | Canberra City | 26 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 28 | 41 | 20 |
| 14 | Brisbane City | 26 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 29 | 49 | 17 |
Playing roster[]
| Player | League | NSL Playoffs | NSL Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| Stuart Baxter | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| Billy Bergmann | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| George Campbell | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 4 |
| George Christopoulos | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| Duncan Cummings | 22 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 12 |
| Alun Evans | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 7 |
| John Hansen | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| Margaritis Hatzimanouil | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 3 |
| Steve Kakantonis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Kris Kalifatidis | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| Chris Kent | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Kyriakos Kyriakouleas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Bertie Lutton | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 2 |
| Bobby McGuiness | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Frank Munro | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Socrates Nicolaidis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Peter Ollerton | 12 | 7 | - | - | - | - | 12 | 7 |
| Mike Pye | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| Jack Reilly | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Billy Rogers | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 5 |
| Peter Vaughan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sammy Wright | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1' |
| Arthur Xanthopoulos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
References[]
- ↑ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/NSL/1978/NSLTable.html
- ↑ After extra time. 1-1 after 90 minutes.