1988 NSL Cup

The 1988 NSL Cup was the twelfth edition of the NSL Cup, which was the main national association football knockout cup competition in Australia. The NSL Cup was sponsored by Beach Fashions and known as the Beach Fashions Cup for sponsorship purposes.

1988 NSL Cup

National Soccer League Cup
Tournament details
Country	Australia
Dates	23 January – 14 August 1988
Teams	14
Final positions
Champions	APIA Leichhardt (2nd title)
Runners-up	Brunswick Juventus
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	38 (2.92 per match)
Attendance	36,758 (2,828 per match)
← 1987 1989 →

Sydney Croatia were the defending champions, having defeated South Melbourne to win their first title in the previous year's final, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners APIA Leichhardt.^[1]

APIA Leichhardt defeated Brunswick Juventus 5–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw in the final to win their second NSL Cup title.^[2]

Teams

The NSL Cup was a knockout competition with 14 teams taking part all trying to reach the Final in August 1988.^[3] The competition consisted of the 14 teams from the National Soccer League.

Round	Main date	Number of fixtures	Clubs remaining
First round	Saturday 23 January 1988	6	14 → 8
Second round	Wednesday 17 February 1988	4	8 → 4
Semi-finals	Wednesday 6 April 1988	2	4 → 2
Final	Sunday 14 August 1988	1	2 → 1

First round

South Melbourne and Sydney Croatia had a bye for the First round.

Brisbane Lions v Wollongong City

23 January 1988	Brisbane Lions	5–3	Wollongong City	Brisbane
18:00 AEST	Lightbrown 17', 90+3' Cummings 22' Stewart ?' Druery ?'	Report	Brazil 7' (pen.) Crainie 34' Cokely 40'	Stadium: Richlands Stadium Attendance: 2,855 Referee: Alan Kibbler

Footscray JUST v Preston Makedonia

23 January 1988	Footscray JUST	3–2	Preston Makedonia	Melbourne
18:00 AEDT	Crino 25', 42' Bozinoski 71'	Report	Branov 58' Smith 64'	Stadium: Olympic Park Attendance: 3,000 Referee: John Fraser

Adelaide City v Sunshine George Cross

23 January 1988	Adelaide City	2–0	Sunshine George Cross	Adelaide
19:00 ACDT	Maxwell 29' Sorensen 59'	Report		Stadium: Hindmarsh Stadium Attendance: 1,287 Referee: Jim Rossis

Brunswick Juventus v Melbourne Knights

23 January 1988	Brunswick Juventus	1–0	Melbourne Knights	Melbourne
20:00 AEDT	Lewis 80'	Report		Stadium: Olympic Park Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Jim Fearn

Marconi Fairfield v APIA Leichhardt

23 January 1988	Marconi Fairfield	1–2	APIA Leichhardt	Sydney
20:00 AEDT	De Jong 80'	Report	Butler 3' Parison 20'	Stadium: Marconi Stadium Attendance: 2,120 Referee: Richard Lorenc

St George-Budapest v Sydney Olympic

24 January 1988	St George-Budapest	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Sydney Olympic	Sydney
19:00 AEDT	Pottier 13'	Report	Kosmina 74' Soper 107'	Stadium: St George Stadium Attendance: 3,070 Referee: Terry Seacy

Second round

APIA Leichhardt v Sydney Olympic

17 February 1988	APIA Leichhardt	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Sydney Olympic	Sydney
18:30 AEDT		Report		Stadium: Parramatta Stadium Attendance: 3,994 Referee: Chris Bambridge
	Penalties
	Bertogna Brown Yankos Watson de Marigny		Kosmina Lee Polack Phillips

Brunswick Juventus v Footscray JUST

17 February 1988	Brunswick Juventus	1–1 (a.e.t.) (7–6 p)	Footscray JUST	Melbourne
19:30 AEDT	Palatsides 107'	Report	Bozinoski 119'	Stadium: Olympic Park Attendance: 1,300 Referee: Jim Rossis
	Penalties
	Egan Marley Incantalupo Lane Palatsides Patterson Belic		Bozinoski Fabrizio Dimoski van Egmond Karic Spink

Sydney Croatia v Brisbane Lions

17 February 1988	Sydney Croatia	3–0	Brisbane Lions	Sydney
20:15 AEDT	Slater 46' Hunter ?' (pen.) Lamond ?'	Report		Stadium: Parramatta Stadium Attendance: 3,994 Referee: Rob Davies

South Melbourne v Adelaide City

2 March 1988	South Melbourne	5–2	Adelaide City	Melbourne
19:30 AEDT	Trimboli 39' Wright 46', 74' Tsolakis 54' Postecoglou 70' (pen.)	Report	Villani 21' Melta 90+1'	Stadium: Olympic Park Attendance: 1,921 Referee: Chris Bambridge

Semi-finals

APIA Leichhardt v Sydney Croatia

6 April 1988	APIA Leichhardt	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Sydney Croatia	Sydney
19:30 AEST	Phillips 64' Ward 91'	Report	Slater 20'	Stadium: Marconi Stadium Attendance: 3,866 Referee: Don Campbell

Brunswick Juventus v South Melbourne

6 April 1988	Brunswick Juventus	1–0	South Melbourne	Melbourne
19:30 AEST	Petersen 65'	Report		Stadium: Olympic Park Attendance: 4,151 Referee: Gary Power

Final

Main article: 1988 NSL Cup final

14 August 1988

14:30 AEST

APIA Leichhardt	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Brunswick Juventus
	Report
Penalties
Bertogna McKinna Yankos Watson de Marigny	5–3	Yzendoorn Egan Palatsides Marley

Marconi Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 2,200

Referee: Alan Kibbler