2000–01 National Soccer League

The 2000–01 National Soccer League season, was the 25th season of the National Soccer League in Australia.

NSL 2000–01
League	National Soccer League
Sport	Association football
Duration	2000–2001
Number of teams	16
NSL season
Champions	Wollongong Wolves
Top scorer	Sasho Petrovski (21)

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Melbourne	30	21	6	3	70	24	+46	69	Qualification for the Finals series
2	Wollongong Wolves (C)	30	18	7	5	80	40	+40	61
3	Perth Glory	30	18	7	5	73	33	+40	61
4	Sydney Olympic	30	17	6	7	58	37	+21	57
5	Marconi Fairfield	30	14	8	8	42	33	+9	50
6	Melbourne Knights	30	14	7	9	61	46	+15	49
7	Adelaide Force	30	12	7	11	54	54	0	43
8	Football Kingz	30	12	7	11	52	52	0	43
9	Parramatta Power	30	13	3	14	42	44	−2	42
10	Sydney United	30	12	6	12	46	56	−10	42
11	Canberra Cosmos	30	11	4	15	49	55	−6	37
12	Brisbane Strikers	30	9	8	13	52	56	−4	35
13	Northern Spirit	30	8	8	14	39	50	−11	32
14	Newcastle United	30	7	9	14	37	56	−19	30
15	Eastern Pride	30	5	5	20	32	61	−29	0[a]
16	Carlton	30	0	0	30	0	90	−90	0[b]	Withdrew

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Eastern Pride were stripped of all their points following a breach of regulations.^[1]
2. Carlton withdrew after eight rounds. All games against them were awarded 3–0.

Finals series

Bracket

	Elimination Finals							Major/Minor semi-finals							Preliminary Final					Grand Final
																				3 June 2001
								2	Wollongong Wolves	2	2	4								Wollongong Wolves		2
								1	South Melbourne	1	1	2								South Melbourne		1
															1	South Melbourne	2
	6	Melbourne Knights (a)	0	2	2
															4	Sydney Olympic	0
	3	Perth Glory	0	2	2
								6	Melbourne Knights			0
								4	Sydney Olympic			1
	4	Sydney Olympic	3	2	5
	5	Marconi Fairfield	1	0	1

Elimination finals

• Melbourne Knights 0–0 : 2–2 Perth Glory
• Sydney Olympic 3–1 : 2–0 Marconi Fairfield

Minor semi-final

• Melbourne Knights 0–1 Sydney Olympic

Major semi-final

• Wollongong Wolves 2–1 : 2–1 South Melbourne

Preliminary final

• South Melbourne 2–0 Sydney Olympic

Grand final

Main article: 2001 National Soccer League Grand Final

3 June 2001
12:00 AEST

Wollongong Wolves	2 – 1	South Melbourne
Petrovski 56' Young 57'	(report)	Anastasiadis 78'

Parramatta Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 13,402

Referee: Eddie Lennie

WOLLONGONG WOLVES: GK 26 Dean Anastasiadis DF 2 George Sounis DF 3 Alvin Ceccoli  79' DF 5 David Cervinski MF 6 Matt Horsley (c) MF 7 Paul Reid FW 9 Sasho Petrovski  73' FW 10 Stuart Young MF 15 David Huxley DF 17 Ben Blake MF 27 Robbie Middleby  90+1' Substitutes: GK 1 Daniel Beltrame DF 4 Robert Stanton  73' MF 8 Max Nicholson FW 14 Jay Lucas MF 23 Dino Mennillo  90+1' Manager: Ron Corry Joe Marston Medal: Matt Horsley

SOUTH MELBOURNE: GK 1 Michael Petkovic MF 2 Steve Iosifidis  36'  71' DF 3 Fausto De Amicis (c)  89' DF 4 Mehmet Durakovic MF 7 Steve Panopoulos FW 8 Vaughan Coveny MF 10 Con Boutsianis FW 13 Andrew Vlahos FW 14 Vas Kalogeracos  65' DF 16 Zeljko Susa  65' DF 25 Simon Colosimo Substitutes: GK 20 Chris Jones MF 6 David Clarkson FW 9 Paul Trimboli  65' FW 11 John Anastasiadis  71' MF 15 Goran Lozanovski  65' Manager: Mike Petersen