1961 NSWSF season

Football league season
NSW Federation of Soccer Clubs
Season1961
ChampionsSydney Hakoah
PremiersSydney Prague
Matches played137
Goals scored568 (4.15 per match)
Top goalscorerLes Schauman (28 goals)
Biggest home winBudapest 9–1 Sydney Austral
Biggest away winAPIA Leichhardt 1–6 Hakoah
Sydney Austral 1–6 APIA Leichhardt
Sydney Austral 2–7 Gladesville-Ryde
Highest scoringHakoah 10–4 Sydney Austral
← 1960
1962 →

The 1961 New South Wales Federation of Soccer Clubs (NSWSF) season was the fifth season of football in New South Wales under the administration of the federation since its breakaway from the NSW Soccer Football Association in January of 1957. The home and away league season began on the 15th of April with twelve teams, reducing the number of teams by two compared to the previous season. Sydney Prague were Federation Premiers for a third consecutive season after finishing first on the ladder of the twenty-two round regular season.

After defeating Federation Premiers, Prague, in the preliminary final, Hakoah went on to defeat reigning champions Canterbury-Marrickville 4–1 in the grand final to be crowned Federation Champions for the first time.

Other tournaments held this season once again included the Ampol Cup and the Federation Cup (this year renamed the 'Craven A' Cup). Prague were the Ampol Cup winners for the second time as were Hakoah in the Federation Cup.

Clubs

Changes from last season
  • Number of teams reduced from 14 to 12.
  • Pan Hellenic were promoted into the competition from Second Division for the first time.
  • Granville AEK, Balgownie and Manly were relegated to Second Division.
  • Corrimal United merged with Illawarra District Soccer Association club, Woonona-Bulli to form South Coast United
  • North Side United–E.P.T. merged with Polonia to form Polonia North Side.
Club Ground Colours Founded App Debut Last season
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Lambert Park, Leichhardt Maroon and blue 1954 5th 1957 2nd (preliminary finalists)
Auburn SFC Mona Park, Auburn Green and gold 1957 5th 1957 4th (minor semifinalists)
Bankstown SFC Wiley Park Green and gold 1944 5th 1957 8th
Budapest–South Sydney Sydney Athletics Field, Moore Park Red, white and green 1957 3rd 1959 6th
Canterbury-Marrickville Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill Blue and gold 1896[a] 5th 1957 3rd (winners)
Gladesville-Ryde Gladesville Sports Ground, Gladesville Gold and black 1951 4th 1957 8th
Hakoah Wentworth Park, Glebe Blue and white 1953 4th 1957 4th (preliminary finalists)
Pan Hellenic Wentworth Park, Glebe Light blue and white 1957 1st 1961 Div. II
Polonia–North Side Drummoyne Oval and North Sydney Oval Red, black and white 1961 1st 1961 [b]
South Coast United Balls Paddock, Woonona Dark blue, red and white 1958[c] 4th 1958 11th
Prague Sydney Athletics Field, Moore Park Black with red, white and blue sash 1952 5th 1957 1st (runners-up)
Sydney Austral Sydney Cricket Ground No. 2, Moore Park Orange, white and blue 1952 5th 1957 10th

Source: [1]

  1. ^ As Canterbury Bankstown in 1943. As Canterbury-Marrickville in 1951.
  2. ^ North Side finished 7th in Div. I, Polonia played in Div. II
  3. ^ Corrimal United merged with Woonona-Bulli for 1961 season. Keeps Corrimal United's historical records

Regular season

Table and results

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Prague 22 14 5 3 59 34 +25 33 1961 Federation Finals
2 Canterbury-Marrickville 22 13 5 4 51 27 +24 31
3 Hakoah (C) 22 12 6 4 64 38 +26 30
4 Pan Hellenic 22 11 5 6 46 36 +10 27
5 Polonia–North Side 22 11 5 6 51 44 +7 27
6 APIA 22 10 4 8 55 42 +13 24
7 Budapest-South Sydney 22 9 3 10 53 52 +1 21
8 Bankstown 22 8 4 10 41 40 +1 20
9 Auburn 22 7 6 9 42 42 0 20
10 South Coast United 22 7 1 14 42 55 −13 15
11 Gladesville-Ryde 22 6 3 13 35 49 −14 15
12 Sydney Austral (R) 22 0 1 21 25 105 −80 1 Relegation to NSWSF Second Division for next season.
Source: www.rsssf.org[2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away API AUB BAN BUD CAN GLR HAK PAN PNS PRA SCU SAU
APIA 5–0 1–3 3–0 1–1 2–3 1–6 3–0 1–5 2–2 2–0 5–0
Auburn 3–4 0–1 3–2 1–3 1–1 1–3 0–3 1–1 5–0 3–2 7–0
Bankstown 0–3 0–1 2–3 2–0 1–0 2–4 0–0 3–0 1–2 5–0 6–2
Budapest 2–2 2–1 4–3 0–0 4–2 3–4 2–2 0–1 1–4 5–1 9–1
Canterbury-Marrickville 3–0 1–2 5–1 1–3 2–1 2–1 1–0 5–0 2–2 4–2 2–0
Gladesville Ryde 0–4 1–1 1–2 3–5 1–2 1–0 2–3 1–0 0–2 0–2 2–1
Hakoah 6–3 3–2 2–2 2–1 1–1 5–1 2–2 1–1 1–3 7–2 10–4
Pan Hellenic 0–3 1–0 2–1 2–0 3–5 4–1 1–1 4–2 1–1 6–2 3–1
Polonia–North Side 3–1 1–2 2–2 4–3 3–2 2–2 1–1 3–2 3–2 3–1 5–0
Prague 2–2 3–3 3–1 5–0 3–2 2–1 1–2 2–0 7–4 3–2 5–0
South Coast United 2–0 1–1 1–0 4–0 0–2 2–4 3–1 2–4 0–1 1–3 7–0
Sydney Austral 1–6 4–4 2–3 2–4 0–3 2–7 0–1 2–3 2–6 0–2 1–5
Source: [3]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

Semi-finalsFinalGrand Final
Major semi-final
1Prague32Canterbury1
2Canterbury53Hakoah4
1Prague(0)0
Minor semi-final3Hakoah(0)1
3Hakoah1
4Pan Hellenic0

Semi-finals

Hakoah v Pan Hellenic
16 September 1961 Minor semi-final Hakoah 1–0Pan HellenicWentworth Park, Glebe
Report[4] Attendance: 9,300
Referee: Roy Pearce
Prague v Canterbury
17 September 1961 Major semi-finalPrague3–5 Canterbury Sydney Sports Ground, Moore Park
Report[4]
Attendance: 11,500
Referee: Frank Sbisa

Preliminary final

Prague v Hakoah
24 September 1961 Prague 0–0 (a.e.t.) Hakoah Wentworth Park, Glebe
Report[4] Attendance: 13,600
Referee: Roy Pearce
Prague v Hakoah
27 September 1961 Replay Prague 0–1 Hakoah Redfern Oval, Redfern
Report[4] Levi Attendance: 6,400
Referee: Roy Pearce

Grand final

Grand Final
Canterbury-Marrickville1–4Hakoah
Report[4]
Henson Park, Marrickville
Attendance: 18,432[a]
Referee: Roy Pearce
GK 1 Australia Ron Brown
RB 2 Australia Tom North
LB 3 Australia George Nuttal
RH 4 Australia Don Brown
CH 5 Australia John Curry
LH 6 Australia Geoff Campbell
OR 7 Australia Jose Amigo
IR 8 Australia Brian Smith
CF 9 Australia Johnny Watkiss
IL 10 Australia Johnny Warren
OL 11 Australia Barry Salisbury
Coach:
Australia
GK 1 Australia H. Wenzl
RB 2 Australia V. Mach
LB 3 Australia Jock Aird
RH 4 Australia Ron Kearns
CH 5 Australia Adolf Handorf
LH 6 Australia A. Blutsch
OR 7 Australia Peter Hrncir
IR 8 Australia M. Chaldi
CF 9 Australia R. Levi
IL 10 Australia Ray Neal
OL 11 Austria Karl Jaros
Coach:
Australia

NSWSF First Division
1961 Premiers
Australia
Hakoah
First Title
Notes
  1. ^ Australian attendance record

Awards and statistics

Top goal-scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Les Schauman Budapest–South Sydney 28
2 Herbert Ninaus Sydney FC Prague 24
2 V. Wentzel APIA Leichhardt 24
4 R. Levi Sydney Hakoah 22
5 Robert Burgoyne Pan Hellenic 18

Attendance

Below is a list of total attendances per club in all matches, both home and away.[5]

Club Attendance
APIA Leichhardt FC 114,000
Pan Hellenic 97,000
Sydney Hakoah 96,500
Sydney FC Prague 95,000
Canterbury-Marrickville 69,000
Polonia–North Side 65,600
South Coast United 52,000
Budapest–South Sydney 50,800
Auburn SFC 49,000
Gladesville-Ryde DSFC 38,000
Bankstown SFC 36,000
Sydney Austral SFC 23,000

Other competitions

Ampol Cup

Originally formed in 1957 as the William Kennard Cup, this was the fourth year to be sponsored by Ampol.

Final

Final
Prague6–3Hakoah
Report[6]

Craven A Federation Cup

This was the fifth year contesting the Federation Cup, named the Craven A for sponsorship reasons.

Final

Final
Hakoah2–0Canterbury-Marrickville
Report[7]

References

  1. ^ "1961 Soccer Year Book". N.S.W. Federation of Soccer clubs. p. 88–89. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  2. ^ "NSW 1961 Division One". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ^ "1961 NSW Div 1 Result matrix". SoccerAust. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "1961 NSWSF Finals Series". SoccerWorld. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  5. ^ "1961 Soccer Year Book". N.S.W. Federation of Soccer Clubs. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  6. ^ "1961 Ampol Cup". SoccerAust. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  7. ^ "1961 Craven A Cup". SoccerAust. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
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