1997 National Soccer League Grand Final

The 1997 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 25 May 1997 between Brisbane Strikers and Sydney United at Lang Park. Brisbane gained home advantage because despite finishing below United on the league standings, they defeated the Sydney side in the major semi-final two weeks earlier. The teams were all locked up at half time, however two goals for the Strikers by Frank Farina and Rod Brown secured their first NSL championship. Alan Hunter won the Joe Marston Medal.

1997 National Soccer League Grand Final

Event	1996–97 National Soccer League
Brisbane Strikers Sydney United 2 0
Date	25 May 1997 (1997-05-25)
Venue	Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia
Man of the Match	Alan Hunter (Joe Marston Medal)
Referee	Simon Micallef
Attendance	40,446

Route to the final

League Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sydney United	26	17	5	4	67	33	+34	56	1997 National Soccer League Finals
2	Brisbane Strikers (C)	26	15	2	9	55	40	+15	47	1996-97 National Soccer League Champions
3	South Melbourne	26	14	4	8	39	25	+14	46	1997 National Soccer League Finals
4	Adelaide City	26	11	10	5	32	22	+10	43
5	Marconi Stallions	26	12	4	10	41	37	+4	40
6	Melbourne Knights	26	11	6	9	36	32	+4	39
7	Perth Glory	26	11	5	10	48	41	+7	38
8	West Adelaide	26	10	3	13	39	51	−12	33
9	UTS Olympic	26	8	8	10	41	46	−5	32
10	Wollongong Wolves	26	8	8	10	42	48	−6	32
11	Newcastle Breakers	26	7	9	10	40	46	−6	30
12	Gippsland Falcons	26	8	6	12	33	41	−8	30
13	Collingwood Warriors (R)	26	6	9	11	32	44	−12	27	Disbanded at end of season
14	Canberra Cosmos	26	2	5	19	30	69	−39	11

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Finals Bracket

	Elimination finals							Semifinals							Preliminary final					Grand final
								1	Sydney United	0	2	(2)									Sydney United	0
								2	Brisbane Strikers (a)	1	1	(2)									Brisbane Strikers	2
																Sydney United	1
	3	South Melbourne	4	3	(7)
																South Melbourne	0
	6	Melbourne Knights	1	0	(1)
									South Melbourne			1
									Adelaide City			0
	4	Adelaide City	0	4	(4)
	5	Marconi Fairfield	3	0	(3)

Match

Details

25 May 1997
15:00 AEST

Brisbane Strikers	2–0	Sydney United
Farina 47' Brown 69'	Reports

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Attendance: 40,446

Referee: Simon Micallef

GK	1	Clint Bolton
DF	2	Glen Gwynne			88'
DF	3	Alan Hunter
FW	5	Frank Farina			80'
MF	6	Sean Cranney
FW	7	Rod Brown
FW	9	Danny Wright
MF	11	Troy Cranney
MF	15	Chay Hews			79'
DF	16	Kasey Wehrman
FW	17	Craig Williams
Substitutes:
FW	8	Matt Bell			88'
FW	10	Reece Tollenaere			80'
MF	12	Jeremy Harris			79'
Manager:
Frank Farina
Joe Marston Medal:
Alan Hunter (Brisbane Strikers)

GK	1	Zeljko Kalac
DF	2	Rob Trajkovski		63'
DF	5	Velimir Kupresak
DF	7	Mark Babic
MF	10	Richard Plesa
MF	11	Kresimir Marusic
MF	12	Ante Moric
FW	14	Ante Milicic
MF	15	Aytec Genc
FW	17	David Zdrilic
MF	23	Paul Bilokapic		81'
Substitutes:
MF	3	Jason Culina		63'
DF	25	Mark Rudan		81'
Manager:
Branko Culina

Assistant referees: Fourth official:

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.