| Season | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 27 March – 1 November 1987 |
| Champions | APIA Leichhardt 1st title |
| Relegated | Heidelberg United |
| Matches played | 162 |
| Goals scored | 391 (2.41 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Frank Farina (18 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Sydney Croatia 6–1Melbourne Croatia (29 March 1987) |
| Biggest away win | Sydney Croatia 0–5Marconi Fairfield (11 October 1987) |
| Highest scoring | Heidelberg United 6–2Sunshine George Cross (10 May 1987) |
| Highest attendance | 9,000 Heidelberg United 1–1South Melbourne (24 May 1987) |
| Lowest attendance | 400 Brunswick Juventus 0–1Adelaide City (27 September 1987) |
| Total attendance | 500,763 |
| Average attendance | 3,091 |
←1986 1988 → | |
The1987 National Soccer League season was the 11th season of theNational Soccer League, the former top Australian professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1977. The season saw the format returned to a single league of fourteen teams instead of the two-conference system.Sydney City SC withdrew from the competition after round 1, reducing the competition to 13 teams. The finals series for the Championship was also removed and replaced with the standard non-Championship defining play-offs with the actual Championship determined by a first past the post, won byAPIA Leichhardt.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | APIA Leichhardt(C) | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 39 | 21 | +18 | 35 | Qualification for theFinals series[a] |
| 2 | Preston Makedonia | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 29 | |
| 3 | St George-Budapest | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 29 | |
| 4 | Marconi Fairfield | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 41 | 25 | +16 | 27 | |
| 5 | Sydney Croatia | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 31 | 25 | +6 | 26 | |
| 6 | South Melbourne | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 34 | −2 | 25 | |
| 7 | Sydney Olympic | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 29 | 32 | −3 | 23 | |
| 8 | Brunswick Juventus | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 23 | |
| 9 | Melbourne Croatia | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 30 | −8 | 23 | |
| 10 | Adelaide City | 24 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 29 | 23 | +6 | 22 | |
| 11 | Footscray JUST | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 27 | −10 | 22 | |
| 12 | Sunshine George Cross | 24 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 15 | |
| 13 | Heidelberg United(R) | 24 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 25 | 44 | −19 | 13 | Relegation to theVictorian State League |
| 14 | Sydney City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
| Home \ Away | ADE | API | BRU | FOO | HEI | MAR | MEL | PRE | SOU | STG | SGC | SCR | SOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide City | — | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| APIA Leichhardt | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Brunswick Juventus | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Footscray JUST | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Heidelberg United | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | — | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 6–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 |
| Marconi Fairfield | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Melbourne Croatia | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Preston Makedonia | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| South Melbourne | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| St George-Budapest | 1–0 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Sunshine George Cross | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Sydney Croatia | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | — | 0–1 |
| Sydney Olympic | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | — |
A top five Finals series was played at the end of the regular season. The Finals series was not considered the Championship for this season.
| 18 October 1987 | Preston Makedonia | 1–2 | St George-Budapest | Sydney |
| Report |
| Stadium:St George Stadium Attendance: 3,964 Referee: Jim Reeves |
| 21 October 1987 | Marconi Fairfield | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | Sydney Croatia | Sydney |
| Report | Stadium:St George Stadium Attendance: 4,500 Referee:Chris Bambridge |
| 25 October 1987 | Preston Makedonia | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–3p) | Marconi Fairfield | Melbourne |
| Report | Stadium:Olympic Park Attendance: 2,700 Referee: Rob Davies |
| 25 October 1987 | APIA Leichhardt | 1–2 | St George | Sydney |
| Report | Stadium:St George Stadium Attendance: 3,400 Referee: Dennis Voutsianis |
| 28 October 1987 | APIA Leichhardt | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–1p) | Preston Makedonia | Melbourne |
| Report | Stadium:Olympic Park Attendance: 2,700 Referee: Don Campbell |
| St George-Budapest | 4–0 | APIA Leichhardt |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield | 16 |
| 2 | Rod Brown | APIA Leichhardt | 14 |
| 3 |  Paul Lewis | Melbourne Croatia | 10 |
| Steve Smith | Preston Makedonia | ||
| 5 | Joe Mullen | Adelaide City | 9 |
| Robbie Slater | Sydney Croatia | ||
| Charlie Villani | Adelaide City | ||
| 8 |  Ron Campbell | Preston Makedonia | 8 |
| John Markovski | Sunshine George Cross | ||
| Paul Wade | South Melbourne |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robbie Slater | Sydney Croatia | Melbourne Croatia | 6–1 (H) | 29 March 1987 |
| Frank McGrellis | Brunswick Juventus | Heidelberg United | 3–1 (H) | 5 July 1987 |
| Paul Trimboli | Sunshine George Cross | South Melbourne | 3–0 (H) | 19 July 1987 |
| Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield | Heidelberg United | 5–1 (A) | 9 August 1987 |
 Goce Dimovski | Preston Makedonia | APIA Leichhardt | 4–0 (H) | 13 September 1987 |
| Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield | Sydney Croatia | 5–0 (A) | 11 October 1987 |
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Referee's Player of the Year | Andrew Zinni | Brunswick Juventus |
| Player's Player of the Year | Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield |
| U-21 Player of the Year | John Markovski | Sunshine George Cross |
| Coach of the Year | Rale Rasic | APIA Leichhardt |
