1977 National Soccer League

The 1977 National Soccer League season was the first season of the National Soccer League of Australia. The league was not only the first national soccer league in Australia but the first of any of the forms of football in Australia. Clubs predominantly joined from the top leagues in each state, with the exception of Tasmanian and Western Australia, and Canberra City forming in 1977 to join the league. The inaugural champions were Eastern Suburbs.

Background
Attempts had been made to start a national league several times during the 1960s and 1970s, however it wasn't until 1975 that the talk became serious. In April 1975, nine clubs from New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia agreed to form a national league in either 1976 or 1977. Frank Lowy, president of Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs and Alex Pongrass, St George-Budapest president led a concerted effort to bring in teams from Victoria over objections from the state association. Eventually, four Victorian clubs joined with the addition of a team from the Australian Capital Territory.

Stadiums and locations
Table lists in alphabetical order.

Player

 * Most yellow cards: 7
 * 🇦🇺 Kevin Mullen (Eastern Suburbs)


 * Most red cards: 2
 * 🇦🇺 Alan Niven (Brisbane Lions)
 * Graham Norris (Western Suburbs)
 * Graham Honeyman (West Adelaide)
 * 🇦🇺 Dave Pillans (West Adelaide)

Club

 * Most yellow cards: 29
 * West Adelaide


 * Fewest yellow cards: 5
 * Fitzroy United


 * Most red cards: 5
 * West Adelaide


 * Fewest red cards: 0
 * Seven teams

Awards
Source:

General references

 * OzFootball Archives - 1977 NSL Table