1966 NSW First Division season

Last updated
NSW First Division
Season1966
Champions Hakoah
Premiers APIA Leichhardt
Matches played90 (regular season) + 7 (finals)
Best Player Brian Lincoln
Top goalscorer John Giacometti (20)
Highest attendance10,500
APIA v. Pan Hellenic (regular season)
← 1965
1967 →

The 1966 NSW First Division season was the tenth season of soccer in New South Wales under the administration of the NSW Federation of Soccer Clubs since its breakaway from the NSW Soccer Football Association in January 1957. The league once again comprised of 18 rounds in the home and away regular season, beginning in March and ending in August. APIA Leichhardt finished first on the ladder to become regular season premiers for the second time after winning their first in 1964.

Contents

The finals series was primarily held throughout September with a four-team playoff series. For the first time a round robin was held between the top four clubs, culminating with a grand final between the top two placed teams. Hakoah defeated APIA Leichhardt in the decider.

The pre-season Ampol Cup was won for a first time by APIA Leichhardt.

Clubs

Changes from last season:

ClubGroundYear formedAppDebutLast season
(Finals)
A.P.I.A. Lambert Park
Sydney Sports Ground 		195410th19573rd (W)
Corinthian BESCNo fixed ground19572nd1964 Div. II
Cumberland UnitedMona Park1964 [a] 3rd19648th
Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs Wentworth Park 193910th19576th
Pan Hellenic Wentworth Park 19576th19619th
Prague Sydney Athletics Field 195010th19575th
St George-Budapest Hurstville Oval 19578th19592nd (RU)
South Coast United Woonona Oval 1958 [b] 9th19581st (PF)
South Sydney-Croatia Arlington Oval 19584th19637th
Yugal Sydney Athletics Field 19615th19624th (SF)

Notes

  1. ↑ Auburn and Gladesville merged keeping separate histories
  2. ↑ Amalgamated with IDSA club Woonona-Bulli in 1961. Continues Corrimal United history

Table and results

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1 A.P.I.A. 1813415516+3930 Qualification for Finals series
2 Hakoah (C)1812334319+2427
3 St. George-Budapest 189364927+2221
4 South Coast United 187473125+618
5 Pan Hellenic 187473634+218
6 Prague 187383049−1917
7 Croatia 185581941−2215
8 Yugal 185492438−1414
9Cumberland United1843113041−1111
10Corinthian BESC (R)1825111441−279Relegated to Second Division
Source: [1]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away API COR CRO CUM HAK PAN PRA SCU SGB YUG
APIA 4–02–23–11–15–28–12–01–11–1
Corinthian BESC0–51–10–40–50–40–01–10–21–2
South Sydney-Croatia 2–11–13–03–11–02–00–30–31–7
Cumberland United3–61–21–10–52–32–32–12–20–1
Hakoah 1–33–13–03–04–21–31–13–12–1
Pan Hellenic 1–20–41–11–11–24–41–01–04–1
Prague 0–41–02–13–20–32–32–10–84–0
South Coast United 0–12–14–03–20–15–32–20–03–2
St George-Budapest 0–35–29–01–22–40–46–23–03–1
Yugal 0–60–02–00–60–01–12–11–52–3
Source: www.socceraust.co.uk [2]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

Round robin

Final table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1 A.P.I.A. 3300113+86 Qualification for Grand final
2 Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs (C)320184+44
3 St. George-Budapest 310258−32
4 South Coast United 3003312−90
Source: [3]
(C) Champions

Results

4 September 1966 St. George-Budapest 3–0 South Coast United Moore Park, Sydney
Report [4] [5] Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground
Attendance: 11,300 [a]
Referee: N. Jones
4 September 1966 APIA Leichhardt 2–0 Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs Moore Park, Sydney
Report [4] Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground
Attendance: 11,300 [a]
Referee: H. Parsons
11 September 1966 APIA Leichhardt 3–2 St George-Budapest Moore Park, Sydney
Report [6]
Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground
Attendance: 9,500 [a]
Referee: Tony Boskovic
11 September 1966 Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs 3–2 South Coast United Moore Park, Sydney
Report [6]
Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground
Attendance: 9,500 [a]
Referee: H. Eilerts
18 September 1966 APIA Leichhardt 6–1 South Coast United Moore Park, Sydney
Report [7]
Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground
Attendance: 6,520 [a]
Referee: Tony Boskovic
18 September 1966 Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs 5–0 St George-Budapest Moore Park, Sydney
Report [7] Stadium: Sydney Sports Ground
Attendance: 6,520 [a]
Referee: N. Jones

Grand final

Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs 2–1 A.P.I.A.
Report [7] [5]
Sydney Sports Ground , Moore Park, Sydney
Attendance: 7,650
Referee: Tony Boskovic
NSWSF First Division
1966 Grand Final winners
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs
Third Title

Promotion Play-off

With the league expanding to to twelve teams next competition, Second Division premiers Polonia-North Side were automatically promoted. It was decided that First Division wooden spooners, Corinthian BESC, would play-off against the second and third placed teams from the Second Division to earn the final two spots in the 1967 NSW First Division season.

The three-team play-off was contested over two matches with Canterbury receiving bye straight to the final match. Melita Eagles defeated Corinthians in the first match, gaining direct entry into First Division, leaving Corinthians with one last chance to remain in the top tier with the next match against the aforementioned Canterbury. However, Canterbury would win the match for final play-off spot, 1–0.

MatchTeam AScoreTeam BScorers
Spot 1Corinthian BESC0–3 Melita Eagles McDonald 2, Jaros (Melita).
Spot 2Corinthian BESC0–1 Canterbury Rinos (C'bury).

Statistics and awards

Top Star Award

Soccer World reporters awarded stars out of six to players throughout the 18 rounds. The player with the highest stars was Brian Lincoln with 4.27. Only 10 players averaged four points or more. Below left is the list of all ten players and below right is the team of the year: [8]

Top scorers

John Giacometti was the season's top goalscorer for the second year consecutively, with 20 goals. Below is a list of the top ten goalscorers for the season: [8]

PlayerTeamGoals
John Giacometti APIA 20
George Yardley St. George19
Errol Freeme South Coast 13
John Keddie Cumberland
Johnny Watkiss APIA
Johnny Warren St. George12
John Karyannis Pan Hellenic 11
Herbert Ninaus Hakoah
Jim Harding Hakoah9
Joe Alagich Yugal 8
Bill Kerklaan APIA

Attendances

Below is a list of attendances by club: [8]

RankClubTotal
attendance		Highest home
attendance
1 APIA Leichhardt 96,20010,500
2 Pan Hellenic 82,2008,100
3 St. George-Budapest 50,1006,100
4 Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs 46,4007,200
5 Prague 45,5008,016
6 Yugal 40,0004,700
7 South Sydney-Croatia 39,0003,500
8 South Coast United 37,0004,700
9Cumberland United30,6005,025
10Corinthian BESC38,2003,350

Other competitions

Ampol Cup

The season began with the tenth edition of the floodlit pre-season night series (ninth as the Ampol Cup), culminating with the double-header third place playoff and Final on 20 March in front of 8,700 spectators. [9]

The event featured a group stage for the first time in its history, splitting the ten teams from First Division into two groups of five. The point scoring was also unique: 12 points for a win and 5 for draw with each goal scored also worth one point. APIA and Prague progressed from Group 1 as did Hakoah and Yugal from Group 2. The semi-finals, third place play-off and Final were all maintained from previous editions.

Finals series

Semi-finals Finals
    
Hakoah 2
Prague 0
Hakoah 0
APIA 1
APIA 3
Yugal 0 Third place playoff
Prague 4
Yugal 0

Final

Hakoah 0–1 APIA
Report [9]
Attendance: 8,700
Referee: Tony Boskovic

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Australia 1966". rsssf.org. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  2. ↑ "1966 NSW Div1 Matrix". www.socceraust.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "1966 Division 1 Fixtures". soccer.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Soccer World Newspaper Vol. 09, Issue No. 34". Soccer World. 9 September 1966. p. 2. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  5. 1 2 "1966 Division 1 Fixtures". soccer.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Soccer World Newspaper, Vol. 09, Issue No. 35". Soccer World. 16 September 1966. p. 2. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 "Soccer World Annual 1967". Soccer World. 1967. p. 20. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 "Soccer World Annual". Soccer World. 1967. p. 6–8, 13, 17, 34. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  9. 1 2 "New-look Ampol Cup (Soccer World Annual)". Soccer World. 1966. p. 26. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Double-header
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