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 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 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 South Coast United Balls Paddock, Woonona Dark blue, red and white 1958 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
Regular season Table and results
Results
Finals series
Semi-finals
Preliminary final
Grand final
GK 1 Ron Brown RB 2 Tom North LB 3 George Nuttal RH 4 Don Brown CH 5 John Curry LH 6 Geoff Campbell OR 7 José "Joe" Amigo IR 8 Brian Smith CF 9 Johnny Watkiss IL 10 Johnny Warren OL 11 Barry SalisburyCoach: |style="vertical-align:top;width:50%"| GK 1 Heinz Wenzl RB 2 Viktor Mach LB 3 Jock Aird RH 4 Ron Kearns CH 5 Adolf Handorf LH 6 Adolf Blutsch OR 7 Peter Hrncir IR 8 Moshe "Gerry" Chaldi CF 9 Raffi Levi IL 10 Ray Neal OL 11 Karl JarosCoach: Karl Jaros
NSWSF First Division1961 PremiersHakoahFirst Title
Notes
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.
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
Craven A Federation Cup
This was the fifth year contesting the Federation Cup, named the Craven A for sponsorship reasons.
Final
References