The 1963 NSW First Division season was the seventh 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 home and away regular season began March and ended in August after 22 rounds. Prague once again finished first on the ladder to become regular season premiers for a fourth time in five years.
The finals series began in September with a four-team playoff series. Third placed team South Coast United defeated second placed APIA Leichhardt 4–0 to become grand final champions for a first time.
Once again, the pre-season Ampol Cup was held with SSC Yugal picking up their first trophy.
Clubs Changes from last season: Polonia–North Side were relegated to Second Division. Croatia were promoted from Second Division.
Club Ground Colours Year formed A.P.I.A. Lambert Park, Leichhardt Maroon shirts, white shorts 1954 7th Auburn Mona Park, Auburn Green and gold shirts, white shorts 1957 7th Bankstown Bankstown Oval, Bankstown Gold and green trim shirts, white shorts 1944 7th Budapest–St George Hurstville Oval, Hurstville Red shirts, white shorts 1957 5th Canterbury-Marrickville Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill Blue and gold trim shirts, white shorts 1896 7th Croatia Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill 1958 1st Gladesville-Ryde Gladesville Sports Ground, Gladesville Yellow shirts with black "V" and black shorts 1919 7th Hakoah Wentworth Park, Glebe Blue shirts, white shorts 1939 7th Pan Hellenic Wentworth Park, Glebe Blue and white striped shirts, white shorts 1957 3rd Prague Sydney Athletics Field, Moore Park White shirts, blue shorts 1950 7th South Coast United Woonona Oval, Woonona Blue with red and white trim shirts, white with red and blue trim shorts 1958 5th Yugal Sydney Athletics Field, Moore Park Blue shirts, white shorts 1961 2nd Notes
Table and results
Results
Finals series
Semi-finals
Preliminary final
Grand Final
GK 1 Adauto Iglesias RB 2 Jim Sambrook LB 3 Robert Murua RH 4 Karl Jaros CH 5 Joe Marston LH 6 Pat Hughes OR 7 B. Ihaksi IR 8 R. McKellar CF 9 Leo Baumgartner IL 10 Johnny Wong OL 11 John GiacomettiCoach: Leo Baumgartner |style="vertical-align:top;width:50%"| GK 1 Wilf Billington RB 2 Barry Salisbury LB 3 Adrian Ringland RH 4 Jim Kelly CH 5 Jim Harris LH 6 Max Tolson OR 7 Bernie Harris IR 8 Mike Johnson CF 9 John Brownlie IL 10 Graham Barnett OL 11 Dennis PattersonCoach: Jim Kelly
NSWSF First Division1963 PremiersSouth Coast UnitedFirst Title
Statistics and awards Stars of 1963 Soccer World reporters awarded stars out of six to players throughout the 22 rounds. The player with the highest stars was Jim Kelly with 4.38. Only 12 players average four points or more. South Coast United had four players, Prague had three players, Pan Hellenic two players, Budapest, Canterbury and APIA all had one player that averaged four points or more. Below left is the list of all twelve players and below right is the team of the year:
Player Team Rating Jim Kelly South Coast United 4.38 Ron Lord Sydney FC Prague 4.32 Nilo Rusalen Pan Hellenic 4.26 Petar Banicevic Budapest 4.21 Ron Corry Canterbury-Marrickville 4.18 John Doherty South Coast United 4.18 G. Jones Prague 4.18 Brian Smith Pan Hellenic 4.14 Luis Gauto Prague 4.10 Jim Harris South Coast United 4.05 Joe Marston APIA Leichhardt 4.05 Pat Woods South Coast United 4.00
Top scorers Brian Tristram was the recipient of the Marcel Nagy Trophy for the season's top goalscorer. Below is a list of the top ten goalscorers for the season:
Player Team Goals Brian Tristram Prague 32 Leo Baumgartner APIA 20 John Giacometti APIA Herbert Ninaus Hakoah Graham Barnett South Coast United 18 Tiko Jelisavčić Yugal-Ryde 16 John Doherty South Coast United 13 Sotiris Patrinos Pan Hellenic Les Schauman Croatia Maroubra Les Scheinflug Prague
Attendances Below is a list of attendances by club:
Rank Club Attendance 1 APIA 164,000 2 Pan Hellenic 161,000 3 Prague 105,000 4 SSC Yugal 88,000 5 Budapest–St George 83,000 6 South Coast United 79,000 7 Hakoah 73,000 8 Croatia Maroubra 61,000 9 Canterbury-Marrickville 49,00010 Gladesville-Ryde 43,50011 Auburn 39,50012 Bankstown 34,500
Other competitions Ampol Cup The season began with the seventh edition of the floodlight pre-season night series (sixth as the Ampol Cup) on 8 February 1963, culminating with the double-header third place playoff and Final on Friday, 15 March 1962 at the Redfern Oval in front of 7,000 spectators.
Finals series
Final
See also 1963 in Australian soccer 1963 NSWSF season 1963 NSW Federation Cup
References