The 1965 NSW First Division season was the ninth 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. In a truncated season compared to the previous year, the home and away regular season comprised 18 rounds, beginning in March and ending in August. South Coast United finished first on the ladder to become regular season premiers for the second time.
The finals series was primarily held throughout September with a four-team playoff series. APIA Leichhardt reached the grand final against St George-Budapest when they eventually defeated Yugal after three minor semi final replays and defeat of South Coast in the preliminary final. The club recorded their second consecutive championship with a 2–0 victory over St George, with Johnny Watkiss and Johnny Wong scoring in the decider.
The pre-season Ampol Cup was won for a fifth time by Sydney FC Prague, defending the title from the previous season.
Clubs Changes from last season: The division was contracted to a ten-team league, reducing its number from 12 teams. Canterbury, Bankstown SC and first time participants Corinthian BESC were relegated to NSW Second Division. Polonia-North Side were promoted from NSW Second Division.
Club Ground Year formed A.P.I.A. Lambert Park Sydney Sports Ground 1954 9th 1957 1st (W) St George-Budapest Hurstville Oval 1957 7th 1959 2nd (RU) Croatia Arlington Oval 1958 3rd 1963 7th Cumberland United Mona Park 1964 2nd 1964 8th Hakoah Wentworth Park 1939 9th 1957 7th Pan Hellenic Wentworth Park 1957 5th 1961 6th Polonia-North Side Drummoyne Oval 1961 3rd 1961 1st in Div. II Prague Sydney Athletics Field 1950 9th 1957 4th (SF) South Coast United Woonona Oval 1958 8th 1958 3rd (PF) Yugal Sydney Athletics Field 1961 4th 1962 8th Notes
Table and results
Results
Finals series
Semi-finals
Preliminary final
Grand Final
GK 1 Frank Haffey RB 2 Herbert Stegbauer LB 3 Roger Hillary RH 4 Manfred Schaefer CH 5 Petar Banicevic LH 6 Frank Lang OR 7 Dave Todd IR 8 Johnny Warren CF 9 Hugo Rodriguez IL 10 George Yardley OL 11 Vic Fernandez Coach: Laurie Hegyes |style="vertical-align:top;width:50%"| GK 1 John Roberts RB 2 Cliff van Blerk LB 3 Stan Ackerley RH 4 Pat Hughes CH 5 Jimmy Sambrook LH 6 Phil Bottalico OR 7 Graeme McKinnon IR 8 Ricardo Campana CF 9 Johnny Watkiss IL 10 Johnny Wong OL 11 John GiacomettiCoach: Joe Marston
NSWSF First Division1965 PremiersA.P.I.A.Second Title
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 Jimmy Kelly with 4.28, very narrowly beating Polonia-North Side halfback Ginter Gawlik. 15 players averaged four points or more. Below left is the list of all fifteen players and below right is the team of the year:
Player Team Rating Jimmy Kelly South Coast United 4.28 Ginter Gawlik Polonia-North Side 4.22 Dave Todd St. George-Budapest 4.17 Mita Stojanovic Yugal 4.16 Jim Harris South Coast United 4.12 Manfred Schaefer St. George-Budapest 4.11 Petar Banicevic St. George-Budapest 4.08 Jerzy Drewniak Polonia-North Side 4.05 Ferdo Dunaj Yugal 4.00 Phil Bottalico APIA 4.00 Fred Falzon Prague 4.00 Jim Fernie Pan Hellenic 4.00 Pat Hughes APIA 4.00 Grenville Jones Prague 4.00 Heinz Ringhoff Yugal 4.00
Top scorers John Giacometti was the season's top goalscorer with 23 goals. Below is a list of the top ten goalscorers for the season:
Player Team Goals John Giacometti APIA 23 Graham Barnett South Coast United 18 Joe Galambos Metro Adriatic Tony Nincevich South Coast United 12 Herbert Ninaus Hakoah 11 Max Tolson South Coast United Johnny Watkiss APIA 10 Vic Fernandez St. George-Budapest 9 Doug Logan Pan Hellenic George Yardley St. George-Budapest
Attendances Below is a list of attendances by club:
Rank Club Total attendance Highest home attendance 1 APIA 94,000 8,574 2 Pan Hellenic 76,000 8,860 3 South Coast United 61,400 7,055 4 St. George-Budapest 56,200 5,945 5 Yugal 54,200 4,618 6 Prague 49,800 5,600 7 Hakoah 46,300 5,383 8 Polonia-North Side 38,200 3,500 9 Metro Adriatic 37,400 4,38010 Cumberland United 31,000 3,850
Other competitions Ampol Cup The season began with the ninth edition of the floodlit pre-season night series (eighth as the Ampol Cup), culminating with the double-header third place playoff and Final on Friday, 19 February in front of 5,800 spectators.
Finals series
Final
See also 1965 in Australian soccer 1965 NSWSF season 1965 NSW Federation Cup
References