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 played 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.
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: The division continued its ten-team league format. Polonia-North Side were relegated to NSW Second Division after one season back in the top league. Corinthian BESC were reinstated to the top division after one season in NSW Second Division.
Club Ground Year formed A.P.I.A. Lambert Park Sydney Sports Ground 1954 10th 1957 3rd (W) Corinthian BESC No fixed ground 1957 2nd 1964 Div. II Cumberland United Mona Park 1964 3rd 1964 8th Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs Wentworth Park 1939 10th 1957 6th Pan Hellenic Wentworth Park 1957 6th 1961 9th Prague Sydney Athletics Field 1950 10th 1957 5th St George-Budapest Hurstville Oval 1957 8th 1959 2nd (RU) South Coast United Woonona Oval 1958 9th 1958 1st (PF) South Sydney-Croatia Arlington Oval 1958 4th 1963 7th Yugal Sydney Athletics Field 1961 5th 1962 4th (SF) Notes
Table and results
Results
Finals series Round robin Final table
Results
Grand final
GK 1 Peter Fuzes RB 2 C. Thomson LB 3 Ian Hillsdon RH 4 Danny Walsh CH 5 Alan Marnoch LH 6 John Duffy OR 7 Robert Fekete IR 8 Jim Christie CF 9 Herbert Ninaus IL 10 Gerry Hood OL 11 Doug HoldenCoach: Tiko Jelisavcic |style="vertical-align:top;width:50%"| GK 1 Bill Rorke RB 2 Cliff van Blerk LB 3 Stan Ackerley RH 4 Pat Hughes CH 5 Jimmy Sambrook LH 6 Phil Bottalico OR 7 John Giacometti IR 8 Ricardo Campana CF 9 Johnny Watkiss IL 10 Archie Blue OL 11 Bill KerklaanCoach: Joe Marston
NSWSF First Division1966 Grand Final winnersHakoah-Eastern SuburbsThird Title
Promotion Play-off With the league expanding 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.
Match Team A Score Team B Scorers Spot 1 Corinthian BESC 0–3 Melita Eagles McDonald 2, Jaros (Melita). Spot 2 Corinthian BESC 0–1 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:
Player Team Rating Brian Lincoln South Sydney-Croatia 4.27 Alan Marnoch Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs 4.18 Adrian Ringland South Coast United 4.05 Cliff van Blerk APIA Leichhardt 4.05 Danny Walsh Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs 4.05 Ricardo Campana APIA Leichhardt 4.00 Barry Salisbury South Coast United 4.00 Mita Stojanovic Yugal 4.00 Johnny Warren St George-Budapest 4.00 Alan Westwater Pan Hellenic 4.00
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:
Player Team Goals John Giacometti APIA 20 George Yardley St. George 19 Errol Freeme South Coast 13 John Keddie Cumberland Johnny Watkiss APIA Johnny Warren St. George 12 John Karyannis Pan Hellenic 11 Herbert Ninaus Hakoah Jim Harding Hakoah 9 Joe Alagich Yugal 8 Bill Kerklaan APIA
Attendances Below is a list of attendances by club:
Rank Club Total attendance Highest home attendance 1 APIA Leichhardt 96,200 10,500 2 Pan Hellenic 82,200 8,100 3 St. George-Budapest 50,100 6,100 4 Hakoah-Eastern Suburbs 46,400 7,200 5 Prague 45,500 8,016 6 Yugal 40,000 4,700 7 South Sydney-Croatia 39,000 3,500 8 South Coast United 37,000 4,700 9 Cumberland United 30,600 5,02510 Corinthian BESC 38,200 3,350
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.
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
Final
See also 1966 in Australian soccer 1966 NSWSF season 1966 NSW Federation Cup
References