1996 A-League Grand Final

1996 A-League Grand Final
Event 1995–96 National Soccer League
Date 26 May 1996
Venue Olympic Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Man of the Match Andrew Marth (Joe Marston Medal)
Referee Eddie Lennie
Attendance 14,256

The 1996 A-League Grand Final was the first grand final to held under the A-League name after the short-lived rebranding of the National Soccer League (NSL) began before the 1995–96 season. Melbourne Knights defeated Marconi-Fairfield 2–1 to win their second consecutive grand final.[1][2]

Route to the final

Melbourne Knights

Melbourne Knights were the first team into the grand final defeating Marconi-Fairfield 3–2 over two legs in the major semi-final.[3]

Marconi-Fairfield

After losing the major semi-final to the Knights, Marconi-Fairfield followed up with a 4–1 win over Adelaide City in the preliminary final to book their place in the grand final.[3][4]

Pre-match

Venue selection

With Melbourne Knights the first into the final, there was speculation that the Knights would host the match at Somers Street, however Soccer Australia announced on 12 May that the match would be played at Olympic Park.[3]

Match

Details

Grand final 26 May 1996 Melbourne Knights 2–1 Marconi-Fairfield Melbourne, Australia  
15:00pm Andrew Marth 58'
Adrian Cervinski 74' 		Report Andy Harper 78' Stadium: Olympic Park
Attendance: 14,256
Referee: Eddie Lennie
GK ' Australia Vilson Knezevic
' Australia David Cervinski
' Australia Zoran Markovski
' Australia Lubo Lapsansky
' Australia Ante Kovacevic  45'
' Croatia Josip Šimunić
'Australia Adrian Cervinski
'Australia Fausto DeAmicis
'Australia Tom Pondeljak  71'
' Australia Andrew Marth
'Australia John Markovski  85'
Substitutes:
' Australia Vinko Buljubasic 45'
'Australia Josip Bačak 71'
'Australia Dragi Nastevski 85'
Head coach
Australia Ian Dobson
GK ' Australia Bob Catlin
' Australia Brendan Renaud
' Australia Hristodoulou
'Australia Vlado Zoric
'Australia Paul Souris
' Australia Matthew Bingley
'Australia Andy Harper
'Australia Brad Maloney
'Australia Robert Stanton
' Australia Gary van Egmond  65'
' Australia Dominic Longo
Substitutes:
'Australia Angelucci  65'
Head coach:
Australia Manfred Schaefer

References

  1. ↑ Cockerill, Mike (13 September 1995). "Hill gets nod for A-League". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Cockerill, Mike (26 May 1996). "It's two in a row for Knights". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2015. MELBOURNE KNIGHTS 2 (A Marth 58th A Cervinski 75th) bt MARCONI 1 (A Harper 80th). Referee: E Lennie. Crowd: 14,258 at Olympic Park. For once the game matched the occasion as the Melbourne Knights confirmed their favouritism with a stylish 2-1 win over Marconi-Fairfield in yesterday's A-League grand final.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cockerill, Michael (13 May 1996). "Knights Favoured At Home". The Sydney Morning Herald. After a 1-0 win in the first leg at Somers Street, the Knights followed with a gutsy 2-2 draw in the return leg at Bossley Park on Saturday night, securing a 3-2 win on aggregate.
  4. ↑ Cockerill, Michael (20 May 1996). "Marconi Rediscover Themselves In Time". The Sydney Morning Herald. Experience ultimately triumphed over youth as Marconi-Fairfield gave themselves genuine encouragement for next weekend's grand final by eliminating Adelaide City 4-1 in convincing style at Parramatta Stadium yesterday.