2008 NSW Premier League season

NSW Premier League
Champions Wollongong FC
Premiers Sutherland Sharks FC
Top goalscorer Robert Younis (21)
2007
2009

The 2008 TeleChoice Premier League season was the eighth season of the revamped NSW Premier League. This season also marked the promotion of two new teams, in the West Sydney Berries and the Macarthur Rams from the Super League (one division lower). This increased the teams competing in the competition from 10 to 12 teams and the number of rounds from 18 to 22 in the regular season.

The 2008 season officially began on 22 February and concluded with the Grand Final between Wollongong FC and the Sutherland Sharks on 7 September.

Before the start of the season, all the 2008 teams competed in the Johnny Warren Cup, the official pre-season tournament. On 16 February, Sydney Olympic defeated the Sutherland Sharks 2 goals to 1 at Seymour Shaw Park to win the Johnny Warren Cup.[1]

Throughout the season many Premier League, Super League, Division One and Division Two teams competed in an FA Cup-style knockout competition in which the Bankstown City Lions and Sydney Olympic contested the Grand Final with Bankstown prevailing 3-1 winners.[2]

Changes from 2007 NSW Premier League season

The number of teams competing increased from 10 to 12, with the inclusion of the West Sydney Berries and the Macarthur Rams. The regular season remained a home-away round-robin format, thus increasing the number of rounds from 18 to 22. The final series was therefore also adapted. The number of teams competing in the finals series increased from 4 to 5. The finals series used a 5-team McIntyre System to determine the champions.

Clubs

Teams promoted from Super League:
(After the end of the 2007 season.)

Teams relegated to Super League:
(After the end of the 2007 season.)

Club Ground Capacity
A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers Lambert Park 7,000
Bankstown City Lions FC Jensen Oval 8,000
Blacktown City Demons FC Fairfax Community Stadium 7,500
Macarthur Rams Campbelltown Stadium 20,000
Manly United FC Cromer Park 5,000
Marconi Stallions FC Marconi Stadium 11,500
Penrith Nepean United FC CUA Stadium 21,000
Sutherland Sharks FC Seymour Shaw Park 5,000
Sydney Olympic FC Belmore Sports Ground 25,000
Sydney United FC Sydney United Sports Centre 12,000
West Sydney Berries FC Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre 18,000
Wollongong FC John Crehan Park 7,500

Regular season

League table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Sutherland Sharks 22 12 8 2 48 19+29 44 Qualified for the Championship Finals Series
2 Wollongong FC (C) 22 13 5 4 39 19+20 44
3 Sydney Olympic 22 12 5 5 38 23+15 41
4 Manly United 22 12 3 7 42 21+21 39
5 Sydney United 22 9 7 6 29 21+8 34
6 APIA Leichhardt Tigers 22 9 7 6 41 35+6 34
7 Bankstown City 22 7 6 9 27 270 27
8 West Sydney Berries 22 7 3 12 30 4111 24
9 Marconi Stallions 22 3 10 9 29 4112 19
10 Macarthur Rams 22 4 7 11 16 4125 19 Relegation to Super League
11 Penrith Nepean United 22 3 8 11 25 5025 17
12 Blacktown City 22 3 7 12 14 4026 16

Source: NSW Premier League Ladder @ SportingPulse
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Home ╲ Away API BAN BLCMARMANMARPNUSUTSYOSYUWSBWOL
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 11 30 20 10 20 70 22 34 03 32 11
Bankstown City 30 40 21 03 02 11 00 30 00 12 12
Blacktown City 11 11 11 04 21 00 31 02 13 02 11
Macarthur Rams 03 04 10 01 01 32 11 00 11 03 01
Manly United 33 01 30 22 30 10 01 02 12 21 01
Marconi Stallions 22 13 01 11 33 00 30 13 22 22 11
Penrith Nepean United 34 30 22 13 04 33 02 24 04 41 01
Sutherland Sharks 41 31 00 20 21 00 70 30 42 60 11
Sydney Olympic 30 11 10 50 12 22 01 11 00 10 40
Sydney United 01 10 20 00 01 30 22 22 01 10 02
West Sydney Berries 11 20 41 12 04 52 11 04 31 01 02
Wollongong FC 20 30 30 70 14 32 00 12 12 30 20

Updated to games played on 3 August 2008.
Source: socceraust.co.uk
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.

Finals Series

 
  Qualifying Finals Semi Finals Preliminary Final Grand Final
                                     
1 Sutherland Sharks 1  
    2 Wollongong FC 2         2 Wollongong FC 4
2 Wollongong FC 3     1 Sutherland Sharks 2   1 Sutherland Sharks 2
3 Sydney Olympic FC 2       3 Sydney Olympic FC 1  
3 Sydney Olympic 2
4 Manly United FC 2   4 Manly United FC 1  
5 Sydney United FC 1

Qualifying Finals

Semi Finals

Preliminary Final

Grand Final

Gold Medal Dinner

At the end of the season, Football NSW hosted the Gold Medal Dinner, where players, coaches and referees were awarded for their work throughout the Premier League season.[3]

Award Grade Name Club
Player of the Year First Grade Brendan Gan Sutherland Sharks
Andreas Golden Boot First Grade Robert Younis A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers
Player of the Year 20's Daniel Rezo Sydney United
Golden Boot 20's Brodie Mooy Marconi Stallions
Goalkeeper of the Year First Grade Matthew Nash A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers
Coach of the Year First Grade Brian Brown Sutherland Sharks
Referee of the Year - Jonathan Streater -

All-Stars Team

All-Stars Team
Zunino
Cummins
Arrarte
Boyle
Boardman

Based on a points system in which all match reporters took part in during the course of the 22 rounds, eleven players were selected in various positions highlighting their performances for season 2008.

Goalkeeper: Matthew Nash (A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers)

Defence: Emmanuel Zunino (Sydney Olympic), Pedj Bojić (Sutherland Sharks), Danial Cummins (Wollongong FC), Shane Webb (Bankstown City Lions)

Midfield: Nahuel Arrarte (Marconi Stallions), Robbie Cattanach (Manly United), Brendan Gan (Sutherland Sharks), Christopher Boyle (Sydney United)

Attack: Robert Younis (A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers), Brad Boardman (Sutherland Sharks)

Coach: Australia Brian "Bomber" Brown

See also

References

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