1997–98 Canberra Cosmos FC season

The 1997–98 season was the third in the history of Canberra Cosmos. It was also the third season in the National Soccer League.

Canberra Cosmos

1997–98 season
Manager	Branko Culina Rale Rasic
Stadium	Seiffert Oval Bruce Stadium
National Soccer League	14th
Top goalscorer	Peter Buljan (9)
Highest home attendance	3,547 vs. Marconi Fairfield (17 January 1998) National Soccer League
Lowest home attendance	1,576 vs. Newcastle Breakers (13 December 1997) National Soccer League
Average home league attendance	2,796
Biggest win	8–1 vs. UTS Olympic (H) (5 January 1998) National Soccer League
Biggest defeat	0–8 vs. Wollongong Wolves (A) (5 December 1997) National Soccer League

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUS	Anthony Giannasca
2	MF	AUS	Paul Dee
3	DF	AUS	Andy Roberts
4	DF	AUS	Ivan Zelic
5	MF	AUS	Andrew Ravanello
6	MF	AUS	Ante Moric
7	MF	AUS	Rodrigo Moreno
8	MF	NIR	Norman Kelly
9	FW	AUS	Harry James
10	FW	AUS	Michael Musitano
11	FW	AUS	Tony Lemezina
12	FW	AUS	Peter Buljan
13	DF	AUS	Lindsay Wilson
14	DF	AUS	Dale Wingell
16	DF	AUS	Toplica Popovich
17	MF	AUS	Ilija Prenzoski

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	DF	AUS	Tom Haythornwaite
19	MF	AUS	Damien Brown
20	GK	AUS	Barney Smith
21		AUS	Adrian Dowling
22	FW	AUS	Trim Morgan
23	DF	AUS	Jason Dunn
24	FW	KOR	Kim Jong-su
29	GK	AUS	Paul Jones
—	MF	AUS	James Baxter
—	MF	AUS	Ivo de Jesus
—	DF	SCO	Gordon Hunter
—	MF	AUS	Shane Lyons
—	FW	AUS	Marko Perinovic
—	FW	AUS	David Milin
—	DF	SLV	Oscar Zamaro

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
National Soccer League	4 October 1997	13 April 1998	Matchday 1	14th	26	3	8	15	29	56	−27	011.54
Total					26	3	8	15	29	56	−27	011.54

Source: Competitions

National Soccer League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Melbourne (C)	26	13	9	4	56	41	+15	48	Qualification for the Finals series
2	Carlton	26	12	9	5	44	24	+20	45
3	Adelaide City	26	13	4	9	45	30	+15	43
4	Sydney United	26	11	10	5	37	26	+11	43
5	Marconi Fairfield	26	12	7	7	33	25	+8	43
6	Wollongong Wolves	26	13	3	10	51	33	+18	42
7	Melbourne Knights	26	11	6	9	37	35	+2	39
8	Perth Glory	26	10	6	10	35	40	−5	36
9	UTS Olympic	26	10	5	11	37	43	−6	35
10	West Adelaide	26	10	4	12	32	38	−6	34
11	Gippsland Falcons	26	8	7	11	28	36	−8	31
12	Brisbane Strikers	26	6	5	15	23	40	−17	23
13	Newcastle Breakers	26	4	9	13	30	50	−20	21
14	Canberra Cosmos	26	3	8	15	29	56	−27	17

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	L	L	L	D	W	D	D	L	D	D	D	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	D	D	L	L	L
Position	13	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	13	14	14	14

Source: worldfootball.net
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Canberra Cosmos v Sydney United

4 October 1997 1	Canberra Cosmos	1–3	Sydney United	Queanbeyan
	P. Buljan 67'	Report	Saad 12' Hooker 19' Bilokapic 78' (pen.)	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 3,500 Referee: C. Diomis

Marconi Fairfield v Canberra Cosmos

11 October 1997 2	Marconi Fairfield	2–0	Canberra Cosmos	Sydney
	Maloney 57' Babic 74'	Report		Stadium: Marconi Stadium Attendance: 4,530 Referee: Mark Shield

Canberra Cosmos v Carlton

18 October 1997 3	Canberra Cosmos	1–3	Carlton	Queanbeyan
	Musitano 68'	Report	Anthopoulos 19' Lapsansky 49' Allsopp 60'	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 3,505 Referee: B. McKay

Adelaide Sharks v Canberra Cosmos

26 October 1997 4	Adelaide Sharks	3–0	Canberra Cosmos	Adelaide
	Day 30' Cardozo 53', 62'	Report		Stadium: Thebarton Oval Attendance: 3,655 Referee: P. McCaffrey

Canberra Cosmos v Adelaide City

1 November 1997 5	Canberra Cosmos	1–2	Adelaide City	Queanbeyan
	Musitano 90'	Report	Sabljak 15' Trajanovski 67'	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 2,005 Referee: S. Micallef

Gippsland Falcons v Canberra Cosmos

8 November 1997 6	Gippsland Falcons	0–0	Canberra Cosmos	Morwell
		Report		Stadium: Falcons Park Attendance: 2,100 Referee: J. Blaney

Canberra Cosmos v Brisbane Strikers

15 November 1997 7	Canberra Cosmos	2–1	Brisbane Strikers	Queanbeyan
	Kelly 47' Brown 89'	Report	Haythornthwaite 85' (o.g.)	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 2,008 Referee: B. McKay

South Melbourne v Canberra Cosmos

23 November 1997 8	South Melbourne	1–1	Canberra Cosmos	Melbourne
	Coveny 43'	Report	James 44'	Stadium: Bob Jane Stadium Attendance: 4,200 Referee: J. Blaney

Canberra Cosmos v Melbourne Knights

28 November 1997 9	Canberra Cosmos	1–1	Melbourne Knights	Queanbeyan
	Buljan 68'	Report	T. Pondeljak 80'	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 3,356 Referee: G. Connolly

Wollongong City v Canberra Cosmos

5 December 1997 10	Wollongong City	8–0	Canberra Cosmos	Wollongong
	Chipperfield 20', 36', 40', 55' Masi 21' Ceccoli 25' Surjan 49' Younis 85'	Report		Stadium: Brandon Park Attendance: 3,868 Referee: B. Panella

Canberra Cosmos v Newcastle Breakers

13 December 1997 11	Canberra Cosmos	1–1	Newcastle Breakers	Queanbeyan
	Moric 44'	Report	McGuire 87'	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 1,576 Referee: M. Breeze

Perth Glory v Canberra Cosmos

21 December 1997 12	Perth Glory	1–1	Canberra Cosmos	Perth
	Naven 48'	Report	Zelic 65'	Stadium: Perth Oval Attendance: 12,174 Referee: E. Brazzale

UTS Olympic v Canberra Cosmos

28 December 1997 13	UTS Olympic	1–1	Canberra Cosmos	Sydney
	Tome 13'	Report	Buljan 39'	Stadium: Belmore Sports Ground Attendance: 4,638 Referee: Mark Shield

Canberra Cosmos v UTS Olympic

5 January 1998 14	Canberra Cosmos	8–1	UTS Olympic	Queanbeyan
	Moric 5', 68' Wilson 36' P. Buljan 41', 58', 63' Prenzoski 72', 90'	Report	Tome 82'	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 3,062 Referee: M. Breeze

Sydney United v Canberra Cosmos

11 January 1998 15	Sydney United	4–1	Canberra Cosmos	Sydney
	Bilokapic 22' (pen.), 90' Wilson 45' (o.g.) J. Culina 53'	Report	P. Buljan 78'	Stadium: Parramatta Stadium Attendance: 3,878 Referee: C. Diomis

Canberra Cosmos v Marconi Fairfield

17 January 1998 16	Canberra Cosmos	0–2	Marconi Fairfield	Queanbeyan
		Report	Maloney 32' Longo 36'	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 3,547 Referee: D. Dwight

Carlton v Canberra Cosmos

24 January 1998 17	Carlton	2–0	Canberra Cosmos	Melbourne
	Markovski 34' Allsopp 68'	Report		Stadium: Optus Oval Attendance: 2,476 Referee: J. Blaney

Canberra Cosmos v Adelaide Sharks

31 January 1998 18	Canberra Cosmos	1–0	Adelaide Sharks	Queanbeyan
	Hunter 75'	Report		Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 2,472 Referee: E. Lennie

Adelaide City v Canberra Cosmos

22 February 1998 19	Adelaide City	4–1	Canberra Cosmos	Adelaide
	Mori 3', 84' Mennillo 65' Trajanovski 90'	Report	Buljan 19'	Stadium: Hindmarsh Stadium Attendance: 3,477 Referee: B. Hugo

Canberra Cosmos v Gippsland Falcons

2 March 1998 20	Canberra Cosmos	1–3	Gippsland Falcons	Queanbeyan
	T. Popovich 48'	Report	MacNicol 2' Thompson 55', 75'	Stadium: Seiffert Oval Attendance: 2,016

Melbourne Knights v Canberra Cosmos

8 March 1998 21	Melbourne Knights	3–1	Canberra Cosmos	Melbourne
	Marth 41' Kelic 52' Susa 79'	Report	Dunn 56'	Stadium: Knights Stadium Attendance: 3,584 Referee: G. Leverton

Canberra Cosmos v South Melbourne

16 March 1998 22	Canberra Cosmos	1–1	South Melbourne	Canberra
	Hunter 44'	Report	Coveny 34'	Stadium: Bruce Stadium Attendance: 3,471 Referee: B. McKay

Brisbane Strikers v Canberra Cosmos

21 March 1998 23	Brisbane Strikers	2–2	Canberra Cosmos	Brisbane
	Brown 21' Gwynne 44'	Report	James 50' Perinovic 75'	Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 2,701 Referee: W. Dade

Canberra Cosmos v Wollongong City

30 March 1998 24	Canberra Cosmos	1–3	Wollongong City	Canberra
	Jong-su 44'	Report	Ceccoli 26' Perinich 28' Dimoski 87'	Stadium: Bruce Stadium Attendance: 2,342 Referee: G. Leverton

Newcastle Breakers v Canberra Cosmos

3 April 1998 25	Newcastle Breakers	2–1	Canberra Cosmos	Newcastle
	Pryce 12' (pen.) Bosnar 54'	Report	Buljan 59'	Stadium: Topper Stadium Attendance: 3,344 Referee: C. Diomis

Canberra Cosmos v Perth Glory

13 April 1998 26	Canberra Cosmos	1–2	Perth Glory	Canberra
	James 57'	Report	Despotovski 25' Wilkinson 89'	Stadium: Bruce Stadium Attendance: 3,492 Referee: J. Tippett

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Players with no appearances not included in the list.

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	National Soccer League		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Anthony Giannasca	23	0	23	0
2	MF		Paul Dee	21	0	21	0
3	DF		Andy Roberts	20(2)	0	22	0
4	DF		Ivan Zelic	14(1)	2	15	2
5	MF		Andrew Ravanello	15(3)	0	18	0
6	MF		Ante Moric	20	3	20	3
7	MF		Rodrigo Moreno	1	0	1	0
8	MF		Norman Kelly	21	0	21	0
9	FW		Harry James	13(6)	3	19	3
10	FW		Michael Musitano	16(3)	2	19	3
11	FW		Tony Lemezina	3(1)	0	4	0
12	FW		Peter Buljan	21(2)	9	23	9
13	DF		Lindsay Wilson	9(10)	1	19	1
14	DF		Dale Wingell	10(3)	0	13	0
15	FW		Marko Perinovic	3(4)	1	7	1
16	DF		Toplica Popovich	22(1)	1	23	1
17	MF		Ilija Prenzoski	1(13)	2	14	2
18	DF		Tom Haythornwaite	18(6)	0	24	0
19	MF		Damien Brown	4(12)	1	16	1
20	GK		Barney Smith	1	0	1	0
22	FW		Trim Morgan	3(1)	0	4	0
23	DF		Jason Dunn	1	1	1	1
24	FW		Kim Jong-su	4(1)	0	5	0
29	GK		Paul Jones	2	0	2	0
—	DF		Gordon Hunter	20	2	20	2
—	MF		Shane Lyons	0(1)	0	1	0
—	DF		Oscar Zamaro	0(1)	0	1	0

Clean sheets

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	National Soccer League	Total
1	1	GK		Anthony Giannasca	2	2
Total					2	2