2000 National Soccer League Grand Final

The 2000 National Soccer League Grand Final was held on 11 June 2000 between Perth Glory and Wollongong Wolves at Subiaco Oval. Perth Glory had gained home-ground advantage as they were the higher ranked team from the regular season, finishing first to the Wolves's third. Perth started the match strong, going 3–0 up in the first half, however Wollongong came back with three second half goals. The scores remained level after extra time, before Wollongong won in a tense penalty shootout. Scott Chipperfield was awarded the Joe Marston Medal. It has been regarded as one of the greatest grand finals of all time.

2000 National Soccer League Grand Final

Event	1999–2000 National Soccer League
Perth Glory Wollongong Wolves 3 3
After extra time Wollongong won 7–6 on penalties
Date	11 June 2000 (2000-06-11)
Venue	Subiaco Oval, Perth, Western Australia
Man of the Match	Scott Chipperfield (Joe Marston Medal)
Referee	Eddie Lennie
Attendance	43,242

Route to the final

League Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Perth Glory	34	19	7	8	60	42	+18	64	Qualification for the Finals series
2	Wollongong Wolves (C)	34	17	9	8	72	44	+28	60	Qualification for the Finals series and the Oceania Club Championship
3	Carlton	34	17	7	10	55	39	+16	58	Qualification for the Finals series
4	Adelaide Force	34	16	8	10	57	37	+20	56
5	Sydney Olympic	34	16	7	11	56	40	+16	55
6	Marconi Fairfield	34	16	7	11	53	49	+4	55
7	Newcastle Breakers	34	14	9	11	44	44	0	51
8	Auckland Kingz	34	15	5	14	57	59	−2	50
9	Brisbane Strikers	34	13	10	11	46	40	+6	49
10	South Melbourne	34	14	7	13	55	51	+4	49
11	Parramatta Power	34	14	5	15	52	47	+5	47
12	Melbourne Knights	34	13	6	15	44	57	−13	45
13	Northern Spirit	34	11	3	20	41	58	−17	36
14	Canberra Cosmos	34	9	9	16	44	64	−20	36
15	Gippsland Falcons	34	7	8	19	23	49	−26	29
16	Sydney United	34	5	5	24	19	58	−39	20

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

Finals Bracket

	Elimination Finals							Major/Minor Semifinals							Preliminary Final					Grand Final
								21 May & 27 May 2000
								2	Wollongong Wolves	1	0	1								Perth Glory		3 (6)
								1	Perth Glory	2	0	2			4 June 2000					Wollongong Wolves (p)		3 (7)
															2	Wollongong Wolves	2
	6	Marconi Fairfield	0	0	0
								28 May 2000							3	Carlton	1
	3	Carlton SC	1	2	3
								3	Carlton			2
								5	Sydney Olympic			1
	5	Sydney Olympic	4	2	6
	4	Adelaide Force	1	1	2

Match

Details

11 June 2000
13:30 AWST

Perth Glory	3 – 3 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Wollongong Wolves
Despotovski 20' Milicevic 33' Harnwell 42'	Reports	Chipperfield 56' Horsley 69' Reid 89'
Penalties
Trajkovski Harnwell Schwertz Naven Wehrman Edgar Aldrighi Edwards Milicevic Afkos	6 – 7	Young Robertson Ceccoli Pogliacomi Petrovski Horsley Mennillo Chipperfield Reid

Subiaco Oval, Perth

Attendance: 43,242

Referee: Eddie Lennie

GK	23	Jason Petkovic
DF	2	Rob Trajkovski
DF	3	Jamie Harnwell
MF	7	Scott Miller		63'
MF	8	Troy Halpin
FW	9	Alistair Edwards (c)
FW	10	Bobby Despotovski		68'
MF	11	Kasey Wehrman
MF	15	Edgar Aldrighi
MF	21	Ivan Ergić		84'
DF	22	Ljubo Miličević	16'
Substitutes:
GK	20	Tony Franken
FW	4	Aurelio Schwertz	75'	68'
DF	6	Gareth Naven		84'
MF	13	James Afkos		63'
DF	14	Dion Valle
Manager:
Bernd Stange
Joe Marston Medal
Scott Chipperfield (Wollongong Wolves)

GK	1	Les Pogliacomi
DF	3	Alvin Ceccoli
DF	4	Robert Stanton	82'
DF	5	David Cervinski		46'
MF	6	Matt Horsley (c)
MF	7	Paul Reid
FW	10	Stuart Young
DF	11	Scott Chipperfield	90'
MF	13	Noel Spencer		46'
FW	17	Esala Masi		66'
MF	23	Dino Mennillo	28'
Substitutes:
GK	20	Daniel Beltrame
DF	2	George Sounis		46'
FW	14	Sasho Petrovski		66'
MF	15	David Huxley
DF	21	Mark Robertson	106'	46'
Manager:
Nick Theodorakopoulos

Assistant referees: Fourth official:

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.