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National Soccer League
Season	1978
Dates	5 March — 17 September 1978
Matches played	182
Goals scored	532 (2.92 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ken Boden; Clive Eaton; (14 goals each)
Best goalkeeper	Allan Maher; (10 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Eastern Suburbs 5–0 Sydney Olympic; (28 March 1978); South Melbourne 5–0 Adelaide City; (13 August 1978)
Highest scoring	Marconi Fairfield 6–2 Western Suburbs; (16 April 1978)
Longest winning run	8 matches; West Adelaide
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches; Marconi Fairfield
Longest winless run	15 matches; Canberra City
Longest losing run	7 matches; Brisbane City
Highest attendance	18,000; South Melbourne 1–1 Fitzroy United; (2 April 1978)
Lowest attendance	330; Brisbane Lions 1–1 South Melbourne; (26 March 1978)
Total attendance	848,226
Average attendance	4,686
	← 1977 1979 →

The 1978 National Soccer League was the second season of the National Soccer League, the former top-tier Australian soccer league, since its establishment in 1977. The premiers were West Adelaide.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Sydney teams:
Eastern Suburbs
Marconi Fairfield
St George-Budapest
Sydney Olympic
Western Suburbs

Melbourne teams:
Fitzroy United
Footscray JUST
South Melbourne

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Locations of the 1978 National Soccer League teams

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Adelaide City	Adelaide	Olympic Sports Field	5,000
Brisbane City	Brisbane	Perry Park	5,000
Brisbane Lions	Brisbane	Perry Park	5,000
Canberra City	Canberra Queanbeyan	Manuka Oval Seiffert Oval	16,000 15,000
Eastern Suburbs	Sydney	Sydney Sports Ground	35,000
Fitzroy United	Melbourne	Olympic Park Stadium	18,500
Footscray	Melbourne	Middle Park	18,000
Marconi-Fairfield	Sydney	Marconi Stadium	9,000
Newcastle KB United	Newcastle	Newcastle International Sports Centre	30,000
South Melbourne	Melbourne	Middle Park	18,000
St George	Sydney	Sydney Sports Ground Marconi Stadium	35,000 9,000
Sydney Olympic	Sydney	Sydney Sports Ground Wentworth Park	35,000 10,000
Western Suburbs	Sydney	Sydney Sports Ground Englefield Stadium	35,000 ?
West Adelaide	Adelaide	Hindmarsh Stadium	16,500

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	West Adelaide (C)	26	16	4	6	42	27	+15	36	Qualification to Finals series^[a]
2	Eastern Suburbs	26	15	5	6	49	27	+22	35
3	South Melbourne	26	12	8	6	45	30	+15	32
4	Marconi Fairfield	26	12	6	8	46	31	+15	30
5	Fitzroy United	26	9	8	9	39	39	0	26
6	Brisbane Lions	26	8	10	8	37	39	−2	26
7	St George-Budapest	26	11	3	12	41	40	+1	25
8	Sydney Olympic	26	9	7	10	35	43	−8	25
9	Western Suburbs	26	9	6	11	41	45	−4	24
10	Adelaide City	26	9	6	11	38	44	−6	24
11	Newcastle KB United	26	6	10	10	33	40	−7	22
12	Footscray JUST	26	7	8	11	29	37	−8	22
13	Canberra City	26	5	10	11	28	41	−13	20
14	Brisbane City	26	7	3	16	29	49	−20	17

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ The Finals series was not considered the championship for the 1978 National Soccer League.

Results

Home \ Away	ADC	BRC	BRL	CAN	ESU	FIT	FOO	MAR	NUN	SME	STG	SYO	WSA	WSU
Adelaide City	—	3–2	1–4	3–1	0–1	3–2	0–1	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–2	4–2
Brisbane City	2–1	—	0–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	3–0	0–3	1–2	3–4	1–4	3–2	0–1	0–0
Brisbane Lions	3–1	1–2	—	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–0	3–1
Canberra City	2–2	4–0	2–1	—	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–2	0–3	1–1	1–3	1–1	2–2
Eastern Suburbs	1–2	2–0	1–3	3–0	—	2–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	4–2	5–0	2–1	3–0
Fitzroy United	3–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	—	0–1	4–1	1–0	4–1	1–4	3–1	1–1	0–3
Footscray	0–1	2–2	4–0	1–2	1–1	1–2	—	0–2	0–1	0–2	2–0	2–3	2–2	2–3
Marconi Fairfield	1–1	3–2	3–1	2–0	1–2	4–0	1–2	—	4–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–0	6–2
Newcastle KB United	2–2	2–3	2–2	3–0	1–4	2–2	1–1	1–0	—	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–1	2–1
South Melbourne	5–0	0–1	2–1	0–0	3–0	1–1	4–0	0–3	3–0	—	5–2	1–1	0–2	2–1
St George-Budapest	2–1	2–0	2–2	2–1	1–3	2–0	3–1	2–1	2–3	0–2	—	1–2	0–1	1–0
Sydney Olympic	2–1	2–1	2–4	1–2	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	—	2–4	0–1
West Adelaide	1–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	3–2	3–2	1–2	2–1	1–0	3–1	1–4	0–1	—	2–0
Western Suburbs	2–3	3–1	2–2	1–0	3–2	2–3	0–0	3–1	1–1	3–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	—

Source: OzFootball.net
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

The top four teams in the league entered a playoff series, however the winner of the grand final match was not considered the overall winner of the NSL season, unlike other NSL grand finals.^[1]