Women's National Soccer League
Founded1996
Folded2004
CountryAustralia
Level on pyramid1
Most championshipsQueensland Sting (3 titles)

The Women's National Soccer League (WNSL) was Australia's top women's association football league. Originally known as the Ansett Australia Summer Series for sponsorship reasons, the WNSL began in 1996 consisting of six clubs and continued through until 2004, folding alongside the National Soccer League. It was not until 2008 that a women's top flight league was re-established in Australia, named the W-League, as of the 2021–22 season renamed A-League Women.

History

Women's soccer in Australia up until the 1974 FIFA World Cup where the Australia mens team qualified for the first time, was virtually non-existent in regards to any organised competition or formalized structure. However in August of 1974, the first National Women's Championships were held in Sydney between five teams of state representation (New South Wales, Northern New South Wales, Victoria, South Queensland and Western Australia). The matches were played at Granville, Centennial Park, and Bankstown in Sydney, with New South Wales winning the inaugural championship.

Following this initial tournament, representatives from the sides who had participated met and formed the Australian Womens Soccer Association (AWSA). National championships were held annually until 1993. In 1996, the AWSA established the Women's National Soccer League which gained national recognition when the competition was sponsored by Ansett Airlines. Clubs in the league were initially representatives of the various state-based institutes of sports. The league was initially split into two conferences (North & Southern), similar to that of the mens National Soccer League. The southern conference was represented by ACT Academy of Sports (later became Canberra Eclipse), ITC Victoria (later became Victoria Vision), SA Sports Institute (later became Adelaide Sensation). The northern conference was represented by NSW Institute of Sport (later became NSW Sapphires), Queensland Academy of Sport (later became Queensland Sting) and Northern NSW ITC (later became Northern NSW Pride). Western Australia would receive representation during the final season with the introduction of the Western Waves.

The WNSL disbanded in 2004 alongside the National Soccer League, and Queensland Sting were the most successful side winning 4 championships.[1]

Clubs

Club City Home Ground Other Names
Adelaide Sensation Adelaide, South Australia Hindmarsh Stadium SA Sports Institute, SASI Buffalo Pirates
Canberra Eclipse Canberra, Australian Capital Territory AIS, McKellar Stadium ACT Academy of Sports
Northern NSW Pride Newcastle, New South Wales Weston Park, Wanderers Oval Northern NSW ITC, NNSW Horizon
NSW Sapphires Sydney, New South Wales Sydney United Sports Centre NSW Institute of Sport
Queensland Sting FC Brisbane, Queensland Perry Park, QAS Centre Queensland Academy of Sport
Victoria Vision Melbourne, Victoria Bulleen Soccer Club ITC Victoria
Western Waves* Perth, Western Australia Perth Oval
  • In 2004 Western Waves was given temporary entry to the WNSL for six games

Champions

Champions are:[2]

Season Winner Result Runner-up
2004 Queensland Sting FC 2–0 Northern NSW Pride
2003–04 NSW Sapphires 3–1 Queensland Sting FC
2002–03 Queensland Sting FC 1–0 NSW Sapphires
2001–02 Canberra Eclipse 1–0 NSW Sapphires
2000–01 Queensland Sting FC 1–0 NSW Sapphires
1999 NSW Sapphires 1–0 SASI Pirates
1998–99 SASI Pirates 2–0 Canberra Eclipse
1997–98 NSWIS 3–2 SASI
1996–97 QAS 2–1 SASI

Individual honours

Julie Dolan Medal

The medal is awarded annually to the player voted to be the best player in the Women's Football League in Australia, named after former Matildas Captain and football administrator Julie Dolan. The award was for the best player in the WNSL, and is currently maintained in the successor competition, the W-League. The following table contains only those winners of the medal who won it during the WNSL era.

Year Winner Club
1996–97 unknown
1997–98 Sharon Black[3] SA Sports Institute
1998–99 Julie Murray NSWIS Sapphires
1999–00 Ann Marie Vozzo SASI Pirates
2000–01 Taryn Rockall[4] NSW Sapphires
2001–02 Joanne Peters[5] NSW Sapphires
2002–03 Lisa De Vanna
Heather Garriock[6]		 Adelaide Sensation
Queensland Sting
2003–04 unknown
2004–05 Taryn Rockall[4] NSW Sapphires

Golden Boot

Season Top Scorer Club Goals
2004 Katie Gill NNSW 13
2003–04 Catherine Cannuli NSW 13
2002–03 Lisa De Vanna ADE 9
2001–02 Caitlin Munoz CNB 9
2000–01 Taryn Rockall NSW 6
1999 Belinda Dawney QLD 7
1998–99 Lisa Casagrande CNB 16
1997–98 Sharon Black SASI 11
1996–97 Kristy Moore SASI 9

WNSL Rising Star Award

Year Winner Club
2002–03 Erin Hunter[6] Northern NSW Pride
2004–05 Sasha McDonnell[4] Queensland Sting

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The first national women's championships". Football Australia. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "Historical list of Womens National League winners". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Football Federation SA Hall of Fame 2012". Fox Sports Pulse. 29 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Rockall player of the year". SBS. 3 March 2005.
  5. ↑ "Joanne Peters Bio". ESPN FC. 3 September 2003.
  6. 1 2 "Mori picks up award". SBS. 3 June 2003.
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