The 1987 NSL Cup final was the 11th final of the

NSL Cup The National Soccer League Cup (known most commonly as the NSL Cup) was an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Australian soccer organised by the Australian Soccer Federation between 1977 and 1997. History The NSL Cup was or ...

. The final was contested in a two-legged home-and-away format between

Sydney Croatia Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

and

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

. The first leg was hosted by Sydney Croatia at

St George Stadium Barton Park Sports Complex was a soccer stadium in Banksia, New South Wales, Australia. History The original St George Soccer Stadium opened in March 1978, with St George playing against South Melbourne in the National Soccer League. The grou ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 14 October 1987, while the second leg was hosted by South Melbourne at

Olympic Park An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 18 October 1987. Sydney Croatia won 2–0 on aggregate to win their first NSL Cup title.

Route to the final

Sydney Croatia

Sydney Croatia started their 1987 NSL Cup campaign by winning against locals

APIA Leichhardt APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was forme ...

2–1 in the first round at home on. They defeated St George-Budapest 3–0 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, they won on penalties against

Heidelberg United Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Australia. The team currently ...

to progress to their first NSL Cup Final.

South Melbourne

South Melbourne had a bye in the first round of this NSL campaign until they won 2–0 against

Preston Makedonia Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a semi-professional soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matche ...

in the quarter-finals. The semi-final was won 4–1 against

Marconi Fairfield Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marc ...

to progress to the Final.

Matches

First leg

Details

Second leg

Details

References

{{South Melbourne FC matches 1987 NSL Cup NSL Cup finals NSL Cup final 1987 NSL Cup final 1987 NSL Cup final