The 1996 National Soccer League Grand Final was the first grand final to be held under the A-League name after the short-lived rebranding of the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

(NSL) began before the 1995–96 season.

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

defeated Marconi-Fairfield 2–1 to win their second consecutive grand final.

Route to the final

Melbourne Knights

Melbourne Knights were the first team into the grand final defeating Marconi-Fairfield 3–2 over two legs in the major semi-final.

Marconi-Fairfield

After losing the major semi-final to the Knights, Marconi-Fairfield followed up with a 4–1 win over

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakden, a north-eastern suburb of Adelaide. The club was a founding member of the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL) and currently competes in the National Premier ...

in the preliminary final to book their place in the grand final.

Pre-match

Venue selection

With Melbourne Knights the first into the final, there was speculation that the Knights would host the match at Somers Street, however Soccer Australia announced on 12 May that the match would be played 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 ...

Match

Details

References

{{Marconi Stallions FC matches

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

NSL Grand Finals National Soccer League Grand Final Soccer competitions in Melbourne National Soccer League Grand Final 1996 National Soccer League Grand Final 1996 1990s in Melbourne