List of South Melbourne FC seasons
South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football club based in Albert Park, Melbourne.[1] The club was formed in 1959 as three clubs South Melbourne United, Hellenic and Yarra Park before it was shortly renamed to South Melbourne Hellas in 1960.
Before their entrance into the National Soccer League in 1977, South Melbourne won 8 premierships, 2 Dockerty Cups and 2 Ampol Cups. It was until the 1984 season, where South Melbourne won their first national competitive league in the Southern Conference.[2] During the club's stadium move to Bob Jane Stadium (now Lakeside Stadium), the club were known as the South Melbourne Lakers with failure aspects afterward, they won the 1997–98 season of the National Soccer League and won another championship the next season which was their last in their National Soccer League career.
A move to the Bob Jane Stadium and a nickname change in the mid 90s injected new life into the club. South were known as the Lakers and after the 'failure' - by South's high standards - of the early to mid 90s (five Preliminary Final defeats), South Melbourne were able to shrug the finals monkey off its back by winning the 1997–98 Ericsson Cup.
As of the end of the 2020–21 season, the club's first team have spent 28 seasons in the National Soccer League, 33 in the top division of Victoria and the one in the second division of Victoria. Their worst finish to date is 14th in the National Soccer League, their placing at the end of the 1979 season. The club's longest period without a competitive honour is 7 years, between the 2007 and 2013 seasons.
The club set to play for Australian Championship from October 2025 after participating in NPL Victoria. On 6 December 2025, South Melbourne FC won the inaugural Australian Championship title.[3]
On 29 August 2025, South Melbourne were announced as one of the eight founding members of the OFC Professional League by the Oceanian Football Confederation (OFC), as Australia's only member in the competition and also the only member outside of the OFC.[4]
Key
Key to league competitions:
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- Victorian State League (State League)
- Victorian Metropolitan League First Division (Metro League 1)
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Key to colours and symbols:
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Key to league record:
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Key to cup record:
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Seasons
| Season | Division | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | Finals | National Cup | Dockerty Cup | Competition | Result | Name(s) | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Other / Oceania | Top goalscorer(s) | ||||||||||||||
| 1960 | Metro One North ↑ | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 11 | 35 | 1st | — | — | SF | — | — | — | — |
| 1961 | State League | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 45 | 38 | 25 | 5th | — | — | R5 | — | — | — | — |
| 1962 | State League | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 51 | 21 | 32 | 1st | — | — | GS | — | — | — | — |
| 1963 | State League | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 28 | 30 | 21 | 7th | — | — | DNE | Ampol Cup | RU | — | — |
| 1964 | State League | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 55 | 41 | 30 | 1st | — | — | SF | — | — | — | — |
| 1965 | State League | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 53 | 19 | 34 | 1st | — | — | R5 | — | — | — | — |
| 1966 | State League | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 47 | 24 | 31 | 1st | — | — | SF | Ampol Cup | RU | — | — |
| 1967 | State League | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 50 | 36 | 27 | 4th | — | — | RU | — | — | — | — |
| 1968 | State League | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 38 | 29 | 25 | 3rd | — | — | RU | — | — | — | — |
| 1969 | State League | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 40 | 39 | 21 | 7th | DNQ | — | DNE | Ampol Cup | W | — | — |
| 1970 | State League | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 36 | 27 | 27 | 5th | DNQ | — | RU | Ampol Cup | W | — | — |
| 1971 | State League | 22 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 41 | 16 | 32 | 2nd | RU | — | DNE | Ampol Cup | RU | — | — |
| 1972 | State League | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 50 | 13 | 35 | 1st | — | — | R1 | — | — | — | — |
| 1973 | State League | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 48 | 27 | 31 | 3rd | GS | — | QF | — | — | — | — |
| 1974 | State League | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 47 | 23 | 33 | 1st | GS | — | W | — | — | — | — |
| 1975 | State League | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 28 | 19 | 28 | 2nd | GS | — | W | Ampol Cup | RU | — | — |
| 1976 | State League | 22 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 21 | 37 | 1st | RU | — | R2 | Ampol Cup | W | — | — |
| 1977 | NSL | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 27 | 35 | 22 | 7th | — | R1 | — | — | — | Peter Ollerton | 6 |
| 1978 | NSL | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 45 | 30 | 32 | 3rd | SF | R2 | — | — | — | Duncan Cummings | 11 |
| 1979 | NSL | 26 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 26 | 45 | 16 | 14th | DNQ | R1 | — | — | — | Alun Evans | 7 |
| 1980 | NSL | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 42 | 21 | 35 | 3rd | PF | R2 | — | — | — | Branko Buljevic | 12 |
| 1981 | NSL | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 41 | 27 | 39 | 2nd | — | R1 | — | — | — | Alun Evans | 14 |
| 1982 | NSL | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 46 | 37 | 31 | 6th | DNQ | R1 | — | — | — | Charlie Egan | 20 |
| 1983 | NSL | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 44 | 36 | 52 | 4th | — | SF | — | — | — | Duggie Brown | 19 |
| 1984 | NSL Southern | 28 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 48 | 20 | 40 | 1st | W | SF | — | — | — | Duggie Brown | 22 |
| 1985 | NSL Southern | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 39 | 21 | 33 | 1st | PF | R1 | — | — | — | Charlie Egan | 21 |
| 1986 | NSL Southern | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 27 | 20 | 25 | 7th | DNQ | R2 | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | NSL | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 34 | 25 | 6th | DNQ | RU | — | — | — | ||
| 1988 | NSL | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 36 | 29 | 34 | 3rd | EF | SF | — | — | — | ||
| 1989 | NSL | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 44 | 37 | 26 | 8th | DNQ | SF | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | NSL | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 42 | 23 | 36 | 2nd | SF | W | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | NSL | 26 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 45 | 33 | 34 | 2nd | W | SF | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | NSL | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 51 | 28 | 31 | 3rd | PF | R1 | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | NSL | 26 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 51 | 23 | 58 | 1st | SF | R2 | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | NSL | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 39 | 20 | 47 | 2nd | PF | SF | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | NSL | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 42 | 36 | 44 | 6th | PF | SF | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | NSL | 33 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 47 | 33 | 54 | 8th | DNQ | W | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | NSL | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 25 | 46 | 3rd | PF | SF | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | NSL | 26 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 56 | 41 | 48 | 1st | W | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | NSL | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 50 | 26 | 57 | 2nd | W | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | NSL | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 50 | 26 | 57 | 10th | DNQ | — | — | Club Championship | W | ||
| 2000–01 | NSL | 28 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 70 | 24 | 69 | 1st | RU | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | NSL | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 30 | 22 | 36 | 5th | SF | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | NSL | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 37 | 35 | 7th | DNQ | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | NSL | 24 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 39 | 21 | 37 | 5th | SF | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | Prem | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 30 | 17 | 46 | 3rd | PF | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006 | Prem | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 45 | 28 | 42 | 3rd | W | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007 | Prem | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 39 | 33 | 37 | 7th | DNQ | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | Prem | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 35 | 32 | 34 | 9th | DNQ | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009 | Prem | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 41 | 22 | 37 | 5th | EF | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010 | Prem | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 41 | 28 | 30 | 6th | DNQ | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011 | Prem | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 39 | 33 | 41 | 4th | SF | — | R5 | — | — | ||
| 2012 | Prem | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 31 | 32 | 6th | DNQ | — | R5 | — | — | ||
| 2013 | Prem | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 40 | 33 | 31 | 4th | DNQ | — | PF | — | — | ||
| 2014 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 59 | 22 | 66 | 1st | — | DNQ | QF | — | — | ||
| 2015 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 58 | 22 | 58 | 1st | RU | R32 | QF | — | — | ||
| 2016 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 64 | 39 | 53 | 3rd | W | DNQ | QF | — | — | ||
| 2017 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 49 | 28 | 48 | 2nd | SF | SF | SF | — | — | ||
| 2018 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 48 | 53 | 28 | 10th | DNQ | DNQ | R5 | — | — | ||
| 2019 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 27 | 42 | 34 | 8th | DNQ | DNQ | QF | — | — | ||
| 2020 | NPL Victoria | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8th | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021 | NPL Victoria | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 18 | 25 | 9th | — | R32 | SF | — | — | Harry Sawyer | 2 |
| 2022 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 59 | 20 | 62 | 1st | RU | 4R | 4R | — | — | ||
| 2023 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 54 | 21 | 62 | 2nd | RU | 4R | 4R | — | — | Ajak Riak | 10 |
| 2024 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 53 | 20 | 60 | 1st | RU | SF | W | — | — | Harry Sawyer | 16 |
| 2025 | NPL Victoria | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 29 | 46 | 28 | 9th | — | R16 | W | Australian Championship | W | ||
| 2026 | NPL Victoria | R5 | Australian Championship | |||||||||||||
| OFC Pro League | RU | |||||||||||||||
References
General
- "South Melbourne Football Club Seasons". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- Persoglia, Tony. "South Melbourne: Divisional History". ozfootball.net.
Specific
- ↑ "The Forming Of South Melbourne Hellas". South Melbourne FC. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ↑ "History of South Melbourne FC". South Melbourne FC. Archived from the original on 7 November 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- ↑ "South Melbourne FC make history as first Australian Championship winners". greekherald.com.au. 6 December 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ↑ Monteverde, Marco. "Australia to be represented in new Oceania professional competition by South Melbourne". news.com.au. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
Lists of Australian soccer seasons by club | |
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| A-League | |
| A-League Women | |
| Non-League | |
| Defunct teams | |
