| 1981 National Soccer League Squads Written by Tony Persoglia and Greg Stock |
| 1980 |
Results | Table | Top Scorers | Squads | NSL Cup | NSL Index | 1982
Club | Adelaide City | APIA Leichhardt | Blacktown City | Brisbane City | Brisbane Lions | Canberra City | Footscray JUST | Heidelberg United | Marconi | Newcastle KB United | Preston Makedonia | South Melbourne | Sydney City | Sydney Olympic | West Adelaide | Wollongong City
Sources: Australian Soccer Weekly, Soccer Action, Soccer World.
| Canberra City 1981 Squad | ||||
| Player Details | Home-and-Away Season | Full Name | Birth Date | Position | Start | Sub | App | Gls | Red | Cls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Brennan | 15-Oct-1956 | Forward | 27 | 0 | 27 | 5 | ||
| Terry Byrne | 15-Feb-1959 | Defender | 27 | 0 | 27 | 2 | ||
| Duncan Cole | 12-Jul-1958 | Midfielder | 22 | 1 | 23 | 1 | ||
| Isaac Farrell | 01-Oct-1957 | Midfielder | 10 | 8 | 18 | 1 | ||
| Sebastian Giampaolo | 08-Jan-1959 | Forward | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Ian Gibson | 03-Feb-1956 | Midfielder | 22 | 2 | 24 | 8 | ||
| Steve Hoszowski | 29-May-1954 | Goalkeeper | 21 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 9 | |
| Don Maclaren | 07-Aug-1959 | Forward | 24 | 4 | 28 | 4 | ||
| Johan Massa | 24-Sep-1955 | Midfielder | 8 | 13 | 21 | 0 | ||
| John Moutsopoulos | 08-Jun-1963 | Defender | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| John O'Shea | 24-Jul-1957 | Defender | 30 | 0 | 30 | 3 | ||
| Mike O'Shea | 27-Oct-1960 | Defender | 30 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| Robbie O'Shea | 21-Sep-1958 | Defender | 26 | 2 | 28 | 3 | ||
| Ian Purdie | 07-Mar-1953 | Forward | 17 | 3 | 20 | 4 | ||
| Roy Stark | 28-Nov-1953 | Defender | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Ian Stone | 24-Dec-1956 | Midfielder | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Walter Valeri | 02-Jul-1955 | Midfielder | 16 | 9 | 25 | 9 | ||
| Harry Williams | 07-May-1951 | Defender | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Richard Wilson | 08-May-1956 | Goalkeeper | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 5 | |
Coach: George Murray. 30 matches: Won 13; Drew 7; Lost 10.