National Soccer League
Season1979
Champions
League cupToronto First Portuguese
← 1978
1980 →

The 1979 National Soccer League season was the fifty-sixth season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season began in May 1979 and concluded in September 1979 with Toronto First Portuguese producing a perfect season, which granted them the NSL Championship.[1][2] First Portuguese would also secure the double by defeating Toronto Panhellenic for the NSL Cup.[3][4] Toronto's undefeated streak lasted until the 1980 season and amounted to 52 games with Toronto Panhellenic breaking the streak.[5]

The NSL was operating a franchise in Northern Ontario, Quebec, and expanded its boundaries into the United States with two franchises in Detroit, Michigan.[6]

Overview

The membership in the league experienced a sharp decline as a mass exodus of clubs departed from the league, which caused the NSL to dissolve its Second Division. The primary reason for the mass departures revolved around a league bylaw that required all clubs to successfully pay all membership dues on the required deadline to avoid suspensions.[7] Members such as Mississauga Hungaria, Ottawa Tigers, St. Catharines Heidelberg, Toronto Polonia, and Windsor Stars disbanded their teams, while Montreal Castors had intentions of acquiring a franchise in the North American Soccer League.[8][9][7] Toronto Italia and Buffalo Blazers were inactive for the season but returned for the 1980 campaign.[10] Though the league experienced a decline in membership it still expanded further into the United States with the acceptance of Detroit Besa and Detroit Vardar.[6][11]

The NSL also retained its presence in Quebec with the return of the Montreal Stars and an additional team in the Greater Toronto Area known as Toronto Canadians.[12] Throughout the regular season, the standings had to be revised as Detroit Vardar withdrew from the competition. There were also reports circulating about preliminary plans for a potential national soccer league throughout the country.[6][13]

Teams

Team City Stadium Manager
Bradford Marshlanders Bradford, Ontario
Detroit Besa Hamtramck, Michigan Keyworth Stadium Nino Berisic[14]
Detroit Vardar[note 1] Detroit, Michigan
Hamilton Italo-Canadians Hamilton, Ontario Ivor Wynne Stadium[12] Carlo Del Monte[15]
Montreal Stars Montreal, Quebec Jarry Park[16]
London City London, Ontario Cove Road Stadium
Toronto Serbians Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[17] Nikola Ivetić[18]
Sudbury Cyclones Sudbury, Ontario Queen's Athletic Field[19] Peter Severinac[20]
St. Catharines Roma St. Catharines, Ontario Club Roma Stadium
Toronto Canadians Scarborough, Ontario Birchmount Stadium[17]
Toronto Croatia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Falcons Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[21]
Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[17]
Toronto Italia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Panhellenic Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[22]
Toronto Ukrainians Scarborough, Ontario Birchmount Stadium
  1. ↑ Detroit withdrew from league throughout the season

Final standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto First Portuguese (C, O) 25 23 2 0 93 9 +84 48 Qualification for Playoffs
2 St. Catharines Roma 26 16 5 5 57 21 +36 37
3 Toronto Falcons 23 16 3 4 60 22 +38 35
4 Hamilton Italo-Canadians 20 15 3 2 44 9 +35 33
5 Montreal Stars 23 10 4 9 45 36 +9 24
6 Sudbury Cyclones 23 10 3 10 40 32 +8 23
7 Detroit Besa 24 7 6 11 27 41 −14 20
8 Toronto Panhellenic 22 8 4 10 31 26 +5 20
9 London City 23 6 4 13 25 41 −16 16
10 Toronto Canadians 24 4 8 12 23 42 −19 16
11 Toronto Croatia 21 6 4 11 17 46 −29 16
12 Toronto Ukrainians 21 3 7 11 16 35 −19 13
13 Bradford Marshlanders 25 5 3 17 19 77 −58 13
14 Toronto Serbians 20 0 6 14 13 65 −52 6
Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 1979. Source: http://canadiansoccerleague.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/NSL_1921_1992.pdf
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Cup

The cup tournament was a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all fifteen teams took part. The tournament would conclude in a final match for the Cup.

Finals

September 3, 1979 Toronto First Portuguese 1–0 Toronto Panhellenic Toronto, Ontario
Tito 30' [[3] Report] Stadium: Lamport Stadium

References

  1. ↑ "CSL Past Champions – Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  2. ↑ Kernaghan, Jim (May 16, 1980). "79' finalists". Toronto Star. p. B6.
  3. 1 2 "First Portuguese win National League Cup". The Globe and Mail. September 3, 1979. p. S14.
  4. ↑ Jose, Colin (2001). On-Side - 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario. Vaughan, Ontario: Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. p. 117.
  5. ↑ "Soccer exhibition Sunday". Newspapers.com. Windsor Star. July 25, 1980. p. 32. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  6. 1 2 3 Diener, Seymour (March 21, 1979). "Ottawa team eyes planned soccer league". Ottawa Journal. p. 17.
  7. 1 2 Picknell, Gary (May 2, 1979). "No cash, Tigers out of NSL". Ottawa Journal. p. 25.
  8. ↑ Burke, Tim (February 2, 1979). "Soccer Castors cut ties with pro league". Newspapers.com. Montreal Gazette. p. 13. Archived from the original on 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  9. ↑ Fathers, Ken (April 5, 1979). "Sabbatical for Stars". Windsor Star. p. 22.
  10. ↑ Lunt, Bryan (September 15, 1979). "Dreams or Hallucinations". The Globe and Mail. p. S15.
  11. ↑ Hall, Dave (December 15, 1977). "Kane, full of ideas, leans NSL position". Windsor Star. p. 54.
  12. 1 2 "Cyclones play league opener". Sudbury Star. May 5, 1979. p. 15.
  13. ↑ "Toronto joins new Canadian soccer league". Toronto Star. September 14, 1979. p. B6.
  14. ↑ Desilets, Peter (June 4, 1979). "Cyclones tied in soccer cup two-game series". Sudbury Star. p. 13.
  15. ↑ "1981 Hamilton Steelers - Team of Distinction". Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  16. ↑ "The Ontario National Soccer League - Double Header Soccer Game". Montreal Gazette. August 25, 1979. p. 81.
  17. 1 2 3 "What's on today - Soccer". The Globe and Mail. September 29, 1979. p. S15.
  18. ↑ Serbian White Eagles FC. "Head Coaches". Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  19. ↑ "Cyclones head for Toronto in NSL action". Sudbury Star. May 12, 1979. p. 15.
  20. ↑ "Meet your 1979 Sudbury Cyclones". Sudbury Star. May 1, 1979. p. 15.
  21. ↑ "Cyclones host two matches at Queen's". Sudbury Star. June 16, 1979. p. 15.
  22. ↑ "What's on - Soccer". The Globe and Mail. August 11, 1979. p. S16.
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