1979 National Soccer League (Canada) season

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]

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

The NSL was operating a franchise in Northern Ontario, Quebec, and expanded it's boundaries into the United States with two franchises in Detroit, Michigan.

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 their Second Division. The primary reason for the mass departures revolved around a league bylaw which required all clubs to successfully pay all membership dues on the required deadline in order to avoid suspensions.[6] Members such as Mississauga Hungaria, Ottawa Tigers, St. Catherines Heidelberg, Toronto Polonia, and Windsor Stars disbanded their teams, while Montreal Castors had intentions of acquiring a franchise in the North American Soccer League.[7][8][6] Toronto Italia, and Buffalo Blazers were inactive for the season, but returned for the 1980 campaign.[9] 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.[10]

The NSL also retained their presence in Quebec with the return of the Montreal Stars and an additional team in the Greater Toronto Area known as Toronto Canadians. 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.[10][11]

Teams
Team City Stadium Manager
Bradford Marshlanders Bradford, Ontario
Detroit Besa Hamtramck, Michigan Keyworth Stadium
Detroit Vardar Detroit, Michigan
Hamilton Italo-Canadians Hamilton, Ontario Brian Timmis Stadium Carlo Del Monte[12]
Montreal Stars Montreal, Quebec Jarry Park[13]
London City London, Ontario Cove Road Stadium
Serbian White Eagles Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium
Sudbury Cyclones Sudbury, Ontario
St. Catharines Roma St. Catharines, Ontario Club Roma Stadium
Toronto Canadians Scarborough, Ontario Birchmount Stadium
Toronto Croatia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Falcons Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium
Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium
Toronto Italia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Panhellenic Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium
Toronto Ukrainians Scarborough, Ontario Birchmount Stadium

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) Champion; (O) Play-off winner.

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. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  2. Kernaghan, Jim (May 16, 1980). "79' finalists". Toronto Star. p. B6.
  3. "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. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  6. Picknell, Gary (May 2, 1979). "No cash, Tigers out of NSL". Ottawa Journal. p. 25.
  7. Burke, Tim (February 2, 1979). "Soccer Castors cut ties with pro league". Newspapers.com. Montreal Gazette. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  8. Fathers, Ken (April 5, 1979). "Sabbatical for Stars". Windsor Star. p. 22.
  9. Lunt, Bryan (September 15, 1979). "Dreams or Hallucinations". The Globe and Mail. p. S15.
  10. Diener, Seymour (March 21, 1979). "Ottawa team eyes planned soccer league". Ottawa Journal. p. 17.
  11. "Toronto joins new Canadian soccer league". Toronto Star. September 14, 1979. p. B6.
  12. "1981 Hamilton Steelers - Team of Distinction". Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  13. "The Ontario National Soccer League - Double Header Soccer Game". Montreal Gazette. August 25, 1979. p. 81.
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