1980 National Soccer League (Canada) season

The 1980 National Soccer League season was the fifty seventh season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season began in May, 1980 and concluded in October, 1980 with the NSL Championship final where Toronto Panhellenic defeated St. Catharines Roma.[2] The Toronto Falcons won the regular season title, but were defeated by Toronto Italia for the NSL Cup.[3][4][5]

National Soccer League
Season1980
Champions
League cupToronto Italia
Top goalscorerMike Burke (24)[1]
← 1979
1981 →

The NSL was operative in the United States and in Northern Ontario for the final time in the league's history.[6]

Overview

The decade ushered in a unique era in Canadian soccer as many attempts and proposals at forming a national major soccer league were executed throughout the 1980s. The first notable example occurred in 1980 where several investors presented a nationwide soccer league known as the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) with the intentions of debuting in 1981.[7] Before the commencement of any season the project initially debuted in a tournament known as the Red Leaf Cup, which featured teams from Europe and Brazil.[8][9][10] The planned Canadian Soccer League failed to materialize and the next attempt at creating a domestic national league successfully occurred in 1983.[11][12]

Meanwhile, the Ontario centered National Soccer League (NSL) continued having a presence in Northern Ontario with Sudbury Cyclones representing the city of Sudbury, and continued having an American representative the Buffalo Blazers.[13][14] The membership in the league decreased into twelve clubs as the NSL lost their presence in Quebec, and Detroit, Michigan as the Montreal Stars, Detroit Besa, and Detroit Vardar departed. While the Hamilton Italo-Canadians requested a sabbatical, and returned for the 1981 season.[15] A friendly tournament known as the Toronto International Soccer Cup was organized with Toronto First Portuguese and Toronto Panhellenic representing the NSL against S.L. Benfica, and Partizan Belgrade.[16] Benfica would win the tournament after defeating Belgrade in the final.[17]

Teams
Team City Stadium Manager
Buffalo Blazers Buffalo, New York Lackwanna Stadium Carlo Del Monte[15]
Bradford Marshlanders Bradford, Ontario
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 Croatia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Falcons Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium
Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium José Testas[18]
Toronto Italia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Panhellenic Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium Arthur Rodrigues[19]
Toronto Ukrainians Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium

Final standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto Falcons (C) 22 18 3 1 45 14 +31 39 Qualification for Playoffs
2 Toronto First Portuguese 22 16 5 1 71 15 +56 37
3 Toronto Italia 22 14 6 2 63 16 +47 34
4 Toronto Panhellenic (O) 22 11 9 2 38 14 +24 31
5 London City 22 11 3 8 49 25 +24 25
6 St. Catharines Roma 22 8 4 10 29 26 +3 20
7 Bradford Marshlanders 22 7 5 10 31 58 −27 19
8 Buffalo Blazers 22 8 2 12 33 49 −16 18
9 Toronto Ukrainians 22 5 3 14 22 56 −34 13 Qualification for Playoffs
10 Sudbury Cyclones 22 3 6 13 27 40 −13 12
11 Toronto Croatia 22 4 3 15 21 55 −34 11
12 Serbian White Eagles 22 1 3 18 14 75 −61 5
Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 1980. Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner.

Playoffs

Finals
October 6, 1980 Toronto Panhellenic 1–0 St. Catharines Roma Toronto, Ontario
John Stravropoulos [[2] Report] Stadium: Lamport Stadium

Cup

The cup tournament was a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all twelve teams took part. All the matches were separate from the regular season, and the teams were grouped into two separate divisions. The two winners in the group stage would advance in a two-legged match final for the Cup.

Finals
September 3, 1980 Toronto Italia 2–0 Toronto Falcons Toronto, Ontario
[[20] Report] Stadium: Lamport Stadium
September 7, 1980 Toronto Falcons 0–2 Toronto Italia Toronto, Ontario
[[20] Report] Mike Burke  37',  60' Stadium: Lamport Stadium

References
  1. "1980 NSL Season" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca.
  2. "Panhellenic takes soccer cup". The Globe and Mail. October 6, 1980. p. S8.
  3. "CSL Past Champions – Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  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. "Mike Burke sparks Italia". Toronto Star. September 8, 1980. p. B6.
  6. Pascal, Randy (June 20, 2020). "The Sudbury Cyclones and their semi-pro soccer stint". Sudbury Star. p. B1.
  7. "Soccer promoters unveil grandiose plans". Newspapers.com. The Province. May 29, 1980. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  8. Wayne, Jamie (June 7, 1980). "The goal for Canada: Second soccer league". Newspapers.com. National Post. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  9. Mayoh, Rick (June 11, 1980). "Top soccer teams set for Canadian series". Ottawa Citizen. p. 35.
  10. Habib, Marlene (June 16, 1980). "Varsity becomes 'battlefield' muring Red Leaf Cup soccer". The Globe and Mail. p. S5.
  11. "Another soccer league". Nanaimo Daily News. December 3, 1981. p. 10.
  12. Konotopetz, Gyle (December 24, 1981). "Proposed league has Rudi laughing". Calgary Herald. p. 30.
  13. "Sports activities for everyone". National Post. October 11, 1980. p. 75.
  14. "In trouble". Nanaimo Daily News. March 25, 1980. p. 11.
  15. "1981 Hamilton Steelers - Team of Distinction". Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  16. Kernaghan, Jim (June 24, 1980). "Lisbon soccer star shuns America". Toronto Star. p. F4.
  17. Koep, Bob (August 5, 1980). "Soccer fans get kick from Benfica". Toronto Star. p. B2.
  18. MOURATO, SERGIO (February 18, 2017). "Após cumprir missão da vida, 'Baixinho' quer morrer em paz sem dores – 416 NEWS TORONTO". 416news.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
  19. "Abascal a la National Soccer League". El Popular. April 30, 1980. p. 10.
  20. Campbell, Neil A. (September 8, 1980). "Commercials anger fans durina Italia's 2-0 victory". The Globe and Mail. p. S6.
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