1979 National Soccer League (Canada) season

{{Short description|Canadian soccer season}}{{Infobox football league season

| competition = National Soccer League

| season = 1979

| winners = {{ubl|Toronto First Portuguese (3rd title)}}

| shield = Toronto First Portuguese

| shieldtitle = League cup

| league topscorer =

| biggest home win =

| biggest away win =

| matches =

| highest scoring =

| total goals =

| average goals =

| longest wins =

| longest unbeaten =

| longest losses =

| highest attendance =

| lowest attendance =

| average attendance =

| prevseason = 1978

| nextseason = 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.{{Cite web|title=CSL Past Champions – Canadian Soccer League|url=http://canadiansoccerleague.ca/csl-past-champions/|access-date=2020-09-06|website=canadiansoccerleague.ca|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030000639/http://canadiansoccerleague.ca/csl-past-champions/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|last=Kernaghan|first=Jim|date=May 16, 1980|title=79' finalists|page=B6|work=Toronto Star|url=|access-date=}} First Portuguese would also secure the double by defeating Toronto Panhellenic for the NSL Cup.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=September 3, 1979|title=First Portuguese win National League Cup|page=S14|work=The Globe and Mail|url=|access-date=}}{{Cite book|last=Jose|first=Colin|title=On-Side - 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario|publisher=Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum|year=2001|location=Vaughan, Ontario|pages=117}} Toronto's undefeated streak lasted until the 1980 season and amounted to 52 games with Toronto Panhellenic breaking the streak.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=July 25, 1980|title=Soccer exhibition Sunday|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/504525648/?terms=national%20soccer%20league%20first%20portuguese&match=1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111154908/http://www.newspapers.com/image/504525648/?terms=national%20soccer%20league%20first%20portuguese&match=1 |archive-date=2021-01-11 |access-date=2021-01-09|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=Windsor Star|page=32|language=en}}

The NSL was operating a franchise in Northern Ontario, Quebec, and expanded its 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 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.{{Cite news|last=Picknell|first=Gary|date=May 2, 1979|title=No cash, Tigers out of NSL|page=25|work=Ottawa Journal|url=|access-date=}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Burke|first=Tim|date=February 2, 1979|title=Soccer Castors cut ties with pro league|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/422178974/?terms=montreal%20castors&match=1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112125056/http://www.newspapers.com/image/422178974/?terms=montreal%20castors&match=1 |archive-date=2021-01-12 |access-date=2021-01-10|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=Montreal Gazette|page=13|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Fathers|first=Ken|date=April 5, 1979|title=Sabbatical for Stars|page=22|work=Windsor Star|url=|access-date=}} Toronto Italia and Buffalo Blazers were inactive for the season but returned for the 1980 campaign.{{Cite news|last=Lunt|first=Bryan|date=September 15, 1979|title=Dreams or Hallucinations|page=S15|work=The Globe and Mail|url=|access-date=}} 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.{{Cite news|last=Diener|first=Seymour|date=March 21, 1979|title=Ottawa team eyes planned soccer league|page=17|work=Ottawa Journal}}{{Cite news|last=Hall|first=Dave|date=December 15, 1977|title=Kane, full of ideas, leans NSL position|page=54|work=Windsor Star}}

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. 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.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=September 14, 1979|title=Toronto joins new Canadian soccer league|page=B6|work=Toronto Star|url=|access-date=}}

= Teams =

class="wikitable sortable"

!Team

!City

!Stadium

!Manager

Bradford Marshlanders

|Bradford, Ontario

|Bradford District High School{{Cite news |date=23 May 1979 |title=Marshlanders club takes first victory of the season |work=The Bradford Witness |pages=8}}

|Dave Reid{{Cite news |date=9 May 1979 |title=Marshlanders sign two after opening game loss |work=The Bradford Witness |pages=17}}

Detroit Besa

|Hamtramck, Michigan

|Keyworth Stadium

|Nino Berisic{{Cite news|last=Desilets|first=Peter|date=June 4, 1979|title=Cyclones tied in soccer cup two-game series|page=13|work=Sudbury Star}}

Detroit Vardar{{refn|group=note|Detroit withdrew from league throughout the season}}

|Detroit, Michigan

Hamilton Italo-Canadians

|Hamilton, Ontario

|Ivor Wynne Stadium{{Cite news|date=May 5, 1979|title=Cyclones play league opener|page=15|work=Sudbury Star}}

|Carlo Del Monte{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=1981 Hamilton Steelers - Team of Distinction|url=http://hshof.ca/team/1981-hamilton-steelers/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924111521/http://hshof.ca/team/1981-hamilton-steelers/|archive-date=September 24, 2020|access-date=January 5, 2021|website=}}

Montreal Stars

|Montreal, Quebec

|Jarry Park{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=August 25, 1979|title=The Ontario National Soccer League - Double Header Soccer Game|page=81|work=Montreal Gazette|url=|access-date=}}

|Lamport Stadium{{Cite news|date=September 29, 1979|title=What's on today - Soccer|page=S15|work=The Globe and Mail}}

|Nikola Ivetić{{cite web |url=https://serbianwhiteeagles.ca/en/head-coaches/ |author=Serbian White Eagles FC |title=Head Coaches |access-date=2023-11-23 |date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123031110/https://serbianwhiteeagles.ca/en/head-coaches/ |archive-date=23 November 2023 |url-status=dead}}

Sudbury Cyclones

|Sudbury, Ontario

|Queen's Athletic Field{{Cite news|date=May 12, 1979|title=Cyclones head for Toronto in NSL action|page=15|work=Sudbury Star}}

|Peter Severinac{{Cite news|date=May 1, 1979|title=Meet your 1979 Sudbury Cyclones|page=15|work=Sudbury Star}}

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{{Cite news|date=June 16, 1979|title=Cyclones host two matches at Queen's|page=15|work=Sudbury Star}}

Toronto First Portuguese

|Centennial Park Stadium

Toronto Panhellenic

|Toronto, Ontario

|Lamport Stadium{{Cite news|date=August 11, 1979|title=What's on - Soccer|page=S16|work=The Globe and Mail}}

Toronto Ukrainians

|Scarborough, Ontario

|Birchmount Stadium

{{Location map+|Canada Southern Ontario|width=400 |float=center|caption=Location of NSL teams outside of Toronto for the 1979 NSL season.
10px

|places=

{{Location map~|Canada Southern Ontario||lat=44.133333|long= -79.633333 |label=Bradford |position=left|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{Location map~|Canada Southern Ontario||lat=42.392222 |long= -83.048889 |label=Detroit |position=left|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{Location map~|Canada Southern Ontario||lat=43.251389 |long= -79.830278 |label=Hamilton |position=left|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{Location map~|Canada Southern Ontario||lat=42.9837 |long=-81.2497 |label=London |position=right|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{Location map~|Canada Southern Ontario||lat=43.183333 |long= -79.233333|label=St. Catharines |position=right|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{Location map~|Canada Southern Ontario||lat=46.49 |long= -81.01|label=Sudbury |position=bottom|mark=Blue pog.svg}}

{{Location map~|Canada Southern Ontario||lat=43.64 |long=-79.42 |label=TORONTO |position=right|mark=Red pog.svg}}

}}

{{Location map+ |Canada Southern Quebec |width=400 |float=center |caption=Locations of teams in Quebec for the 1979 NSL season.|places=

{{Location map~ | Canada Southern Quebec |lat= 45.554119|long= -73.636631 |label=Montreal |position=left|mark=Red pog.svg}}

}}

Final standings

{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL

|res_col_header=Q

|winpoints=2

|team1=POR|name_POR=Toronto First Portuguese

|team2=STC|name_STC=St. Catharines Roma

|team3=FAL|name_FAL=Toronto Falcons

|team4=HAM|name_HAM=Hamilton Italo-Canadians

|team5=MON|name_MON=Montreal Stars

|team6=SUD|name_SUD=Sudbury Cyclones

|team7=DET|name_DET=Detroit Besa

|team8=PAN|name_PAN=Toronto Panhellenic

|team9=LON|name_LON=London City

|team10=CAN|name_CAN=Toronto Canadians

|team11=CRO|name_CRO=Toronto Croatia

|team12=UKA|name_UKA=Toronto Ukrainians

|team13=BAD|name_BAD=Bradford Marshlanders

|team14=SER|name_SER=Toronto Serbians

|col_Q=#ACE1AF|text_Q=Qualification for Playoffs

|result1=Q|

|class_rules=1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

|update=September 30, 1979

|source=http://canadiansoccerleague.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/NSL_1921_1992.pdf

}}

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===

{{Football box collapsible

| round =

| date = September 3, 1979

| time =

| team1 = Toronto First Portuguese

| score = 1–0

| report = [ Report]

| team2 = Toronto Panhellenic

| goals1 = Tito {{goal|30}}

| goals2 =

| penaltyscore =