1965 National Soccer League season

Season1965

Champions

Toronto Ukrainia (regular season)
Toronto Hakoah (playoffs, 1st title)

National Soccer League
Season	1965
Champions	Toronto Ukrainia (regular season) Toronto Hakoah (playoffs, 1st title)
← 1964 1966 →

The 1965 National Soccer League season was the forty-second season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season began in early May and concluded in late October, with Toronto Hakoah claiming their first NSL Championship by defeating reigning champions Toronto Ukrainia.^[1]^[2] Ukrainia successfully defended its regular-season title by finishing first in the standings.^[3]

The league became once more restricted in the province of Ontario as both Montreal Cantalia and Montreal Ukrainians departed. Despite the loss of the Montreal franchises, the league expanded beyond the Greater Toronto Area, and into the Northern Ontario, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Windsor markets.^[4]^[5]

The creation of the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League (ECPSL) in 1961 had a direct financial effect on the National Soccer League (NSL).^[6] The competition, including the defection of the top NSL clubs to the ECPSL, caused a major decrease in their match attendance throughout the early 1960s.^[6]^[5] Their drop in gate earnings at Stanley Park Stadium contributed to their failure to fully pay their tax and loan payments.^[6] As their debt accumulated, the city of Toronto threatened the league with seizure and foreclosure of Stanley Park Stadium.^[7] Fortunately, the NSL was given another year's extension by the Toronto Board of Control and managed to pay a portion of their debt off after the season.^[8]^[7]^[2]

The average attendance in Toronto remained low, with the numbers ranging from 500 to 700 spectators.^[8]^[9] The league drew larger attendance outside the Toronto area, with Sudbury averaging the most with 1500, followed by Kitchener and Windsor, averaging about 1000.^[9]^[8] The league ceased being inter-provincial as Montreal Ukrainians joined the Quebec National Soccer League, and Montreal Cantalia attempted to rejoin the ECPSL.^[10]^[11] Though once more centered in Ontario, the league expanded beyond the Greater Toronto Area and added Kitchener, Sudbury, and Windsor to the circuit.^[12]

Toronto received further representation from the ethnic communities with the return of Toronto Hakoah, and the additions of Portuguese United, Toronto Azzurri, and Toronto Hellas.^[13] The Northern Ontario representative was the 1964 Ontario Cup champion Sudbury Italia, and the acceptance of Windsor Teutonia marked the return of professional soccer to the city of Windsor since the 1920s.^[12]^[1] The franchise rights to the Kitchener-Waterloo area were given to Kitchener Kickers, and Toronto Polonia ceased competing in the NSL.^[14]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
Kitchener Kickers	Kitchener, Ontario
Portuguese United	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Sudbury Italia	Sudbury, Ontario
Toronto Abruzzi	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]	Alberto De Rosa^[15]
Toronto Azzurri	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Toronto Croatia	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Toronto Hakoah	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Toronto Hellas	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Toronto Hungaria	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Toronto Olympia	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Toronto Ukrainia	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[4]
Windsor Teutonia	Windsor, Ontario	Wigle Park^[16]	Henry Wolf^[13]

Kitchener

Sudbury

TORONTO

Windsor

Location of NSL teams outside of Toronto for the 1965 NSL season.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Ukrainians (C)	22	15	4	3	46	18	+28	34	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Toronto Hakoah (O)	22	12	8	2	65	22	+43	32
3	Sudbury Italia	22	11	9	2	46	19	+27	31
4	Toronto Hungaria	22	12	6	4	51	28	+23	30
5	Windsor Teutonia	22	9	6	7	53	45	+8	24
6	Kitchener-Waterloo Kickers	22	8	5	9	38	37	+1	21
7	Toronto Croatia	22	9	3	10	40	36	+4	21
8	Toronto Olympia	22	7	6	9	28	43	−15	20
9	Toronto Hellas	22	7	4	11	39	64	−25	18
10	Toronto Abruzzi	22	5	5	12	19	42	−23	15
11	Portuguese United	21	4	3	14	28	59	−31	11
12	Toronto Azzurri	22	2	7	13	21	57	−36	11

Updated to match(es) played on October 1, 1965. Source: ^[17]^[18]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Playoffs

The preliminary round of the playoffs was contested in a round-robin style with two separate groups, where the two group winners would qualify for the final.^[19] The championship final was contested in a best-of-three series.^[20]

Group A

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
Toronto Ukrainia	2	2	0	6	2	+4	4	Advanced to the NSL Championship final
Sudbury Italia	2	1	1	1	2	–1	2
Windsor Teutonia	2	0	2	2	5	–3	0

October 2, 1965	Toronto Ukrainia	4–2	Windsor Teutonia	Stanley Park Stadium, Toronto, Ontario
	Walter Skocen , Ken Beattie Fred Patterson	[^[21] Report]	Vigh ,

October 10, 1965	Sudbury Italia	1–0	Windsor Teutonia	Sudbury, Ontario
	Frank Rosati	[^[22] Report]

October 17, 1965	Toronto Ukrainia	2–0	Sudbury Italia	Stanley Park Stadium, Toronto, Ontario
	Frank Patterson 17' Leo Dowhaluk 48'	[^[23] Report]

Toronto Ukrainia advances to the final.

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
Toronto Hakoah	2	1	1	0	7	1	+6	3	Advanced to the NSL Championship final
Toronto Hungaria	2	1	1	0	6	1	+5	3
Kitchener-Waterloo Kickers	2	0	0	2	0	11	-11	0

October 3, 1965	Toronto Hakoah	1–1	Toronto Hungaria	Stanley Park Stadium, Toronto, Ontario
	Tommy Adams	[^[24] Report]	Tibor Ivonyj

October 8, 1965	Toronto Hungaria	5–0	Kitchener-Waterloo Kickers	Stanley Park Stadium, Toronto, Ontario
	Vic Ivonyi 5' Kinloch 35', 64' Tommy McLeod John Wilson	[^[25] Report]

October 11, 1965	Toronto Hakoah	6–0	Kitchener-Waterloo Kickers	Stanley Park Stadium, Toronto, Ontario
	Bruce Smith , , Lefkos , Kurt Dvorka	[^[26] Report]

Toronto Hakoah advances to the final.

Finals

October 24, 1965	Toronto Ukrainia	2–3	Toronto Hakoah	Toronto, Ontario
		[^[20] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium

October 26, 1965	Toronto Hakoah	3–1	Toronto Ukrainia	Toronto, Ontario
20:00	Lefkos 17', 53', 74'	[^[2] Report]	Leo Dowhaluk 5'	Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium Attendance: 983

References

1 2 Jose, Colin (2001). On-Side - 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario. Vaughan, Ontario: Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. pp. 116, 172.
1 2 3 "Hakoah Wins Championship; NSL to Expand". The Globe and Mail. October 27, 1965. p. 37.
↑ "Hakoah Beats Azzurri 8-2 To Clinch 2nd". The Globe and Mail. October 1, 1965. p. 44.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Waring, Ed (February 10, 1965). "National Soccer Loop Expands to 11 Teams, May Add More Lafer". The Globe and Mail. p. 28.
1 2 Waring, Ed (April 29, 1965). "Soccer - National Expands". The Globe and Mail. p. 32.
1 2 3 Kernaghan, Jim (June 30, 1965). "Soccer loop fights grim survival battle". Toronto Daily Star. p. 17.
1 2 "Year of Grace For National Soccer League". The Globe and Mail. March 11, 1965. p. 26.
1 2 3 Waring, Ed (June 30, 1965). "Soccer". The Globe and Mail. p. 33.
1 2 Waring, Ed (December 30, 1965). "Soccer". The Globe and Mail. p. 16.
↑ Gillespie, Norman (May 8, 1965). "Rosemount Elevens Leading Quebec Minor Soccer Tournament". Montreal Gazette. p. 45.
↑ Gillespie, Norman (March 3, 1965). "National Soccer League Revival". Montreal Gazette. p. 30.
1 2 "National soccer loop expanded to 11 entries". North Bay Nugget. February 10, 1965. p. 17.
1 2 Nelson, Jim (May 7, 1965). "Windsor Soccerman in National League". Windsor Star. p. 31.
↑ "New-Look National loop opens". Toronto Daily Star. May 1, 1965. p. 40.
↑ "2019 Toronto Azzurri Wall of Fame" (PDF). torontoazzurri.com. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
↑ "Teutonia Hosts Sudbury Italia". Windsor Star. May 22, 1965. p. 32.
↑ "Soccer - National League". Windsor Star. October 1, 1965. p. 34.
↑ "1965 Season". National Soccer League. 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
↑ "Teutonia can Clinch with Tie". Windsor Star. September 17, 1965. p. 31.
1 2 Waring, Ed (October 26, 1965). "Kulai Named To Referee Soccer Game - NSL Game Tonight". The Globe and Mail. p. 34.
↑ "Hungaria, Hakoah tie". Toronto Daily Star. October 4, 1965. p. 10.
↑ "Teutons Bow Out, 1-0". Windsor Star. October 12, 1965. p. 30.
↑ "Ukes Blank Italia 2-0 To Win NSL Group". The Globe and Mail. October 18, 1965. p. 23.
↑ "Play to Deadlock". The Globe and Mail. October 4, 1965. p. 22.
↑ Waring, Ed (October 9, 1965). "Kinloch Scores Two In Hungarians' Victory". The Globe and Mail. p. 30.
↑ "Smith star for Hakoah". Toronto Daily Star. October 12, 1965. p. 12.

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