1971 National Soccer League season

Season1971

Champions

Toronto Croatia (regular season, 2nd title)
Toronto Croatia (playoffs, 1st title)

League cupToronto First Portuguese

Top goalscorerFerruccio Deni (24)^[1]

National Soccer League
Season	1971
Champions	Toronto Croatia (regular season, 2nd title) Toronto Croatia (playoffs, 1st title)
League cup	Toronto First Portuguese
Top goalscorer	Ferruccio Deni (24)^[1]
Best goalkeeper	Željko Bilecki^[1]
← 1970 1972 →

The 1971 National Soccer League season was the forty-eighth season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season began in early May and concluded in October with the Canadian Open Cup final, where Toronto Croatia defeated Challenge Trophy champions Vancouver Eintracht.^[2] The Croatians would secure a treble by successfully defending their regular-season title and defeating Toronto First Portuguese for the NSL Championship.^[3]^[4]^[5] The NSL Cup was successfully defended by Toronto First Portuguese, who defeated Sudbury City.^[6]

The Canadian Open Cup was created by the NSL to determine a national champion through an annual knock-out cup competition where all professional and amateur Canadian clubs were invited to participate.^[7]

The National Soccer League became centered once more within the boundaries of Ontario after the departure of Soccer Portugais du Quebec of Montreal. The city of Hamilton also witnessed a reduction in team representation as Hamilton Homer requested a leave of absence.^[8]^[9] Despite the departures, the region of Northern Ontario was added to the circuit once again as Sudbury Italia returned under the name Sudbury City.^[10] The league expanded into the Niagara region for the first time as St. Catharines Heidelberg was granted a franchise.^[11] Heidelberg previously competed in the Inter-City Soccer League.^[6] Ottawa Sons of Italy began a process of Canadianizing their organization by renaming the team Ottawa Tigers.^[12]^[13]

The NSL experienced competition from the American-based North American Soccer League as it expanded into Ontario with the creation of the Toronto Metros.^[14]^[15] The league's match attendance continued to surge and surpassed the previous season's gate earnings at Stanley Park Stadium.^[15]^[16] The Toronto-based teams averaged around 1100 fans at Stanley Park.^[15] The league ownership also approved the creation of an under-23 division.^[17]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
Hamilton Apollos	Hamilton, Ontario	Hamilton AAA Grounds^[18]	Andy Pollock^[19]
Hamilton Croatia	Hamilton, Ontario	Hamilton AAA Grounds^[9]	Jackie Thoms^[9]
London German Canadians	London, Ontario	Cove Road Stadium^[20]
Ottawa Tigers	Ottawa, Ontario	St. Joseph's High School^[21]
Serbian White Eagles	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[22]	Dragan Popović^[23]
Kitchener Kickers	Kitchener, Ontario
St. Catharines Heidelberg	St. Catharines, Ontario	Club Heidelberg Field^[24]	Eddie Brown^[25]
Sudbury City	Sudbury, Ontario	Queen's Athletic Field^[26]
Toronto Croatia	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[27]	Ivan Jazbinšek^[28]
Toronto First Portuguese	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[27]
Toronto Hellas	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[27]
Toronto Hungaria	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[19]
Toronto Olympia	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[27]
Toronto Ukrainia	Toronto, Ontario	Stanley Park Stadium^[27]	Alan O’Neill^[29]

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
St. Catharines Heidelberg	Alf Herman^[25]	Replaced	July 5, 1971		Eddie Brown^[25]	July 5, 1971

Hamilton

Kitchener

London

Ottawa

St. Catharines

Sudbury

TORONTO

Location of NSL teams outside of Toronto for the 1971 NSL season.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Croatia (C, O)	26	22	3	1	58	14	+44	47	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Toronto First Portuguese	26	17	4	5	45	19	+26	38
3	Hamilton Croatia	26	14	5	7	38	31	+7	33
4	Toronto Ukrainians	26	14	3	9	47	28	+19	31
5	Sudbury City	26	14	3	9	55	34	+21	31
6	Toronto Olympia	26	11	5	10	49	40	+9	27
7	London German Canadians	26	12	2	12	57	54	+3	26
8	St. Catharines Heidelberg	26	11	3	12	42	42	0	25
9	Serbian White Eagles	26	9	5	12	37	39	−2	23
10	Toronto Hellas	26	10	3	13	36	41	−5	23
11	Toronto Hungaria	26	11	1	14	40	52	−12	23
12	Ottawa Tigers	25	5	8	12	29	53	−24	18
13	Hamilton Apollos	26	3	5	18	23	69	−46	11
14	Kitchener Kickers	26	2	6	18	31	65	−34	10

Updated to match(es) played on October 30, 1971. Source: ^[1]^[30]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

October 3, 1971	Toronto Croatia	3–0	Sudbury City	Toronto, Ontario
	Bradvic 18' Mesik Slatko 27' Pilaš 37'	[^[31] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium Attendance: 1837

October 3, 1971	Hamilton Croatia	2–0	London German Canadians	Toronto, Ontario
		[^[32] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium

October 4, 1971	Toronto First Portuguese	5–2	Toronto Olympia	Toronto, Ontario
	Antonio Rodrigues 16', 22', 43' Emilio Hernandez 21' Costa 37'	[^[33] Report]	John McGurk 22' John Wark 70'	Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium

October 5, 1971	Toronto Ukraina	2–1	St. Catharines Heidelberg	Toronto, Ontario
	Keith Summers 88', 114'	[^[34] Report]	Douglas 25'	Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium Attendance: 1000

Semifinals

October 7, 1971	Toronto Croatia	1–0	Hamilton Croatia	Toronto, Ontario
	Pilaš 30'	[^[35] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium

October 8, 1971	Toronto First Portuguese	3–0	Toronto Ukraina	Toronto, Ontario
20:30	Antonio Rodrigues , Paulino Ferrari	[^[36] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium

Finals

October 11, 1971	Toronto Croatia	1–0	Toronto First Portuguese	Toronto, Ontario
15:00	Pilaš 31'	[^[4] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium Attendance: 7000 Referee: Alf Roberts

Cup

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

Semifinals

August 23, 1971	Toronto First Portuguese	1–0	Toronto Hellas	Toronto, Ontario
	Correia 56'	[^[37] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium Attendance: 3457 Referee: Alf Roberts

September 26, 1971	Sudbury City	1–0	Ottawa Tigers	Sudbury, Ontario
	Ferruccio Deni 10' George Courtney 49'	[^[38] Report]

Finals

October 3, 1971	Toronto First Portuguese	3–0	Sudbury City	Toronto, Ontario
	Piotti 26' Valdemar Serrano 40' Paulino Ferrari 65'	[^[39] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium Attendance: 3518

Canadian Open Cup

The Canadian Open Cup was a tournament organized by the National Soccer League in 1971, where the NSL champion would face the Challenge Trophy winners to determine the best team throughout the country.^[40] The tournament was intended to form an annual knock-out cup competition open to all Canadian professional and amateur clubs to determine a national champion.^[7] The championship was initially sponsored by the Macdonald Tobacco Company and was named the Export Trophy.^[41] Toronto Croatia, as the NSL champions, was selected as the league's representative while their opponents were Vancouver Eintracht of the Pacific Coast Soccer League, who were the Challenge Trophy titleholders.^[42]

October 17, 1971	Toronto Croatia	3–0	Vancouver Eintracht	Toronto, Ontario
14:30	Pilaš 38' Solak 45' Bradvic 87'	[^[43] Report]		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium Attendance: 4373 Referee: Emerson Mathurin

Individual awards

Award	Player (Club)
NSL Top Goal Scorer	Ferruccio Deni (Sudbury Italia)
NSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award	Željko Bilecki (Toronto Croatia)
NSL Referee of the Year Award	Hugh Morrow
NSL Official of the Year Award	John Parfect
NSL Most Gentlemanly Team Award	St. Catharines Heidelberg

References

1 2 3 "National Soccer League 1926 to 1992" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-06-28. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
↑ Kernaghan, Jim (October 18, 1971). "Toronto Croatia overcomes Vancouver". Toronto Daily Star. p. 31.
↑ "CSL Past Champions" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
1 2 Koep, Bob (October 12, 1971). "Croatia confirms right to crown". Toronto Daily Star. p. 20.
↑ Waring, Ed (October 12, 1971). "Croats spent $80,000 on team to win National Soccer League". The Globe and Mail. p. 33.
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. 117, 119.
1 2 Kernaghan, Jim (October 14, 1971). "Open soccer championship is in offing". Toronto Daily Star. p. 23.
↑ Lovegrove, Don (29 April 1971). "No soccer lack in local area". Hamilton Spectator. p. 20.
1 2 3 Lovegrove, Don (6 May 1971). ""Hard season" ahead for Croatia". Hamilton Spectator. p. 32.
↑ Pascal, Randy (June 20, 2020). "The Sudbury Cyclones and their semi-pro soccer stint". Sudbury Star. p. B1.
↑ "Club Heidelberg Officially Accepted in Pro League". St. Catharines Standard. 2 March 1971. p. 20.
↑ "Require 66 Young Soccer Players". Ottawa Journal. April 1, 1971. p. 20.
↑ Henderson, Bruce (May 12, 1971). "Pro brand slowly gaining popularity". Ottawa Journal. p. 23.
↑ Waring, Ed (April 30, 1971). "Zagreb soccer team plays Croatia July 3". The Globe and Mail. p. 29.
1 2 3 Kernaghan, Jim (September 28, 1971). "Soccer loop having a great year at gate". Toronto Daily Star. p. 14.
↑ Waring, Ed (June 10, 1971). "MSL pays its way drawing 1,507 fans". The Globe and Mail. p. 42.
1 2 3 Kernaghan, Jim (November 22, 1971). "Expansion planned for NSL next season". Toronto Daily Star. p. 19.
↑ Lovegrove, Don (13 May 1971). "Apollos aim to get off round". Hamilton Spectator. p. 31.
1 2 Waring, Ed (June 4, 1971). "Apollos' coach pleased with feam despite 4 defeats in 5 games". The Globe and Mail. p. 28.
↑ "London Ontario Competitive Soccer History". www.gcfclondon.com. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
↑ "Tigers on road". Ottawa Citizen. May 15, 1971. p. 25.
↑ Waring, Ed (June 15, 1971). "5,321 watch Croatia blank White Eagles". The Globe and Mail. p. 36.
↑ Serbian White Eagles FC. "Head Coaches". Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
↑ "Nationals First Game in Toronto". St. Catharines Standard. 7 May 1971. p. 31.
1 2 3 "Nationals Sign New Coach". St. Catharines Standard. 5 July 1971. p. 21.
↑ "420 Players In Sudbury's Soccer Boom" (PDF). INCO Triangle. 1971. p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-24. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 Waring, Ed (June 2, 1971). "Teams coyer soccer costs with picnics, social evenings". The Globe and Mail. p. 31.
↑ "6,000 fans see soccer opener". Toronto Daily Star. May 3, 1971. p. 17.
↑ "Alan O'Neill". thecnsl.com. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
↑ "Soccer scores, standings - National League". Toronto Daily Star. September 21, 1971. p. 13.
↑ "Sudbury beaten twice in games at Toronto". The Globe and Mail. October 4, 1971. p. S7.
↑ "Soccer scores - National League playoffs". Toronto Daily Star. October 4, 1971. p. 15.
↑ Kernaghan, Jim (October 5, 1971). "First Portuguese suffer no letdown". Toronto Daily Star. p. 15.
↑ "Nationals Eliminated on Goal in Overtime". St. Catharines Standard. 6 October 1971. p. 34.
↑ "Croatia in soccer final". Toronto Daily Star. October 8, 1971. p. 22.
↑ "Portuguese in finals". Toronto Daily Star. October 9, 1971. p. 48.
↑ "Penalty goal ousts Hellas in cup play". The Globe and Mail. August 24, 1971. p. 29.
↑ "Ottawa Tigers lose to Sudbury". Ottawa Journal. September 27, 1971. p. 19.
↑ "Sudbury beaten twice in games at Toronto". The Globe and Mail. October 4, 1971. p. S7.
↑ Jose, Colin (1998). Canadian Encyclopedia of Soccer - Keeping Score. Vaughan, Ontario: Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. p. 121. ISBN 0-9683800-0-X.
↑ "Plane switch saves playoff in soccer". The Globe and Mail. October 16, 1971. p. 45.
↑ "Semi-pros knock off Eintracht". Times Colonist. October 18, 1971. p. 21.
↑ Waring, Ed (October 18, 1971). "Croatia too good for Eintracht; Toronto team blanks champs, 3-0". The Globe and Mail. p. S10.
↑ "Croatia sweeps honors at NSL awards dinner". The Globe and Mail. November 22, 1971. p. S9.
↑ "Meet your 1979 Sudbury Cyclones". Sudbury Star. May 3, 1979. p. 15.

v t e Canadian National Soccer League
Clubs	Bradford Marshlanders Brampton Kicks Brantford City Brantford Cockshutts Buffalo Blazers Canadian National Railway Chile Lindo Corinthians Detroit Besa Fergus General Motors Guelph Taylor-Forbes Hamilton Austins Hamilton British Imperials Hamilton Cougars Hamilton Croatia Hamilton Homer Hamilton Hungaria Hamilton Italo-Canadians Hamilton Primos Hamilton Steelers Hamilton Stelcos Hamilton Thistles Hamilton Westinghouse FC Hamilton White Eagles Kenwoods Kitchener Concordia Kitchener Kickers Kitchener Maple Leafs Kosova Albanians Liptons London City London CNR London German Canadians London Marconi McKinnons Montreal Alouettes Montreal Cantalia Montréal Carsteel Montreal Castors Montreal CNR Montreal Concordia Montreal Hungaria Montreal Maroons Montreal Sparta Montreal Stars Montreal Ukrainians Nacional Latino North York Rockets North York Talons Oakville CW Oshawa Italia Ottawa Sons of Italy Ottawa Tigers Quebec Selects Queen City Richmond Hill Kick Scarborough Astros Serbian White Eagles FC Soccer Portugais du Quebec St. Andrews/Earlscourt St. Catharines Heidelberg St. Catharines (Roma) Wolves Sudbury Sudbury Cyclones Sudbury Italia Toronto Abruzzi Toronto Azurri Toronto Blizzard Toronto British Consols Toronto Canadian Scots Toronto Canadians Toronto City Toronto CNR Toronto Congasco Toronto Croatia Toronto East End Canadians Toronto England United Toronto Estonia Toronto Falcons Toronto First Portuguese Toronto Greenbacks Toronto Hakoah Toronto Hellas Toronto Hungaria Toronto Inter-Roma Toronto Italia Toronto Italian Virtus Toronto Jets Toronto Macedonia Toronto Macedonians Toronto Malta United Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maroons Toronto Melita Toronto Mississauga Hungaria Toronto Oakwoods Toronto Olympia Toronto Panhellenic Toronto Polish White Eagles Toronto Polonia Toronto Scottish Toronto Serbians Toronto Sparta Toronto Supra Toronto St. Andrews Toronto Transit Commission Toronto Tridents Toronto Ukrainians Toronto Ulster United Toronto White Eagles Le Tricolore de Montréal Welland Welland Lions Croatia Willy Overland Windsor Rovers Windsor Stars Windsor Teutonia Windsor Wheels Winnipeg Fury Woodbridge
Seasons	1926 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
Miscellaneous	Rogers Cup Open Canada Cup CSA CSL Reserve Division

1971 National Soccer League season

Teams

Coaching changes

Standings

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Cup

Semifinals

Finals

Canadian Open Cup

Individual awards

References

External links

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