1974 National Soccer League season

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National Soccer League
Season1974
Champions
League cupToronto Italia
Top goalscorerMomčilo Stojanović (54)[1]
Best goalkeeperBlagoje Tamindžić[2]
← 1973
1975 →

The 1974 National Soccer League season was the fifty-first season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season began in April and concluded in late October with Toronto Croatia defeating Toronto Homer for the NSL Championship.[3] The regular-season title was clinched by the Serbian White Eagles, and as a result, faced the Challenge Trophy champions Calgary Springer Kickers for the Canadian Open Cup and successfully claimed the title.[3][4] The NSL Cup was won by Toronto Italia after defeating Toronto First Portuguese.[5][6]

The league experienced a further increase in match attendance and contributed an instrumental role in the construction of Lamport Stadium.[7][8] Toronto Croatia became involved with the Toronto Metros to form Toronto Metros-Croatia to compete in the 1975 North American Soccer League season.[9]

Overview[edit]

The membership in the league increased to 19 members with the additions of Toronto Macedonia, and the Quebec Selects.[10] The Selects were a developmental team sponsored by the Quebec government, and Macedonia was another ethnic associated club that represented the Macedonian diaspora in Toronto.[11][12] The previous time the Macedonian community participated in the NSL was in the 1963 season.[13] The increase in teams prompted the league ownership to partition the league into two separate divisions with a promotion and relegation system for the following season.[14][8]

The average match attendance increased from the previous season with the Serbian White Eagles and Toronto Homer as the vanguard clubs in match attendance.[15][16] The match attendance throughout the NSL would range from 10,000 to 400 spectators.[17] The NSL experienced further riots and fan violence which was primarily fueled by ethnic rivalries amongst the ethnically associated clubs.[18][19] The frequent hooliganism throughout the season caused several referees to refuse to officiate several NSL matches.[20][21] The league responded by issuing heavier fines, and suspensions to the responsible parties.[22] On the North American Soccer League front the Toronto Metros were experiencing financial difficulties, which resulted in Toronto Croatia becoming an equal financial partner to form Toronto Metros-Croatia.[9]

Teams[edit]

Team City Stadium Manager
Hamilton City Hamilton, Ontario Ivor Wynne Stadium[23]
Hamilton Croatia Hamilton, Ontario Ivor Wynne Stadium
Hamilton Italo-Canadians Hamilton, Ontario Brian Timmis Stadium
London City London, Ontario Cove Road Stadium
Montreal Cantalia Montreal, Quebec CEPSUM Stadium[24]

Jarry Park Stadium[24]

Salvatore Italiano[25]
Quebec Selects Montreal, Quebec Jarry Park Stadium[26] Graham Adams[26]
Ottawa Tigers Ottawa, Ontario Mooney's Bay Sports Complex[27] Nick Iulano[28]
Serbian White Eagles Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12] Dragan Popović[3]
Srbija Kitchener Kitchener, Ontario
St. Catharines Heidelberg St. Catharines, Ontario Club Heidelberg Field[29] Alex Crawley[30]
Toronto Croatia Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12] Vladimir Šimunić[31]
Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12] Luis Dabo[28]
Toronto Homer Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12]
Toronto Hungaria Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12] Tom Boljkovac[32]
Toronto Italia York, Ontario York Stadium[12] Franco Gallina[25]
Toronto Macedonia East York, Ontario East York Stadium[12]
Toronto Melita Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12]
Toronto Polonia Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12]
Toronto Ukrainians Toronto, Ontario CNE Stadium[12] Ostap Steckiw[33]

Coaching changes[edit]

Team Outgoing coach Manner of
departure 		Date of
vacancy 		Position in table Incoming coach Date of
appointment
Toronto Croatia Tom Zlodre[31] replaced June 1974 Vladimir Šimunić[31] June, 1974
Montreal Cantalia Ottavio Cucuraghi[25] replaced June 1974 Salvatore Italiano[25] June, 1974

Standings[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Serbian White Eagles (C) 36 28 7 1 118 16 +102 63 Qualification for Playoffs
2 Toronto Homer 36 26 5 5 89 41 +48 57
3 Toronto Croatia (O) 36 23 5 8 78 32 +46 51
4 Toronto Italia 36 21 9 6 99 36 +63 51
5 Toronto Macedonia 36 22 7 7 102 42 +60 51
6 Hamilton Croatia 36 20 9 7 84 43 +41 49
7 Toronto First Portuguese 36 23 2 11 78 39 +39 48
8 London City 36 19 9 8 89 45 +44 47
9 Hamilton City 36 17 8 11 67 58 +9 42
10 Hamilton Italo-Canadians 36 16 8 12 39 38 +1 40
11 Quebec Selects 36 13 4 19 44 78 −34 30
12 Toronto Hungaria 36 12 5 19 70 83 −13 29
13 Montreal Cantalia 36 9 7 20 42 64 −22 25
14 St. Catharines Heidelberg 36 9 7 20 39 67 −28 25
15 Toronto Melita 36 7 9 20 41 80 −39 23
16 Toronto Ukrainians 36 6 5 25 43 94 −51 17
17 Toronto Polonia 36 4 4 28 27 96 −69 12
18 Srbija Kitchener 36 4 4 28 49 150 −101 12
19 Ottawa Tigers 36 4 1 31 31 126 −95 9
Updated to match(es) played on October 30, 1974. 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) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Playoffs[edit]

Finals[edit]

October 20, 1974 Toronto Croatia 1–0 Toronto Homer Toronto, Ontario
Psaker [[3] Report] Stadium: CNE Stadium
Attendance: 3150

Cup[edit]

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

Finals[edit]

October 4, 1974 Toronto First Portuguese 1–0 Toronto Italia Toronto, Ontario
Jorge Félix 44' [[6] Report] Stadium: CNE Stadium
October 6, 1974 Toronto Italia 2–0 Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario
Barbieri
Romanovic 		Report Stadium: CNE Stadium

Canadian Open Cup[edit]

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.[34][35] The 1974 edition served as a qualifier match to determine the Canadian representative to the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.[36] Serbian White Eagles were the NSL representative for the 1974 competition while their opponents were Calgary Springer Kickers, who were the Alberta Cup, and Challenge Trophy titleholders.[3][37]

October 19, 1974 Serbian White Eagles 3–1 Calgary Springer Kickers Toronto, Ontario
Fahy 15'
Stojanović 25'
Mile Skoric 60'		 [[38] Report] Ray Cannon 62' Stadium: CNE Stadium
Attendance: 366

References[edit]

  1. ^ "PROCESSION OF INCOMING TALENT KEY TO SUCCESS OF 2016 CHAMPIONS....never ending arrivals keep Serbian White Eagles on top". Canadian Soccer League. 2016-11-13. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  2. ^ "National Soccer League 1926 to 1992" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-06-28. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Waring, Ed (October 21, 1974). "White Eagles romp to Canadian title, defeat Calgary 3-1". The Globe and Mail. p. S6.
  4. ^ "CSL Past Champions" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b "1st Portuguese has 1-0 victory". Toronto Star. October 5, 1974. p. D5.
  7. ^ Waring, Ed (October 15, 1974). "President of NSL wants new stadium to bear his name". The Globe and Mail. p. 41.
  8. ^ a b Waring, Ed (April 16, 1974). "NSL primary tenant: Stadium to be built on reformatory site". The Globe and Mail. p. 37.
  9. ^ a b Kernaghan, Jim (November 9, 1974). "Soccer's Metros are given a reprieve by Toronto Croatia". Toronto Star. p. D6.
  10. ^ Waring, Ed (December 10, 1973). "Eight of NSL's ten teams will call CNE Stadium home". The Globe and Mail. p. S2.
  11. ^ Waring, Ed (May 27, 1974). "Quebec-financed soccer team loses both weekend matches". The Globe and Mail. p. S6.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Hungaria to meet Croatia in opener of NSL season". The Globe and Mail. April 20, 1974. p. 49.
  13. ^ Waring, Ed (June 29, 1963). "Macedonians Quit NSL, Player Costs Major Factor". The Globe and Mail. p. 34.
  14. ^ Kernaghan, Jim (April 17, 1974). "Soccer battle means spiraling costs". Toronto Star. p. C2.
  15. ^ Krivel, Peter (June 25, 1974). "Share NSL lead - Serbians could doff bridesmaid's role". Toronto Star. p. C2.
  16. ^ "Eagles, Homer stay unbeaten, tie 1-1 before 10,951 fans". The Globe and Mail. May 20, 1974. p. S8.
  17. ^ "Five shutouts in a row: Toronto Serbians boast perfect record". The Globe and Mail. May 13, 1974. p. S9.
  18. ^ Krivel, Peter (July 15, 1974). "Police quell angry soccer mob after referee stops the game". Toronto Star. p. B5.
  19. ^ Proudfoot, Jim (July 17, 1974). "National League must eliminate soccer brawling". Toronto Star. p. C2.
  20. ^ Krivel, Peter (October 15, 1974). "Getting referee a problem after NSL game abandoned". Toronto Star. p. C3.
  21. ^ Waring, Ed (October 16, 1974). "Toronto soccer refs strike against teams for attacks on field". The Globe and Mail. p. 32.
  22. ^ "NSL cracks down fines, suspensions, for violent game". Toronto Star. July 22, 1974. p. B5.
  23. ^ "Extra police called to quell NSL fracas". Toronto Star. June 19, 1974. p. C5.
  24. ^ a b Guernsey, Betty (March 8, 1974). "Did You Know? - Soccer". Montreal Gazette. p. 19.
  25. ^ a b c d Onorato, Andre (June 8, 1974). "Revamped Cantalia facing tough match". Montreal Gazette. p. 32.
  26. ^ a b Ziolkowski, Tony (May 3, 1974). "Only 15 parks for our 28, 000 soccer players". Montreal Gazette. p. 31.
  27. ^ "Soccer Tigers play two". Ottawa Citizen. May 3, 1974. p. 21.
  28. ^ a b "Want more goals: Fans berate players despite 1-0 victory". The Globe and Mail. July 1, 1974. p. S3.
  29. ^ Gatecliff, Jack (18 April 1974). "Through the Sports Gate - Soccer time again". St. Catharines Standard. p. 27.
  30. ^ "Club Heidelberg Explains Position on New Soccer Club". St. Catharines Standard. 1 February 1974. p. 22.
  31. ^ a b c Krivel, Peter (July 5, 1974). "Croatia is showing signs of recapturing soccer glory". Toronto Star. p. C3.
  32. ^ Koep, Bob (April 22, 1974). "NSL champs look ready to repeat as powerhouse". Toronto Star. p. B2.
  33. ^ Waring, Ed (June 10, 1974). "Geiger thwarts Hamilton City, improved Ukraing gains 0-0 draw". The Globe and Mail. p. S1.
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ "Toronto meets B.C. in Canadian Open". The Globe and Mail. October 21, 1975. p. 34.
  36. ^ Kernaghan, Jim (July 12, 1975). "Eagles want to win but it is costly". Toronto Star. p. D5.
  37. ^ "Kickers capture cup". Calgary Herald. July 8, 1974. p. 17.
  38. ^ "White Eagles Put Boot to Kickers". Calgary Herald. October 21, 1974. p. 27.

External links[edit]

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