1970 National Soccer League season

The 1970 National Soccer League season was the forty-seventh season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season began in late April and concluded in early November with the NSL Championship final. The regular-season title was clinched by Toronto Croatia by finishing first throughout the regular season.[2][3] In the playoffs, the championship title was won by Hamilton Croatia after defeating Toronto Croatia.[4] The NSL Cup was secured by Toronto First Portuguese after defeating Toronto Hellas.[5][6]

National Soccer League
Season1970
Champions
League cupToronto First Portuguese
Top goalscorerNino Flamini (25)[1]
← 1969
1971 →

Overview

Before the commencement of the season, a dispute emerged between the National Soccer League (NSL) and the Ontario Soccer Association (OSA) over a variety of issues during the OSA's annual meeting.[7] At the meeting, the NSL's delegation requested that the league receive more representatives in future OSA meetings and a percentage of the gate earnings from friendly matches involving touring European teams.[7] All of the NSL's requests were denied, and in addition, the league was required to recruit match officials from the local Referees Society.[7] The league's circuit become centered around a Montreal–London corridor with the league expanding to the Ottawa region for the first time in its history.[8]

The Ottawa franchise was given to Ottawa Sons of Italy, who were the 1969 champions of the Ottawa-Rideau Soccer League.[9][10] Hamilton received further representation with the acceptance of Hamilton Apollos and Hamilton Croatia.[8] Hamilton Croatia previously competed in the Inter-City Soccer League.[11] The NSL retained its presence in Quebec with the Portuguese de Quebec of Montreal replacing Montreal Inter-Italia.[8] Two notable absentees were Toronto Italia and Sudbury Italia as both were given a leave of absence to settle their financial troubles.[8][12] Another departing club was Arsenal Portuguese Oakville.

Reports were also circulating of a potential national Canadian championship featuring champions from the NSL, and the Western Canada Soccer League.[12] The NSL began to experience an increase in match attendance since their initial decrease and stagnation in the mid-1960s.[13][4] The Toronto-based teams at Stanley Park averaged the highest amount with an average of 1000 per match followed by London which averaged around 680 spectators.[4]

Teams
Team City Stadium Manager
Hamilton Apollos Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton Croatia Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton Homer Hamilton, Ontario
Kitchener Concordia Kitchener, Ontario
London German Canadians London, Ontario Cove Road Stadium[14] Phil Brooman[15]
Ottawa Sons of Italy Ottawa, Ontario St. Joseph's High School[16] Sandro Rausa[17]
Portuguese de Quebec of Montreal Montreal, Quebec Jarry Stadium[18]
Serbian White Eagles Toronto, Ontario Stanley Park Stadium[13] Alan Harvey[19]
Toronto Croatia Toronto, Ontario Stanley Park Stadium[13] Arthur Rodrigues[20]
Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario Stanley Park Stadium[13] Arthur Rodrigues[19][note 1]
Toronto Hellas Toronto, Ontario Stanley Park Stadium[13]
Toronto Hungaria Toronto, Ontario Stanley Park Stadium[13]
Toronto Olympia Toronto, Ontario Stanley Park Stadium[13]
Toronto Ukrainia Toronto, Ontario Stanley Park Stadium[13] Leo Dowhaluk[21]
  1. Rodrigues was First Portugal's head coach at the start of the season then later joined Toronto Croatia

Coaching changes
Team Outgoing coach Manner of
departure		 Date of
vacancy		 Position in table Incoming coach Date of
appointment
Toronto Croatia Marijan Bilić[22] End of caretaker spell Arthur Rodrigues


Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto Croatia (C) 26 20 3 3 75 19 +56 43 Qualification for Playoffs
2 Hamilton Croatia (O) 26 16 8 2 67 24 +43 40
3 Serbian White Eagles 26 17 5 4 60 26 +34 39
4 Toronto First Portuguese 26 15 4 7 56 37 +19 34
5 London German Canadians 26 13 6 7 55 29 +26 32
6 Toronto Hellas 26 13 5 8 49 36 +13 31
7 Hamilton Homer 26 12 7 7 48 36 +12 31
8 Ottawa Sons of Italy 26 9 6 11 39 49 −10 24
9 Toronto Hungaria 26 7 8 11 42 43 −1 22
10 Soccer Portugais du Quebec of Montreal 26 6 7 13 23 45 −22 19
11 Toronto Ukrainians 26 7 3 16 34 51 −17 17
12 Hamilton Apollos 26 6 4 16 25 57 −32 16
13 Kitchener Kickers 26 5 3 18 31 84 −53 13
14 Toronto Olympia 26 1 1 24 23 91 −68 3
Updated to match(es) played on October 30, 1970. 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

Finals
November 1, 1970 Toronto Croatia 0–3 Hamilton Croatia Toronto, Ontario
[[4] Report] Arpad Hoffman
Karol Martisek , 		Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium

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.

Finals
September 27, 1970 Toronto First Portuguese 2–1 (a.e.t.) Toronto Hellas Toronto, Ontario
Alves 57'
Yaúca 120'		 [[23] Report] John Stampoulidis 62' Stadium: Stanley Park Stadium
Attendance: 7205
Referee: Terry Bell

References
  1. "Flamini winner". Ottawa Citizen. October 19, 1970. p. 15.
  2. "CSL Past Champions" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  3. "Two teammates start a fight, both ejected". The Globe and Mail. October 15, 1970. p. 45.
  4. "Soccer league has good year at gate". Toronto Daily Star. 14. November 3, 1970.
  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. Ryan, Allan (September 28, 1970). "Portuguese gets his biggest goal as departure time draws near". Toronto Daily Star. p. 16.
  7. Waring, Ed (February 23, 1970). "Soccer league loses bid to share revenue". The Globe and Mail. p. 21.
  8. "NSL accepts four new teams; three droped". The Globe and Mail. March 2, 1970. p. 20.
  9. "Sons of Italy join National Soccer League". Ottawa Citizen. March 6, 1970. p. 16.
  10. "Ottawa Team Enters Pro Soccer Loop". Ottawa Journal. March 10, 1970. p. 14.
  11. "Hamilton Croatia - History". hamiltoncroatia.com. Archived from the original on 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  12. "Selective fhieves take tickets for Celtic-United game". The Globe and Mail. April 24, 1970. p. 31.
  13. Waring, Ed (July 30, 1970). "Brazilian rookie now NSL's Pele". The Globe and Mail. p. 35.
  14. "London Ontario Competitive Soccer History". www.gcfclondon.com. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  15. Meckbach, Bruce (June 9, 1970). "Germans beat touring Darmstadt - Trasia 3-2". London Free Press.
  16. "Soccer win to Ottawa". Ottawa Citizen. April 27, 1970. p. 19.
  17. "Ottawa Nips Montreal 2-1". Ottawa Journal. April 27, 1970. p. 14.
  18. "Sons of Italy Down Hamilton Team 4-1". Ottawa Journal. October 13, 1970. p. 24.
  19. Waring, Ed (27 April 1970). "White Eagles blanked in NSL opener". The Globe and Mail. p. 21.
  20. "Rodrigues takes post with new club". The Globe and Mail. January 13, 1971. p. 27.
  21. "Leo Dowhaluk". National Soccer League. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  22. Fraser, Terry (July 10, 1970). "Varzim has yielded one goal on tour". Toronto Daily Star. p. 18.
  23. Waring, Ed (September 28, 1970). "Portuguese win soccer crown in overtime, 2-1". The Globe and Mail. p. 21.
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