1979 National Soccer League (Canada) season

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.^[1][2] First Portuguese would also secure the double by defeating Toronto Panhellenic for the NSL Cup.^[3][4] Toronto's undefeated streak lasted until the 1980 season and amounted to 52 games with Toronto Panhellenic breaking the streak.^[5]

National Soccer League

Season	1979
Champions	Toronto First Portuguese (3rd title)
League cup	Toronto First Portuguese
← 1978 1980 →

The NSL was operating a franchise in Northern Ontario, Quebec, and expanded its boundaries into the United States with two franchises in Detroit, Michigan.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8][9][7] Toronto Italia and Buffalo Blazers were inactive for the season but returned for the 1980 campaign.^[10] 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.^[6][11]

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.^[12] 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.^[6][13]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
Bradford Marshlanders	Bradford, Ontario	Bradford District High School[14]	Dave Reid[15]
Detroit Besa	Hamtramck, Michigan	Keyworth Stadium	Nino Berisic[16]
Detroit Vardar[note 1]	Detroit, Michigan
Hamilton Italo-Canadians	Hamilton, Ontario	Ivor Wynne Stadium[12]	Carlo Del Monte[17]
Montreal Stars	Montreal, Quebec	Jarry Park[18]
London City	London, Ontario	Cove Road Stadium
Toronto Serbians	Toronto, Ontario	Lamport Stadium[19]	Nikola Ivetić[20]
Sudbury Cyclones	Sudbury, Ontario	Queen's Athletic Field[21]	Peter Severinac[22]
St. Catharines Roma	St. Catharines, Ontario	Club Roma Stadium
Toronto Canadians	Scarborough, Ontario	Birchmount Stadium[19]
Toronto Croatia	Etobicoke, Ontario	Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Falcons	Toronto, Ontario	Lamport Stadium[23]
Toronto First Portuguese	Toronto, Ontario	Lamport Stadium[19]
Toronto Italia	Etobicoke, Ontario	Centennial Park Stadium
Toronto Panhellenic	Toronto, Ontario	Lamport Stadium[24]
Toronto Ukrainians	Scarborough, Ontario	Birchmount Stadium

1. Detroit withdrew from league throughout the season

Bradford Detroit Hamilton London St. Catharines Sudbury TORONTO Location of NSL teams outside of Toronto for the 1979 NSL season.

Montreal Locations of teams in Quebec for the 1979 NSL season.

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto First Portuguese (C, O)	25	23	2	0	93	9	+84	48	Qualification for Playoffs
2	St. Catharines Roma	26	16	5	5	57	21	+36	37
3	Toronto Falcons	23	16	3	4	60	22	+38	35
4	Hamilton Italo-Canadians	20	15	3	2	44	9	+35	33
5	Montreal Stars	23	10	4	9	45	36	+9	24
6	Sudbury Cyclones	23	10	3	10	40	32	+8	23
7	Detroit Besa	24	7	6	11	27	41	−14	20
8	Toronto Panhellenic	22	8	4	10	31	26	+5	20
9	London City	23	6	4	13	25	41	−16	16
10	Toronto Canadians	24	4	8	12	23	42	−19	16
11	Toronto Croatia	21	6	4	11	17	46	−29	16
12	Toronto Ukrainians	21	3	7	11	16	35	−19	13
13	Bradford Marshlanders	25	5	3	17	19	77	−58	13
14	Toronto Serbians	20	0	6	14	13	65	−52	6

Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 1979. 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

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

Toronto First Portuguese v Toronto Panhellenic

September 3, 1979	Toronto First Portuguese	1–0	Toronto Panhellenic	Toronto, Ontario
	Tito 30'	[[3] Report]		Stadium: Lamport Stadium