1976 National Soccer League season

The 1976 National Soccer League season was the fifty-third season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season began in late April and concluded in early October with Toronto Panhellenic securing the double (NSL Championship, and NSL Cup) by defeating Toronto First Portuguese in a two-match series for the NSL Championship.[2] In the NSL Cup final, Panhellenic defeated Toronto Italia, while Italia successfully defended the First Division title by finishing first in the standings.[3][4][5] In the Second Division, Hamilton Italo-Canadians defeated Toronto Croatia for both the division title and NSL II Championship.[6]

National Soccer League
Season1976
Champions
  • Toronto Italia (regular season)
  • Toronto First Portuguese (playoffs, 2nd title)
League cupToronto Panhellenic
Top goalscorerEmmanuel Kulu - Second Division- (21)[1]
← 1975
1977 →

Toronto Italia and Serbian White Eagles were both scheduled to participate in the 1976 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, and the NSL was sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) for the season.[7][8] The NSL was operative in Northern Ontario, Quebec, and expanded into the United States with a franchise in Buffalo, New York.[9][10]

Overview

The National Soccer League (NSL) expanded its boundaries outside of Canada with a franchise based in Buffalo, New York known as the Buffalo Blazers.[10] The NSL made further territorial gains with a return to Northern Ontario with the acceptance of the Sudbury Cyclones.[10] The previous time the NSL was active in the northern region was in the 1971 season.[11] Both Buffalo, and Sudbury were placed in the Second Division.[10]

Though the league expanded beyond the Montreal–Windsor Corridor the membership still decreased from 21 teams to 18. The slight decrease was a result of both Srbija Kitchener, and Toronto Melita taking a leave of absence when both clubs were suspended by the Ontario Soccer Association (OSA) for making payments to amateur players.[10] The two other departing clubs were the Ontario Selects, and Toronto Ukraina took a two-year sabbatical and returned for the 1978 season. Further changes included the relocations of Oakville United to Toronto, and the addition of another team in the Niagara region as Hamilton City became known as Welland Lions Croatia.[12] Another notable change occurred with the renaming of Toronto Homer to Toronto Panhellenic.

Several changes were implemented to the league's structure with the approval of a new constitution which transferred more voting power from the league's executive committee to the league ownership.[13] Reports were also circulating of the creation of a league commissioner to replace Joe Piccininni as league president, but Piccininni resumed his duties throughout the season.[13][14] The regular-season schedule was revised to prevent interlocking play between the First and Second Division teams, but both divisions were permitted to play one another in the NSL Cup.[15] Restrictions were also placed on the allowance of five import players to each team.[16]

Teams
Team City Stadium Manager
Buffalo Blazers Buffalo, New York Lackwanna Stadium[17] Alex Perolli[18]
Hamilton Croatia Hamilton, Ontario Brian Timmis Stadium[19]
Hamilton Italo-Canadians Hamilton, Ontario Ivor Wynne Stadium[20]
London City London, Ontario Cove Road Stadium Graham Sawyer[21]
Montreal Castors Montreal, Quebec Marquette Park[22]
Ottawa Tigers Ottawa, Ontario Mooney's Bay Park[23] Sandro Rausa[24]
Serbian White Eagles Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[25] John Dempsey[26]
Sudbury Cyclones Sudbury, Ontario Fulvio Stepancich[27]
St. Catharines Heidelberg St. Catharines, Ontario Heidelberg Stadium[28] Alex Crawley[29]
Toronto Croatia Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[30]
Toronto Falcons Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[31]
Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[30]
Toronto Italia York, Ontario York Stadium[32] Fiorigi Pagliuso[33]
Toronto Macedonia Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[34]
Toronto Panhellenic Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[35] Luiz Villa[36]
Toronto Polonia Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium[37]
Welland Lions Croatia Welland, Ontario Plymouth Park[38]
Windsor Stars Windsor, Ontario Wigle Park[39]

Windsor Stadium[39]

 Ivan Marković[40]

Coaching changes
Team Outgoing coach Manner of
departure		 Date of
vacancy		 Position in table Incoming coach Date of
appointment
Sudbury Cyclones Peter Gallo[41] replaced May 1976 Fulvio Stepancich[41] May, 1976
Buffalo Blazers Al Block[42] replaced June 1, 1976 Vincent Lauricella[43] June1, 1976
Toronto Italia Portugal Arthur Rodrigues[32] replaced July 9, 1976 1st in July Fiorigi Pagliuso[33] July 9, 1976
Windsor Stars England Roy Cheetham[40] fired August 5, 1976 8th in August Croatia Ivan Marković[40] August 5, 1976

Standings

First Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto Italia (C) 27 17 7 3 53 13 +40 41 Qualification for Playoffs
2 Montreal Castors 27 16 5 6 47 18 +29 37
3 Toronto Panhellenic (O) 27 15 7 5 46 19 +27 37
4 Toronto First Portuguese 27 14 5 8 51 27 +24 33
5 Windsor Stars 27 11 6 10 47 31 +16 28
6 London City 27 10 8 9 44 40 +4 28
7 Serbian White Eagles 27 10 6 11 38 48 −10 26
8 Toronto Macedonia 27 8 5 14 33 49 −16 21
9 Hamilton Croatia (R) 27 4 3 20 26 68 −42 11
10 Welland Lions Croatia (R) 27 3 2 22 18 88 −70 8
Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 1976. 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; (R) Relegated

Second Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Hamilton Italo-Canadians (C, O, P) 21 19 1 1 50 11 +39 39 Qualification for Playoffs
2 Toronto Croatia (P) 21 14 3 4 48 27 +21 31
3 Toronto Polonia 21 11 2 8 38 21 +17 24
4 Buffalo Blazers 21 9 2 10 37 50 −13 20
5 Ottawa Tigers 21 9 1 11 36 40 −4 19
6 Sudbury Cyclones 21 7 4 10 27 32 −5 18
7 Toronto Falcons 21 4 2 15 18 47 −29 10
8 St. Catharines Heidelberg 21 2 3 16 16 42 −26 7
Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 1976. 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; (P) Promoted

Playoffs

Finals
October 7, 1976 Toronto Panhellenic 0–1 Toronto First Portuguese Toronto, Ontario
[[44] Report] Barros Stadium: Lamport Stadium
Attendance: 3000
October 10, 1976 Toronto First Portuguese 0–1
(2–4 p)		 Toronto Panhellenic Toronto, Ontario
15:00 [[36] Report] Alberto Gerez Stadium: Lamport Stadium
Attendance: 5000
Penalties
Mike Boorman Alberto Gerez
Araquem de Melo
Kozak

Cup

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

Finals
September 20, 1976 Toronto Italia 2–3 Toronto Panhellenic Toronto, Ontario
Di Pede
Loparić 		[[4] Report] Fernando Barbosa
Araquem de Melo , 		Stadium: Lamport Stadium
Attendance: 4000
Referee: Bill Devorski

Promotion and relegation matches

The promotion and relegation system utilized by the National Soccer League operated with the last-placed team in the First Division being automatically relegated, while the Second Division champion would receive an automatic promotion to the First Division.[45] The second last team in the First Division would play in a series of matches against the runner-ups in the Second Division to determine which team would be relegated or promoted.[45]

Matches
October 6, 1976 Hamilton Croatia 2–2 Toronto Croatia Hamilton, Ontario
[[46] Report] Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium
October 10, 1976 Toronto Croatia 1–0 Hamilton Croatia Toronto, Ontario
Harvey [[46] Report] Stadium: Lamport Stadium

References
  1. "Season Ends on High Note for Blazers". Buffalo News. 4 October 1976. p. 15.
  2. "Panhellenic gains title using kicks". Toronto Star. October 11, 1976. p. B8.
  3. "CSL Past Champions – Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  4. Waring, Ed (September 20, 1976). "Italian team refuses to accept trophies from Allan Lamport". The Globe and Mail. p. S3.
  5. "Italia retains NSL title with win over Hamilton". The Globe and Mail. September 30, 1976. p. 58.
  6. "Canadians beat Croatia to again First Division". The Globe and Mail. September 16, 1976. p. 51.
  7. Goloboy, Jim; Stokkermans, Karel (July 2, 2020). "Central American Club Competitions 1976". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  8. Waring, Ed (April 6, 1976). "Olympic soccer team meets Toronto Italia in exhibition match". The Globe and Mail. p. 38.
  9. "Tigers blanked by Hamilton". Ottawa Journal. May 10, 1976. p. 20.
  10. Waring, Ed (December 8, 1975). "Meeting recommends NSL commissioner". The Globe and Mail. p. S8.
  11. Pascal, Randy (June 20, 2020). "The Sudbury Cyclones and their semi-pro soccer stint". Sudbury Star. p. B1.
  12. "Sports - Soccer". Ottawa Citizen. May 21, 1976. p. 64.
  13. Kernaghan, Jim (January 24, 1976). "Soccer league's new plan gives owner more power". Toronto Star. p. D3.
  14. Vyhnak, Carola (September 20, 1976). "Stadium honors Allan Lamport". Toronto Star. p. B1.
  15. "Stars likely to play 18-game schedule". Windsor Star. January 13, 1976. p. 18.
  16. "Ottawa Tigers hope to boost soccer interest". Ottawa Journal. March 31, 1976. p. 38.
  17. Billoni, Mike (April 23, 1978). "Soccer Club Opens Its Season Today". Buffalo Courier-Express. p. 47.
  18. "Blazers Pick Alex Perolli New Coach". Buffalo News. 16 July 1976. p. 12.
  19. "Stars blank Hamilton in NSL opener". Windsor Star. May 3, 1976. p. 30.
  20. "Stars help create logjam near top". Windsor Star. May 19, 1977. p. 57.
  21. "Graham Sawyer". www.margatefootballclubhistory.com. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  22. Phillips, Randy (April 30, 1977). "Castors start drive for title in soccer". Montreal Gazette. p. 28.
  23. "Tigers blanked by Hamilton". Ottawa Journal. May 10, 1976. p. 20.
  24. Bishop, Jim (June 30, 1976). "Tigers, Italia play draw". Ottawa Citizen. p. 20.
  25. "White Eagles ordered to post bond with NSL". The Globe and Mail. June 23, 1976. p. S7.
  26. "White Eagles' treatment of coach has British soccer men in a snit". Toronto Star. June 21, 1976. p. B5.
  27. Kruse, Chuck (May 28, 1977). "Cyclones now lose off the field". Sudbury Star. p. 18.
  28. "Two Quick Goals Prove Fatal to Buffalo Blazers". Buffalo News. 30 August 1976. p. 10.
  29. Drumsta, Peter (26 April 1977). "New Coach of Blazers, at 39, is in Top Shape". Buffalo News. p. 15.
  30. "Croatia extends winning streak to 9 games by blanking Buffalo". The Globe and Mail. June 28, 1976. p. S8.
  31. "Sports calendar - Soccer". The Globe and Mail. July 8, 1976. p. 47.
  32. Waring, Ed (June 8, 1976). "Italia beats White Eagles 1-0 on Roe's goal". The Globe and Mail. p. 37.
  33. "Italia president favors having 2nd NASL team". The Globe and Mail. July 9, 1976. p. 38.
  34. "Stars continue surge". Windsor Stars. August 23, 1976. p. 22.
  35. "Strategy works for Cheetham". Windsor Star. June 21, 1976. p. 24.
  36. "Clutch player in NSL final: Tony Dallas is backbone in Panhellenic win". The Globe and Mail. October 11, 1976. p. S5.
  37. "Toronto Booters Blank Blazers". Buffalo News. 16 August 1976. p. 16.
  38. "Play it again". Welland Tribune. May 8, 2001. p. B2.
  39. "Stars' Saturday opener moved to Wigle Park". Windsor Star. May 7, 1976. p. 39.
  40. Hall, Dave (August 5, 1976). "Soccer Stars fire coach". Windsor Star. p. 36.
  41. Gallagher, Danny (June 11, 1977). "Stepancich makes return". Sudbury Star. p. 14.
  42. "Blazers Open May 1 in Canadian Soccer". Buffalo Evening News. 18 March 1976. p. 16.
  43. "Blazers Play to a Deadlock After Their Coach is Fired". Buffalo News. 1 June 1976. p. 57.
  44. "Portuguese tops Panhellenic 1-0 on Barros goal". The Globe and Mail. October 8, 1976. p. 28.
  45. Heppell, Jim (August 26, 1977). "First place within reach". Ottawa Journal. p. 18.
  46. "Panhellenic gains title using kicks". Toronto Star. October 11, 1976. p. B8.
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