1991 National Soccer League season

The 1991 National Soccer League season was the sixty-eighth season under the National Soccer League (NSL) name. The season concluded on September 22, 1991, with Toronto Italia securing the NSL Championship by finishing first in the standings by a single-point difference between Scarborough International and St. Catharines Roma.[2]

National Soccer League
Season1991
ChampionsToronto Italia (12th title)
League CupToronto Argentina
Best goalkeeperPaulo Silva[1]
← 1990
1992 →

The NSL Ontario Cup was claimed by Toronto Argentina after defeating the Toronto Jets at Lamport Stadium in Toronto, Ontario.[3] The Toronto side would also add the NSL Canadian Cup to their résumé by defeating the Montreal Dollard at Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard in Montreal, Quebec.[4]

Overview

The membership in the league increased to a total of ten clubs from the nine of the previous season.[5] Two of the new additions were revealed at the annual general meeting held in Toronto on December 2, 1990.[6] NSL Second Division titleholders North York Strikers were promoted to the First Division, while Toronto International later relocated to Scarborough, Ontario returned to the league after a stint in the Ontario Soccer League.[6] The Toronto Jets and Woodbridge Azzuri were also promoted to the First Division. While Toronto Argentina was the lone expansion franchise that made its NSL debut in 1991.[5]

The increase in membership was rather poignant as the league lost two established clubs Toronto First Portuguese and Toronto Panhellenic due to a depletion of financial resources.[7] America United and Oshawa Italia were the other two clubs that were disbanded. After establishing the necessary connections in the Quebec soccer structure league commissioner Rocco Lofranco announced potential expansion plans into the province.[8] The member clubs also began the transition of recruiting more domestic players instead of relying on imports.[8] After a series of philosophical differences and disputes with the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) about the structure of professional soccer officials from the NSL began negotiations with the CSA, which resulted in a friendly match between the Canadian Olympic team and Toronto Italia.[9]

The league continued operating the NSL Canadian Cup where the NSL Ontario Cup champions faced the league cup winner from the Quebec National Soccer League.[10]

Teams
Team City Stadium Manager
London City London, Ontario Cove Road Stadium Harry Gauss[5]
North York Strikers North York, Ontario Esther Shiner Stadium
Scarborough International Scarborough, Ontario Birchmount Stadium Manuel Bilches[11]
St. Catharines Roma St. Catharines, Ontario Club Roma Stadium
Toronto Argentina Toronto, Ontario Lamport Stadium Elio Garro[12]
Toronto Croatia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium Vid Horvath[6]
Toronto Italia Etobicoke, Ontario Centennial Park Stadium Peter Felicetti[13]
Toronto Jets North York, Ontario Esther Shiner Stadium
Windsor Wheels Windsor, Ontario Windsor Stadium Walter Barbosa[14]
Woodbridge Azzuri Vaughan, Ontario Rainbow Park Stadium

Final standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto Italia (C) 18 11 5 2 28 13 +15 27 Qualification for Playoffs
2 Scarborough International 18 10 6 2 25 11 +14 26
3 St. Catharines Roma 17 12 2 3 37 18 +19 26
4 Toronto Croatia 18 9 4 5 22 13 +9 22
5 Toronto Argentina 18 8 5 5 30 18 +12 21
6 Woodbridge Azzuri 18 6 5 7 23 30 −7 17
7 Windsor Wheels 18 5 3 10 22 33 −11 13
8 North York Strikers 17 4 2 11 12 26 −14 10
9 Toronto Jets 17 2 5 10 16 27 −11 9
10 London City 18 2 3 13 15 36 −21 7
Updated to match(es) played on September 23, 1991. Source: [15]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Individual awards

The recipients for the annual NSL awards were announced on December 18, 1991, with members from London City, Toronto Croatia, and Toronto Italia receiving the awards.[13] After successfully leading Italia to a championship title Peter Felicetti was named the Coach of the Year. Felicetti previously had managerial experience in the Canadian Soccer League, and later managed in the American Professional Soccer League with Toronto Rockets.[16] London City's Paul Hillman was recognized as the Rookie of the Year. Ivica Raguž of Toronto Croatia was given the MVP award, and would ultimately play in the Croatian First Football League, and the S. League.

Award Player (Club)
NSL MVP Ivica Raguž (Toronto Croatia)
NSL Rookie of the Year Award Paul Hillman (London City)
NSL Coach of the Year Award Peter Felicetti (Toronto Italia)

References
  1. "Toronto Eagles Soccer Academy" (PDF). www.torontoeagles.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 28, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  2. "Wheels close as spoilers against Scarborough". Newspapers.com. The Windsor Star. September 23, 1991. p. 25. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  3. 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.
  4. "Club History". 2009-06-01. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  5. Hall, Dave (May 11, 1991). "Pieces fall in place for Wheels' opener". Newspapers.com. The Windsor Star. p. 24. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  6. "Local Round Up - NSL". Newspapers.com. The Windsor Star. December 3, 1990. p. 28. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  7. "The Portuguese Canadian History Project" (PDF). p. 7.
  8. Da Costa, Norm (May 29, 1991). "Still Kicking". Toronto Star. p. C6.
  9. Laskaris, Sam (August 22, 1991). "Exhibition game heals soccer feud". Toronto Star. p. W11.
  10. "Ontario champs defeat Dollard to take Cup". Newspapers.com. The Montreal Gazette. September 26, 1991. p. 93. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  11. Hall, Dave (March 9, 1993). "Wheels hope to score with new soccer league". Newspapers.com. Windsor Star. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  12. "North York Astros Soccer Club Powered by Goalline Sports Administration Software". 2009-06-01. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  13. "Local Round Up - Wheels". Newspapers.com. The Windsor Star. December 18, 1991. p. 21. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  14. Hall, Dave (May 11, 1991). "Pieces fall in place for Wheels' opener". Newspapers.com. The Windsor Star. p. 24. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  15. "23 Sep 1991, 26 - The Windsor Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  16. "The APSL lineup for 1994". Newspapers.com. The Vancouver Sun. July 2, 1994. p. 28. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
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