1976 National Soccer League season

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National Soccer League
Season 1976
Champions
  • Toronto Italia (regular season)
  • Toronto First Portuguese (playoffs, 2nd title)
League cup Toronto Panhellenic
Top goalscorer Emmanuel Kulu - Second Division- (21)[1]
← 1975
1977 →

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]

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 beyond the Canadian border 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) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (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) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted.

Playoffs

Finals

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

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

References

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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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