National Soccer League
Preview
The newly-formed Hamilton Westinghouse club joined the league before the start of the season.
Toronto Greenbacks returned from professional to amateur ranks. The Greenbacks had been members of the ill-fated North American Soccer Football League in the 1946 and 1947 seasons. The club was formerly known as the John Inglis club.
Review of the season
Toronto Greenbacks defeated London Labbats 4-1 in the opening game of the Western Division on May 2 in Toronto.
Hamilton Westinghouse won the western section.
Carsteel won the playoff championship.
After the season London Labbats and Brantford Nationals joined the Ontario Major League.
Western Section – Final standings
The clubs in the Western Section were Toronto Greenbacks, Hamilton Westinghouse, Fergus, London Labatts and Brantford Nationals.
Hamilton Westinghouse won the western section.
Eastern Section – Final standings
Montreal Carsteel won the eastern section.
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
| 1. Montreal Carsteel | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 9 | 11 |
| 2. Canadair Falcons | 6 | ||||||
| 3. Montreal Stelco | 6 | ||||||
| 4. Canadian Vickers | 6 |
Eastern playoffs
September 25, 1948 Notre Dame Stadium, Montreal
Carsteel 4 (Doug McMahon 3, Andy Menyes)
Canadair Falcons 2
September 26, 1948 Charlevoix, Montreal
Carsteel 6 (Doug McMahon 2, Andy Menyes 2, Willie Gammon, Stoddard)
Canadair Falcons 2
Carsteel won the two-game total-goal series 10-4.
Atholstan Cup Final
October 9, 1948 Charlevoix, Montreal
Montreal Carsteel 3
Hamilton Westinghouse 1
October 10, 1948 at Charlevoix, Montreal
Montreal Carsteel 3 (Doug McMahon, Jack Muir, Paul Castonguay)
Hamilton Westinghouse 3 (Bob Kennedy, Jimmy Swan, George Campbell)
Carsteel won the two-game total-goals series 6-4.
Triner Cup
August ??, 1948 Montreal
Attendance:
Montreal Carsteel 3
Chicago National Soccer League All-Stars 3
September 12, 1948 Sparta Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 3,000
Chicago National Soccer League All-Stars 3 (Alex Gardic 2, Gil Heron)
Montreal Carsteel 1 (Bill Chambers)
Exhibition games
June 3, 1948 Montreal Baseball Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
Attendance: 12,000
Montreal All-Stars 2
Liverpool Football Club 4
Read about the match here
June 15, 1948 Toronto
Attendance: 17,000
Ulster United 1
Liverpool Football Club 5
Read about the match here.
July 3, 1948 Toronto
Attendance: 5,500
Toronto Greenbacks 0
Djurgaarden (Sweden) 6
August 29, 1948 Charlevoix, Montreal, Quebec
Attendance:
Montreal Carsteel & Stelco 1
New York Americans 1
Read about the match here.
September 5, 1948 Scots Field, Kearny
Attendance: 2,000
Kearny Americans 2
Montreal Carsteel & Stelco 4
September 6, 1948 Sterling Oval, Bronx, New York
Attendance: 2,500
New York Americans-Brookhattan XI 1
Montreal Carsteel & Stelco 0
September 8, 1948 Cranston, Rhode Island
Attendance:
Cranston
Montreal Carsteel & Stelco
November 25, 1948 Fall River Stadium, Fall River, Massachusetts
Attendance:
Fall River Lincolns 1
Montreal Carsteel 1
November 27, 1948 New Bedford, Massachusetts
Attendance:
New England All-Stars 4
Montreal Carsteel 2
November 29, 1948 Franklin Field, Ludlow, Massachusetts
Attendance: 700
Ludlow Lusitano 4
Montreal Carsteel 2
Other Leagues and Cups
1948 Ontario Major Soccer League
Five clubs were members of the Ontario Major Soccer League in the 1948 season. East End Canadians, Toronto Generals, Toronto Scottish and Ulster United had been members in the 1947 season. Newcomers St. Andrews was made up mostly of old country players.
On April 1 Toronto Greenbacks were denied membership in the league
Review of the season
The league secured Oakwood Stadium as its soccer stadium for the 1948 season. The league opened its season on May 24 when 2,000 soccer fans attended the game at Oakwood Stadium.
On Tuesday June 15 Ulster United met Liverpool in an exhibition game in Toronto. Liverpool defeated Ulster United 5-1 in front of 17,000 fans. Ulster United’s goalkeeper Larry Gage was said to have been sensational. In an interesting note in the Windsor Star newspaper it said: “William Ferguson, Claremont, Ont., a spectator, died from excitement during the perfomance”.
See more in the Great Games section
Playoffs
Semi-finals
October 24, 1948 Oakwood Stadium, Toronto
East End Canadians
Ulster United
October 29, 1948 Broadview Field, Toronto
East End Canadians 4
Ulster United 0
East End Canadians won total-goal series 7-4 and qualified for playoff final.
October 29, 1948 Toronto
East End Canadians
Ulster United
St. Andrews qualified for playoff final.
Finals
November 6, 1948 Broadview Stadium, Toronto
St. Andrews 1
East End Canadians 2
November 13, 1948 Oakwood Stadium, Toronto
St. Andrews 2
East End Canadians 1
November 27, 1948 Oakwood Stadium, Toronto
St. Andrews
East End Canadians
