1956 National Soccer League
President: Ed Waring
Vice-president: Ken Bowyer
Review of the season
There was a change in the leadership of the National Soccer League at the start of the season. On May 29, 1956 Arthur Arnold announced his resignation as chairman. Arnold was also the president of the Ontario Soccer Association and thought it best to concentrate his activities on that organization. Ed Waring took over as president.
The league planned to operate as a ten-team league with nine clubs in Toronto and one in Hamilton. However, Hamilton Westinghouse dropped out before the start of the season.
Sparta was the new Toronto club that was added to the league. Toronto Sparta joined the league from the Continental Soccer League. The club was backed by the Czech community in Toronto.
In March 1956 Rochester Ukrainians applied for membership in the NSL. The application was rejected as the league expected that there would be problems with teams crossing the international border.
In May 1956 the NSL announced that would not take part in any of the cup competitions outside of its own league schedule. On June 21 The National Soccer League was fined $500 by the Ontario Football Association as they had played games on crashing dates with the Ontario All-Star team. The fine resulted in a feud that would last for many months. At a meeting held on June 25 in Toronto the NSL decided to withdraw from membership of the Ontario Association.
Toronto Polish White Eagles won the league and playoff championships.
Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
| White Eagles | 24 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 77 | 27 | 40 |
| Toronto Italia | 24 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 69 | 41 | 34 |
| Ulster United | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 64 | 38 | 33 |
| Tridents | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 66 | 49 | 29 |
| Olympia | 24 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 59 | 49 | 24 |
| Toronto Ukraina | 24 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 50 | 53 | 22 |
| Toronto Sparta | 24 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 41 | 65 | 17 |
| Toronto Hungaria | 24 | 5 | 16 | 3 | 32 | 73 | 13 |
| East End Canadians | 24 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 23 | 86 | 4 |
National Soccer League Play-offs
Semi-finals
October 7, 1956 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Polish White Eagles 2
Ulster United 1
Polish White Eagles qualified for Carling Cup Finals
October 8, 1956 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Toronto Italia defeated
Tridents
Toronto Italia qualified for Carling Cup Finals
Carling Cup finals
October ??, 1956 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Attendance: 6,000
Polish White Eagles 2
Toronto Italia 1
October 28, 1956 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Polish White Eagles 2
Toronto Italia 2
Polish White Eagles won the playoff championship
Exhibition games
May 29, 1956 Delorimier Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
Montreal All-Stars 0
Aberdeen Football Club 8
June 2, 1956 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Ontario All-Stars 3
Aberdeen Football Club 8
August 6, 1956 Montreal Baseball Park, Montreal, Quebec
Quebec All-Stars 0
Lokomotiv Moscow 9
August 18, 1956 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Canadian All-Stars 1
Lokomotiv Moscow 2
October 21, 1956 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Ontario All-Stars 3
Maccabbi Tel Aviv (Israel) 6