1959 National Soccer League
President: Arthur Arnold
Referees
Referees included Tom Rogan, Nogradi (Montreal) and George Newman (Montreal, Quebec)
Preview
Montreal Sparta changed their name to Canadian Alouettes. Former Argentinian international player Norberto Iacono transferred from Montreal Cantalia to the Canadian Alouettes. He was the Alouettes’ player coach.
Montreal Ukraina joined the league from the Quebec National Soccer League.
Aldo Cecchi was the manager of Montreal Cantalia. He strengthened his team by signing centre-half Herman Pfeiffer from Montreal Hungaria. Pfeiffer was rated by the Montreal Gazette as the best centre-half in Canada.
Toronto Sparta signed former White Eagles players Jimmy Cairney and Ian McKenzie.
Steve Rajewski was the manager of Toronto Ukraina.
Review of the season
The season kicked off in Toronto with Ulster United beating Toronto White Eagles 2-1 and Toronto Italia winning 3-1 over the Toronto Tridents.
The soccer season in Montreal opened when the local Ukraina club won 5-1 over Toronto White Eagles at Faillon Stadium on Saturday May 2 in front of 1,500 fans. The following day Alouettes won 2-0 over the White Eagles.
Montreal Hungaria opened their season at Fred Hamilton Stadium in Toronto on Saturday May 2 when they lost 3-2 to Toronto Ukraina. On the Sunday they won 1-0 over Toronto Hungaria.
Montreal Hungaria topped the league table for some time until they sold Imre Dora to Hamilton Italo-Canadians.
Toronto Italia finished their league season on Tuesday night September 15 when they defeated Tridents 4-1. Italia topped the league at this time but Cantalia still had three games to play.
Cantalia won the league championship when they beat Hamilton Cougars 3-0 on Saturday October 3 in Montreal. The win gave Cantalia 37 points, one more than Toronto Italia with 36 points.
Toronto Italia finished second to Cantalia in the league but won the playoffs. They were the leagues top drawing card, atrracting more than 5,000 per game at Fred Hamilton Park.
The 14 National Soccer League clubs drew a combined attendance of 449,000. The eight Toronto teams drew 292,000, the four Montreal entries attracted 112,000 and the two Hamilton sides about 45,000.
The Montreal Canadian Alouettes won the 1959 Canadian Challenge Cup. Their roster consisted of Tommy Barrett, Tony Bonezzi, Carlos Bustamente, Héctor D’Adderio, Johnny Davidson, Osvaldo De Brasi, Ruben Lus, Robert Mascarelli, George Savage, Willow Wilson, Norberto Yacono.
Final standings
Leading goalscorers
| Players |
| 1. Imre Dora (Hamilton Italo-Canadians) – 31 goals |
| 2. Alex Czayka (Toronto Ukraina) – 22 goals |
| 3. Walter Czyzowych (Toronto Ukraina) – 20 goals |
| 4. Roy Coxon (Montreal Ukraina) – 19 goals |
| 5. Aurel Szondi (Toronto Hungaria) – 17 goals |
National Soccer League Play-offs
Toronto Semi-finals (Four teams, round robin series)
October 7, 1959 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Toronto Italia
Hamilton Italo-Canadians
October 9, 1959 Toronto
Toronto Hungaria
Toronto Ukraina
October 11, 1959 Toronto
Toronto Italia
Toronto Hungaria
October 12, 1959 Toronto
Referee: Dennis Prinold
Toronto Ukraina 4 (Alex Czayka, Walter Chyzowych, ???, ???)
Hamilton Italo-Canadians 2 (Wally McWilliams, Ernie Stanfield)
October 17, 1959
Toronto Italia 3
Toronto Hungaria 2
October 18, 1959 Toronto
Toronto Hungaria 4
Hamilton Italo-Canadians 1
Italia and Hungaria tied on 5 points. Playoff October 20.
October 20, 1959
Toronto Italia beat Toronto Hungaria
Montreal Play-offs
October 11, 1959 Faillon Stadium, Montreal
Cantalia 4 (DiCroce 2, Campo, Valentino)
Hungaria 0
October 14, 1959 Faillon Stadium, Montreal
Cantalia 2 (Valentino 2)
Hungaria 3 (Kenderes 2, Kiralyi)
October 18, 1959 Faillon Stadium, Montreal
Cantalia 4 (Russ Valentino 2, Michel DiCroce, Bob Johnstone)
Hungaria 2 (Charlie Horvath, Arpad Kiraly)
Cantalia won series 2 games to 1
Finals
October 24, 1959 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Toronto Italia 1 (Madlin)
Montreal Cantalia 0
October 25, 1959 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Toronto Italia 1 (Emil Erbach)
Montreal Cantalia 1 (Ros Valentino)
Toronto Italia won NSL Play-off championship
Other Leagues and Cups
1959 International Soccer League
League members were I.C.A. Italia, Toronto City, Hamilton City, Northern Star
The International Soccer League opened its season on Saturday May 16 when Northern Star tied Toronto City at Varsity Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,000. There were matches played at Guelph and Hamilton as well.
Exhibition games
May 22, 1959 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 7,500
Referee:
Ontario All-Stars 1 (Mike Campo)
West Bromwich Albion 6 (Brian Whitehouse 2, Bobby Robson 2, Ronnie Allen, Derek Hogg)
Ontario All-Star roster:
June 15, 1959 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 7,800
Toronto Italia-White Eagles 1
Legia Warszawa 3
June 24, 1959 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 11,741
Ontario All-Stars 1
Napoli 9 (Luis Vinicio 5, ???)
June 26, 1959 Faillon Stadium, Montreal
Attendance: 6,422
Montreal Cantalia 1 (Kurt Basta)
Napoli 2 (Rodolfo Beltrandi, Beniamino Di Giacomo)
July 6, 1959 Toronto
Attendance: 2,100
Toronto All-Stars 1 (Vlado Milisich)
Municipal Lima (Peru) 3 (Roberto Drago, Santonio Sacco, Juan Semiano)
July 7, 1959 Faillon Stadium, Montreal
Attendance: 3,000
Montreal Cantalia 1
Municipal Lima (Peru) 0
July 23, 1959 Faillon Stadium, Montreal
Attendance: 5,044
Montreal Hungaria 4 (Andy Toth 2, Arpad Kiraly, Steve Kenderes)
Grazer AK (Austria) 2 (Jank, Saiko)
August 3, 1959 Fred Hamilton Park, Toronto
Attendance:
Referee:
National Soccer League All-Stars 2 (Szondi, Hempler)
Rapid Wien (Austria) 7 (Reiter 3, Flögl 2, Bertalan, own goal)
NSL All-Star roster: Goalkeepers Zoltan Vigh and Ted Piskozub; fullbacks Cox, Biada and Pallag; half-backs Garvin, Cairns, Kelly; forwards Mountrey, Dvorak, Cairney, Gasteiger, Szondi, Czajka, Hempler, Lesz.
August 6, 1959 Hamilton, Ontario
Attendance: 2,000
Referee:
National Soccer League All-Stars 1
Rapid Wien (Austria) 5
NSL All-Star roster:
August 10, 1959 Faillon Stadium, Montreal
Attendance:
Montreal Cantalia 2 (Agostino Mazzoni 2)
Rapid Wien (Austria) 5 (Walter Gleschner 2, Peter Reiter 2, Josef Bertolan)
August 16, 1959 Ebbets Field, Brooklyn
Attendance: 5,000
I.C.A. Italia 0
Palermo (Italy) 7 (Corrado Perli 4, ??, ??, ??)
August 18, 1959 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance:
Toronto Italia 0
Palermo (Italy) 0
August 22, 1959 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 2,500
I.C.A. Italia 0
Palermo (Italy) 1 (Ulderico Sacchella)
