1961 National Soccer League
President: Walter Freer
Vice-president: Aldo Cecchi, Montreal
Directors: Charlie Jamieson, Toronto and M. Michalofsky, Toronto
Secretary-manager: Frank Thirkettle
Review of the season
The annual general meeting was held in Toronto on Saturday January 14, 1961. Walter Freer was re-elected as president of the league. Montreal Ukraina and Toronto Tridents were voted out of the league. As the two clubs had finished bottom of the league they had to re-apply for admission to the league and this was unsuccesful for both clubs. In a step to get away from being labelled an Italian club the Hamilton Italo-Canadians informed the league that they would change their name to the Hamilton Steelers. Toronto Sparta were also granted the right to a name change as an Italian group had purchased the club from Czech interests the previous season. The new name was to be Toronto Roma. The Hamilton club also suggested that the Toronto clubs should share the gate receipts for the matches in Toronto. This matter was tabled until the annual meeting was to be convened in Montreal on January 28.
The season opened on Sunday April 23 with Toronto Hungaria defeating Toronto Olympia 6-2 in front of 4,000 fans at Stanley Park.
Montreal Concordia also played in the International Soccer League that was organised by Bill Cox. The club was coached by Skender Perolli. The club won the Canadian Challenge Trophy for the second time in their history when they defeated Vancouver Firefighters in the final.
Toronto Roma won the league championship on Tuesday September 26 when they beat Concordia 4-1 in the final league game of the season. Concordia declined to take part in the play-offs as its foreign players were about to leave.
Toronto Ukraina captured its fourth National Soccer League title by beating Toronto Hungaria in the Labatts Cup finals. Ukraina won the best-of-three final in two straight games.
After the season Toronto Roma joined the ECPSL. The Toronto White Eagles applied to join the ECPSL, the application was accepted on the condition that the White Eagles operated out of Buffalo. The Polish club officials reluctently accepted this.
Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
| Toronto Roma | 24 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 79 | 24 | 41 |
| Montreal Concordia | 24 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 90 | 36 | 36 |
| Polish White Eagles | 24 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 53 | 51 | 26 |
| Olympia-Harmonie | 24 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 57 | 64 | 22 |
| Toronto Ukraina | 24 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 45 | 67 | 19 |
| Toronto Hungaria | 24 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 37 | 63 | 17 |
| Ulster United | 24 | 2 | 19 | 3 | 28 | 84 | 7 |
National Soccer League Match reports
| Date | Home | Away |
| 15/07/1961 | Montreal Concordia 5 | Toronto Roma 1 |
| Leading goalscorers: | Goals |
| 1. Olivio Lacerda (Montreal Concordia) | 34 |
| 2. Olinto Rubini (Toronto Roma) | 20 |
National Soccer League Play-offs
Play-offs (Round-robin series)
October 1, 1961 Stanley Park, Toronto
Olympia-Harmonie 2 (John Ross, Ted Harman)
Toronto Roma 1 (Angelo Pizorno)
October 3, 1961 Stanley Park, Toronto
Toronto White Eagles 0
Toronto Ukraina 2
October 5, 1961 Stanley Park, Toronto
Attendance: 302
Toronto Hungaria 3
Toronto Roma 0
October 8, 1961 Toronto
Toronto White Eagles 2
Toronto Ukraina 3
October 9, 1961 Toronto
Toronto Hungaria 4
Olympia Harmonie 2
Labatts Cup Finals
October ??, 1961 Toronto
Toronto Ukraina 1
Toronto Hungaria 0
October 22, 1961 Toronto
Attendance: 1,871
Toronto Ukraina 1
Toronto Hungaria 0
Exhibition game
July 13, 1961 Stanley Park, Toronto
Attendance:
National Soccer League All-Stars 3 (Ted Purdon 2, Gordon Bradley)
Hapoel Petach-Tikva 1
Exhibition games
June 7, 1961 Lansdowne Park, Ottawa
Attendance: 3,568
Montreal Cantalia 3
Stade de Reims (France) 5
* Taped coverage of the game was shown later that night on CJOH
June 14, 1961 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 5,000
Birmingham City 2
Stade Reims 1
June 18, 1961 Ottawa
Attendance:
Referee:
Ottawa & District All-Stars 1
Montreal Cantalia 6
June 21, 1961 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance:
Toronto Italia 0
Stade de Reims (France) 9
June 22, 1961 Delorimier Stadium, Montreal
Attendance: 3,600
Montreal Cantalia 1
Stade de Reims (France) 4
June 24, 1961 Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Attendance:
Toronto City 2
Stade de Reims (France) 1
1961 International Soccer League
Montreal Concordia in the 1961 International Soccer League:
May 20, 1961
New York Americans
Montreal Concordia
Match report
May 23, 1961
Montreal Concordia 0
Everton 1
Match report
May 24, 1961
Karlsruhe 3
Bangu 2
Match report
May 25, 1961
Everton 2
Kilmarnock 1
Match report
May 30, 1961
Karlsruher 3
Kilmarnock FC 2
Match report
May 31, 1961 McGill Stadium, Montreal
Montreal Concordia
Dynamo Bucharest
Match report
Montreal Concordia vs.
June 6, 1961: Montreal Concordia vs. Kilmarnock (Scotland)
June 7, 1961
Everton 4
Dinamo Bucharest 0
Match report
June 7, 1961
New York Americans
Karlsruhe
Match report
June 11, 1961
Dynamo Bucharest 2
Karlsruhe 2
Match report
June 11, 1961
Everton 0
Bangu 2
Match report
June 15, 1961
Montreal Concordia
Bangu
Match report
June 17, 1961
Everton 7
New York Americans
Match report
June 18, 1961
Dynamo Bucharest 5
Besiktas 2
Match report
June 18, 1961
Bangu 5
Kilmarnock 0
Match report
July 18, 1961
Montreal Concordia 3
Monaco 1
Match report
July 24, 1961
Montreal Concordia 2
Shamrock Rovers 2
Match report
Final standings
Section I
| Gp | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
| Everton | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 5 | 12 |
| Bangu | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 8 | 9 |
| New York Americans | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 18 | 8 |
| Karlsruhe | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 7 |
| Kilmarnock | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 6 |
| Montreal Concordia | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 5 |
| Dinamo Bucharest | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 5 |
| Besiktas | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 19 | 4 |
Section II
| Gp | W | T | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
| Dukla Praha | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 6 | 13 |
| Montreal Concordia | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 10 |
| Monaco | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 13 | 8 |
| Red Star Belgrade | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 17 | 7 |
| Espanol | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 19 | 7 |
| Rapid Wien | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 5 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 26 | 4 |
| Petah Tikva | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 31 | 2 |
EISENHOWER TROPHY CHAMPIONSHIP
August 2, 1961
Dukla Praha 7
Everton 2
Match report
August 6, 1961
Dukla Praha 2
Everton 0
Match report
Dukla Prague won on 9-2 aggregate
Eisenhower Trophy (MVP)
Walter Dos Santos (Bangu)