1971 National Soccer League
League officials
League president: Ian Dickson replaced by Joe Piccininni
League secretary: Ivan Habus
Referees
Referees included Emerson Mathurin
Review of the season
St. Catharines Heidelberg joined the league. Ottawa Sons of Italy changed their name to Ottawa Tigers.
The member clubs of the NSL during 1971 season were:
Croatia National S.C. (Toronto)
Toronto Ukraina S. A.
Kitchener Concordia
Hellas Athletic Club (Toronto)
Toronto Hungaria S.C.
Serbia S. C. White Eagle (Toronto)
The First Portuguese Canadian Club
Sudbury City F. C.
Croatia Sport Club (Hamilton)
Tigers S.C. Ottawa
Heidelberg National S. C. (St Catharines)
Olympia F. C. (Toronto)
Hamilton Apollos
Homiros Hamilton F. C.
German Canadian Club (London)
Toronto Croatia won the league and playoff championship.
Total attendance at Stanley Park for the whole season was 145,000. Up 15,000 from the previous season.
Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
| Toronto Croatia | 26 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 58 | 14 | 47 |
| First Portuguese | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 45 | 19 | 38 |
| Hamilton Croatia | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 38 | 31 | 33 |
| Toronto Ukraina | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 47 | 28 | 31 |
| Sudbury City | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 55 | 34 | 31 |
| Olympia-Harmonie | 26 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 49 | 40 | 27 |
| London German-Can. | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 57 | 54 | 26 |
| St. Cath Heidelberg | 26 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 42 | 42 | 25 |
| Serbian White Eagles | 26 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 37 | 39 | 23 |
| Hellas | 26 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 36 | 41 | 23 |
| Hungaria | 26 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 40 | 52 | 23 |
| Ottawa Tigers | 26 | ||||||
| Hamilton Apollos | 26 | 3 | 18 | 5 | 23 | 69 | 11 |
| Kitchener Kickers | 26 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 31 | 65 | 10 |
Leading goalscorer:
1. Ferruccio Deni (Sudbury City)
Leading goalkeeper:
1. Zeljko Bilecki (Toronto Croatia)
National Soccer League Play-offs
Play-off final
October 11, 1971 at Stanley Park
Attendance: 7,000
Toronto Croatia 1 (Bruno Pilas)
First Portuguese 0
National Soccer League Cup
First round
June 9, 1971 Stanley Park, Toronto
Attendance: 1,507
First Portuguese 2
Toronto Hungaria 1
First Portuguese qualified for second round
June 14, 1971 Stanley Park, Toronto
Attendance: 5,321
Toronto Croatia 7
Toronto White Eagles 0
Toronto Croatia qualified for second round
Olympia qualified for second round
Hellas qualified for second round
Sudbury City qualified for second round
Ottawa Tigers qualified for second round
Second round
July 18, 1971 Stanley Park, Toronto
Attendance:
First Portuguese 3
Olympia 0
First Portuguese qualified for semi-finals
August 7, 1971 St. Joseph’s High School Field, Ottawa
Attendance:
Ottawa Tigers 1
Toronto Croatia 0
Ottawa Tigers won after 30 minutes of overtime and qualified for semi-finals.
Hellas qualified for semi-finals
Sudbury City qualified for semi-finals
Semi-finals
August 23, 1971 Toronto
Attendance: 4,267
Toronto Hellas 0
First Portuguese 1 (Carlos Correia)
First Portuguese qualified for NSL Cup final
August 14, 1971 Ottawa
Attendance:
Ottawa Tigers 1
Sudbury City 1
*After OT
August ??, 1971
Attendance:
Ottawa Tigers 1
Sudbury City 1
September 25, 1971 Sudbury, Ontario
Attendance:
Sudbury City 2 (Ferrucio Deni, George Courtney)
Ottawa Tigers 0
Sudbury City qualified for NSL Cup final
Finals
XX, 1971 XXX
Attendance:
First Portuguese
Sudbury City
First Portuguese won the 1971 National Soccer League Cup
Export Cup – Canadian Open Championship
October 17, 1971 Toronto
Attendance: 4,373
Toronto Croatia 3 (Bruno Pilas, Alija Solak, Marijan Bradvic)
Vancouver Eintracht 0
Exhibition games
July 3, 1971 Toronto
Attendance: 7,500
Toronto Croatia 0
Dinamo Zagreb 1 (Drago Vabec)
July 18, 1971 Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton
Attendance:
Hamilton Croatia
Dinamo Zagreb
Other Leagues & Cups
1971 Ontario Cup
District qualifiers
Windsor District:
Windsor Maple Leafs defeated Anglo to qualify for First Round Proper
Toronto District:
Toronto San Fili defeated San Marco to qualify for First Round Proper
First round
Hamilton Italo-Canadians 3, Kitchener Leos 2
Windsor Maple Leafs 9, Sarnia Dante 0
Quarter-finals
August 18, 1971 Hamilton, Ontario
Attendance:
Hamilton Italo-Canadians 3
St. Catharines Roma 1
Hamilton Italo-Canadians won sudden-death game and qualified for semi-finals
August 7, 1971 Windsor Stadium, Windsor, Ontario
Attendance:
Windsor Maple Leafs 10
London Scottish 0
Windsor Maple Leafs won sudden-death game and qualified for semi-finals
XX vs XX
Toronto San Fili won sudden-death game and qualified for semi-finals
XX vs XX
XX won sudden-death game and qualified for semi-finals
Semi-finals
August 21, 1971 Windsor Stadium, Windsor, Ontario
Attendance:
Windsor Maple Leafs
Hamilton Italo-Canadians
Windsor Maple Leafs won sudden-death game and qualified for Ontario Cup finals
??, 1971 ??
Attendance:
XX
Toronto San Fili
Toronto San Fili won sudden-death game and qualified for Ontario Cup finals
Finals
August 28, 1971 Windsor Stadium, Windsor, Ontario
Attendance:
Windsor Maple Leafs
Newmarket San Fili
??, 1971 ??
Attendance:
Toronto San Fili
Windsor Maple Leafs
XXX won the two-game finals
1971 Ontario Inter City League
League champions: Hamilton Italo Canadians
Play-offs
Finals
Toronto Azzurri 2, Hamilton Italo Canadians 2
Hamilton Italo Canadians 5, Toronto Azzurri 1
Hamilton Italo Canadians won the 1971 Inter City League playoff championship.
