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 quarter-finals
October 3, 1971 at Stanley Park
Attendance: 1837
Toronto Croatia 3 (Marijon Bradvic, Mesik Slatko, Bruno Pilas)
Sudbury City 0
Toronto Croatia qualified for the NSL playoff semi-finals
October 3, 1971 at Stanley Park
Attendance:
Hamilton Croatia 2
London German Canadians 0
Hamilton Croatia qualified for the NSL playoff semi-finals
October 4, 1971 at Stanley Park
Attendance:
First Portuguese 5 (Antonio Rodrigues 16:00; Emilio Hernandez 21:00; Antonio Rodrigues 22:00; Armando Costa 37:00; Antonio Rodrigues 43:00)
Olympia 2 (John McGurk 22:00; John Wark 70:00)
First Portuguese qualified for the NSL playoff semi-finals
October ??, 1971 at Stanley Park
Attendance:
Toronto Ukraina
??
Toronto Ukraina qualified for the NSL playoff semi-finals
Play-off semi-finals
October 7, 1971 at Stanley Park
Attendance:
Toronto Croatia 1 (Bruno Pilas 30:00)
Hamilton Croatia 0
Toronto Croatia qualified for the NSL playoff final
October 8, 1971 at Stanley Park
Attendance:
First Portuguese 2 (Antonio Rodrigues, Paulino Ferrara)
Toronto Ukraina 0
First Portuguese qualified for the 1970 NSL playoff final
Play-off final
October 11, 1971 at Stanley Park
Referee: Alf Roberts
Attendance: 4,215
Toronto Croatia 1 (Bruno Pilas 31:00)
First Portuguese 0
Toronto Croatia won the 1971 NSL Playoff championship
National Soccer League Cup
Semifinals
August 23, 1971 at Stanley Park
Referee: Alf Roberts
Attendance: 3457
First Portuguese 1 (Carlos Alberto Correia 56:00)
Toronto Hellas 0
First Portuguese qualified for the 1971 NSL Cup finals
September 26, 1971 Sudbury, Ontario
Referee:
Attendance:
Sudbury City 2 (Ferruccio Deni 10:00; George Courtney 49:00)
Ottawa Tigers 0
Sudbury City qualified for the 1971 NSL Cup finals
Final
October 3, 1971 at Stanley Park
Referee:
Attendance: 3518
First Portuguese 3 (Jorge Piotti 26:00; Valdemar Serrano 40:00; Paulino Ferrera 65:00)
Sudbury City 0
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 0
Dinamo Zagreb 10
NSL Match Reports