League president: Joe Piccininni
League secretary: Ivan Habus
New clubs and name changes
In January 1973 Hamilton Apollo decided to change their name to Hamilton City and London German-Canadians became London City.
First Portuguese
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
At the beginning of the season First Portuguese strengthened their team with wee Walter Muir on loan from Toronto Metros. Peter Duerden came from Montreal Olympique to make his debut in a 3-1 win over Ukraina on July 2.
Hamilton City
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Hamilton Croatia
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Hamilton Italo-Canadians
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Homer
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Kitchener Srbija
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
London City
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
London City were officially formed in 1973 but had strong links to the London German-Canadians and took over their franchise in the NSL.
Melita
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Melita joined the NSL from the Toronto and District Soccer League.
When Al Murphy scored a goal and at the same time broke his leg against Hamilton City on July 27, he became the fourth Melita player to break his leg that season.
Montreal Cantalia
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Montreal Cantalia rejoined the league after a 10 year absence. Before the start of the season they imported six professionals from Europe. One was Alex Bandl who had played in Montreal previously but lately had been playing in Mexico for Atalante.
Ottawa Tigers
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Polonia
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
St. Catharines Heidelberg
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Serbian White Eagles
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
In a bid to wrestle the league supremacy from Toronto Croatia, Serbian White Eagles imported nine players and a coach from Yugoslavia. They had a $70,000 budget, double that of 1972, giving coach Mladen Saric of Galenika in Yugoslavia carte blanche to find the players he wanted.
Toronto Croatia
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Toronto Croatia paid $25,000 for the services of Josko Glucic and Ante Ivkovic from Hajduk Split for four month, but it would develop that they had left their team without permission and were told by FIFA to return to Hajduk.
Toronto Hungaria
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Hungaria monthly budget of $5,000. Picked their players from various leagues around Canada and the U.S, none of the players being Canadian-born. Tibor Molnar came from New York. After four games for the Metros in the NASL, fullback Jim McDonald also came to Hungaria.
Toronto Italia
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
Toronto Italia had a working budget of $150,000, fired their coach Hector Marinaro before the season started.
Ukraina
Formed:
Head Coach:
Key players:
GP W L T GF GA Pts Toronto Croatia 30 22 4 4 71 23 48 Serbian White Eagles 30 22 7 1 66 21 45 First Portuguese 30 17 5 8 52 33 42 Toronto Hungaria 30 17 6 7 68 35 41 Toronto Italia 30 16 9 5 55 37 37 Homer 30 14 8 8 58 35 36 London City 30 12 9 9 47 43 33 St. Cath. Heidelberg 30 12 11 7 37 39 31 Hamilton Croatia 30 10 11 9 55 53 29 Melita 30 8 12 10 37 45 26 Ukraina 30 9 16 5 45 48 23 Hamilton City 30 8 15 7 39 58 23 Montreal Cantalia 30 8 15 7 39 58 23 Hamilton Italo-Can. 30 4 17 9 20 64 17 Serbja Kitchener 30 4 21 5 29 77 13 Polonia 30 5 22 3 30 83 13 Ottawa Tigers were suspended on August 21, 1973. Leading goalscorers: 1. John Fahy (Hungaria) 24 gls Keith Summers (Ukraina) 24 gls Top Goalie: Blagoje Tamindzic (Serbian White Eagles)
Play-off final
October 19, 1973 at Stanley Park, Toronto
Attendance: 2,110
Toronto Hungaria 2 (Allan Callender, Tibor Molnar)
Toronto Croatia 1 (Aleja Solak)
NSL Cup Final
October 21, 1973 Stanley Park, Toronto
Referee: Bill Divorski
Toronto Hungaria 3
Toronto Croatia 1
* Game cancelled with 30 minutes remaining due to a riot by fans.
Canadian Open Championship
October 28, 1973
Toronto Croatia 3
West Indies United 1
Exhibition games:
May 23, 1973 C.N.E. Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 13,281
Canada Selects 0
Arsenal 1 (Charlie George)
June 12, 1973 Lansdowne Park, Ottawa
Attendance: 2,500
Ottawa All-Stars 1 (Nino Flamini)
Belenenses (Portugal) 4 (Quinito 2, Pietra, Ramalho)
June 16, 1973 Stanley Park, Toronto
Attendance: 7,196
First Portuguese 0
Belenenses (Port.) 2 (Joaquim Ramalho, Francisco Gonzalez)
Sources: Toronto Star
