1980 National Soccer League
Review of the season
The opening match of the 1980 season was held on May 4 when the First Portuguese beat the Panhellenic Olympics 2-0 with Joao Moniz and Mike Ristich scoring the goals. The match at Lamport Stadium was watched by 4,000 fans.
First Portuguese’s 52-game unbeaten run came to an end in July when they lost to Panhellenic.
Sudbury Cyclones won their first league game of the season on August 17, when they won 2-0 over Buffalo Blazers. The Cyclones had played 16 league games without a win. Due to financial problems NSL executives eliminated Buffalo Blazers from the playoffs.
Helped by their imports from Poland the Toronto Falcons won the 1980 League Championship.
Leading goalscorer – Mike Burke (Toronto Italia)
The 25-year old Toronto Italia striker was the 1980 NSL leading goalscorer. After studying at York University he joined Toronto Italia. Mike was also a member of the Canadian Olympic Team. In the 1980 NSL season Mike scored 24 goals.
Leading goalkeeper – Robert Judd (Panhellenic)
A former Canadian national youth team goalkeeper. 26-year old Robert Judd had also had tryouts with North American Soccer League clubs Montreal Olympique and Toronto Blizzard. He was voted as the leading goalkeeper in the NSL in the 1980 season.
Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
| Toronto Falcons | 22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 45 | 14 | 39 |
| First Portuguese | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 71 | 15 | 37 |
| Toronto Italia | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 63 | 16 | 34 |
| Panhellenic | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 38 | 14 | 31 |
| London City | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 49 | 25 | 25 |
| St. Catharines Roma | 22 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 29 | 26 | 20 |
| Bradford Marshlanders | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 31 | 58 | 19 |
| Buffalo Blazers | 22 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 33 | 49 | 18 |
| Toronto Ukraina | 22 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 22 | 56 | 13 |
| Sudbury Cyclones | 22 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 27 | 40 | 12 |
| Toronto Croatia | 22 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 21 | 55 | 11 |
| Serbian White Eagles | 22 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 14 | 75 | 5 |
| Leading goalscorers: | Goals |
| 1. Mike Burke (Toronto Italia) | 24 |
| 2. Joao Moniz (First Portuguese) |
National Soccer League Playoff
September 21, 1980
First Portuguese 2
Marshlanders 2
First Portuguese qualified for semi-finals
September 21, 1980
Toronto Falcons 4
Toronto Ukraina 2
Toronto Falcons qualified for semi-finals
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Semi-finals
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XX qualified for final
XX, 1980
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Final
October 5, 1980 Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Panhellenic 1
St Catharines Club Roma 0
Panhellenic won the National Soccer League Playoff Cup
National Soccer League Cup
First round
June 15, 1980 Lackawanna Stadium
Buffalo Blazers 4
Bradford Marshlanders 0
Buffalo Blazers qualified for the second round.
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Toronto Italia
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Toronto Italia qualified for the second round.
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Greek Panhellenic qualified for the second round.
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Toronto Falcons qualified for the second round.
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XX qualified for the second round.
Second round
July 13, 1980 Toronto
Panhellenic 3
Buffalo Blazers 2
Panhellenic qualified for the semi-finals.
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Toronto Italia qualified for the semi-finals.
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Toronto Falcons qualified for the semi-finals.
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Semi-finals
XX, 1980 Toronto
Toronto Italia
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Toronto Italia qualified for NSL Cup Final
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Toronto Falcons
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Toronto Falcons qualified for NSL Cup Final
Final
First Leg
September 3, 1980 Lamport Stadium
Toronto Italia 2
Toronto Falcons 0
Second Leg
September 7, 1980 Lamport Stadium
Toronto Italia 2
Toronto Falcons 0
Exhibition game
July 27, 1980 Windsor Stadium, Windsor
Attendance: 3,000
Partizan Beograd 10 (Grubjesic 2, Santrac 2, Prekazi 2, Trifunovic, Zavisie, Zivkovic, Pavkovic)
Panhellenic 0