Commissioner: Ugo Fusco
President: Rocco Lofranco
Preview
The annual general meeting was held in Toronto on January 20, 1985, in Toronto. At the meeting Windsor Roma was given an expansion franchise. The franchise fee was $15,000.
There were rumours of a Montreal team joining the league but this failed to materialize.
Star player – Marinel Risnita (Toronto Italia)
Former Romanian Under 21 international. Played for Rapid Bucharest in the Romanian First Division.
Review of the season
With the demise of the NASL and of the Toronto Blizzard the NSL was again left with the task of providing the best soccer in the Toronto area. The NASL disbanded on March 28 and the Blizzard folded on April 24.
The NSL season kicked off on May 12 with Dinamo Latino beating St. Catharines Roma 3-1 at Lamport Stadium.
Windsor Roma made their home debut in front of 1,185 fans at Windsor Stadium on May 26. Toronto Croatia won the match 3-0 thanks to two goals from Mike Edwards and an own goal from Roma’s Waldir de Sousa.
In June York-Hannover Amusesments Ltd., former owners of Toronto Blizzard in the NASL, bought the Dinamo Latino franchise. On December 12, 1985 it was announced that the team name would be changed to Toronto Blizzard.
London Marconi won the league championship.
Toronto Italia won the championship play-off finals by beating Windsor Roma 1-0 on October 14, 1985. Windsor Roma had been unbeaten in 13 games up to their final loss. Marinel Risnita was the Italia goalscorer.
Leading goalscorer – Marco Abascal
National Soccer League Standings
Top goalscorer:
1. Marco Abascal (Dinamo Latino)
National Soccer League Playoffs
Quarter-Finals
September 25, 1985 St. Catharines
St. Catharines Roma 1 (Bob DiNunzio)
Windsor Roma 2 (Nick O’Shea, Ian Parratt)
September 27, 1985 Mic Mac Park, Windsor
Windsor Roma 3
St. Catharines Roma 1
Windsor Roma won 5-2 and qualified for semi-finals
September ??, 1985 Toronto
Toronto Italia 1
Toronto Croatia 1
September 30, 1985 Toronto
Toronto Italia
Toronto Croatia
Toronto Italia qualified for semi-finals
Dinamo Latino vs
Dinamo Latino qualified for semi-finals
London Marconi vs
London Marconi qualified for semi-finals
Semi-Finals
October ??, 1985 Toronto
Toronto Italia
Dinamo Latino
October 10, 1985 Toronto
Toronto Italia
Dinamo Latino
Toronto Italia qualified for final
October 3, 1985 Windsor Stadium, Windsor
Windsor Roma 2
London Marconi 0
October 6, 1985 London
London Marconi 0
Windsor Roma 2
Windsor Roma won 4-0 and qualified for final
Finals
October 12, 1985 Windsor Stadium, Windsor
Windsor Roma 1 (Ian Parratt)
Toronto Italia 1 (Herbert Gallo)
October 14, 1985 Toronto
Toronto Italia 1 (Marinel Risnita)
Windsor Roma 0
Toronto Italia won the two-game total-goals series 2-1
National Soccer League Cup
Finals
September ??, 1985
Attendance:
Panhellenic
Dinamo Latino
September ??, 1985
Attendance:
Panhellenic
Dinamo Latino
Dinamo Latino won the 1985 NSL League Cup
Exhibition games
September 9, 1985 at London, Ontario
Attendance: 4,000
London Marconi 0
Canadian National Team 2 (Igor Vrablic, Mark Karpun)
September 22, 1985 Lamport Stadium, Toronto
Attendance: 300
NSL All-Stars 1
Quebec All-Stars 2
September 29, 1985 Stade De L’Université De Montreal
Attendance: 1,000
Quebec All-Stars 1 Arthur Calixte (Ewan Wright)
NSL All-Stars 2 Jack Sanza (Jose Testas), Turtado (Perciballi)
Quebec MVP: Arthur Calixte
NSL (Ontario) All-Stars: Ed McNally
Quebec All-Stars included: Edouard Kilanowski (goalkeeper), goal; Paolo Ferrante (coach)
NSL All-Stars included: Ed McNally (midfielder), Alex Bunbury (forward)
