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1985 Season

1985 National Soccer League

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.

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

Final Standings

GPWLTGFGAPts
London Marconi14 8 1 521
Dinamo Latino14 8 2 420
Toronto Italia14 6 2 618
Windsor Roma14 5 5 414
St. Catharines Roma14 4 6 412
Toronto Croatia14 4 6 412
Panhellenic14 4 6 210
First Portuguese14 211 1 5
Top goalscorer:Goals
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)

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