St. Catharines Heidelberg was a Canadian

soccer club In Association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as a ...

based in St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The club was founded in 1960 and originally competed in the International Soccer League (later renamed Inter-City Soccer League). In 1971, the club joined the professional ranks in the National Soccer League (NSL) and played in the league for eight seasons from 1971 until the 1978 season. In 1979, Heidelberg departed from the NSL which left

St. Catharines Roma St. Catharines Roma Wolves (also known as St. Catharines Wolves or simply Roma Wolves), are a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1967. The team currently plays in the semi-professional League1 Ontario in both the men's and women's divisions. The ...

as the sole representative for the city of St. Catharines in the National Soccer League.

History

St. Catharines Heidelberg was formed in 1960 and represented the

German Canadian German Canadians (german: Deutsch-Kanadier or , ) are Canadian citizens of German ancestry or Germans who emigrated to and reside in Canada. According to the 2016 census, there are 3,322,405 Canadians with full or partial German ancestry. Some ...

community in the

Niagara region The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern ...

, with club president Connie Kolbow playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the organization. St. Catharines initially played in the International Soccer League (later renamed Inter-City Soccer League) in 1960 and secured the Hiram Walker Cup in 1961 which was the playoff championship title. In 1964, Heidelberg clinched the regular-season title (McGuiness Trophy) but lost the Hiram Walker Cup to Hamilton Hungarians. The club secured their first

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(McGuiness & Hiram Walker Cups) in the 1968 season. Their final notable season in the Inter-City Soccer League was in 1969 when they claimed their third playoff title. In 1971, Heidelberg became the first club from the Niagara region to receive a franchise in the National Soccer League, and in their debut season were named the league's Most Gentlemanly Team. In their initial years in the NSL, the club qualified for the postseason twice in 1971, and the 1973 season. In 1975, the NSL ownership decided to partition the league into two separate divisions with a

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

system with St. Catharines being placed in the Second Division. Though Heidelberg failed in securing a promotion in the First Division the club still managed to secure the division's playoff championship by defeating Windsor Stars. St. Catharines' final notable performance occurred in the 1978 season when Heidelberg finished as runners-up in the Second Division, and qualified for the promotion/relegation playoff match. Unfortunately in the following season, the Second Division was dissolved due to several clubs departing from the NSL because of failure to successfully pay all membership dues on the required deadline. St. Catharines violated the bylaw and as a result, was suspended for the season, but ultimately failed to return to the professional level.

Honours

* National Soccer League Second Division Playoff Championship:

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

* Inter-City Soccer League Hiram Walker Cup: 1961, 1968, 1969 * Inter-City Soccer League McGuiness Cup: 1964, 1965, 1968

Seasons

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Catharines Heidelberg 1960 establishments in Ontario 1979 disestablishments in Ontario Association football clubs established in 1960 Association football clubs disestablished in 1979 Defunct soccer clubs in Canada Canadian National Soccer League teams Diaspora sports clubs in Canada Sport in St. Catharines