The Toronto Falcons were a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. They played only two years, 1967 in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and 1968 in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

(NASL). Their home field was

Varsity Stadium Varsity Stadium is an outdoor collegiate football stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Toronto Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto. Athletic events have been hosted on the site since 1898; the ...

. During the 1967 season, while still in the NPSL, the Falcons drew an average of 3,792 people per game. Toronto's record for the 1967 season was a bearable 10-5-17. The following season, the NPSL merged with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

to form the NASL. Their intercity rival,

Toronto City Toronto City was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario. Between 1961 and 1967, teams using this name competed in both the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association. History ECPSL In 1961, along with ...

, of USL folded in the process after only one year. In the NASL, with the legendary

László Kubala László Kubala ( sk, Ladislav Kubala, es, Ladislao Kubala, 10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian-Slovak professional footballer who also had Spanish citizenship. He played as a forward for Ferencváros, Slovan Bratislava, Barcelona, ...

as their coach, the Falcons played well collecting a 13-6-13 record, but financial troubles caused the club (along with 11 others) to fold. Their average attendance for the 1968 season was 5,336 people per game. The NASL would return to Toronto in 1971 in the form of the

Toronto Metros Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

Year-by-year

Players

During the 1967 season, the Falcons were able to sign Bill Brown a Scottish

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who drew 28

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

in his career. Tony Lecce was a defender and Canadian international. Defender Guglielmo Burelli played over 150 games in the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, including one season for

Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

Other players worth noting are Iris DeBrito and

Yanko Daucik Yanko Daucik Ciboch (22 March 1941 – 13 May 2017) was a Slovak professional football (soccer), footballer during the 1960s and 1970s. Yanko played for Real Betis, Real Madrid, the Toronto Falcons (1967–1968), Toronto Falcons and RCD Españo ...

both prolific goal scorers, and John Lima from the first Spanish league. The team became something of a family affair with the addition of Daucik's brother in law

(player/coach) and nephew Branko Kubala to the squad, not to mention Yanko's father

Ferdinand Daučík Ferdinand Daučík (also known as Fernando Daucik; 30 May 1910 – 14 November 1986) was a Slovak football player and manager. Daučík was the manager of several La Liga clubs, most notably Barcelona, Atlético Bilbao, Atlético Madrid and Rea ...

served as the head coach. In 1968, Salvadoran international

Raúl Magaña Raúl Alfredo Magaña Monzón (24 February 1940 – 30 September 2009) was a Salvadoran footballer and manager. He is regarded as one of the greats of Salvadoran football. Club career Magaña made his debut aged 18 against Deportivo Saprissa ...

appeared for the club.

Coaches

* Fernando Daucik * Hector Marinaro, Sr. *

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Association football clubs established in 1967 Defunct soccer clubs in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams based in Canada Fal National Professional Soccer League (1967) franchises 1967 in Canadian soccer 1968 in Canadian soccer 1967 establishments in Ontario 1968 disestablishments in Ontario