The Montreal Manic or the Manic de Montréal were a professional soccer team based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada, that played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

History

"Le Manic" as they were called by the locals, were Montreal's first professional soccer team since the NASL's

Montreal Olympique The Montreal Olympique were a Canadian Association football, soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1971 North American Soccer League season, 1971 to 1973 North Americ ...

folded in 1973. The team was named after a river in northeast Quebec, the Manicouagan, the site of a massive hydroelectric project. The Montreal Manic competed from 1981 to 1983, with their home field being the Montreal

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

. Previous to Montreal, the team played as the Philadelphia Fury from 1978 through 1980 and ten Fury players as well as manager Eddie Firmani moved to Montreal for 1981. After defeating the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

in the first round of the 1981 NASL playoffs, the Manic faced the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

. An Olympic Stadium crowd of 58,542 (the largest-ever to see an NASL playoff game outside the Cosmos'

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...

) saw the Manic defeat the Sting in the opening match before the series shifted to Chicago where the Manic lost twice and were eliminated. In 1982 the Manic performed better in the regular season than in 1981, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

and Firmani was fired. In 1983 the interest in the team and the average attendance fell sharply. The Manic's opening home match in 1983 versus the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

was witnessed by just 6,460 fans. However, in their final season, the Manic produced one of the great shocks in NASL history by eliminating the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

in the quarterfinals of the 1983 playoffs, winning the first match away 4–2 and winning the second match at home in a shootout. The Manic then lost to the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

in the next round. In the 1983 season, the Manic hosted

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

(a 4–3 extra time loss) and

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...

(a 2–1 shootout victory for Montreal) at the Olympic Stadium. In his book, ''Soccer in a Football World'', North American soccer historian Dave Wangerin partially attributes the downfall of the Manic organization to the Molson ownership's declaration to attempt to build a Team Canada roster for the 1984 season. The new direction of the team meant many of the team's players who originated from foreign countries would be let go, to emphasize an all Canadian roster instead. Given that Canada had a relatively poor track record at producing world class soccer talent, Montreal fans were likely put off by the prospect that the quality of the team's play would instantly diminish for the 1984 season. More importantly, the team was allegedly in financial trouble despite the fact that the Manic had some of the highest attendances in the NASL. Reports indicated that during the first two seasons, the Manic lacked profitability as they had lost $7 million. Manic president Roger Samson blamed the losses on bad stadium deals, high rents, having the concession profits going directly to the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

, a lack of a television deal, and that an average attendance of over 20,000 was insufficient to keep the franchise solvent.

Year-by-year

Honours

NASL championships * none NASL Indoor championships * 1983 ''(runner-up)'' Division titles * 1981–82 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference ''(indoor)'' Indoor Leading Goal Scorer * 1983 Dale Mitchell 12 goals Indoor Leading Goalkeeper * 1983

Mehdi Cerbah Mehdi Cerbah (3 April 1953 – 29 October 2021) was an Algerian association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for the Algeria national football team, Algeria national team. Career Cerbah spent mos ...

(GAA: 4.36, GA: 24) Indoor Tournament Defensive MVP * 1983

All-Star first team selections * 1981 Gordon Hill All-Star second team selections * 1983 Frantz Mathieu Indoor All-Stars * 1981–82 Gordon Hill (Atlantic Conference) Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame * 2001 Gerry Gray * 2002 Dale Mitchell * 2008 John McGrane * 2014 Carmine Marcantonio U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame * 2003 Alan Willey * 2007 Bobby Smith Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame * 2012

Victor Nogueira Victor Nogueira (born July 17, 1959) is a retired American soccer goalkeeper. Nogueira spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League, but gained his greatest recognition in over twenty seasons in three indoor leagues, the Major Indoor ...

* 2013 Brian Quinn * 2014 Dale Mitchell

Notable players

Head coaches

* Eddie Firmani 1981–1982 * Pierre Mindru interim (1982) * Andy Lynch (1983)Cahiers
banq.qc.ca

References

External links

History of the Montreal Manic, from loop48.comMontreal Manic FA
{{Authority control Association football clubs established in 1981 Association football clubs disestablished in 1983 Canadian indoor soccer teams Defunct soccer clubs in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams based in Canada

Man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

1981 establishments in Quebec 1983 disestablishments in Quebec 1981 in Montreal