The Toronto Blizzard were a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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 ...

(NASL).

History

The Toronto Metros joined the NASL in 1971. Their home field was

Varsity Stadium Varsity Stadium is an outdoor collegiate stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the "Varsity Centre & Arena", a sports complex at the University of Toronto's St. George Campus. Athletic events have been hosted on the site ...

. In 1975, 50% of the team was purchased for $250,000 by the

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

of the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

(NSL), and the team became the Toronto Metros-Croatia. The club won the 1976

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's ...

championship. However, they continued to struggle at the gate. In mid September 1976, it was reported that team owed $100,000 to the

government and $95,000 to the metropolitan Toronto government, that several star players were free agents and the team might fold. The

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language terrestrial television, terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's se ...

purchased 85% of the struggling Toronto Metros-Croatia on February 1, 1979, for $2.6 million.Wangerin p.192 Following the purchase, Toronto Croatia returned to the NSL as a separate club. With only 7 of the 26 players from the 1978 roster staying, the NASL team was renamed the Toronto Blizzard following the takeover. Under the new ownership, attendances nearly doubled. From 1979 to 1983 the Blizzard played home games at

Exhibition Stadium Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium and nicknamed The Ex) was a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the grounds of Exhibition Place. Originally built for Canadian National ...

before returning to Varsity Stadium for the 1984 NASL season. The Blizzard were members of the NASL until 1984, the last year of league operations. The team were runners-up for the league championship in 1983, losing the Soccer Bowl to the Tulsa Roughnecks 2–0 in front of nearly sixty thousand people at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium. They were runners-up again in 1984 when they lost to 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 ...

two games to none in a best of three championship series. The club was coached in these final two years by Bobby Houghton, assisted by Dave Turner and featured

Roberto Bettega Roberto Bettega (; born 27 December 1950) is an Italian former association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. A prolific and athletic player, Bettega is mostly remembered for his successful time at his ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

, Cliff Calvert, Pasquale De Luca, Charlie Falzon, Sven Habermann, Paul Hammond, Paul James, Conny Karlsson, Victor Kodelja, Trevor McCallum, Colin Miller, Jan Möller, Jimmy Nicholl, Ace Ntsoelengoe, Randy Ragan,

Neill Roberts Neill Roberts is a retired South Africa soccer forward who spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League and four in the Major Indoor Soccer League. Roberts spent seven years as a professional in South Africa. In 1979, Roberts sign ...

, John Paskin, Derek Spalding, and Bruce Wilson in its lineup. The Blizzard qualified for the play-offs on only two other occasions, in 1979 and 1982, losing in the first round each time. Prominent players during the first four years included Clyde Best, Željko Bilecki, Jimmy Bone,

, Drew Busby, David Byrne, Cliff Calvert, Tony Chursky, David Fairclough, Colin Franks, George Gibbs, Jimmy Greenhoff, Steve Harris-Byrne, Graham Hatley, Victor Kodelja, Sam Lenarduzzi, Peter Lorimer,

Ivan Lukačević Ivan Lukačević (7 October 1946 – 26 July 2003) was a Croatian professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Lukačević played in Croatia for Mladost Seleš, Dinamo Orlovnjak, NK Valpovka Valpovo, NK Belišće and NK Osijek, and ...

, Drago Vabec,

Mike McLenaghen Mike McLenaghen (born June 10, 1954 in Burnaby, British Columbia) is a Canadian former North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League player and member of the Canada men's national soccer team, Canadian national soccer ...

Willie McVie Willie McVie (born 7 August 1948 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former footballer. McVie began his career with Clyde, spending 7 years with the Shawfield club before joining Motherwell. He went on to have spells with Toronto Blizzard in Canada a ...

, Alan Merrick, Charlie Mitchell, Juan Carlos Molina, Jan Möller,

Francesco Morini Francesco Morini (; 12 August 1944 – 31 August 2021) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a defender. He competed for the Italy national team in the 1974 FIFA World Cup and earned a total of 11 caps. He played for clubs such ...

, Ace Ntsoelengoe, Bobby Prentice, Randy Ragan, Neill Roberts, Malcolm Robertson, Peter Roe,

Jomo Sono Ephraim Matsilele Sono OIS (born Madoda Walletjies Mkulwana, 17 July 1955), better known as Jomo Sono, is a South African football club owner, coach and former professional footballer. He has been variously nicknamed the "Black Prince of Sout ...

, Gordon Sweetzer, Blagoje Tamindžić, Jose Velasquez, and Bruce Wilson. The Metros-Croatia fielded a team in NASL's indoor league in 1975 and 1976, as did the Blizzard from 1980 through 1982. In 2010, the 1976 Soccer Bowl winning team was inducted into the

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2024, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

Year-by-year team record

Indoor seasons

Championships

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

* Divisions: 1973, 1977 * Conference: 1976

Ownership

* John Fisher (1971–74) * Sam Paric (1975–78) *

(1979–81) * Karsten von Werseb (1981–84)

Head coaches

Graham Leggat Graham Leggat (20 June 1934 – 29 August 2015) was a Scottish international footballer. Playing career Born in Aberdeen, Leggat started his career at his home town club as a right winger. He was part of the Aberdeen team that won the Scottis ...

(1971–72) * Arthur Rodrigues (1972–74) * Frank Pike (1975 indoor season only) * Ivan Marković (1975–76) * Marijan Bilić (1976) ''interim'' *

Domagoj Kapetanović Domagoj Kapetanović (30 January 1926 – January 2005) was a Yugoslav football player and manager best known for winning the 1976 NASL Championship with Toronto Metros-Croatia. Playing career Kapetanović started his playing career with Gr ...

(1976, 1978) * Ivan Sangulin (1977) * Keith Eddy (1979–81) * Bob Houghton (1982–84)

Assistant coaches

* Dave Turner (1982–84)

Notable players

* Juan Carlos Molina * Ivair Ferreira * Clyde Best *

Nick Albanis Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...

* Aldo D'Alfonso * Željko Bilecki * Brian Budd * Tony Chursky * Pasquale de Luca * Charlie Falzon * Tibor Gemeri * Sven Habermann * Graham Hately * Robert Iarusci * Patrick Harrington * Paul James * Victor Kodelja * Sam Lenarduzzi * Trevor McCallum *

* Dave McQueen * Colin Miller * Randy Ragan * Peter Roe * Gordon Sweetzer * Gordon Wallace * Bruce Wilson * Renard Moxam * Cliff Calvert * David Fairclough * Colin Franks * George Gibbs * Jimmy Greenhoff * Steve Harris-Byrne * Jimmy Kelly *

Alec Lindsay Alec Lindsay (born 27 February 1948) is an English former association football, footballer who played in the Football League for Bury F.C., Bury, Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and Stoke City F.C., Stoke City. Career Born in Bury, Greater Mancheste ...

* Alan Merrick * Dave Needham * Phil Parkes * Brian Talbot * Dick Howard *

Nikos Sevastopoulos Nikos Sevastopoulos (; born 26 February 1945) is a former Greek professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Early career Sevastopoulos from a young age was involved in football, playing with his peers in the arenas of Tavros ...

* Conleth Davey * Dave Henderson * Alessandro Abbondanza *

Marino Perani Marino Perani (; 27 October 1939 – 18 October 2017) was an Italians, Italian Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Forward (association football), forward, usually as a Forward (association football)#Winger, winger. ...

* Damian Ogunsuyi * Jimmy Nicholl * Jose Velasquez * Juan Carlos Ramirez Gaston *

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

* Robert Godoka * Jimmy Bone * Drew Busby * Alex Cropley * Duncan Davidson * Peter Lorimer *

* Charlie Mitchell * Bobby Prentice * Malcolm Robertson * Derek Spalding *

* Ace Ntsoelengoe * John Paskin *

* Julius Sono * Geoff Wegerle * Tore Cervin * Conny Karlsson * Jan Moller * Gungor Tekin * Dan Counce * Paul Hammond * Jimmy McAlister * Alan Merrick * Derek Spalding * Arno Steffenhagen * Sead Sušić * Blagoje Tamindžić * Filip Blašković * Drago Vabec * Ivica Grnja *

* Damir Šutevski * Vojin Lazarević * Stjepan Loparić

After the NASL

On March 28, 1985, the NASL officially suspended operations for the 1985 season, when only Toronto and

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...

were interested in playing."NASL suspends operations for 1985" page 1D Minneapolis Star and Tribune March 29, 1985 In the meantime Blizzard owners York-Hanover purchased Dynamo Latino of the

with the intention of renaming them the Toronto Blizzard. Though the Blizzard franchise had never actually folded, they had ceased operations for several months between these incarnations and NSL regulations did not permit a name change in the midst of the season. The following season (1986) Dynamo Latino began play as the Toronto Blizzard. A history of this team can be found at Toronto Blizzard (1986–93).

References

External links

Gallery of Toronto Blizzard jerseys on NASLJerseys.com

Bibliography

*Wangerin, David. Soccer in a Football World: The Story of America's Forgotten Game. WSC Book (2006). {{DEFAULTSORT:Toronto Blizzard (Nasl) Association football clubs established in 1971 Association football clubs disestablished in 1984 Canadian indoor soccer teams Defunct soccer clubs in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Bli North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams based in Canada 1971 establishments in Ontario 1984 disestablishments in Ontario Former Corus Entertainment subsidiaries