Toronto Falcons Soccer Club () was a Canadian

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 founded in 1975 that operated in 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). The team initially operated in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. Generally seen as a commuter suburb of Toronto, it is located on Lake ...

under the name Oakville United, then moved to Toronto as the Toronto Falcons. The club's fledgling years were spent in the Second Division of the NSL, and ultimately secured promotion in 1977. Toronto achieved success in the First Division by winning the NSL Cup in 1978, and the regular-season championship in 1980. The Falcons competed in the NSL for eight seasons from 1975 till 1982. The club originally played their home matches at Blakelock High School in Oakville, and following their relocation to Toronto played in Lamport Stadium.

History

The club was created in 1975 under the name Oakville United and relocated to

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 ...

in 1976 under the name Falcons (Sokoły for the Polish diaspora). The team operated as a professional club in the

and was formed by brothers Jan and Zdzisław Rygiel. Jan Rygiel previously served as the manager for league rivals Toronto Polonia in the 1974 season. In their debut season, the Falcons began to play in the second division in 1976 finishing second last in the standings. In 1977, the club recruited several imports from Poland which enabled the team to compete for the title. The acquisitions proved successful as Toronto clinched the divisional title and the second division championship. The Falcons also reached the finals of the NSL Cup but were defeated by Toronto Panhellenic. In the 1978 season, the Falcons were promoted to the First Division where they finished third in the standings. The Toronto side would defeat the Hamilton Italo-Canadians for the NSL Cup. Their next piece of silverware was in the 1980 season where they clinched the regular-season title. They also featured in the NSL Cup final but were defeated by Toronto Italia. The club faced financial difficulties which forced the club to withdraw from the league after the 1982 season. In 1983, the Falcons played at the amateur level at the Liga Hispanoamerica de Football Amateur (LHFA). Notable players which featured with the club were Janusz Zmijewski, Zygfryd Szołtysik,

Janusz Wójcik Janusz Marek Wójcik (18 November 1953 – 20 November 2017) was a Polish politician, football player and manager. Playing career He played in several clubs at home and abroad, including Agrykola, Gwardia, Ursus and Hutnik Warsaw, Ravalpandi ...

, Tadeusz Polak, and Jerzy Patoła.

Seasons

Honours

First Division:

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

Regular Season:

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Second Division:

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

League Cup:

References

{{Canadian National Soccer League Canadian National Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Toronto Association football clubs established in 1975 Defunct soccer clubs in Canada Polish association football clubs outside Poland Diaspora sports clubs in Canada Canada–Poland sports relations