Toronto Blizzard (NASL)
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- This article is about the original Toronto Blizzard of the NASL. For the second team to use the name, see Toronto Blizzard (1986-1993)
| Toronto Blizzard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Toronto Blizzard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Blizzard, Metros, Metros-Croatia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dissolved | 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Varsity Stadium (Capacity 22,000) |
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| League | North American Soccer League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Toronto Blizzard was a professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that played in the North American Soccer League. The franchise had previously been named the Toronto Metros and, from 1975-1978 Toronto Metros-Croatia.
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[edit] North American Soccer League
The Toronto Blizzard came into existence when the Global Television Network purchased the struggling Toronto Metros-Croatia on February 1, 1979. Following the purchase, Toronto Croatia returned to the NSL.
The Blizzard were members of the North American Soccer League from 1979 to 1984, the last year of league operations. The Blizzard 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 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, David Byrne, Cliff Calvert, Pasquale De Luca, Charlie Falzon, Sven Habermann, 
Paul Hammond, Paul James, Conny Karlsson, Victor Kodelja, Trevor McCallum, Colin Miller, Jan Moller,
Jimmy Nicholl, Ace Ntsoelengoe, Randy Ragan, Neill Roberts, John Paskin, Derek Spalding, and Bruce Wilson in its lineup.
The team qualified for the play-offs on only two other occasions, in 1979 and 1982, losing in the first round each time. Players during the first four years included Clyde Best, Jimmy Bone, 
Drew Busby, Cliff Calvert, Tony Chursky, Duncan Davidson, Colin Franks, George Gibbs, Jimmy Greenhoff, Graham Hately, Dave Henderson, Sam Lenarduzzi, Ivan Lukacević, David McQueen, Güngör Tekin, Willie McVie, Rab Prentice, Malcolm Robertson (footballer), Jomo Sono, Gordon Sweetzer, Blagoje Tamindzić, Jose Valasquez, Peter Lorimer, David Fairclough, Brian Budd and Gordon Wallace.
[edit] Metros year-by-year
| Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | NASL | 5 | 10 | 9 | 89 | 3rd, Northern Division | Did not qualify |
| 1972 | NASL | 4 | 6 | 4 | 53 | 4th, Northern Division | Did not qualify |
| 1973 | NASL | 6 | 4 | 9 | 89 | 1st, Northern Division | Lost Semifinal (Philadelphia) |
| 1974 | NASL | 9 | 10 | 1 | 87 | 2nd, Northern Division | Did not qualify |
[edit] Metros-Croatia year-by-year
| Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Regular Season | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | NASL | 13 | 9 | — | 114 | 2nd, Northern Division | Lost Quarterfinal (Tampa Bay) |
| 1976 | NASL | 15 | 9 | — | 123 | 2nd, Atlantic Conference, Northern Division | Won 1st Round (Rochester) Won Division Championship (Chicago) Won Conference Championship (Tampa Bay) Won Soccer Bowl '76 (Minnesota) |
| 1977 | NASL | 13 | 13 | — | 115 | 1st, Atlantic Conference, Northern Division | Lost Conference Championship (Rochester) |
| 1978 | NASL | 16 | 14 | — | 144 | 3rd, National Conference, Eastern Division | Lost 1st Round (Vancouver) |
[edit] Blizzard year-by-year
| Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | NASL | 14 | 16 | — | 133 | 3rd, National Conference,Eastern Division | Lost Conference Quarterfinal (New York) |
| 1979/80 | NASL Indoor | Did not enter | |||||
| 1980 | NASL | 14 | 18 | — | 128 | 3rd, National Conference, Eastern Division | Won 1st Round (Los Angeles) Lost Quarterfinal (Chicago) |
| 1980/81 | NASL Indoor | 5 | 13 | — | — | 4th, Northern Division | Did not qualify |
| 1981 | NASL | 7 | 25 | — | 77 | 4th, Eastern Division | Did not qualify |
| 1981/82 | NASL Indoor | 8 | 10 | — | — | 2nd, American Conference, East Division | Did not qualify |
| 1982 | NASL | 17 | 15 | — | 151 | 3rd, Eastern Division | Lost 1st Round (Seattle) |
| 1982/83 | NASL Indoor | Season cancelled | |||||
| 1983 | NASL | 16 | 14 | — | 135 | 3rd, Eastern Division | Won 1st Round (Vancouver) Won Semifinals (Montreal) Lost Soccer Bowl '83 (Tulsa) |
| 1983/84 | NASL Indoor | Did not enter | |||||
| 1984 | NASL | 14 | 10 | — | 117 | 2nd, Eastern Division | Won Semifinals (San Diego) Lost Championship (Chicago) |
[edit] Championships
[edit] Famous players
[edit] Other former players
- England
- Cliff Calvert (1979-81/1982-84)
- John Coyne (footballer) (1975) [1]
- David Fairclough
- Colin Franks (1979-82) [2]
- Jimmy Greenhoff
- Paul Hammond
- Jimmy Kelly (1981)
- Alec Lindsay (1979-82)
- Dave Needham (1982) [3]
- Neil Rioch (1971) [4]
- Brian Talbot (1971-72) [5]
- Justin Fashanu
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Drew Busby
- Alex Cropley (1981) [6]
- Duncan Davidson (1981-82) [7]
- Peter Lorimer (1979-80)
- Willie McVie
- Malcolm Robertson
- Derek Spalding (1983-84)
- Gordon Wallace
[edit] Resurrecting the Blizzard
When Toronto was awarded a Major League Soccer franchise in 2005, some thought that the team might be named the Blizzard. However, the team ended up choosing to be called Toronto FC.
