From 1971 untill the NASL folded I rarley missed a Toronto Metros or Blizzards game. My favorite team was the 1976 which won Soccer Bowl. Led by Sunholtz and Usebio Iaruschi this team played wonderful attacking soccer. One of my fondest memories is of Goerge Best. He was old out of shape, but for a 15 minute span in one game at Exibition Stadium he put on a clinic. He showed why many consider him the best player ever. I have never seen to this day a player dominate a game with such skill.
Thats easy. Vancouver Whitecaps, especially the 1979 version that won the soccerbowl. 150,000 fans lined the streeets in downtown Vancouver for the parade. Quite a bit more that lined the streets of Toronto for their Grey Cup victory just a few weeks ago.
Chicago Sting baby!!! Faijkus, Granizta, Pato M., Royas, Klopas, the list goes on. When they won in 81 the city treated them like the stars they were. They were also the last NASL champs in 84. THey were a fun team to watch and they were there when I first started playing. Boy if any name from the NASL were to come back as an expansion or an A-League team I would take the Sting, then the Cosmos.
Right on! Here's some pics where he scored both goals: http://newheads.tripod.com/swangardsouth/id12.html
First game in a new stadium. However, before that stadium was built the Whitecaps always had afew sellouts a year at the 32,500 seat Empire stadium. Later the same year (1983) Vancouver had two crowds of 50,000 and soccerbowl held in Vancouver drew 51,000 . The 3 years leading up to the building of the new stadium the Whitecaps averaged 22,962 per game in 1979, 26,864 in 1980, and 23,236 in 1981. It dropped off to just 18,254 in 1982 the year before the completion ofthe new stadium but in 1983 after playing the second half of the season in the new stadium it jumped up to 29,166. In comparison Toronto's best ever season in the NASL was 15,043 per game in 1980.
The Toronto Blizzard were the best Canadian team in the last years of the NASL, and i still miss them to this day. Favorite Blizzard player Bruce Wilson & Jomo Sono.
If Toronto Blizzard were the best Canadian team over the last years of the NASL (which is a blatant lie) why did they draw so crappy in what you call a "big soccer city"? Just to be accurate here I will post the facts from the final 4 seasons of the NASL : 1981 Toronto wins 7 games and averages 7,299 per game. 1982 Toronto wins 17 games and averages 8,185 per game 1983 Toronto wins 16 games and averages 11,630 per game 1984 Toronto wins 14 games and averages 11,452 per game Thats a total of 54 wins and an average of 9,642 per game 1981 Vancouver wins 21 games and averages 23,236 per game 1982 Vancouver wins 20 games and averages 18,254 per game 1983 Vancovuer wins 24 games and averages 29,166 per game 1984 Vancouver wins 13 games and averages 13,924 per game Thats a total of 78 wins (24 more than Toronto) and an average of 21,145 per game. Numbers don't lie. Vancouver was the best Canadian team over the last few years, and if eany city is a soccer city in Canada it is Vancouver NOT Toronto.
Why did they draw so crappy? 1) Exhibition stadium was not for soccer, the plastic turf turned everyone off. 2)The NASL rules, the offside line and the shootout along with the wacky points for a win/goals scored turned off the soccer purists. 3) The Blizzard were doing good at Varsity then the NASL folded.
In 1979 VCR was so backwater that that win was the biggest thing to have ever happend in that burb. What does that have to do withToronto MLS.
Toronto is still the major sports market in Canada while Vancouver is more known for the drug addicts and whores that run the city.
Nice posts both of you. Shows everyone why the people from Toronto are genuinely disliked by the rest of Canada. You come at them with facts and because they cannot respond with their own because they know they are wrong, they reply with the big insult. Oh well.
Detroit Express..... Cool name, cool uniforms, cool logo... Supercharged soccer!!! never went to see them as they were gone by the time i got into soccer, but the pics of Trevor Francis et all in the orange/blue of the express were very cool looking!!!
Ahh, and the people of Toronto are so sophisticated, far more so than anyone else in the word (at least they think they are) that they are too good to watch local soccer, and that includes a future MLS side. Thanks for proving my point.
hey bonehead.just for your information there was a survey done amongst addicts in vancouver and guess what,70% of all addicts in the city of vancouver are originally from the greater toronto area.it seems that in 1995 when mike harris was elected premier of ontario,his first order of business was to offer drug addicts and welfare cases a free one way ticket(airfare)to vancouver and a list of welfare offices.their pitch to the downtrodden of ontario was that the weather is better and welfare pays a higher rate.the arrogance of torontonians is unmatched anywhere in canada,as well as toronto's assinine attitude toward the rest of the country.
That was the one good thing Harris did he sent those low lifes to a place where they could be with others of their own kind. Toronto is a great fantastic city, and it's not arrogance to be No.1, but jealousy is the number one pastime of people west on Ontario.
okay let me try and switch on a toronto mindset.if toronto gets an MLS franchise they won't be able to get any players to play there because they will be afraid of getting SARS.
Adega1980 your so stupid . Sars is as stupid a commment as Toronto is too cold for soccer in October Nov, your a first class idiot. Tell me if Chicago Boston columbus are any warmer than Toronto. Stick your head up your ass fool.
hey petersoccer have you ever been to a lynx game?probably not.have you been to an argos game?probably not.you are like the rest of toronto thinking that the CFL or the USL are not major league enough to earn your support.as krammerhead posted earlier the blizzard in the glory days of the NASL could't draw fly's and that was with a decent team and coverage.toronto has a false impression of itself which is just plain sad because it is a large market and doesn't seem to respect itself.at least in vancouver we support our club's and that is amazing considering all the other options available for our hard earned dollars here in van-city.if you have to resort to name calling it just show's the spoiled brat in you.if toronto gets an MLS franchise they should honour you as the guest of honour during petersoccer felcher day.
I called you what you are. You are the one making idiotic remarks about SArs and it being to cold in the city. Jelous of Toronto its the National sport in Canada, No Basketball Team, No Baseball Team to support leaves you what NHL when they win. Had to get a Seattle guy to bail your NHL team out and thank god he had deep pockets cause you guys bleed red ink very bad. CFL team same when you win you draw. An Ontario guy bailed them out.
why do you keep insisting that vancouver is jealous of toronto?you probably think that the weather is better in toronto,don't you.you are absolutly brain dead if you think people are jealous of toronto.jealous of what snow,smog,smokestacks.there is no decent skiing in ontario,and don;t even try comparing blue mountain to whistler.when we want snow we drive to it,while you shovel your car out from under it.your drinking water is polluted,you have a massive homeless crisis that no-one seems to want to fix.your earlier right wing comment about shipping off drug addict low lifes to vancouver is very nazi,instead of helping people get off drugs and become productive members of society again you reply by giving up on them and shipping them off.good god man renounce your membership in the heritage front.
You Should try reading. Where in any post did I say anything about drug addicts. All I know and see is negative comments comming from the left coast re Toronto. I dont see anyone posting or dissing the left coast,only in response to negative posts. We did not create the lower east side. Yes your weather is better, so what, you have better skiing , so what, what does that have to do with Toronto and the MLS?
Why is it when Toronto people want to try to denigrate Vancouver as a city or a sports town they bring up the fact we don't have a basketball or baseball team? You know what, we don't have a basketball team because we don't like basketball, we have a baseball team in a small league because we aren't that fond of baseball. The only city in Canada that has teams in MLB and the NBA is Toronto, because it's full of american wannabees, and is so far south that it might as well be in the USA. (This is not a dig at Americans. This is a dig at a city that feels more American than it does Canadian). As for not supporting a losing hockey team, thats a load of crap. The NHL is marketed here like it has been marketed in Toronto for ages, that is it is being shoved down everyones throat even with the strike. The Canucks could go 0-82 for the next 3 seasons once the lockout ends and they'll still sellout every game because of it being shoved downt the publics throat. It was never like this before, it is now. So don't give me that uninformed crap. The comment about having been saved by an American is also a pointless comment. First off, most teams in the NHL are owned by Americans. Secondly 50% of the Canucks were just bought by a LOCAL businessman. This pissed off two other LOCAL people that wanted to purchase the team. LOCAL businessmen are lining up trying to buy the team, which can't be said for the Leafs, who are just one of a bunch of toys owned by the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment group. The comment about the Lions is just another comment made by an ignorant easterner. Lets see, the Lions drew 4th highest in the league last year, the last games of the season saw crowds of 29,000-31,000, they had 58,000 at the western final. They will also sell out the stadium for the grey cup next year, and the attendance is going to rise due to proper marketing. Hmm, how does this compare to the Argos? Well the Argos drew less on average and had to play their home playoff dates on a Friday because a kids show had priority use of the stadium that weekend. I mean considering that the sports both cities do share in the same leagues, Vancouver get better support, and Toronto has how much more population than Vancouver? You keep asking what all this has to to with Toronto and MLS. I ask what the hell does this thread have to do with Toronto and MLS, why is it all that you guys want to talk about? The thread is about favourite NASL team or player. Perhaps you should try reading.