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C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1956. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, the highest level soccer league in Canada, and play in the International Division. The Croatians currently play their home games at the Hershey Centre in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, around 20 kilometres west of downtown Toronto. The team's colours are red, white and blue, similar to those of the Croatian national football team. The club's identification with its Croatian roots remains strong to this day. It is a regular participant in the Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament.
[edit] HistoryThe team has had a very storied history, considering it was formed by such a small diaspora group. The team played in the National Soccer League until 1975 when they purchased the Toronto Metros of the North American Soccer League to form Toronto Metros-Croatia. During this period the team attracted many soccer stars, such as Portuguese superstar Eusébio, and were successful enough that they won Soccer Bowl '76—a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Kicks -- at the Kingdome in Seattle. The championship team was coached by Marijan Bilic, an immigrant to Canada who had played for Dinamo Zagreb. However, the NASL was never comfortable with the Croatia link (an obvious ethnic connection). League excecutives lobbied CBS to ensure they were only referred to as Toronto at the Soccer Bowl on television. In 1978, the team was bought out, leaving the Toronto Blizzard in the NASL, while Toronto Croatia returned to the NSL. In 1994, Toronto Croatia joined the Canadian International Soccer League. In 1997, a new league was formed, the Canadian Professional Soccer League, which Toronto Croatia joined in 1998. The club's successes despite the instabilities it found in each of the leagues in which it has played is a testament to what a small ethnic group could accomplish in North American sport. During the 1980' the club met with limited success as the creation of a National League in Canada(CPSL-Canadian Professional Soccer League)was attempted. This league was comprised of teams across Canada (Winnipeg, Montreal, etc)and initially got off to a strong start. The team was entered as Mississauga Croatia and played it's games at Centennial Stadium. Due to spiraling costs, and poor attendance across the league, the league eventually disbanded, and Toronto Croatia was back in the NSL. (National Soccer League). Towards the late 1980's, many players (and coaches) were brought over from Croatia to help elevate the team and its youth programs. By 1989-1990, the team was on its way back to prominence with numerous local and international players making up the team. Some of the notable players arriving at that time were Drago Santic (Sibenik), Velimir Crljen(Zadar), and Dubravko Ledic (Mostar). The early 90's saw the team rise to prominence in the community once again as the war had begun in the homeland. Similar to the early 70's, the team was now a central focus point within the Croatian community as everyone in diaspora focused on getting the homeland officially recognized. At this time, the NSL was beginning to see an elevated level of play, and the attendance at all league games was beginning to rise. Toronto Croatia consistently had the largest attendance of all teams in the league during this era (1990-1995). With numerous players brought in from Croatia, and the local youth system (Toronto Croatia, Mississauga Croatia, etc) providing young talent, the team began to experience success again. This culminated with Championships in 1992 and 1995 (PUMA League). During both of those seasons, Toronto Croatia won both the League and Croatian National Tournament for North America. During this period, many notable players with International experience coached and or played with the team. Toronto Croatia also played numerous exhibition games against teams from Croatia (Karlovac, Vukovar, Zrinsjki)as well as teams from Portugal. In June of 1994 Toronto Croatia played a friendly against Beira Mar at Centennial Stadium in front of 3000 fans. Local player Anton Granic scored the only goal for a 1-0 Croatia victory. In 2006, the club celebrated its 50th anniversary. To commemorate this, the team went on a tour of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Toronto Croatia played the Dinamo Zagreb B team at Maksimir Stadium before the Croatian Supercup, NK Široki Brijeg and NK Primorac Biograd. In 2007, Toronto Croatia participated in the first ever Croatian World Club Championship in which clubs from the Croatian diaspora compete against each other. The club emerged as the victor of the first tournament with a 3 - 1 win over Canberra Croatia in the final. The team was awarded the championship trophy by Croatian Football Federation president Vlatko Marković. Toronto Croatia capped off its remarkable year with a 4-1 total goals aggregate victory over the Serbian White Eagles to claim the Canadian Soccer League title. Toronto Croatia and other teams of the CSL will not be competing in the new Canadian Championship being used to determine a national champion of Canada and to decide the nation's representative in the CONCACAF Champions League. In 2009, Toronto Croatia decided to not attend the annual Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament for personal reasons. The decision was met with disbelief from the Croatian community throughout North America with accusations that Toronto Croatia was avoiding the tough competition after it was discovered at the 2008 tournament they used illegal players. The team played also every year at Hrvatski Ljetni Nogometni Turnir (H.Lj.N.T.). One of the best player of all time Portugal's international Eusebio has played in Toronto Croatia. [edit] SupportersThe Toronto Croatia fan base is mostly made up of people from the local Croatian Canadian community of the Greater Toronto Area. The club is highly regarded amongst the Croatian community across North America. This respect was particularly garnered during its North American Soccer League days. The club's storied history is a symbol of pride for the Croatian community in Canada. Its fans appear in several highly rated videos on Youtube; in particular, the battles involving the rival Serbian White Eagles. These videos are viewed by Croatian-Canadian soccer fans including Croats as far as Croatia and throughout the worldwide Croatian diaspora. [edit] Secondary Roles of the Club[edit] SocialThe club has and continues to play an important social role for the local Croatian community. Post World War II migration to Canada changed the demographic make-up of the country. Croatians along with other European migrants entered a society that was at the time quite unwelcoming to these new arrivals. Soccer clubs were formed based around ethnic communities. Toronto Croatia became a focal point for the local Croatian community, as it was just as much a social club as a soccer club. It provided Croatians with a place to gather where they could feel comfortable in their new home. A place where they could associate with their own and speak their mother tongue. The club allowed for the preservation and celebration of Croatian identity, tradition, culture and language, as well as promoting it to others. The club continues to be an important institution for the local Croatian community as Croatian culture and tradition gets passed onto the next generation. [edit] PoliticalIn its early years Toronto Croatia played an important political role, with the club being a symbol of Croatian nationalism. The local Croatian community was made up of people who had fled from the communist regime of Yugoslavia. Thus, Toronto Croatia served as a political statement of their desire for an independent Croatian state. Using the club, the community was able to promote and bring awareness to the Croatian plight and independence movement. This role continued into the 1990s, after Croatian independence in 1991, with the outbreak of war in Croatia and Bosnia. Toronto Croatia served as a symbol of pride for the community in this dark period, energizing the community’s support for the club. Since then with Croatia being independent and stable this political role no longer exists in the same manner. [edit] Current squad
[edit] StaffManagement President Secretary Manager Director of Sports Sports Head Coach Assistant Coach Technical Coach Medical Masseur [edit] Year-by-year
[edit] Honours
[edit] Notable former players
[edit] External links
Categories: Canadian National Soccer League teams | Canadian Professional Soccer League (1998–2005) teams | Canadian soccer clubs | Ontario soccer teams | Toronto soccer teams | Canadian Soccer League (2006–present) teams | Croatian diaspora | Football (soccer) clubs established in 1956 | National Soccer League (Canada) teams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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