The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was one of four major leagues in Canadian soccer alongside the Pacific Coast League, the Western Canada Soccer League, and the National Soccer League of Ontario/Quebec.[1]
The league was founded in 1961 by George Gross and Peter Bosa.[2] According to Gross, the genesis for the league was formed from a conversation the two men had during the Christmas 1960 holidays. Bosa promised the inclusion of his club Toronto Italia (champions of the National Soccer League) and arranged for the inclusion of the Hamilton Steelers (backed by John Agro and Arnold Martini); Gross helped form Toronto City FC (with Ed Fitkin, Steve Stavro and Laddie Myslivec) and arranged for the inclusion of Montréal Cantalia FC (run by Dr. Ernest Stastny).
The league was officially launched on 30 March 1961 at a press conference in Toronto with Sarto Marchand the league's first president and William Simpson as the league's secretary. Harold Ballard, initially the league's executive vice-president, succeeded Marchand as league president and held the position until March 1964. Simpson thereafter served as league president (1964) and then Chairman (1965 and 1966). After six seasons, the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League amalgamated with the National Soccer League on 20 December 1966.[3][4]
The league typically operated from May to September, which initially allowed Canadian clubs to sign European-based players for the summer season. In the first year, stars like Danny Blanchflower, Stanley Matthews and Johnny Haynes all joined the new league for part of the 1961 summer season, then returned to England for the 1961-62 Football League season. The practice proved unpopular with European clubs, prompting British clubs to ban their players from traveling to Canada to join the rival league. On 19 April 1962, FIFA ruled that players could not switch clubs without a proper transfer.[5]
In each season, there was both a regular-season champion and playoff champion. The regular-season champions managed to win the playoff championship only twice in six years (1963 and 1964).
The 1961 season featured a 48-match schedule from 14 May to 20 September, with all four teams playing 24 matches each. Matches were played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Civic Centre in Hamilton, and Stade Delorimier in Montréal. Hamilton Steelers won the league's opening match 2-1, although it was Montréal Cantalia's Ismael Ferreyra who scored the league's first goal in the 14 May opener.[6] An all-star match was played on 4 September featuring stars from Toronto's two teams against stars from Hamilton-Montréal. The regular season was then followed by two rounds of playoffs from 21 September to 9 October.