Montreal Manic
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| Full name | Montreal Manic / Manic de Montréal | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Manic / Le Manic | ||
| Founded | 1981 | ||
| Dissolved | 1983 | ||
| Ground | Olympic Stadium (capacity: 66,308) |
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| Owner | La Brasserie Molson du Québec | ||
| Chairman | Roger Samson | ||
| Coach | Eddie Firmani Andy Lynch |
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| League | North American Soccer League | ||
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Montreal Manic were a soccer team based out of Montreal that played in the NASL. They competed from 1981 to 1983, with their home field being the Montreal Olympic Stadium. Previous to Montreal, the team played as the Philadelphia Fury.
Despite the their record-setting 58,542 attendance in a playoff match against the Chicago Sting on September 2, 1981, the interest in the team and the average attendance fell sharply during the 1983 season, and the Manic folded in 1984.[1]
In his book, Soccer in a Football World, North American soccer historian Dave Wangerin partially attributes the downfall of the Manic organization to the Molson ownership's declaration to attempt to build a Team Canada roster for the 1984 season.[2] The new direction of the team meant many of the team's players who originated from foreign countries would be let go, to emphasize an all Canadian roster instead. Given that Canada had a relatively poor track record at producing world class soccer talent, Montreal fans were likely put off by the prospect that the quality of the team's play would instantly diminish for the 1984 season.[3] More importantly, the team was allegedly in financial trouble despite the fact that the Manic had some of the highest attendances in the NASL. Reports indicated that during the first two seasons, the Manic lacked profitability as they had lost $7 million dollars. Manic president Roger Samson blamed the losses on bad stadium deals, high rents, having the concession profits going directly to the Montreal Expos, a lack of a television deal, and the fact that an average attendance of over 20,000 wasn’t enough to make the franchise solvent.[4]
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Year-by-year [edit]
| Year | League | W | L | Pts | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | NASL | 15 | 17 | 141 | 2nd, Eastern Division | Won 1st Round (Los Angeles) Lost Quarterfinal (Chicago) |
| 1981/82 | NASL Indoor | 9 | 9 | — | 1st, American Conference, East Division | Lost 1st Round (Tampa Bay) |
| 1982 | NASL | 19 | 13 | 159 | 2nd, Eastern Division | Lost 1st Round (Ft. Lauderdale) |
| 1983 | NASL Indoor Grand Prix | 5 | 3 | 53 | 1st, Grand Prix preliminaries | Runners-up (Tampa Bay) |
| 1983 | NASL | 12 | 18 | 124 | 4th, Eastern Division | Won 1st Round (New York) Lost Semifinal (Tulsa) |
Players [edit]
Alan Willey (1981–83)
Andrew Parkinson (1981–1982)
Andy Lynch (1981–82)
Bob Rigby (1981–1982)
Dragan Vujovic (1982–1983)
Dwight Lodeweges (1983)- Elvis Comrie (1982–1983)
Fran O'Brien (1981–1982)- Gordon Hill (1981–82)
Jean-François Larios- Mehdi Cerbah (1982–1983)
- Mike Hewitt (1983) [5]
- Pasquale Di Blasio (1983)
Thompson Usiyan (1981–1982)- Tony Towers (1981–1983)
- John Vanoostveen (1981–1982)
Head coaches [edit]
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Eddie Firmani 1981-1982 - Andy Lynch (1983)
Giuseppe Pietrantonio ( Canada)
Yearly Average Attendance [edit]
- 1981 - 23,704
- 1982 - 21,348
- 1983 - 9,910
References [edit]
- ^ "Le Manic se range derrière l'Impact". rds.ca/. February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ Wangerin, Dave. (2008), Soccer in a Football world: The Story of America's Forgotten Game, Temple University Press. (ISBN 1592138853)
- ^ "Le Manic, c'est fini". radio-canada.ca/. February 8, 1983. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ "Manic Depression". soccerloop48.com/. ?-04-05. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ http://home.att.net/~nasl/players.htm#H
External links [edit]
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- Association football clubs established in 1981
- Association football clubs disestablished in 1983
- Defunct soccer clubs in Canada
- North American Soccer League (1968–84) teams
- Soccer clubs in Montreal
- Soccer clubs in Quebec
- North American Soccer League (1968–84) teams based in Canada
- 1981 establishments in Canada
- 1983 disestablishments in Canada
- Canadian sports team stubs
- North American football (soccer) club stubs
