Toronto Croatia

Football club infobox | clubname = Toronto Croatia


fullname = Toronto Croatia
nickname = The Croats
founded = 1956
ground = Hershey Centre
capacity =
chairman = Josip Cvitanović
manager = Tom Granic
league = Canadian Soccer League
season = 2007
position = 2nd, Champions
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Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) are a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1956. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, the highest professional Canadian soccer league, and play in the International Division. Toronto Croatia are the current champions of the Canadian Soccer League.

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.

History

The 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.

However, the NASL was never comfortable with the Croatia link (an obvious ethnic connection), and 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.

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 representitive in the CONCACAF Champions League.

upporters

The Toronto Croatia fan base is mostly made up of people from the local Croatian community of the Greater Toronto Area. This fan base is made up of both Croatian and Canadian-born Croats. 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.

econdary Roles of the Club

ocial

The 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.

Political

In 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.

Current squad

Year-by-year

Honours

* National Soccer League: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973
* NSL Cup Champions: 1971, 1972; NSL Playoff Champions 1971, 1974
* Canadian National Soccer League: 1992
* CNSL Cup Champions: 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993
* Canadian International Soccer League: 1995, 1996
* Canadian Soccer League: 2000, 2004, 2007
* Croatian World Club Championship: 2007

Notable former players

*flagicon|PRT Eusebio
*flagicon|CRO Ivan Lukacevic
*flagicon|BRA Ivair Ferriera
*flagicon|CAN Željko Bilecki
*flagicon|CRO Filip Blaskovic
*flagicon|CRO Ivica Grnja
*flagicon|CAN Robert Iarusci
*flagicon|CRO Aljoša Asanović

External links

* [http://www.torontocroatia.org/ Toronto Croatia]
* [http://www.canadiansoccerleague.ca/ Canadian Soccer League]