Montreal Manic

Montreal Manic / Manic de Montréal
Full name Montreal Manic / Manic de Montréal
Nickname(s) The Manic / Le Manic
Founded 1981
Dissolved 1983
Stadium Olympic Stadium
Montreal Forum (indoor)
Stadium
capacity		 66,308
Owner La Brasserie Molson du Québec
Chairman Roger Samson
Coach Eddie Firmani
Andy Lynch
League North American Soccer League

Montreal Manic were a professional soccer team based in Montreal that played in the North American Soccer League.

History

"Le Manic" as they were called by the locals, were Montreal's first professional soccer team since the NASL's Montreal Olympique folded in 1973. The Montreal Manic competed from 1981 to 1983, with their home field being the Montreal Olympic Stadium. Previous to Montreal, the team played as the Philadelphia Fury from 1978 through 1980.

Despite 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] However, in their final season, the Manic produced one of the great shocks in NASL history by eliminating the New York Cosmos in the quarterfinals of the 1983 playoffs before losing to the Tulsa Roughnecks in the next round.

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. 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 that an average attendance of over 20,000 was insufficient to keep the franchise solvent.[4]

Year-by-year

Year League W L Pts Reg. season Playoffs Avg Attend
1981 NASL 15 17 141 2nd, Eastern Division Won 1st Round (Los Angeles)
Lost Quarterfinal (Chicago)		 23,704
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) 21,348
1983 NASL Indoor Grand Prix 5 3 53 1st, Grand Prix preliminaries Runners-up (Tampa Bay) 6,972
1983 NASL 12 18 124 4th, Eastern Division Won 1st Round (New York)
Lost Semifinal (Tulsa)		 9,910

Honours

NASL Championships
  • none

NASL Indoor Championships

  • 1983 (runner-up)

Division titles

  • 1981–82 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference (indoor)

Indoor Leading Goal Scorer[5]

Indoor Leading Goalkeeper[6]

Indoor Tournament Defensive MVP[7]

All-Star First Team Selections[8]

All-Star Second Team Selections

Indoor All-Stars[9]

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame[10]

U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame[11]

Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame[12]

Players

Head coaches

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Le Manic se range derrière l'Impact". rds.ca/. February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  2. ↑ Wangerin, Dave. (2008), Soccer in a Football world: The Story of America's Forgotten Game, Temple University Press. (ISBN 1592138853)
  3. ↑ "Le Manic, c'est fini". radio-canada.ca/. February 8, 1983. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Manic Depression". http://ussoccerplayers.com/. October 14, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015. External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qcJaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HFkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2106,1706476&dq=championship+effort+carried+rowdies&hl=en
  6. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qcJaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HFkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2106,1706476&dq=championship+effort+carried+rowdies&hl=en
  7. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qcJaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HFkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2106,1706476&dq=championship+effort+carried+rowdies&hl=en
  8. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm
  9. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19820331&id=fYBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tjsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,8303699
  10. ↑ http://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/
  11. ↑ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/hall.html
  12. ↑ http://www.indoorsoccerhall.com/hall-of-fame-classes
  13. ↑ http://www.indoorsoccerhall.com/
  14. ↑ http://home.att.net/~nasl/players.htm#H
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