The Toronto Varsity Blues Men's Soccer is a Canadian intercollegiate soccer team founded in 1879. They represent the University of Toronto. The program operates in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports, and the team competes in the East Division of the OUA. The Varsity Blues play their home games at Varsity Stadium, a 4000-seat stadium in downtown Toronto on the University of Toronto St. George campus.
The Varsity Blues captured one National Championship in 1988. The 1988 National Championship team has since been inducted into the Varsity Blues Hall of Fame. The Varsity Blues won 49 provincial OUA Championships with the most recent one in 2010. The Varsity Blues won the Argo Cup in the Red and Blue Bowl in 2013.
In January 2019, Ilya Orlov was appointed as the new Head Coach after serving as the Lead Assistant Coach for 4 years under Anthony Capotosto's tenure.
History
Beginnings (1884)
1880–84: Before the Committee The Varsity mentions that, as early as 1880, the University College Associated Football Club competed against the Knox College, Collegiate Institute, and Medical School club teams. By the following year, the team was practicing regularly and travelling as far as Berlin (Kitchener, ON) for a tournament. While these early teams appeared to have practiced regularly on Front Campus, an actual organized club would not be formed until the spring of 1884.
1884: Association Football Committee The founding of this organized team can be traced to an Association Football Committee meeting on Tuesday, March 11, 1884, at 5 PM.
During the "well-attended" meeting, a motion was put forward to set aside two days of the week for a "professional" team to practice. This team would consist only of players selected by the committee.
One member opposed, arguing that it was "not desirable that the majority of the member [who won't be on the professional team] should sacrifice their [time] for the maintenance of this professional team". Another argued that this professional team should "practice on the prairie at the back of the University (referring to Back Campus) and leave the beautiful lawn for the rest of the members [who would not be on the varsity team]". The motion was passed and the Varsity team was formed, with the concession that all members would be allowed to train with the "professional" team during the two weekly practices.
The annual fee was raised to 50 cents and W.H. Irving was named as the President.
During the meeting, the club acknowledged member and player E.M. Hughes, who died recently from typhoid fever. The meeting also raised the need for the formation of an Inter-collegiate Association with the recommendation to include: Queen's College from Kingston, Victoria College from Cobourg, as well as Knox and University Colleges from Toronto.
1885–1890: The University of Toronto Athletic Association In the spring of 1885, the team was invited to Kingston to play against Queens, finishing the inaugural season with 6 wins and 2 draws with 14 goals forward and 2 goals against.
At the start of the next school year in the fall of 1885, the team had seven members who were also part of the Canadian International Football Club – and were in Newark, NJ competing.
In 1886, the Varsity Blues were to play Victoria College (then located in Cobourg) for the "Championship of Toronto," however the game was snowed out and a winner was never decided. At the end of that season, a letter-to-the-editor first appeared in the Varsity petitioning for the formation of an Athletic Association similar to that seen in McGill and Ottawa.
By fall 1887, the Varsity Blues had a regular First Eleven and Second Eleven playing regular games against Trinity Medical School and Toronto Medical School. There were still complaints that so few games were being played because of the scarcity of teams in the area.
In the spring of that school year, a meeting was held between the representatives of the Rugby, Soccer, Basketball, and Cricket clubs as well as the Gymnasium Association and Annual Sports Committee to unite them all under a single body: the Athletics Association. This association would charge $2 (later agreed to be $1) from each student's fees to be put toward general care of the lawn and other properties, as well as to act as final arbiters of conflict among the committees and support any of the clubs in times of financial troubles.
It wasn't until March 1891 that a draft constitution was put forth for the formation of the University of Toronto Athletic Association. This was readily supported by the soccer committee.
In that same season, the Varsity Blues defeated Grand Trunk Club of Montreal and were self-proclaimed "Champions of Canada". Later they travelled by train to Detroit and Chatham and won both those games 3–1.
Ernie Glass (1963–1968)
1963: A businessman named Ernie Glass In September 1963, Blues star-forward Bobby Lewis introduced a Toronto businessman named Ernie Glass as the new head coach of the Blues. Glass had coached the Toronto City Reserve team and was a former player himself in Edinburgh, Scotland. He had ten returning Blues players that year, including top-scorer Keith Murphy, Jeff Mahon, Urs Maag, Bobby Lewis, Bill Troost, and Peter Haynes. The Varsity Blues won the Blackwood Trophy after a 4–3 home win and a 2–2 away draw against McGill but came up short in the Toronto & District Association championship with a 1–1 draw against McMaster near the end of the season, leaving them tied for second in the league standings. This was star player Bobby Lewis' last year as a Blue. He was invited on trial with Chelsea F.C. in England in March 1964 after the season ended and went on to attend graduate school in Wales.
1964: A thinking man's team In 1964, only 6 members had returned from the previous year's team. Among them were Pat Terrelonge, Bill Troost, Dom Dente, and Nick Walker. Newcomers included future Varsity Blues soccer coach Jim Lefkos, Andy Pastor, "King" Ghartey, and Austris Liepa. Coach Glass described the squad as a "thinking man's team" and the "youngest in a number of years". The Varsity Blues finished first in the regular season standings, capturing the Toronto & District Association trophy and going undefeated in the process. As for the Blackwood Trophy, the Varsity Blues and McGill Redmen were deemed co-winners after the final game ended 0–0, even after extra-time. Jim Lefkos led the team in scoring with 11 goals.
1965: The best college soccer team By the 1965 season, the league split into two divisions: Université de Montréal, McGill University, and Queen's University in the East division and the University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, University of Guelph, and McMaster University in the West division. Prior to the season, Glass said of his roster that he's "never seen so much talent in a group of college kids like this". There were nine returning players (Austris Liega, Dom Dente, Bill Troost, Pat Terrelonge) as well as rookies Ormond Mendes, Frank Soppelsa, and Bill Nepotiuk. Jim Lefkos was not a part of the 1965 team. In the middle of their undefeated season, University of Western Ontario coach Julius Payne said, "Toronto has the best college soccer team I've ever seen outside of England". Toronto went undefeated in the West division and then retained the Blackwood Trophy on Nov 12, 1965, after defeating the East division winners, Queen's University, 6–1 in the final at Varsity Stadium.
1966: Blues keep rolling The following season saw the return of the same Blues roster with the exception of Terrelonge and Captain Dom Dente, who both graduated. Les Clarke joined the team from McGill, while Jim Kalman, Bert Halsall, and Frank Cappuccitti joined as rookies. The Varsity Blues went undefeated in the 1966 West Division, only drawing 3–3 at home against Guelph on the Back Campus Field. They finished the regular season in first place and defeated McGill University at home and away to capture the Blackwood Trophy for the third year in a row. At one practice, Coach Glass told the Varsity newspaper "that a team of Blues' calibre could achieve their record without a coach". At the same time, the Varsity Blues players knowingly smiled at one another as they ultimately knew Glass' role in their triumphs.
1967: Four in a row The University of Waterloo and Université Laval joined the West and East divisions, respectively. This increased the size of the league to five teams in the West and four in the East. As for Glass, his entire team had returned for another year. In addition, Jim Lefkos had rejoined the Varsity Blues after missing the previous two seasons, as well as rookies Ron Muir, John Gero, and Jim Laverty. Glass said, during try-outs, that "many good players are going to be cut this year...[as an] indication of how strong we are". In a preseason exhibition, the Varsity Blues defeated a team of ex-Toronto City players 8–3 – a team which included Bobby Nicol and Alan Harvey. Blues goalkeeper Edwin Stach compared this Blues team to his former University of Western Ontario squad: "there is no comparison [ to his old team Western ]. At Western, we practiced only two nights per week while [in Toronto] we are out almost every day. Also, I'm sure if the coach at Western had the players that Blues cut this season, he would be mighty happy." Glass described his team as "at least top 20 in Ontario" and many of the more experienced Varsity Blues players felt the team would finish at least mid-table in the Ontario National League – the semi-pro league.
The Varsity Blues won the East division with an 8–0–0 record, including a home and an away win against McGill University. Lefkos and Soppelsa were the team's leading scorers for the year. On a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon at Varsity Stadium in front of "100 stoich fans", the Varsity Blues defeated the Queens' Golden Gaels – the undefeated team from the West division – 4–0 to retain the Blackwood Trophy for the fourth year in a row. Senior players Alan Cragg, Austris Liepa, and Garth Rothwell all graduated at the end of the year.
1968: End of an era In what was to be Glass' final year at the helm of the team, the Varsity Blues had lost half their regular starters from the prior year. Returning to the fold were only Lefkos, Soppelsa, Sereda, Nepotiuk, Taylor, and Gero. While Miles Sosa, Ken Cancellera, and goalkeeper Bernie D'Abreau were the crop of rookies. When speaking on his last four undefeated seasons, Glass said, "I don't take much credit because these guys are good to start." He added that "while most university teams have 1 or 2 good players, the Varsity Blues are uniformly strong". The Varsity Blues started off the season with a string of exhibition losses. They lost 1–0 and 8–1 to the Toronto contingent of the Canadian World Cup squad, as well as 2–1 against the Toronto Emeralds of the Toronto & District League premier division. The four-year regular season unbeaten streak ended the following game when they lost the home opener 4–3 to Guelph University. But, with the help of Jim Lefkos' 18 goals, the Varsity Blues won six of the remaining seven regular season games to clinch the West division Championship and a berth in the OQAA final against Université de Montréal in Montreal.