The Montreal Manic or the Manic de Montréal were a professional soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 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 team was named after a river in northeast Quebec, the Manicouagan, the site of a massive hydroelectric project.Gammon, Clive "Manic but not depressive", "Sports Illustrated", 15 June 1981. Retrieved on 28 November 2018.
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 and ten Fury players as well as manager Eddie Firmani moved to Montreal for 1981.
After defeating the Los Angeles Aztecs in the first round of the 1981 NASL playoffs, the Manic faced the Chicago Sting. An Olympic Stadium crowd of 58,542 (the largest-ever to see an NASL playoff game outside the Cosmos' Giants Stadium) saw the Manic defeat the Sting in the opening match before the series shifted to Chicago where the Manic lost twice and were eliminated. In 1982 the Manic performed better in the regular season than in 1981, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Firmani was fired.
In 1983 the interest in the team and the average attendance fell sharply. The Manic's opening home match in 1983 versus the Tampa Bay Rowdies was witnessed by just 6,460 fans. 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, winning the first match away 4–2 and winning the second match at home in a shootout. The Manic then lost to the Tulsa Roughnecks in the next round.
In the 1983 season, the Manic hosted Nottingham Forest (a 4–3 extra time loss) and FC Nantes (a 2–1 shootout victory for Montreal) at the Olympic Stadium.
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.Wangerin, Dave. (2008), Soccer in a Football world: The Story of America's Forgotten Game, Temple University Press. () 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. 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.
Year-by-year YearLeagueWLPtsReg. seasonPlayoffsAvg Attend1981NASL15171412nd, Eastern DivisionWon 1st round (Los Angeles)Lost quarterfinal (Chicago)23,7041981–82NASL Indoor99—1st, American Conference, East DivisionLost 1st round (Tampa Bay)1982NASL19131592nd, Eastern DivisionLost 1st round (Ft. Lauderdale)21,3481983NASL Indoor Grand Prix53531st, Grand Prix preliminariesRunners-up (Tampa Bay)6,9721983NASL12181244th, Eastern DivisionWon 1st round (New York)Lost semi-final (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 1983 Dale Mitchell 12 goals
Indoor Leading Goalkeeper 1983 Mehdi Cerbah (GAA: 4.36, GA: 24)
Indoor Tournament Defensive MVP 1983 Mehdi Cerbah
All-Star first team selections 1981 Gordon Hill
All-Star second team selections 1983 Frantz Mathieu
Indoor All-Starshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19820331&id=fYBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tjsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,8303699 1981–82 Gordon Hill (Atlantic Conference)
Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame 2001 Gerry Gray 2002 Dale Mitchell 2008 John McGrane 2014 Carmine Marcantonio
U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame 2003 Alan Willey 2007 Bobby Smith
Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame 2012 Victor Nogueira 2013 Brian Quinn 2014 Dale Mitchell
Notable players
Head coaches Eddie Firmani 1981–1982 Pierre Mindru interim (1982) Andy Lynch (1983)Cahiers banq.qc.ca
See also Montreal Olympique Montreal Supra FC Supra du Québec Montreal Impact (1992–2011) CF Montreal Philadelphia Fury (1978–80)
References
External links History of the Montreal Manic, from loop48.com Montreal Manic FA