Montreal Manic

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 the 2nd of September 1981, the interest in the team and the average attendance fell sharply during the 1983 season, and the Manic folded in 1984.

In his book, Soccer in a Football World, North American soccer historian Dave Wangerin 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. 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. As well, 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.