Canadian Soccer League

Countries	Canada
Confederation	CONCACAF
Founded	1987
Folded	1992
Divisions	2 Reagional (East & West)
Number of teams	High of 11, Low of 6
Level on pyramid	Level 1
International cup(s)	North American Club Championship (1990)
Most championships	Vancouver 86ers (4 Championships)
TV partners	The Sports Network

The original Canadian Soccer League was a semi-professional football (soccer) that was operated in Canada during the summer from 1987 and 1992. It was a nationwide league as it included franchises from all parts of the country.

The CSL was formed in the aftermath of Canada's participation in the 1986 World Cup finals tournament held in Mexico. Canada was an oddity as a country whose association was able to qualify a team despite not having a domestic professional league, or even a domestically based professional team with the demise in 1984 of the North American Soccer League. Founding league commissioner Dale Barnes voiced sentiment aptly when he said the league is to "bring our players home."

The league gained a leap in creditibility when an agreement was reached with The Sports Network to broadcast a CSL Game of the Week, allowing a nationwide audience view a game on domestic cable TV each Sunday evening. Broadcasts featured play-by-play commentator Vic Rauter and analyst Graham Leggat. The league received sponsorship from Air Canada, Foster's Lager, Hyundai, and Gatorade.

Contents 1 1987 season 1.1 Regular season 1.1.1 Leading goalscorers 1.2 Play-offs 1.3 League all-star team 2 1988 season 2.1 Regular season 2.1.1 Leading goalscorers 2.2 Play-offs 2.3 League all-star team 3 1989 season 3.1 Regular season standings 3.1.1 Leading goalscorers 3.2 Play-offs 3.3 League all-star team 4 1990 season 4.1 Regular season standings 4.2 Playoffs 5 1991 season 5.1 Regular season standings 5.2 Playoffs 6 1992 season 6.1 Final League Standings 6.2 Play-offs 6.3 Leading Goalscorers 6.4 All-Star Team 7 Sources

[edit] 1987 season

The league's opening game was played May 26, 1987 in Aylmer, Quebec and saw the hometown Ottawa Pioneers and Hamilton Steelers play to a 0-0 draw in steady drizzle in front 2,500 spectators. The league was divided into an Eastern and Western division for its first four seasons and without divisions in its final two. The Eastern Division in 1987 consisted of Ottawa, Hamiton, the Toronto Blizzard, and North York Rockets. The Western Division comprised the Calgary Kickers, Edmonton Brickmen, Vancouver 86ers, and Winnipeg Fury. Hamiton won their division both in the regular season and in the playoffs, as did Calgary. The final saw the top point-getting team in the regular season, Calgary, defeat the second-best side, Hamilton, 2-1 at home in a winner take all one game final.

[edit] Regular season

The final regular season standings were:

Eastern Division

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Points
Hamilton Steelers	20	10	4	6	32	22	26
Ottawa Pioneers	20	7	4	9	15	23	23
Toronto Blizzard	20	6	8	6	22	27	20
North York Rockets	20	1	12	7	15	39	9

Western Division

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Points
Calgary Kickers	20	11	4	5	32	22	27
Vancouver 86ers	20	9	8	3	37	27	21
Edmonton Brickmen	20	7	6	7	27	24	20
Winnipeg Fury	20	5	11	4	25	36	14

[edit] Leading goalscorers

Player	Team	Goals
Nick Gilbert	Calgary	10
Domenic Mobilio	Vancouver	9
Jerry Adzic	Hamiton	8
Norm Odinga	Edmonton	7
Han Kim	Winnipeg	7
Jim Easton	Vancouver	7

[edit] Play-offs

Home team on top.

	Quarterfinals					Semi-finals					Final
	West					1	Calgary	4
	2	Vancouver	2			2	Vancouver	3
	3	Edmonton	1								1	Calgary Kickers	2
											1	Hamilton Steelers	1
	East					1	Hamilton	1
	2	Ottawa	1			3	Toronto	0
	3	Toronto	2

Quarter-finals Calgary bye Edmonton 1 at Vancouver 2 Hamilton Bye Toronto 2 at Ottawa 1

Semi-finals Vancouver 3 at Calgary 4 Toronto 0 at Hamilton 1

Final Hamilton 1 at Calgary 2

[edit] League all-star team

• Jerry Adzic, Hamiton, MF
• Diego Castello, Edmonton, D
• Billy Domazetis, Hamilton, S
• Jim Easton, Vancouver, S(?)
• Nick Gilbert, Calgary, S
• Sven Habermann, Calgary, G
• Ray Hudson, Edmonton
• Paul James, Hamilton, M
• Greg Kern, Calgary, D
• Ed McNally, Ottawa
• Randy Ragan, Toronto, MF

[edit] 1988 season

For 1988, the Montreal Supra was added to the Eastern Division. The Ottawa franchise changed their name from the Pioneers to the Intrepid. In a repeat of the previous season, regular season leaders met in the playoff final with the top team, Vancouver defeating second-best Hamilton, again runners-up, by a score of 4-1. Calgary went from being champions to second worst team in the league, with a mere 6 wins in 28 games.

[edit] Regular season

Eastern Division

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Points
Hamilton Steelers	28	18	4	6	64	28	42
Toronto Blizzard	28	7	7	13	44	31	29
North York Rockets	28	10	10	8	40	39	28
Ottawa Intrepid	28	8	11	9	32	43	25
Montreal Supra	28	8	12	8	36	44	24

Western Division

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Points
Vancouver 86ers	28	21	1	6	84	30	48
Winnipeg Fury	28	9	12	7	33	46	25
Calgary Kickers	28	6	16	6	39	70	18
Edmonton Brickmen	28	4	19	5	33	74	13

[edit] Leading goalscorers

• John Catliff, Vancouver, 22
• Domenic Mobilio, Vancouver, 20
• Amadeo Gasparini, North York / Hamilton, 18
• Jerry Adzic, Hamilton, 14
• Eddy Berdusco, North York, 11
• Nick Gilbert, Toronto / Calgary, 11
• Geoff Aunger, Winnipeg, 11

[edit] Play-offs

Quarter-finals Vancouver bye Calgary 1 at Winnipeg 2 Hamilton bye North York 1 at Toronto 2		Semi-finals Winnipeg 1 at Vancouver 3 Toronto 0 at Hamilton 1		Final Hamilton 1 at Vancouver 4

[edit] League all-star team

• Diego Castello, Toronto, D
• John Catliff, Vancouver, S
• Paul Dolan, Vancouver, G
• Amadeo Gaspirini, Hamilton, S
• Gerry Gray, Ottawa, M
• Lyndon Hooper, Montreal, M
• Paul James, Hamilton, M
• Burke Kaiser, Calgary, D
• Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver, D
• Domenic Mobilio, Vancouver, S
• Mike Sweeney, Toronto, M

[edit] 1989 season

1989 saw a tenth team added to the league, the Victoria Vistas. Naturally, the Vista joined the Western Division which re-established a balance of teams in each division, with five each. Calgary rename themselves the 'Strikers'; the change though could not avert disaster as the franchise folded upon the season's conclusion. Vancouver was dominant again, losing but two regular season matches on route to a second straight victory over Hamilton in the championship game. The 86ers went 46 consecutive games from the previous season into this one without losing, which is a record for a professional sports team in Canada or the United States^{[citation needed]}. The Steelers reached the final despite relinguishing their Eastern Division title to Toronto.

[edit] Regular season standings

Eastern Division

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Points'
Toronto Blizzard	26	16	4	6	48	27	38
Hamilton Steelers	26	15	4	7	56	28	37
North York Rockets	26	12	5	9	35	23	33
Ottawa Intrepid	26	7	11	8	41	46	22
Montreal Supra	26	3	14	9	26	46	15

Western Division

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Points
Vancouver 86ers	26	18	2	6	65	33	42
Edmonton Brickmen	26	9	14	3	44	55	21
Calgary Strikers	26	8	15	3	36	56	19
Winnipeg Fury	26	6	13	7	35	51	19
Victoria Vistas	26	4	16	6	32	53	14

[edit] Leading goalscorers

• Ted Eck, Ottawa, 21
• Justin Fashanu, Edmonton, 17
• Amadeo Gasparini, Hamilton, 15
• Vladan Tomic, North York, 14
• Billy Domazetis, Hamilton, 13
• Andy Smith, Calgary, 11

[edit] Play-offs

Quarter-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Calgary	3-1	Edmonton	3-1	0-0
North York	1-2	Hamilton	1-1	0-1

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Edmonton	3-9	Vancouver	3-5	0-4
Hamilton	3-2	Toronto	1-1	2-1

Quarter-finals Edmonton 3 at Calgary 1 Calgary 0 at Edmonton 0 Hamilton 1 at North York 1 North York 0 at Hamilton 1

Semi-finals Vancouver 5 at Edmonton 3 Edmonton 0 at Vancouver 4 Toronto 1 at Hamilton 1 Hamilton 2 at Toronto 1

Finals Hamilton 2 at Vancouver 3

Final

1989	Vancouver 86ers	3 – 2	Hamilton Steelers

[edit] League all-star team

• Ted Eck, Ottawa, S / M
• Justin Fashanu, Edmonton, S
• Drew Ferguson, Hamilton, ?
• Amadeo Gasparini, Hamilton, S
• Pat Harrington, Toronto, G
• Paul James, Ottawa, M
• Steve MacDonald, Vancouver, D
• Trevor McCallum, Toronto, M
• Peter Sarantopoulos, North York, D
• Vladan Tomic, North York, S
• Carl Valentine, Vancouver, S

[edit] 1990 season

Before the season, Kitchener and London were added.

[edit] Regular season standings

Eastern Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Toronto Blizzard	26	18	5	3	52	15	39
Montreal Supra	26	13	2	11	30	12	37
Hamilton Steelers	26	10	7	9	44	35	29
Kitchener Spirit	26	8	11	7	30	36	23
North York Rockets	26	7	10	9	34	36	23
Ottawa Intrepid	26	2	15	9	21	49	13
London Lasers	26	2	17	7	26	68	11

Western Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Vancouver 86ers	26	17	6	3	69	26	40
Victoria Vistas	26	12	7	7	42	32	31
Winnipeg Fury	26	7	8	11	22	37	22
Edmonton Brick Men	26	6	6	14	20	44	18

[edit] Playoffs

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
	1	Vancouver 86ers	2	2	4
	7	North York Rockets	0	1	1
								1	Vancouver 86ers	2	6	8
								4	Victoria Vistas	2	1	3
	2	Toronto Blizzard (AET/PSO)	1	0 (4)	1
	6	Kitchener Spirit	0	0 (3)	0
															1	Vancouver 86ers	6
															5	Hamilton Steelers	1
	3	Montreal Supra	1	0	1
	5	Hamilton Steelers	2	1	3
								5	Hamilton Steelers	1	3	4
								6	Kitchener Spirit	0	3	3
	4	Victoria Vistas (AET/PSO)	2	1 (5)	3
	8	Winnipeg Fury	1	1 (4)	2

Quarterfinals Victoria 1 at Winnipeg 4 Victoria 2 at Winnipeg 1 Victoria 1 at Winnipeg 1 - 5-4 Victoria Penalty Vancouver 2 at North York 0 North York 1 at Vancouver 2 Kitchener 0 at Toronto 1 Kitchener 0 at Toronto 0 - 4-3 Kitchener Penalty Montreal 1 at Hamilton 2 Hamilton 1 at Montreal 0

Semifinals Vancouver 2 at Victoria 2 Victoria 1 at Vancouver 6 Hamilton 1 at Kitchener 0 Kitchener 3 at Hamilton 3

Final Hamilton 1 at Vancouver 6

After the season, Victoria, Edmonton, Ottawa and London folded.

[edit] 1991 season

The CSL had suffered the loss of Victoria, Edmonton, Ottawa and London the previous season, but expanded into the Maritime provinces for the first time with the Nova Scotia Clippers, who made a reasonable performance their first season, coming in right behind Montreal. The regular season once again belonged to the Vancouver 86ers, who were only the second team to win 20 regular season games. In the playoffs, North York easily disposed of Nova Scotia and Hamilton won a split series with Montreal, 3-0, 3-4 and 1-0. In the semifinals, Toronto defeated North York 2-0, 1-2 and 1-0, while Vancouver won on goals aggregate after a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 victory against Hamilton. The Championship game was a high scoring affair, with Vancouver breaking Hamilton's stranglehold on the trophy, winning its first title by beating Toronto 5-3.

The CSL had always had financial problems, and sometimes it seemed a miracle when the league could pull through to see another season. this year the financial pinch became particularly acute. The Nova Scotia experiment failed, and the Clippers folded at the end of the season. Hamilton, the perennial champion and original league member also folded, along with Kitchener. Sadly, this was to be the next to the last season for the league.

Before the season, Nova Scotia was added. Kitchener changed their nickname to Kickers.

[edit] Regular season standings

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Template:Fb team Vancouver 86ers (Q)	28	20	4	4	69	31	+38	64
2	Template:Fb team Toronto Blizzard (Q)	28	14	6	8	57	33	+24	48
3	Template:Fb team North York Rockets (Q)	28	13	9	6	50	36	+14	48
4	Template:Fb team Hamilton Steelers (CSL) (Q)	28	14	4	10	42	38	+4	46
5	Template:Fb team Montreal Supra (Q)	28	11	7	10	41	38	+3	40
6	Template:Fb team Nova Scotia Clippers (Q)	28	7	7	14	29	53	−24	28
7	Template:Fb team Kitchener Kickers	28	4	7	17	28	56	−28	19
8	Template:Fb team Winnipeg Fury	28	4	6	18	26	57	−31	18

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective phase of tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Vancouver 86ers	28	20	4	4	69	31	64
Toronto Blizzard	28	14	6	8	57	33	48
North York Rockets	28	13	9	6	50	36	48
Hamilton Steelers	28	14	4	10	42	38	46
Montreal Supra	28	11	7	10	41	38	40
Nova Scotia Clippers	28	7	7	14	29	53	28
Kitchener Kickers	28	4	7	17	28	56	19
Winnipeg Fury	28	4	6	18	26	57	18

[edit] Playoffs

Quarterfinals: North York 4 at Nova Scotia 0

                Nova Scotia 1 at North York 5                Hamilton 0 at Montreal 3                Montreal 0 at Hamilton 4                Montreal 0 at Hamilton 1 

Semifinals: Toronto 2 at North York 0

                North York 2 at Toronto 1                North York 0 at Toronto 1                Vancouver 1 at Hamilton 1                Hamilton 1 at Vancouver 2 

CHAMPIONSHIP: Toronto 3 at Vancouver 5

	Best of 3							Best of 3
								2	Toronto Blizzard	2	1	1
	3	North York Rockets	4	5
								3	North York Rockets	0	2	0			One Game
	6	Nova Scotia Clippers	0	1
															2	Toronto Blizzard	3
								Best of 3
	Best of 3														1	Vancouver 86ers	5
								1	Vancouver 86ers	1	2
	4	Hamilton Steelers	0	4	1
								4	Hamilton Steelers	1	1
	5	Montreal Supra	3	0	0

After the season, Hamilton, Nova Scotia, and Kitchener folded.

[edit] 1992 season

The CSL barely limped into the 1992 season, staggering under the weight of their ever-present financial problems. Despite their losses from 1991, they managed to add a new team, the London Lasers. However the financial picture did not improve during the season, and with declining attendance and red ink continuing to mount, the league called it quits after the season. This brought an unfortunate end to the first truly national Canadian league. This was a major blow for the Canadian Soccer Association, as the CSL had been enormously successful in providing Canadian players with a higher level of competition than had been previously available since the demise of the North American Soccer League. All was not lost however, as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver joined the APSL, while North York and Winnipeg, with fewer financial resources, joined the semi-pro Canadian National Soccer League.

[edit] Final League Standings

Before the season, London was added.

	G	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Vancouver 86ers	20	11	6	3	42	28	36
North York Rockets	20	8	6	6	25	20	30
Winnipeg Fury	20	8	11	1	27	42	25
Montreal Supra	20	6	7	7	29	24	25
London Lasers	20	6	7	7	25	32	22
Toronto Blizzard	20	6	8	6	28	29	21

[edit] Play-offs

	Semi-finals							Final
	1	Vancouver 86ers	1	1	2
	4	Montreal Supra	1	0	1
								1	Vancouver 86ers	0	1	1
								2	Winnipeg Fury	2	1	3
	2	North York Rockets	1	0	1
	3	Winnipeg Fury	1	1	2

After the season, the league folded, along with the London franchise. Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto joined the American Professional Soccer League, and North York, and Winnipeg joined the semi-pro National Soccer League (which changed its name to the Canadian National Soccer League in 1993).

[edit] Leading Goalscorers

• Eddy Berdusco, North York 14
• Carlo Corazzin, Winnipeg 8
• John Catliff, Vancouver 6
• Doug Muirhead, Vancouver 6
• Dale Mitchell, Vancouver 6
• Geoff Aunger, London 5
• Grant Needham, Montreal 5
• Tony Notica, Winnipeg 5

[edit] All-Star Team

• Pat Onstad, Winnipeg
• Peter Sarantopoulos, Winnipeg
• Nick Dasovic, North York
• Dino Lopez, London
• Carl Fletcher, Toronto
• Geoff Aunger, London
• Dale Mitchell, Vancouver
• Lyndon Hooper, Toronto
• Eddy Berdusco, North York
• Carlo Corazzin, Winnipeg
• Paul Peschisolido, Toronto

[edit] Sources

• The Year in American Soccer - 1987
• The Year in American Soccer - 1988
• The Year in American Soccer - 1989
• The Year in American Soccer - 1990
• The Year in American Soccer - 1991
• The Year in American Soccer - 1992
• Canadian pro soccer in jeopardy - CBC Archives