1988 Canadian Soccer League season

The 1988 Canadian Soccer League season was the second season of play for the Canadian Soccer League, a Division 1 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid.

Canadian Soccer League
Season1988
ChampionsVancouver 86ers
Division LeadersHamilton Steelers (East)
Vancouver 86ers (West)
Matches played126
Goals scored405 (3.21 per match)
Top goalscorerJohn Catliff (22)
1987
1989

Format and changes from previous season

Montreal Supra joined the league as an expansion franchise, entering the East Division.[1]

The National Capitals Pioneers went bankrupt in their inaugural season, but the club was re-structured and renamed as the Ottawa Intrepid.[2] They also moved their home stadium to Ottawa, after playing the previous year in Aylmer, Quebec[3]

Similar to the previous season, the teams played an unbalanced schedule with two-thirds of a team's matches coming against teams in their own division. Following the season, the top three teams in each division would advance to the playoffs, with the division leaders earning a first round bye, to designate a national champion club.[4]

Regular season

East Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Hamilton Steelers 28 18 6 4 64 28 +36 42 Playoff semifinals
2 Toronto Blizzard 28 8 13 7 44 31 +13 29 Playoff quarterfinals
3 North York Rockets 28 10 8 10 40 39 +1 28
4 Ottawa Intrepid 28 8 9 11 32 43 11 25
5 Montreal Supra 28 8 8 12 36 44 8 24

West Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Vancouver 86ers (O) 28 21 6 1 84 30 +54 48 Playoff semifinals
2 Winnipeg Fury 28 9 7 12 33 46 13 25 Playoff quarterfinals
3 Calgary Kickers 28 6 6 16 39 70 31 18
4 Edmonton Brick Men 28 4 5 19 33 74 41 13

Playoffs

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
1W Vancouver 86ers 3
2W Winnipeg Fury (a.e.t.) 2 2W Winnipeg Fury 1
3W Calgary Kickers 1 1W Vancouver 86ers 4
1E Hamilton Steelers 1
1E Hamilton Steelers 1
2E Toronto Blizzard 2 3E Toronto Blizzard 0
3E North York Rockets 1

Quarterfinal

September 14, 1988 Toronto Blizzard 2–1 North York Rockets Toronto, Ontario
Gilbert 78'
Šegota 86'
[[5] Report] John Coyle Stadium: Varsity Stadium
Attendance: 3179
September 15, 1988 Winnipeg Fury 2–1 (a.e.t.) Calgary Kickers Winnipeg, Manitoba
19:30 Cambridge 17'
Wade Gibson 119'
[[6] Report] Phillips 44' Stadium: Winnipeg Stadium
Attendance: 3606

Semifinal

September 17, 1988 Hamilton Steelers 1–0 Toronto Blizzard Hamilton, Ontario
13:00 Bunbury 13' [[7] Report] Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium
Attendance: 2102
September 18, 1988 Vancouver 86ers 3–1 Winnipeg Fury Vancouver, British Columbia
16:00 Mobilio 10', 59'
Mitchell 86'
[[8] Report] Doug Leeis 29' Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4226

Final

Statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 John Catliff Vancouver 86ers 22
2 Domenic Mobilio Vancouver 86ers 20
3 Amadeo Gasparini North York Rockets / Hamilton Steelers 18
4 Željko Adžić Hamilton Steelers 14
5 Eddy Berdusco North York Rockets 12
6 Nick Gilbert Toronto Blizzard / Calgary Kickers 11
Geoff Aunger Winnipeg Fury
8 Arthur Calixte Montreal Supra 10
John Rich Calgary Kickers
Dallas Moen Ottawa Intrepid
Dale Mitchell Vancouver 86ers
12 Alex Bunbury Hamilton Steelers 9
Ivor Evans Vancouver 86ers
Lucio Ianiero Hamilton Steelers
Reference:[11]

Honours

The following awards and nominations were awarded for the 1988 season.[11]

Most Valuable Player

PlayerTeam
John CatliffVancouver 86ers

League All-Stars

PlayerPosition
Paul Dolan (Vancouver 86ers)Goalkeeper
Diego Castello (Toronto Blizzard)Defender
Burke Kaiser (Calgary Strikers)Defender
Bob Lenarduzzi (Vancouver 86ers)Defender
Paul James (Hamilton Steelers)Defender
Gerry Gray (Ottawa Intrepid)Midfielder
Lyndon Hooper (Montreal Supra)Midfielder
Mike Sweeney (Toronto Blizzard)Midfielder
John Catliff (Vancouver 86ers)Forward
Amadeo Gasparini (Hamilton Steelers)Forward
Domenic Mobilio (Vancouver 86ers)Forward

Reserves

PlayerPosition
Pat Harrington (Toronto Blizzard)Goalkeeper
Peter Sarantopoulos (North York Rockets)Defender
Željko Adžić (Winnipeg Fury)Midfielder
Alex Bunbury (Hamilton Steelers)Forward

Front Office

PersonRole
Bob Lenarduzzi (Vancouver 86ers)Head Coach
Alan Errington (Vancouver 86ers)Assistant Coach
John McGrane (Hamilton Steelers)General Manager

Average home attendances

Pos. Team GP Average Attendance
1 Vancouver 86ers 28 4,919
2 Winnipeg Fury 28 3,207
3 Montreal Supra 28 2,993
4 Toronto Blizzard 28 2,757
5 Hamilton Steelers 28 2,750
6 Edmonton Brick Men 28 2,638
7 Calgary Kickers 28 2,387
8 North York Rockets 28 1,655
9 Ottawa Intrepid 28 1,546
Total Attendance 252 2,761
Reference:[10]

References

  1. Litterer, Dave. "The Year in American Soccer - 1988". Sover. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009.
  2. "National Capital Pioneers/Ottawa Intrepid (1987-90)". CSL Memories.
  3. Crossley, Andrew (August 29, 2015). "1988-1989 Ottawa Intrepid". Fun While it Lasted.
  4. MacDonald, Archie (February 26, 1987). "Soccer rebirth". The Vancouver Sun. p. F3.
  5. "Blizzard grounds Rockets". Calgary Herald. September 15, 1988. p. 49.
  6. "September 16, 1988". Times Colonist. September 16, 1988. p. 20.
  7. Campbell, Neil A. (September 19, 1988). "Rebuilt Steelers follow same old script". The Globe and Mail. p. D8.
  8. "86ers win CSL West". Nanaimo Daily News. September 19, 1988. p. 7.
  9. Stinson, Dan (September 26, 1988). "86ers cap magical season with victory over Steelers". Vancouver Sun. p. 29.
  10. Jose, Colin (2001). On-Side - 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario. Vaughan, Ontario: Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. pp. 130, 131.
  11. "1988 CSL Stats" (PDF). Canadian Soccer League.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.