1988 Canadian Soccer League season

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 →

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.

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
Source: Canadian Soccer History Archives 1988 CSL Stats

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
Source: Canadian Soccer History Archives 1988 CSL Stats
(O) Play-off winners

Playoffs

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

September 25, 1988 Vancouver 86ers 4–1 Hamilton Steelers Vancouver, British Columbia
13:00 Valentine 9'
Ion 18'
Catliff 21'
Mitchell 76'		 [[9][10] Report] Gasparini 52' Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 6443
Referee: Gord Arrowsmith

Statistics

Top scorers

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

Honours

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

Most Valuable Player

Player Team
Canada John Catliff Vancouver 86ers

League All-Stars

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

Reserves

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

Front office

Person Role
Canada Bob Lenarduzzi (Vancouver 86ers) Head Coach
Canada Alan Errington (Vancouver 86ers) Assistant Coach
Canada 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 April 10, 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "1988 CSL Stats" (PDF). Canadian Soccer League.