Football league season
| Season | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Vancouver 86ers |
| Division Leaders | Hamilton Steelers (East) Vancouver 86ers (West) |
| Matches played | 126 |
| Goals scored | 405 (3.21 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | John 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.
The National Capitals Pioneers went bankrupt in their inaugural season, but the club was re-structured and renamed as the Ottawa Intrepid. They also moved their home stadium to Ottawa, after playing the previous year in Aylmer, Quebec
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.
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 |
(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
Toronto Blizzard v North York Rockets| September 14, 1988 | Toronto Blizzard | 2–1 | North York Rockets | Toronto, Ontario |
Gilbert  78' Šegota 86' |
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' |
Phillips 44' |
Stadium: Winnipeg Stadium Attendance: 3606 |
Semifinal
Hamilton Steelers v Toronto Blizzard| September 17, 1988 | Hamilton Steelers | 1–0 | Toronto Blizzard | Hamilton, Ontario |
| 13:00 | Bunbury 13' |
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' |
Doug Leeis 29' |
Stadium: Swangard Stadium Attendance: 4226 |
Final
Vancouver 86ers v Hamilton Steelers| September 25, 1988 | Vancouver 86ers | 4–1 | Hamilton Steelers | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| 13:00 | Valentine 9' Ion 18' Catliff 21' Mitchell 76' |
Gasparini 52' |
Stadium: Swangard Stadium Attendance: 6443 Referee: Gord Arrowsmith |
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: | |||
Honours
The following awards and nominations were awarded for the 1988 season.
Most Valuable Player
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| John Catliff |
Vancouver 86ers |
League All-Stars
| Player | Position |
|---|---|
| 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
| Player | Position |
|---|---|
| Pat Harrington (Toronto Blizzard) |
Goalkeeper |
| Peter Sarantopoulos (North York Rockets) |
Defender |
 Željko Adžić (Winnipeg Fury) |
Midfielder |
| Alex Bunbury (Hamilton Steelers) |
Forward |
Front office
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| 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: | |||
References
- Litterer, Dave. "The Year in American Soccer - 1988". Sover. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009.
- "National Capital Pioneers/Ottawa Intrepid (1987-90)". CSL Memories.
- Crossley, Andrew (August 29, 2015). "1988-1989 Ottawa Intrepid". Fun While it Lasted.
- MacDonald, Archie (February 26, 1987). "Soccer rebirth". The Vancouver Sun. p. F3.
- "Blizzard grounds Rockets". Calgary Herald. September 15, 1988. p. 49.
- "September 16, 1988". Times Colonist. September 16, 1988. p. 20.
- Campbell, Neil A. (September 19, 1988). "Rebuilt Steelers follow same old script". The Globe and Mail. p. D8.
- "86ers win CSL West". Nanaimo Daily News. September 19, 1988. p. 7.
- Stinson, Dan (September 26, 1988). "86ers cap magical season with victory over Steelers". Vancouver Sun. p. 29.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "1988 CSL Stats" (PDF). Canadian Soccer League.
External links
| Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) | |
|---|---|
| Teams | |
| Seasons | |
| International cups |
|