1989 Canadian Soccer League season

Canadian Soccer League
Season1989
ChampionsVancouver 86ers
Division LeadersToronto Blizzard (East)
Vancouver 86ers (West)
Matches played130
Goals scored418 (3.22 per match)
Top goalscorerTed Eck (21)
Best goalkeeperPaolo Ceccarelli (0.58 GAA)
← 1988
1990 →

The 1989 Canadian Soccer League season was the third 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

The Victoria Vistas joined the Canadian Soccer League as an expansion team for the 1990 season, joining the West Division.[1][2] The divisions were now even with five teams each.

The Calgary Kickers folded following the 1988 season, but the club was replaced by a community-owned team called the Calgary Strikers.[3][4]

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(4 matches each) and one-third against the opposite division (2 matches each) for a total of 26 matches. 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.[5] This season would see the first two rounds of the playoffs being played in two-legged times determined by aggregate score, while the final would remain a single match championship final.

Summary

Vancouver repeated as West Division champions, while Toronto won their first East Division title. Hamilton reached the final despite for the third consecutive year, where they faced Vancouver for the second year in a row, with the 86ers repeating as champions.

Vancouver was dominant again, losing but two regular-season matches en 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.[6]

Regular season

East Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto Blizzard 26 16 6 4 48 27 +21 38 Playoff semifinals
2 Hamilton Steelers 26 15 7 4 56 28 +28 37 Playoff quarterfinals
3 North York Rockets 26 12 9 5 35 23 +12 33
4 Ottawa Intrepid 26 7 8 11 41 46 −5 22
5 Montreal Supra 26 3 9 14 26 46 −20 15
Source: Canadian Soccer History Archives 1989 CSL Stats

West Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Vancouver 86ers 26 18 6 2 65 33 +32 42 Playoff semifinals
2 Edmonton Brick Men 26 9 3 14 44 55 −11 21 Playoff quarterfinals
3 Calgary Strikers 26 8 3 15 36 56 −20 19
4 Winnipeg Fury 26 6 7 13 35 51 −16 19
5 Victoria Vistas 26 4 6 16 32 53 −21 14
Source: Canadian Soccer History Archives 1989 CSL Stats

Overall

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Vancouver 86ers (C) 26 18 6 2 65 33 +32 42 Playoff semifinals
2 Toronto Blizzard 26 16 6 4 48 27 +21 38
3 Hamilton Steelers 26 15 7 4 56 28 +28 37 Playoff quarterfinals
4 North York Rockets 26 12 9 5 35 23 +12 33
5 Ottawa Intrepid 26 7 8 11 41 46 −5 22
6 Edmonton Brick Men 26 9 3 14 44 55 −11 21 Playoff quarterfinals
7 Calgary Strikers 26 8 3 15 36 56 −20 19
8 Winnipeg Fury 26 6 7 13 35 51 −16 19
9 Montreal Supra 26 3 9 14 26 46 −20 15
10 Victoria Vistas 26 4 6 16 32 53 −21 14
Source: Canadian Soccer History Archives 1989 CSL Stats
(C) Champion (qualified to 1990 North American Club Championship)

Playoffs

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
1W Vancouver 86ers 5 4 9
2W Edmonton Brick Men 3 0 3 2W Edmonton Brick Men 3 0 3
3W Calgary Strikers 1 0 1 1W Vancouver 86ers 3
2E Hamilton Steelers 2
1E Toronto Blizzard 1 1 2
2E Hamilton Steelers 1 1 2 2E Hamilton Steelers 1 2 3
3E North York Rockets 1 0 1

Quarterfinal

September 13, 1989 Calgary Strikers 1–3 Edmonton Brick Men Calgary, Alberta
Smith 45' [[7] Report] Fashanu 21'
Rob Reed 38'
Jorge Rodriguez 91'		 Stadium: Mewata Stadium
Attendance: 600
September 17, 1989 Edmonton Brick Men 0–0 Calgary Strikers Edmonton, Alberta
16:00 [[8] Report] Stadium: Clarke Stadium
Attendance: 878

Edmonton Brick Men won 3–1 on aggregate.

September 13, 1989 North York Rockets 1–1 Hamilton Steelers North York, Ontario
Berdusco 56' [[9] Report] Marinaro 82' Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium
September 17, 1989 Hamilton Steelers 1–0 North York Rockets Hamilton, Ontario
19:30 Hector Chazaretta 13' [[10] Report] Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium

Hamilton Steelers won 2–1 on aggregate.

Semifinal

September 20, 1989 Edmonton Brick Men 3–5 Vancouver 86ers Edmonton, Alberta
18:00 Fashanu 7', 23'
Jorge Rodriguez 36'		 [[11][12] Report] Catliff 45'
Mitchell 60'
Mobilio 62'
Easton Jr. 73', 89'		 Stadium: Clarke Stadium
Attendance: 1000
September 24, 1989 Vancouver 86ers 4–0 Edmonton Brick Men Vancouver, British Columbia
19:30 Mitchell ,
Easton Jr.
Evans 		[[13] Report] Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5772

Vancouver 86ers won 9–3 on aggregate.

September 20, 1989 Hamilton Steelers 1–1 Toronto Blizzard Hamilton, Ontario
21:00 Gary Morrow [[14] Report] Fletcher Stadium: Brian Timmis Stadium
Attendance: 2200
Referee: Brian Smith
September 24, 1989 Toronto Blizzard 1–2 Hamilton Steelers Etobicoke, Ontario
Fletcher [[15] Report] Bunbury
Gasparini 		Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium
Attendance: 4500

Hamilton Steelers won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

October 1, 1989 Vancouver 86ers 3–2 Hamilton Steelers Vancouver, British Columbia
19:30 Muirhead 51'
Valentine 57'
Mobilio 67'		 [[16][17] Report] Gray 42'
Hector Chazaretta 76'		 Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 7942
Referee: Derek Douglas

Statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 United States Ted Eck Ottawa Intrepid 21
2 England Justin Fashanu Edmonton Brick Men 17
3 Argentina Amadeo Gasparini Hamilton Steelers 15
4 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Cyprus Vladan Tomić North York Rockets 14
5 Canada Billy Domazetis Hamilton Steelers 13
6 Scotland Andy Smith Calgary Strikers 11
Reference: [18]

Top goaltenders

Rank Player Club GAA
1 Canada Paolo Ceccarelli North York Rockets 0.58
2 Canada Paul Dolan Hamilton Steelers 1.00
3 Canada Pat Harrington Toronto Blizzard 1.04
4 Canada Pat Onstad Winnipeg Fury 1.20
5 Canada Don Ferguson North York Rockets 1.23
Reference: [18]

Honours

The following awards and nominations were awarded for the 1989 season.[18][19]

Award Player Team
Most Valuable Player England Justin Fashanu Edmonton Brick Men
Rookie of the Year Canada Paul Peschisolido Toronto Blizzard


League All-Stars

Player Position
Canada Pat Harrington (Toronto Blizzard) Goalkeeper
Canada Steve MacDonald (Vancouver 86ers) Defender
Canada Peter Sarantopoulos (North York Rockets) Defender
Canada Drew Ferguson (Hamilton Steelers) Defender
Canada Trevor McCallum (Toronto Blizzard) Defender
Canada Paul James (Ottawa Intrepid) Midfielder
Canada Carl Valentine (Vancouver 86ers) Midfielder
Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaCyprus Vladan Tomić (North York Rockets) Midfielder
United States Ted Eck (Ottawa Intrepid) Forward
England Justin Fashanu (Edmonton Brick Men) Forward
Argentina Amadeo Gasparini (Hamilton Steelers) Forward

Reserves

Player Position
Canada Paul Dolan (Hamilton Steelers) Goalkeeper
Canada Shaun Lowther (Winnipeg Fury) Defender
Canada Joseph Majcher (Toronto Blizzard) Midfielder
Canada John Catliff (Vancouver 86ers) Forward

Front office

Person Role
Canada Bob Lenarduzzi (Vancouver 86ers) Head Coach
Canada Alan Errington (Vancouver 86ers) Assistant Coach
Canada Mary Morris (Hamilton Steelers) General Manager

Average home attendances

Pos. Team GP Average Attendance
1 Vancouver 86ers 26 4,951
2 Winnipeg Fury 26 4,404
3 Edmonton Brick Men 26 2,273
4 Toronto Blizzard 26 2,173
5 Victoria Vistas 26 2,039
6 North York Rockets 26 1,937
7 Montreal Supra 26 1,841
8 Hamilton Steelers 26 1,819
9 Ottawa Intrepid 26 1,357
10 Calgary Strikers 26 1,233
Total Attendance 260 2,403
Reference:[17]

References

  1. ^ "Canadian Soccer League (1987-1992)". Fun While it Lasted.
  2. ^ Litterer, Dave. "Canadian Soccer League I". Soccer History USA.
  3. ^ Crossley, Drew (October 26, 2019). "1989 Calgary Strikers". Fun While it Lasted.
  4. ^ "Calgary Kickers/Strikers (1987-89)". CSL Memories.
  5. ^ MacDonald, Archie (February 26, 1987). "Soccer rebirth". The Vancouver Sun. p. F3.
  6. ^ "The 1989 Vancouver 86ers". BC Sports Hall of Fame Inductees. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  7. ^ Ireland, Joanne (September 14, 1989). "Brick Men take giant step forward". Edmonton Journal. p. 63.
  8. ^ Ireland, Joanne (September 18, 1989). "Listless B-Men move on". Edmonton Journal. p. 49.
  9. ^ Koep, Bob (September 14, 1989). "Rockets and Steelers tie one on". Toronto Star. p. C15.
  10. ^ Koep, Bob (September 18, 1989). "Rockets fizzle out of soccer playoffs". Toronto Star. p. D8.
  11. ^ Ireland, Joanne (September 21, 1989). "Brick Men crumble in defeat". Edmonton Journal. p. 65.
  12. ^ "86ers rally by Brick Men". Nanaimo Daily News. September 21, 1989. p. 6.
  13. ^ Stinson, Dan (September 25, 1989). "Mitchell puts 86ers into final". Vancouver Sun. p. 15.
  14. ^ Koep, Bob (September 21, 1989). "Blizzard lucky to escape with tie against Steelers". Toronto Star. p. C9.
  15. ^ Koep, Bob (September 25, 1989). "Steelers' Bunbury again burns Blizzard in final". Toronto Star. p. B7.
  16. ^ Harrison, Don (October 2, 1989). "Soccer and 86ers both win". The Province. p. 10.
  17. ^ 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, 132.
  18. ^ a b c "1989 CSL Stats" (PDF). Canadian Soccer League.
  19. ^ Grossman, David (October 5, 1989). "Soccer star dreams of pro career in Italy". Toronto Star.