Overview of the 1990 American Professional Soccer League season. Although the

Western Soccer League Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer All ...

and the American Soccer League merged to form the American Professional Soccer League in 1990, the two leagues remained essentially independent leagues, linked by name alone. During this season, they ran separate regular season schedules with two different points systems. They each had their own playoff formats, had separate league MVPs and had their own All-League teams. The first game between the two leagues came in September when the

Maryland Bays The Maryland Bays were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988.They were based in Catonsville, Maryland, and played their games at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The team joined the Ameri ...

of the American Soccer League defeated the

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks San Francisco Bay Blackhawks were a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interreg ...

of the Western Soccer League for the American Professional Soccer League championship.

History

On September 9, 1989, the champions of the west coast-based

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

and the east coast-based American Soccer League played each other for the national championship. This was the first meeting between teams from the two leagues but was part of a larger effort to merge the two leagues. This effort resulted in the creation of the American Professional Soccer League on February 22, 1990. The merger remained one of name only as the two leagues played separate schedules and named separate MVPs and All-League teams. However, it allowed the teams to market themselves as members of a national league. During the playoffs, except for the West semifinals and the APSL finals, teams played a home and away series. However, they needed to win two games, so in the case of a tie after two games, the teams played a thirty-minute mini-game. If the game remained tied, the two teams would enter a shoot out. A shoot out pitted a field player against the opposing team's goalkeeper. The field player had five seconds to take a shot on goal beginning 35 yards from the goal.

League standings

East (American Soccer League) Conference

Points: *Win: 3 *Shoot out win: 2 *Shoot out loss: 1

Northern Division

Southern Division

----

West (Western Soccer League) Conference

Points: *Win: 6 *Shoot out win: 4 *Shoot out loss: 2 *1 bonus point per goal scored in regulation, maximum of 3 per game

North Division

South Division

East Conference playoffs

East bracket

Semifinal 1

''The Fort Lauderdale Strikers advance to the East Finals.''

Semifinal 2

''The Maryland Bays advance to the East Finals.'' ----

Conference Finals

''The Maryland Bays advance to the APSL Championship.''

West Conference playoffs

West bracket

First Round Series 1

''The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Division Finals.''

First Round Series 2

''The Colorado Foxes advance to the Division Finals.'' ----

Division Finals

''The Los Angeles Heat advance to the Conference Finals.'' ''The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks advance to the Conference Finals.'' ----

Conference Finals

''The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks advance to the APSL Championship.''

APSL Final

''The Maryland Bays win the APSL Championship.''

Combined points leaders

Honors

East (American Soccer League) Conference

* MVP:

Philip Gyau Phillinoisip "Phillip" Gyau (born February 7, 1966) is a former U.S. soccer forward who is the current head coach of the Howard Bison men's soccer program. He spent his outdoor career in the American Soccer League and the American Professiona ...

* Leading goal scorer: Mike Masters * Leading goalkeeper:

Dale Caya Dale Caya is a retired American soccer goalkeeper who was the 1990 American Professional Soccer League Goalkeeper of the Year. Caya attended Temple University, playing on the men's soccer team from 1982 to 1985. In 1988, he played for the amate ...

* Rookie of the Year: Steve Pittman * Coach of the Year:

Thomas Rongen Thomas Eddy Rongen (born 31 October 1956) is a Dutch American football coach who has spent the majority of his playing and coaching career in the United States. In December 2016, he was named Chief Scout of the United States Men's National Team. ...

First Team All League * Goalkeeper:

* Defenders: Steve Pittman,

Paul Mariner Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English football player and coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley. He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he scored ...

, Brian Ainscough,

George Gelnovatch George Gelnovatch (born February 12, 1965) is the men's soccer coach at the University of Virginia. He played professionally in the MISL I, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Professional Soccer League. As head coach, he has led Virginia Cava ...

* Midfielders:

Chico Borja Hernan "Chico" Borja (August 24, 1959 – January 25, 2021) was an Ecuadorian-born American soccer player and coach. He spent time in the several U.S.-based leagues including the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and th ...

Marcelo Carrera Marcelo Carrera (born 1 October 1962) is an Argentine retired footballer who played both indoor and outdoor soccer in the United States for the nearly a dozen teams. Player Carrera began his professional career when he signed with Once Unidos at ...

, David Byrne * Forwards:

Dan Donigan Dan Donigan (born August 3, 1966) is a retired United States soccer forward and former coach who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. Following ...

Jean Harbor Jean Harbor (born 19 September 1965 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a former Nigerian American soccer forward who played for numerous teams in Nigeria and the US He earned fifteen caps with the US national team after becoming a US citizen in 1992. Yout ...

Second Team All League * Goalkeeper:

Arnie Mausser Arnold "Arnie" Mausser (born February 28, 1954) is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played with eight different NASL teams from 1975 to 1984. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Mausser may be considered one of the fin ...

* Defenders: Jimmy McGeough, Jr.,

Chris Reif Chris Reif is a retired American soccer who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League and American Professional Soccer League. Reif graduated from Calvert Hall High School. He attended the University of Connecticut, playing on ...

, Dave Smyth * Midfielders:

Paul Dougherty Paul Dougherty (born 12 May 1966) is an English former professional soccer player and soccer coach who began his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers in England. He then moved to the United States where he became a journeyman player, bouncing ...

Eric Eichmann Eric Eichmann (born May 7, 1965) is an American former soccer player. He played professionally in Germany and the United States and later served as an assistant coach with the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer. He also earned 29 caps and sc ...

Pat O'Kelly Pat O'Kelly (born 31 July 1967 in Dublin) is an Irish former soccer defender who was a two-time first team All-American at Seton Hall University. He played two seasons in the American Professional Soccer League and at least four in the USI ...

* Forwards: Mike Masters, Bruce Murray, Paul Riley ----

West (Western Soccer League) Conference

* MVP: Mark Dodd * Leading goal scorer:

Chance Fry Chance Fry (born June 29, 1964, in Bellevue, Washington) is a retired U.S. soccer forward who began his career straight out of high school with the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League. With the collapse of the NASL, he moved to ...

* Leading goalkeeper: Mark Dodd First Team All League * Goalkeeper: Mark Dodd * Defenders:

Marcelo Balboa Marcelo Balboa (born August 8, 1967) is an American former professional soccer who played as a defender in the 1990s for the United States national team, becoming its captain. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. After retiring ...

, John Doyle,

Robin Fraser Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin ** Forest r ...

, Danny Pena * Midfielders:

Dominic Kinnear Dominic Kinnear (born July 26, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former player. On January 18, 2022, he was named an assistant coach by FC Cincinnati, his first coaching role since serving as the interim head coach of the LA Galaxy. As a p ...

, Fran O'Brien, George Pastor * Forwards:

Mark Kerlin Mark Kerlin (born February 1, 1962) is a retired U.S. soccer forward who spent most of his career in indoor leagues. He also played one season in the Western Soccer League and two in the American Professional Soccer League. Kerlin, brother of ...

, Townsend Qin Second Team All League * Goalkeeper:

Anton Nistl Anton Nistl is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper. He was the 1989 ISAA Goalkeeper of the Year and spent three seasons in the Western Soccer Alliance and one in the American Professional Soccer League. College Nistl attended UCLA where he played ...

* Defenders: Steve Eise,

Paul Krumpe Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, Derek Van Rheenen,

Wade Webber Wade Webber (born January 12, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former player who spent most of his career with clubs in the Pacific Northwest. However, he did see three years in Major League Soccer with the Dallas Burn and Miami Fusion be ...

* Midfielders: John Bain, Mike Fox, Jeff Rogers,

Dzung Tran Dzung Tran is a retired Vietnamese-American soccer player who spent time in the Major Indoor Soccer League, Western Soccer Alliance and National Professional Soccer League. In 1978, Tran, his father and brother, escaped Vietnam after the commu ...

* Forwards:

Scott Benedetti Scott "Benny" Benedetti (born November 13, 1966 in Portland, Oregon) is an American retired soccer player. He began his professional career with the semi-professional F.C. Portland in 1986 and ended it with the U.S. second division club Portla ...

, Paul Wright

References

External links

The Year in American Soccer - 1990

{{USSF D2 soccer seasons APSL/A-League seasons 1