The 1993 Canadian National Soccer League season was the seventy-first season for the Canadian National Soccer League. The season concluded on October 17, 1993, with

St. Catharines Roma St. Catharines Roma Wolves (also known as St. Catharines Wolves or simply Roma Wolves), are a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1967. The team currently plays in the semi-professional League1 Ontario in both the men's and women's divisions. The ...

claiming their first CNSL Championship after defeating

Toronto Rockets The Toronto Rocket (TR) train is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transpo ...

in a two-game series. Toronto Croatia secured their fifth CNSL league cup. The season was significant as the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

(CSL) merged with the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

(NSL), which renamed the league the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). As the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

suspended the CSL on April 30, 1993, their remaining clubs joined the CNSL. The new additions included the Winnipeg Fury, which marked the league's first entry into Manitoba, and the reintroduction of a Quebec division making the league operative in three provinces.

Overview

After the defections of the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

, and Vancouver 86ers to the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

the main

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of the Montreal Supra split with the front office to form another APSL franchise. These actions along with the financial crisis the

was experiencing caused the league to merge its interests with the

. The merger resulted in a name change to the Canadian National Soccer League with the additions of the North York Rockets (changed to

), Winnipeg Fury, and the introduction of a Quebec division to house the former Quebec National Soccer League (LNSQ) clubs. As a result of the changes to the Canadian soccer landscape, the

recognized the APSL as the top tier in the country with the intention of designating the CNSL as a secondary league. After a meeting conducted with representatives from both parties, the CNSL failed to receive sanctioning from the CSA. On April 30, 1993, the CSA officially suspended the CSL for one season, with the CSL in response sanctioning the CNSL for the 1993 season. Woodbridge Azzuri was suspended after failing to secure a proper facility according to league standards. The executive committee of the league included Laurie McIvor as president, Rocco LoFranco as commissioner, Armando DiFruscio as vice president, and Harry Gauss with Tony Fontana as directors. Winnipeg experienced a tumultuous season in terms of fiscal operations as they struggled in making payments, and even applied to the provincial government for a grant to fulfill their league commitments.

Teams

Coaching changes

Final standings

Eastern Division

Western Division

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

''Toronto won the series 5–0 on aggregate.'' ''Montreal won the series 8–2 on aggregate.'' ''Toronto Jets won the series 4–3 on aggregate.'' ''St. Catharines won the series 4–3 on aggregate.''

Semifinals

''Toronto won the series 6–1 on aggregate.'' ''St. Catharines won the series 2–0 on aggregate.''

Final

Cup

The cup tournament was a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all fourteen teams took part. All the matches were separate from the regular season, and the teams were grouped into two separate divisions.

Finals

''Toronto won the series 5–1 on aggregate.''

Individual awards

The 1993 annual CNSL awards were held at Auberge Universel in

Sherbrooke, Quebec Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

with the nominations announced on October 22, 1993. The awards were presented on November 3, 1993, with Montreal Croatia receiving the most accolades. The Golden Boot was shared between Dwayne Dear and Tomasz Radzinski with both finishing with 15 goals in their respective divisions. Radzinski would ultimately play in noted leagues such as the Belgian First Division, and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. Montreal Croatia's Zoran Petkovic was named the MVP and Krunoslav Piperkovic was given the Most Sportsmanlike Award. After securing the Eastern division title for Croatia the Coach of the Year went to Simon Demo along with the Team of the Year award. The Montreal Ramblers finished second with three awards with Charlie Mohamed being named the Goalkeeper of the Year, and Paul Daccobert was recognized as the Rookie of the Year and would later play in the

USISL Pro League The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

. The Ramblers also received the Most Technical award, while Corfinium St-Leonard received the Most Improved award. The remainder of the awards went to Cosmos de LaSalle as Best Administration and Manuel Sosa was given the Best Referee award.

References

External links

RSSSF CNSL pagethecnsl.com - 1993 season
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian National Soccer League 1993 Season 1993–94 domestic association football leagues Canadian National Soccer League

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...