The 1995 A-League season was the sixth

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

season and first after being renamed from the American Professional Soccer League.

Overview

In 1995, the American Professional Soccer League, which was the de facto highest level of U.S. soccer (officially sanctioned U.S. second division) until MLS commenced, changed its name to the A-League. The league had ended its 1994 season with seven teams and intended to expand to ten for the 1995 season with new franchises in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. These plans were stymied when the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

Los Angeles Salsa The Los Angeles Salsa was an American soccer team based in Los Angeles that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the USISL Pro League. The club played on the campus of California State University, Fullerton at Titan Stad ...

and

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 ...

all folded. This left the league with only four teams. The addition of the

New York Centaurs The New York Centaurs were an A-League professional soccer club, based in New York City. The team played only one season in 1995. The New York Fever of the USISL Pro League, debuted in 1994, playing two seasons in the league before merging with ...

and

Atlanta Ruckus Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

gave the league six teams and allowed it to compete for another season. Training camps opened in March and the season began on May 5, 1995, when the

Vancouver 86ers Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

defeated the Atlanta Ruckus. By the time the regular season ended on September 10, 1995, the Montreal Impact had topped the chart. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Ruckus. Seattle defeated Vancouver in the first round, then defeated Atlanta in the final to take their first championship. The league introduced a new scoring system for the regular season. No games ended in a tie. If the score was tied at the end of regulation, every game went to a shootout. A win gained a team three points, a shootout win two points, a shootout loss one point and a loss zero points.

Regular season

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals 1

''The Atlanta Ruckus advance to the finals.'' ----

Semifinals 2

''The Seattle Sounders advance to the finals.'' ----

Final

''The Seattle Sounders win the A-League title.''

Points leaders

Honors

* MVP:

Peter Hattrup Peter Hattrup (born March 31, 1964) is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in Major League Soccer and the USL A-League. Player Youth Hattrup was a four-year starter as a star player for the Seattle Preparatory School boys ...

* Leading goal scorer:

* Leading goalkeeper:

Marcus Hahnemann Marcus Stephen Hahnemann (born June 15, 1972) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Graduating out of Seattle Pacific University, he played for the Seattle Sounders between 1994 and 1996. Between 1997 and ...

* Rookie of the Year:

Giuliano Oliviero Giuliano Oliviero (born February 26, 1974) is a Canadian former soccer midfielder and currently the head coach of the Milwaukee Wave in the Major Arena Soccer League. Outdoor career Club He first began to play professional soccer with the Edmo ...

* Coach of the Year:

Lothar Osiander Lothar Osiander (born November 8, 1939) is a German association football, soccer coach who has served as head coach to the United States men's national soccer team, U.S. national and Olympic teams as well as the Atlanta Ruckus, Los Angeles Galax ...

* Defender of the Year: John Doyle * Official of the Year:

Esfandiar Baharmast Esfandiar "Esse" Baharmast (born March 11, 1954) is a retired Iranian-American football referee best known for supervising two matches during the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France. Career At that tournament, he was briefly vilified for giving a ...

* First Team All League **Goalkeeper:

**Defenders:

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 rob ...

, John Doyle, Steve Trittschuh **Midfielders:

Dan Calichman Daniel Jacob Calichman (born February 21, 1968) is an American soccer coach and retired player. He played as a defender and is an assistant coach for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. Playing career College Calichman played college soccer at W ...

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 th ...

Geoff Aunger Geoffrey "Geoff" Edward Ramer Aunger (born 4 February 1968 in Red Deer, Alberta) is a former Canadian soccer player. He played in various Canadian leagues and the lower tiers of the English leagues system before playing in the United States in ...

**Forwards: Lloyd Barker, Staale Soebye

References

External links

The Year in American Soccer – 1995

{{DEFAULTSORT:A-League 1995 1995 in American soccer leagues 1995 in Canadian soccer

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...