The 1998 Canadian Professional Soccer League season was the inaugural season under the Canadian Professional Soccer League name. The season began on May 31, 1998, and concluded on October 14, 1998, with the

St. Catharines Wolves 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 ...

defeating the

Toronto Olympians Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

in 4-2 victory in a penalty shootout to claim the first

CPSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final or CSL Championship is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North A ...

held at

Centennial Park Stadium Centennial Park Stadium is a 2,200 seat capacity stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is primarily used for soccer, track and field, football and occasionally for kabaddi. The park is also used for the ROPSSAA football finals and the PSAA (Pr ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Though Toronto was denied the

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they still managed to go undefeated the entire regular season, and dominate the league with the best offensive and defensive record. The CPSL was created by an alliance forged by the

Ontario Soccer Association The Ontario Soccer Association, founded in 1901, is one of the oldest and largest sport organizations in Canada. The OSA currently has more than 500,000 registered participants and provides development opportunities for players, coaches, refere ...

with the

Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

in order to implement the Image of the Game Report to provide a suitable professional soccer structure in Ontario and potentially throughout the country for the development of players and to serve as a preliminary league for the North American top tier leagues. During the initial stages of the formation of the league it faced certain difficulties as the schedule was finalized just two weeks prior kickoff. The scheduling problem revolved mainly around the status of Toronto Italia as it disagreed with the league's policy and territory rights. Though they applied for membership it was challenged by

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

over alleged debts being owned to them from the 1995 CNSL season. After refusing to pay the debt Italia withdrew and were refunded of its membership application fee, as a result the CPSL lost one of the country's most prestige clubs. In addition the league received sponsorship from

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

Labatt Labatt Brewing Company Limited (french: La Brasserie Labatt Limitée) is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Int ...

, and

Coffee Time Coffee Time is a chain of Canadian snack and coffee shops, headquartered in Scarborough, Ontario. Coffee Time operates over 100 stores across Canada in Ontario and Alberta. Coffee Time serves coffee along with other specialty drinks, baked go ...

Overview

Origins and foundation (1993–98)

After the demise of 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 ...

in 1992 Canada was without a Division I national professional league. The Canadian soccer landscape was fractured into several different foreign and regional senior leagues. When the CSL ceased operations three of their clubs the

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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

Montreal Supra Montreal Supra was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Canadian Soccer League from 1988 to 1992. History Montreal Supra joined the Canadian Soccer League as an expansion franchise for the league's se ...

joined 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 ...

, which at the time was constituted as the highest tier league in the Canadian soccer structure. While the remaining clubs with the exception of

London Lasers The London Lasers were a professional soccer team in London, Ontario, Canada that played in the original Canadian Soccer League in 1990 and 1992. History The London Lasers were founded in 1990 as an expansion franchise in the Canadian Soccer L ...

joined 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 ...

the country's oldest and only exclusively Canadian professional league. After the addition of the

Winnipeg Fury The Winnipeg Fury were a professional soccer team in Winnipeg, Canada. The team was part of the Canadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1992. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of the CSL. In 1993, they played in the Canadia ...

it changed its name to the Canadian National Soccer League. Though the CNSL was primarily based in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

it operated as a private league for several years after a heated dispute with the Ontario Soccer Association. While other provinces operated with a top senior amateur league Ontario had its own senior league, but was without a sanctioned professional league for its amateur players as the CNSL was considered an outlaw league by the OSA. As a result the OSA completed a study named the Image of the Game in 1995/1996, which led to the plans of launching the Ontario Professional Soccer League as a Division III league in the

Canadian soccer league system The Canadian soccer league system, also called the Canadian soccer pyramid, is a term used in soccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), w ...

. As the OSA failed to bring their project to fruition they settled their differences with the CNSL and formed an alliance to launch the Canadian Professional Soccer League beginning with an Ontario division. The CPSL would serve as the link between the provincial senior leagues to the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

clubs, and provide opportunities for the development of youth players and referees. The intention of the league was to form regional divisions under the CPSL banner with each divisional champion competing in a playoff format for the championship.

Michael Di Biase Michael Di Biase (born 1947) is a Canadian politician who formerly part of the regional council of the city of Vaughan, Ontario as the deputy mayor and mayor. He was first elected to the city's council in 1986. Following the death of Mayor Lorna ...

the CNSL president would serve as the commissioner, and OSA administrator Bill Spiers was named the league's chairman. The founding members included four CNSL clubs London City,

North York Astros The North York Astros were a Canadian soccer team that was founded in 1990. The team initially played in the National Soccer League. The team played their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, a district of the city of Toronto, Cana ...

, and four of the OPSL teams

Glen Shields The Glen Shields Sun Devils were a soccer team which played in the Canadian Professional Soccer League from 1998–2002. They played their home matches in Thornhill, Ontario. The franchise was one of the original teams of the CPSL. Originally f ...

, Mississauga Eagles,

, and

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue and white, mirroring ...

. While the remaining CNSL teams like Toronto Italia,

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, and Kosovo Albanians failed in successfully applying for membership.

Organization

Regulations

The Canadian Professional Soccer League was formed as a result of merger between the OSA stillborn Ontario Professional Soccer League with the Canadian National Soccer League. The original purpose of the alliance was to provide young players an opportunity to embark on a professional career. Originally operated in Ontario with the intention of expanding nationally with a similar provincial setup. Some of these regulations included: * Rosters must have 5 U-20 Canadian players per club. * Starting 11 must include a minimum of 2 U-20 players. * Minimum of a Coaching C License

Teams

Final standings

Rogers Cup playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals

Toronto Olympians advanced to the semi-final as a result of a 2-0 forfeit.

CPSL Championship

Season statistics

Goals

:''Full article:

CSL Golden Boot The Canadian Soccer League Golden Boot is an annual Canadian soccer award given to the top goalscorer for each season in the Canadian Soccer League. The Golden Boot has been awarded since 1998 when the league debuted as the Canadian Professional S ...

Hat-tricks

CPSL Executive Committee

The 1998 CPSL Executive Committee.

Individual awards

The CPSL presented their inaugural team awards on December 18, 1998 at the Soccer Centre in

Woodbridge, Ontario Woodbridge is a very large suburban community in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, along the city's border with Toronto. It occupies the city's entire southwest quadrant, west of Ontario Highway 400, Highway 400, east of Ontario Highway 50, Highway 50, n ...

. The majority of the awards were taken by the former CNSL teams with North York Astros, St. Catharines Wolves, and London City receiving four awards. While the Toronto Olympians with London City won the most awards with two wins. After leading the Olympians to an undefeated regular season David Gee was named the Coach of the Year. The regular season champions had Gus Kouzmanis the 1996 CNSL Rookie of the Year win the Golden Boot. For the third straight season London City managed to produce another Rookie of the Year with Tom Bianchi, and win the Fair Play award for being the most disciplined team.. The remainder of the awards went to North York, and St. Catharines with former CNSL veterans Dino Perri, and Rene Martin taking home the Goalkeeper and MVP awards. The league also gave recognition to the best official by introducing the Referee of the Year award with Bill Teeuwen being its first recipient.

References

External links

Rocket Robin's Home Page of the 1998 CSL Season --Season preview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Professional Soccer League 1998 Season

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

1998 domestic association football leagues Canadian Professional Soccer League