Gus Kouzmanis (born 1975) is a Canadian former soccer player who played in the National Professional Soccer League, and the Canadian Professional Soccer League.

Playing career

Kouzamanis began his career in 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 1996 with the

Toronto Supra SC Toronto was a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its incep ...

. In his debut season with the Supra he helped the club finish third in both regular and cup standings. In the playoffs the Supra faced

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 ...

in the semi-finals, but were eliminated by a score 2-1 on goals on aggregate. At the conclusion of the season he was awarded the CNSL Rookie of the Year award. During the winter of 1995, he played with the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of the National Professional Soccer League. He returned to Toronto in 1997, but an injury kept him out the entire outdoor season. During the winter season he signed with the

Toronto Shooting Stars Toronto Shooting Stars were an indoor soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario that competed in the defunct NPSL. The team began play in the 1996-1997 season, with home games taking place at Maple Leaf Gardens. However, the ownership of the franc ...

, where he appeared in 30 matches and scored 15 goals. In 1998, he signed with

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 ...

of the newly formed Canadian Professional Soccer League. Kouzmanis had a tremendous debut season with the organization he assisted in the club's undefeated season run, and was rewarded with the

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 ...

as finishing as the league's top goalscorer. In the

Open Canada Cup The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional So ...

final match he scored twice to secure the trophy for Toronto in a 3-0 victory over St. Catharines Wolves. As the Olympians reached the CPSL Championship finals there opponents were once more St. Catharines, but this time history would not repeat itself as the Wolves would go on to win the championship 4-2 on penalties. The following season, he repeated Toronto's undefeated season and achieved a

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

- the first CPSL club to record this milestone. He finished third as top goal scorer in the league. In 2000, the Olympians finished once more as regular season, and Open Canada Cup champions, but were defeated 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 ...

in the CPSL Championship final. For the second time in his career he was awarded the CPSL Golden Boot, and thus made history by becoming the only player to have won the award on more than one occasion. In 2001, Kouzmanis requested his release from Toronto after not being guaranteed a starting position. For the remainder of the season he signed with the

Glen Shields Sun Devils 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 ...

and played with the franchise for two seasons. In the 2002 season he played with his brother

Tom Kouzmanis Thomas Kouzmanis (born 22 April 1973) is a Canadian former soccer player who played at both professional and international levels. Kouzmanis played as both a midfielder and a striker. Career Club career Born in East York, Ontario, Kouzmanis ...

, but unfortunately the club failed to reach the postseason.

Achievements

Toronto Olympians *

Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...

(1):

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

(3): 1998, 1999, 2000 * Canadian Professional Soccer League Regular Season Champions (3): 1998, 1999, 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kouzmanis, Gus Living people 1975 births Canadian soccer players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players People from East York, Toronto Soccer players from Toronto Toronto (Mississauga) Olympians players SC Toronto players Toronto Shooting Stars players Wichita Wings (NPSL) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Canadian National Soccer League players York Region Shooters players Association football midfielders