Canadian Professional Soccer League (1983)

The first Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) lasted for just one abridged, 73-day, summer season in 1983.

The league featured the Edmonton Eagles, Hamilton Steelers, Inter-Montreal FC, Mississauga Croatia SC, Calgary Mustangs and Toronto Nationals.

The CPSL season kicked off on 21 May 1983 when Toronto Nationals entertained Inter-Montreal at Varsity Stadium. Competing with the established North American Soccer League, the CPSL failed to attract significant crowds or the attention of the media. By the end of June, just a few weeks into the season, both Toronto Nationals and Inter-Montreal folded. Reduced to four teams the league briefly soldiered on. On 10 July the remaining four teams decided to suspend the league and initiate a best of three play off to decide who would contest a winner take all final on 1 August. Mississauga would face Hamilton and Edmonton would play Calgary. In the final played at Clarke Stadium in Edmonton, Edmonton Eagles defeated Hamilton Steelers 2-0, with goals from John Connor and Carlos Rivas, to finish as champions of the CPSL's only season.

Prominent players included Gordon Hill with Inter-Montreal, Tony Currie with Toronto Nationals and Randy Samuel with Edmonton Eagles.

For further reading see 73 Days - The Story of the Canadian Professional Soccer League (1983) by EJ Huntley

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.