Canadian Soccer League

For the previous league with the same name, see Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992).
Canadian Soccer League
Country Canada
Confederation Non-FIFA
Founded 1926 (as NSL)[1]
1992 (as CNSL)[1]
1998 (as the CPSL)
2006 (as the CSL)
Divisions CSL First Division
CSL Second Division
Number of teams 23 (12 1st Div, 11 2nd Div)
Level on pyramid N/A
Domestic cup(s) Givova Cup
Current champions York Region Shooters
(2014)
Most championships Toronto Croatia (9 titles)
(1st in 1970)[1]
TV partners Rogers Television
Website Official CSL website
CSL 2014

The Canadian Soccer League (CSL) is an unsanctioned semi-professional soccer league in Canada. It was formerly sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association but now has affiliated itself with the organization known as Soccer Federation of Canada (SFC).[2] It was formerly known as the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL),[3] and was officially re-branded on May 17, 2006. CSL teams do not currently participate in the Canadian Championship, which determines the Canadian entry into the CONCACAF Champions League, and cannot participate in any FIFA-sanctioned events.

Despite its name, the CSL is not a national league as the teams are located in Southern Ontario. The Canadian Soccer League also operates a reserve league, the CSL Reserve Division.[4]

Competition format

The Canadian Soccer League season runs from April/May through October/November annually. There are currently 12 teams in the league that compete in a single table format. Teams play a balanced schedule of 22 games, with the top 8 ranked teams advancing to the playoffs. The playoffs operate as a two-leg quarterfinal home and away series, followed by a one-game semi-final for the four surviving teams and a one-game final to crown the CSL Champions.

History

For the previous league with the same name, see Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992).
Old CPSL logo (19982005)

The CSL's first season was in 2006. The forerunner of the CSL, the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) played its first season in 1998[5] by amalgamating four teams from the Canadian National Soccer League namely St. Catharines Wolves, North York Astros, London City, and Toronto Croatia with four expansion franchises (Mississauga, York Region Shooters, Glen Shields and Toronto Olympians).

In 2006, the change to the CSL was more than merely a cosmetic alteration. An international division was added, including bringing the Serbian White Eagles into the league, a new set of rules, regulations and a new constitution were established, the schedule format was changed, and the relationship with the OSA and QSF was upgraded; in early 2008, the CSL and the OSA established a "Memorandum of Understanding" which provided the CSL with an increased level of autonomy and independence from the governing body.[6]

The league was re-branded and managed by former Hamilton Bulldogs president, Cary Kaplan (First CSL Commissioner), and veteran soccer executive Stan Adamson (Executive Director) from its inception.

2007 saw the debut of the Trois-Rivières Attak, replacing the Laval Dynamites franchise. The team was the junior/reserve side for the Montreal Impact USL Squad. In 2008, Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, and owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, entered their Academy Team (TFC Academy) into the CSL. As a result, the CSL is now affiliated with two of Canada's top three professional soccer franchises.

On May 12, 2009, the CSL formally announced that they had received conditional approval to be in membership with the CSA as Canada's national professional league. The vote by the CSA Board was unanimous by all provinces and territories. This the first league to receive this endorsement from the CSA in 16 years.

Following four and a half years as Commissioner, Cary Kaplan resigned following the 2009 Championship Game. Accomplishments during his tenure included rebranding as CSL, affiliation with Toronto FC and Montreal Impact; establishment of a Reserve Division; establishment of Television contract with Rogers and official recognition and approval from CSA.

Domenic De Gironimo was named as his replacement. Shortly following the completion of the 2010 final, De Gironimo announced his resignation from the league after only one season at the helm; citing irreconcilable differences.

Vince Ursini, who previously was Chairman of the former CNSL/CPSL until 2004, followed him in 2011. Mississauga, Ottawa, Kingston, Waterloo, Niagara and Windsor were all added to the CSL under Ursini's watch, expanding the league's membership to 16, the highest in several years.

Match-fixing controversy

On September 12, 2012, the CBC reported that a CSL game between the Trois-Rivières Attak and Toronto Croatia held in September 2009 was fixed.[7] The report, which aired on the news program The National, revealed court documents showing that €15,000 ($18,000 CDN) in bribes were paid to several players on Toronto Croatia. The game was part of a larger match-fixing scandal in Europe in which six people were convicted.

On January 31, 2013, the Canadian Soccer Association announced they were withdrawing support of the league.[8] On March 5, 2013, CSA formally decertified the league, however, due to adopting recommendations from the Rethink Management Report, and not from match-fixing. The league, however, fought the decertification based upon the failure of the CSA to provide adequate notice to the CSL and an opportunity for the league to comment on the CSA's approach. An arbiter agreed with the CSL and denied the CSA's attempt to decertify the league in 2013, allowing the CSL to play its 2013 season under CSA governance.[9] Following the January 31, 2013 announcement, the Toronto FC academy teams withdrew from the league, followed by the Montreal Impact academy team.

On October 14, 2015, The International Centre for Sport Security released a report claiming that 42% of matches in the 2015 showed signs of suspicious betting activity, resulting in an estimated £4.5 million in potential "fraudulent betting profits".[10] All 12 teams had played in “suspicious” games on at least three occasions each. The report stated: “In the experience of the ICSS, the CSL has become a type of ‘rogue league’ that has not been seen before.”

On February 2, 2016 it was announced that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police opened investigations in the alleged match fixing in the CSL.[11] The CSL welcomed the RCMP investigations, and has taken measures to monitor all games during the upcoming 2016 season.[12]

Current teams

These are the teams from the 2014 season:

Team City Stadium Founded
First Division
North York Astros North York, Ontario Esther Shiner Stadium 1990
Brampton City United Brampton, Ontario Victoria Park Stadium 2002
Kingston FC Kingston, Ontario Queen's West Field 2012
London City London, Ontario Hellenic Com Centre 1973
Niagara United Niagara Falls, Ontario Kalar Sports Park 2011
Burlington SC Burlington, Ontario Nelson Stadium 2013
SC Waterloo Region Waterloo, Ontario Warrior Field 2012
Serbian White Eagles FC Etobicoke, Ontario Lamport Stadium
Toronto Croatia Mississauga, Ontario Hershey Field 1956
York Region Shooters Vaughan, Ontario St. Joan of Arc Field 1998
Second Division
Brampton City United B Brampton, Ontario Victoria Park Stadium 2002
Burlington SC B Burlington, Ontario Sherwood East 2013
Kingston FC B Kingston, Ontario Queen's West Field 2012
Milton FC Milton, Ontario Bishop Reding 2014
Niagara United B Niagara Falls, Ontario Kalar Sports Park 2011
SC Waterloo Region B Waterloo, Ontario Warrior Field 2012
Serbian White Eagles B Etobicoke, Ontario Eglinton Flats 1968
Toronto Croatia B Mississauga, Ontario Hershey Field 1956
Winstars Shooters FC Woodbridge, Ontario St. Joan of Arc Field 2014
York Region Shooters B Vaughan, Ontario St. Joan of Arc Field 1998

CSL league executives

Championship finals

For more details on this topic, see Canadian Soccer League championship final.

This is a list of all Championship finals played so far. The final was called Rogers Cup from 1998 to 2009. Since 2010 it's called the Givova Cup due to sponsorship change.

Year Champion Score Runner-up
1998 St. Catharines Wolves 2–2 (aet) 4–2 (p) Toronto Olympians
1999 Toronto Olympians 2–0 Toronto Croatia
2000 Toronto Croatia 2–1 Toronto Olympians
2001 St. Catharines Wolves 1–0 Toronto Supra
2002 Ottawa Wizards 2–0 North York Astros
2003 Brampton Hitmen 1–0Vaughan Shooters
2004 Toronto Croatia 4–0 Vaughan Shooters
2005 Oakville Blue Devils 2–1 (aet)Vaughan Shooters
2006 Italia Shooters 1–0 Serbian White Eagles
2007 Toronto Croatia 4–1 / 0–0 (4–1 Aggregate)Serbian White Eagles
2008 Serbian White Eagles 2–2 (aet) 2–1 (p) Trois-Rivières Attak
2009 Trois-Rivières Attak 0–0 (aet) 3–2 (p) Serbian White Eagles
2010 Brantford Galaxy SC 3–0 Hamilton Croatia
2011 Toronto Croatia 1–0 Capital City F.C.
2012 Toronto Croatia 1–0 Montreal Impact Academy
2013 SC Waterloo Region 3–1 Kingston FC
2014 York Region Shooters 1–1 (aet) 5–4 (p) Toronto Croatia
2015 Toronto Croatia 1–0 SC Waterloo Region

All Time (1998–12) CPSL/CSL Regular Season Records By Clubs

(Pts)
#
Club
[13]
Seasons
GP
W
D
L
F
A
GD
Pts
PPG
(PPG)
#
1st
2nd
1 Toronto Croatia 16 (1998–) 321 169 78 74 641 400 +241 585 1.82 5 1 4
2 York Region Shooters 16 (1998–) 321 154 78 89 600 426 +174 540 1.68 9 2 2
3 SC Toronto 12 (2001–2012) 257 117 66 74 516 363 +153 417 1.62 11 2
4 Brampton United 12 (2002–) 257 112 56 89 509 392 +117 392 1.53 14 1
5 St. Catharines Wolves 16 (1998–) 321 107 68 146 426 611 −185 389 1.21 19 3
6 Serbian White Eagles 8 (2006–) 178 97 38 43 356 200 +156 329 1.85 3 2 2
7 Trois-Rivières Attak 8 (2001–03), (2005–2009) 165 86 34 45 331 217 +114 292 1.77 7 2 1
8 Astros Vasas FC 16 (1998–) 320 73 59 188 413 750 −337 278 0.87 24
9 London City 16 (1998–) 321 63 64 194 414 852 −438 253 0.79 26
10 Durham Storm 8 (1998-05) 143 69 15 59 319 266 +53 222 1.55 12 3 1
11 Windsor Stars 8 (2004–08, 2011-) 178 60 34 84 283 319 −36 214 1.20 21
12 Brampton Stallions 6 (2001–06) 123 43 31 49 191 205 −14 160 1.30 17
13 TFC Academy 5 (2008–2012) 111 40 23 48 180 176 +4 143 1.29 18
14 Ottawa Wizards 3 (2001–03) 59 44 10 5 159 39 +120 142 2.41 1 3
15 Hamilton Thunder 4 (2002–05) 79 38 22 19 147 88 +59 136 1.72 8 1
16 Montreal Impact Academy 3 (2010–2012) 72 34 17 21 143 91 +52 119 1.65 10 1
17 Brantford Galaxy SC 3 (2010–2012) 72 26 9 37 118 172 −54 87 1.21 20
18 Mississauga Eagles FC 3 (1998, 2011-2012) 62 24 9 29 115 117 −2 81 1.31 16
19 Durham Flames 5 (1999-03) 87 20 14 53 136 231 −95 74 0.85 25
20 SC Waterloo Region 2 (2012-) 44 21 5 18 98 70 +28 68 1.55 13
21 Kingston FC 2 (2012-) 44 20 3 21 92 91 +1 63 1.43 15 1
22 Capital City F.C. 1 (2011) 26 15 7 4 52 22 +30 52 2.00 2
23 Niagara United 2 (2012-) 44 13 7 24 61 90 -29 46 1.05 22
24 Hamilton Croatia 1 (2010) 24 13 5 6 51 27 +24 44 1.83 4
25 Milltown FC 1 (2010) 24 12 7 5 43 22 +21 43 1.79 6
26 Burlington SC 1 (2013-) 22 7 0 15 34 56 −22 21 0.95 23
27 Caribbean Selects 1 (2006) 22 1 3 18 15 87 −72 6 0.18 27

All Time (1998–2012) CPSL/CSL Playoff Records By Clubs

(Pts)
#
Club
[14]
Playoffs
Reached
vs
Seasons
Played
GP
W
D
L
F
A
GD
Pts
PPG
Rank
(by
Champions,
Runners-up,
PPG)
1st
2nd
1 Toronto Croatia 14/16 36 24 4 8 75 33 +42 76 2,111 1 5 1
2 York Region Shooters 13/16 30 14 4 12 50 48 +2 46 1,533 3 1 3
3 Serbian White Eagles 8/8 24 11 2 8 38 33 +5 35 1,458 4 1 3
4 Durham Storm 5/9 11 7 1 3 27 16 +11 22 2,000 5 1 2
5 Trois-Rivières Attak 7/8 13 7 1 5 27 17 +10 22 1,692 6 1 1
6 St. Catharines Wolves 6/16 12 4 2 6 15 20 −5 14 1,167 2 2
7 Brampton United 9/12 14 4 2 8 15 29 −14 14 1,000 11 1
8 SC Toronto 9/12 15 4 1 10 19 38 −19 13 0,867 16 1
9 Brantford Galaxy SC 1/3 4 3 1 0 9 3 +6 10 2,500 7 1
10 Hamilton Croatia 1/1 4 3 0 1 5 4 +1 9 2,250 12 1
11 SC Waterloo Region 1/2 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7 2,333 8 1
12 Capital City F.C. 1/1 4 2 1 1 8 3 +5 7 1,750 14 1
13 Brampton Stallions 3/6 5 2 1 2 5 7 −2 7 1,400 10 1
14 Montreal Impact Academy 2/3 5 2 1 2 7 5 +2 7 1,400 15 1
15 Kingston FC 1/1 3 2 0 1 7 6 +1 6 2,000 13 1
16 Ottawa Wizards 3/3 4 2 0 2 5 6 −1 6 1,500 9 1
17 Astros Vasas FC 5/16 8 2 0 6 8 16 −8 6 0,750 17 1
18 London City 3/16 5 0 3 2 6 10 −4 3 0,600 18
19 Windsor Stars 6/8 7 1 0 6 6 20 −14 3 0,429 20
20 Milltown FC 1/1 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1 0,500 19
21 Niagara United 1/2 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0 0,000 21
22 Hamilton Thunder 4/4 4 0 0 4 2 7 −5 0 0,000 22
23 Mississauga Eagles FC 1/3 2 0 0 2 1 8 −7 0 0,000 23
24 TFC Academy 3/5 5 0 0 5 2 10 −8 0 0,000 24

Ten Best Seasons (2001–Current: 18 games played or more)

Rank
Club
Year
GP
W
D
L
Pts
PPG
Playoff Result
1 Serbian White Eagles 2006 22 17 4 1 55 2.50 Lost Final
2 Ottawa Wizards 2002 19 15 2 2 47 2.47 Won Championship
3 Ottawa Wizards 2003 18 13 5 0 44 2.44 Lost Semi-final
4 SC Toronto 2011 26 20 3 3 63 2.42 Lost Quarter-Final
5 Toronto Croatia 2012 22 15 6 1 51 2.32 Won Championship
Vaughan Shooters 2005 22 16 3 3 51 2.32 Lost Final
Ottawa Wizards 2001 22 16 3 3 51 2.32 Lost Semi-final
8 Toronto Supra 2004 20 14 4 2 46 2.30 Lost Semi-final
9 Toronto Croatia 2011 26 18 5 3 59 2.27 Won Championship
Kingston FC 2013 22 16 2 4 50 2.27 Lost Final

Complete team list

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "CSL past Champions". February 13, 2010.
  2. "Canadian Soccer League joins Newly-Formed Soccer Federation". canadiansoccerleague.ca. February 13, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
  3. Avey, Brian (August 20, 1997). "New Professional Soccer League Launched Canadian Professional Soccer League (Ontario Division) Will Kick-off in 1998". Ontario Soccer Association. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
  4. Archived October 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. Da Costa, Norman (August 21, 1997). "Canada to kick off pro league in May.". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
  6. "CSL agreement means more independence". canadiansoccerleague.ca. February 28, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  7. "EXCLUSIVE | Canadian soccer match fixed by global crime syndicate - Canada - CBC News". Cbc.ca. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  8. Rycroft, Ben (January 31, 2013). "CSA cuts ties with Canadian Soccer League". CBC. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  9. "Canadian Soccer League". Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  10. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/11932437/Revealed-Entire-rogue-league-corrupted-by-match-fixing.html
  11. Westhead, Rick (2016-02-02). "RCMP opens investigation into Canadian Soccer League". TSN. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  12. "CSL WELCOMES RCMP INVESTIGATION | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  13. The latest names are used for clubs who had name changes, e.g. York Region was formerly known as Italia Shooters.
  14. The latest names are used for clubs who had name changes, e.g. Italia Shooters was formerly known as Vaughan Shooters.

External links

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