The 2006 Canadian Soccer League season was the 9th season for the Canadian Soccer League. The season began on May 19, 2006, and concluded on October 15, 2006, with Italia Shooters defeating Serbian White Eagles, 1–0, at Esther Shiner Stadium to win their first CSL Championship. In the regular season Serbia clinched the International Division, and Oakville Blue Devils secured their first National Division title. The league was re-branded as the Canadian Soccer League, and renamed their two existing conferences into the International and National division. The changes brought about an increase in sponsorship, media coverage, and a 50% increase in attendance. The CSL also received greater autonomy from the Ontario Soccer Association. The league struck an agreement with the Toronto Community News which provided coverage for the league and its member clubs through their nine community newspapers.
Changes from 2005 season The Canadian Professional Soccer League changed their name to the Canadian Soccer League. Two new conferences were created International, and National, replacing the Eastern, and Western conferences. The Vaughan Shooters changed their name to Italia Shooters and Toronto Supra changed their name to Toronto Supra Portuguese. Both joined the newly created international division, re-kindling the spirit of the National Soccer League. The Serbian White Eagles, and the Caribbean Selects began play as an expansion franchise in the International Conference. The White Eagles played under the same name in the CSL's predecessor league the National Soccer League in 1974. The Hamilton Thunder, and the Durham Storm had their franchises revoked. Most of the matches were scheduled for the weekend in order to save travel expenses for the clubs, and the league eliminated the playoff wildcard match for the host club.
Teams Team City Stadium Manager Brampton Stallions Brampton, Ontario (Bramalea) Victoria Park Stadium Paul Dhillon Caribbean Selects Toronto, Ontario (Liberty Village) Lamport Stadium Corcel Blair Jr. Italia Shooters Vaughan, Ontario (Woodbridge) Ontario Soccer Centre Carmine Isacco London City London, Ontario (Westmount) Cove Road Stadium Harry Gauss Laval Dynamites Laval, Quebec Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne Jawad El Andaloussi North York Astros Toronto, Ontario (North York) Esther Shiner Stadium Pavel Zaslavski Oakville Blue Devils Oakville, Ontario (Bronte) Bronte Stadium Phil Ionadi Serbian White Eagles Toronto, Ontario (Etobicoke) Centennial Park Stadium Dragoslav Šekularac St. Catharines Wolves St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle) Club Roma Stadium Miro Marjanovic Toronto Croatia Mississauga, Ontario (Streetsville) Memorial Park Mladen Pralija Toronto Supra Portuguese Toronto, Ontario (Brockton) Brockton Stadium Jose Testas Windsor Border Stars Windsor, Ontario Windsor Stadium Pat Hilton
Final standings International Division
National Division
CSL Championship playoffs
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
CSL Championship
GK 23 Dušan Belić RB 2 Siniša Ninković CB 8 Nenad Stojčić LB 6 Mirko Medić RM 16 Joshua Gordon CM 10 Božo Milić CM 13 Nikola Budalic LM 21 Alex Braletic ST 11 Gabriel Pop ST 9 Saša Viciknez (c) ST 15 Miloš Šćepanović Substitutes:GK 1 Miodrag Bogdanović DF 4 Marc Jankovic DF 5 Nikola Lukić DF 7 Mario Ostojić MF 12 Uroš Predić MF 20 Milan Janošević FW 22 Dragan Radović Manager: Dragoslav Šekularac GK 0Camilo Benzi RB 22 Angelo Pollastrone (c) CB 12 Alvaro Yaques LB 11 Fitzroy ChristeyRM 15 Luke Stedmond CM 24 Anthony Adur CM 13 Frank Bruno CM 18Bill Androutsos LM 25 Sean Myers FW 21 Luca Forno FW 9 Jason De Thomasis Substitutes:GK 1Pablo Alvarado DF 6 Franco Ruscetta DF 3Diego Cardona MF 10Josue Jaramillo FW 14Remone Metyas FW 20Rob Black FW 23Aundrae Rollins Manager: Tony De Thomasis Assistant referees: Amato DeLuca Vito Curalli Fourth official: Yusri Rudolf
All-Star Game Clyde F.C. of the Scottish First Division conducted a Canadian tour, where they played two matches the first match against Windsor Border Stars and the second against a CSL All-Star team assembled by Velemir Crljen. The match was played at Esther Shiner Stadium at North York, Toronto. GK 23 George Azcurra RB 22 Antonijo Župan (c)CB 25 Orlin Chalmers LB 4 Domagoj Šain RM 12 Danny Draganic CM 17 Desmond Humphrey CM 16 Caswain Mason CM 13 Hayden Fitzwilliams LM 19 Fitzroy Christey ST 10 Peter Curic ST 18 Saša Viciknez Substitutes:GK 1 Dušan Belić GK 21 Haidar Al-Shaïbani DF 15 Deny Velastegui DF 2 Mirko Medić DF 7 Mario Ostojić DF 3 Zeljko Dukic MF 6 Selmir Sehic MF 8 Gentjan Dervishi MF 11 Eris Tafaj MF 24 Geoffrey Attard FW 17 Judah Hernandez FW 5 Alex Braletic FW 14 Jean Tshimpaka Manager: Velimir Crljen GK 1 Peter Cherrie RB 5 Craig McKeown CB 2 Neil McGregorCB 4 Chris Higgins LB 3 Dougie Imrie RM 11 Michael McGowan CM 6 Kevin McDonald CM 7 Steven Masterton LM 8 Stephen O'Donnell FW 10 Tom Brighton FW 9 Alex Williams Substitutes:GK 17 Paul Jarvie DF 12 Bob Harris MF 15 Kevin Bradley MF 16 Paul McHale MF 19 Ian Sinclair FW 14 Gary Arbuckle Manager: Graham Roberts
Assistant referees: Amato DeLuca Mike Roecken Fourth official: Vito Curalli
Top goal scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Gabriel PopSerbian White Eagles272 Saša Viciknez Serbian White Eagles233 Castro UarlemToronto Supra Portuguese204 Hayden FitzwilliamsToronto Croatia125 Tomislav PlesToronto Croatia116 Sam HassamOakville Blue Devils107 Rachid MadkourLaval Dynamites98 Hugo HerreraBrampton Stallions89 Petro CzoliOakville Blue Devils810 Micheal DiLucaToronto Supra Portuguese8 Updated: September 30, 2006 Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070203180901/http://cpsl.org/stats.asp
CSL Executive Committee and Staff The 2006 CSL Executive Committee. PositionNameNationalityCommissioner: Cary Kaplan CanadianExecutive Director: Stan Adamson EnglishDirector of Discipline: Clifford Dell CanadianDirector of Officials: Walter Kirchner RomanianDirector of Marketing: John Marsico CanadianOffice Manager: Janet Leonard CanadianAdministration/PR: Stephen McCaffrey CanadianReferee-in-Chief: Hugh Elliott CanadianCommunity Services: Peter Li Preti CanadianLegal Counsel: Ira Greenspoon CanadianFinancial Auditor: John Morgan Canadian
Awards
The annual CSL awards ceremony was held at the La Contessa Banquet Hall on October 22, 2006 in North York, Toronto. The majority of the awards were taken by the International Division teams. The league chose Sasa Viciknez as its MVP, a former Serbian football veteran who played in the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League. Romanian import Gabriel Pop took the Golden Boot for the White Eagles. The Goalkeeper of the Year went to George Azcurra of Toronto Croatia, which marked his fifth award a record amount.
Due to his longstanding dedication to the league Toronto Supra Portuguese owner Isac Cambas was given the President of the Year award. Supra's Uarlem Castro was named the Rookie of the Year after finishing as the third highest goalscorer in the league. After defying the odds in the championship final by defeating a team stacked with European football experience, Tony De Thomasis was presented with the Coach of the Year award. Expansion franchise Caribbean Selects were given the Fair Pay award, and Mercy Watfa was named the Referee of the Year. Award Player (Club) CSL Most Valuable Player Saša Viciknez (Serbian White Eagles) CSL Golden Boot Gabriel Pop (Serbian White Eagles) CSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award George Azcurra (Toronto Croatia) CSL Defender of the Year Award Fil Rocca (Windsor Border Stars) CSL Rookie of the Year Award Uarlem Castro (Toronto Supra Portuguese) CSL Coach of the Year Award Tony De Thomasis (Italia Shooters) CSL President of the Year Award Isac Cambas (Toronto Supra Portuguese) CSL Referee of the Year Award Mercy Watfa CSL Fair Play Award Caribbean Selects
References
External links Rocket Robin's Home Page of the 2006 CSL Season