The 2003 Open Canada Cup was the 6th edition of the Canadian Professional Soccer League's open league cup tournament, running from mid-May through early September. London City defeated Metro Lions 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the final played at the Cove Road Stadium, London, Ontario. The victory gave London its first piece of silverware and brought an end to the Ottawa Wizards' Canada Cup dynasty. The 2003 edition of the Canada Cup was a historical milestone achieved by the CPSL by opening the tournament to all Canadian professional and amateur clubs to provide a potential candidate for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and a $10,000 reward for the champion. The last time a Canadian club competed in the Champions' Cup was in the 1976 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, represented by Toronto Italia of the National Soccer League, the predecessor league of the CPSL.
The tournament featured several clubs from the Ontario League, Ottawa Carleton Soccer League, Western Ontario League, and the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec. The Ontario amateur clubs began the tournament in the preliminary rounds, and the CPSL & LSEQ clubs were given a bye to the second round. While defending champions Ottawa Wizards received an automatic bye to the quarterfinals. For the second straight year, London City were awarded the hosting rights to the finals, which granted them a wild card match if they were defeated in the earlier rounds. Despite the CPSL's successful attempt in organizing a national tournament, the competition was without controversy. The controversy stemmed from a dispute involving the Ottawa Wizards with the CPSL's board of directors over the hosting rights for the finals. After failing to confirm their participation in the later rounds of the tournament, the league removed Ottawa from the competition, and in return, Ottawa threatened to obtain an injunction. The dispute eventually reached the Superior Court of Justice, which ruled in favor of the CPSL decision and allowed the tournament to proceed without the participation of Ottawa.
Qualification Enter in Preliminary Round Enter in Second Round Enter in Quarter-final OSL/OCSL/WOSL5 teams/1 team/2 teams CPSL/LSEQ12 teams/1 team CPSL1 teamOntario Soccer League Real Richmond Hill Toronto Benfica Toronto Peniche Whitby Iroquois SC Woodbridge Azzuri
Ottawa Carleton Soccer League Kanata
Western Ontario Soccer League AEK London Exeter CentennialsCanadian Professional Soccer League Brampton Hitmen Durham Flames Hamilton Thunder Laval Dynamites London City Metro Lions Mississauga Olympians North York Astros St. Catharines Wolves Toronto Croatia Toronto Supra Vaughan Sun Devils
Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec FC Levski MontrealCanadian Professional Soccer League Ottawa Wizards
First round
Second round
Quarter-final
Wild Card Game
Semi-final
Final
GK 21 Haidar Al-Shaibani RB 2 Erald PopeCB 34 Marco Peeters LB 6 Justin MedeirosRM 8 Gentian Dervishi CM 24 Tonino Commisso (c) CM 5 Mark BoydLM 19 Jeff Russell ST 10 Andrew Loague CF 20 Ermal Murataj ST 11 Eris Tafaj Substitutes:DF 3 Erik Elmauer MF 12 Ken Kopko ST 18 Jermaine Shakes MF 26 Keith Andrew MF 35 Luan Jonuzi Manager: Harry Gauss GK 25 Gregory Drakes RB 14 Kevin RickettsCB 16 O'Neil Brown (c) LB 4 Jason BakerRM 12 Michael Levkov CM 20 Maxim Dorneval CM 8 Kareem ReynoldsCM 7 Caswain Mason LM 9 Darryl Gomez ST 19 Craig Patton ST 10 Hayden Fitzwilliams Substitutes:DF 13 Anton Skerritt MF 22 Christopher Clarke FW 5 Ilan Friedman MF 6 Marko Janjicek Manager: Goran Miscevic
Man of the Match: Justin Medeiros (London City)
Assistant referees: Amato DeLuca Justin Tasev Fourth official: Vito Curalli
Top scorers
Position Player Club Goals 1 Craig Patton Metro Lions 4 2Eris Tafaj London City 3 Darryl Gomez Metro Lions 3 Andrew Loague London City 3
References