The 1989 Canadian Soccer League season was the third season of play for the Canadian Soccer League, a Division 1 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid.
Format and changes from previous season The Victoria Vistas joined the Canadian Soccer League as an expansion team for the 1990 season, joining the West Division. The divisions were now even with five teams each.
The Calgary Kickers folded following the 1988 season, but the club was replaced by a community-owned team called the Calgary Strikers.
Similar to the previous season, the teams played an unbalanced schedule with two-thirds of a team's matches coming against teams in their own division(4 matches each) and one-third against the opposite division (2 matches each) for a total of 26 matches. Following the season, the top three teams in each division would advance to the playoffs, with the division leaders earning a first round bye, to designate a national champion club. This season would see the first two rounds of the playoffs being played in two-legged times determined by aggregate score, while the final would remain a single match championship final.
Summary Vancouver repeated as West Division champions, while Toronto won their first East Division title. Hamilton reached the final despite for the third consecutive year, where they faced Vancouver for the second year in a row, with the 86ers repeating as champions.
Vancouver was dominant again, losing but two regular-season matches en route to a second straight victory over Hamilton in the championship game. The 86ers went 46 consecutive games from the previous season into this one without losing, which is a record for a professional sports team in Canada.
Regular season East Division
West Division
Overall
Playoffs
Quarterfinal
Edmonton Brick Men won 3–1 on aggregate.
Hamilton Steelers won 2–1 on aggregate.
Semifinal
Vancouver 86ers won 9–3 on aggregate.
Hamilton Steelers won 3–2 on aggregate.
Final
Statistics Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Ted Eck Ottawa Intrepid 212 Justin Fashanu Edmonton Brick Men 173 Amadeo Gasparini Hamilton Steelers 154 Vladan Tomić North York Rockets 145 Billy Domazetis Hamilton Steelers 136 Andy Smith Calgary Strikers 11Reference:
Top goaltenders Rank Player Club GAA1 Paolo Ceccarelli North York Rockets 0.582 Paul Dolan Hamilton Steelers 1.003 Pat Harrington Toronto Blizzard 1.044 Pat Onstad Winnipeg Fury 1.205 Don Ferguson North York Rockets 1.23Reference:
Honours The following awards and nominations were awarded for the 1989 season. Award Player TeamMost Valuable Player Justin Fashanu Edmonton Brick MenRookie of the Year Paul Peschisolido Toronto Blizzard
League All-Stars Player Position Pat Harrington (Toronto Blizzard) Goalkeeper Steve MacDonald (Vancouver 86ers) Defender Peter Sarantopoulos (North York Rockets) Defender Drew Ferguson (Hamilton Steelers) Defender Trevor McCallum (Toronto Blizzard) Defender Paul James (Ottawa Intrepid) Midfielder Carl Valentine (Vancouver 86ers) Midfielder Vladan Tomić (North York Rockets) Midfielder Ted Eck (Ottawa Intrepid) Forward Justin Fashanu (Edmonton Brick Men) Forward Amadeo Gasparini (Hamilton Steelers) Forward
Reserves Player Position Paul Dolan (Hamilton Steelers) Goalkeeper Shaun Lowther (Winnipeg Fury) Defender Joseph Majcher (Toronto Blizzard) Midfielder John Catliff (Vancouver 86ers) Forward
Front office Person Role Bob Lenarduzzi (Vancouver 86ers) Head Coach Alan Errington (Vancouver 86ers) Assistant Coach Mary Morris (Hamilton Steelers) General Manager
Average home attendances Team1Vancouver 86ers264,9512Winnipeg Fury264,4043Edmonton Brick Men262,2734Toronto Blizzard262,1735Victoria Vistas262,0396North York Rockets261,9377Montreal Supra261,8418Hamilton Steelers261,8199Ottawa Intrepid261,35710Calgary Strikers261,233Total Attendance2602,403Reference:
References
External links Canadian Soccer League 1991 Media Guide and Statistics 1989 CSL Stats