1999 Canadian Professional Soccer League season

The 1999 Canadian Professional Soccer League season was the second season under the Canadian Professional Soccer League name. The season began on May 28, 1999, and concluded on October 2, 1999, with Toronto Olympians defeating Toronto Croatia 2-0 to claim their first CPSL Championship.^[1] The Olympians made history by becoming the first club in the league's history to achieve a treble. For the second straight season, they went undefeated for the entire season. The league also introduced their first All-Star match where the CPSL All-Stars faced the CSA Development team.^[2]

Canadian Professional Soccer League

Season	May 28 – September 26 (regular season) October 1 – October 2 (playoffs)
Champions	Toronto Olympians
Regular Season title	Toronto Olympians
Matches played	56
Goals scored	225 (4.02 per match)
Top goalscorer	Eddy Berdusco (Toronto Olympians)
Best goalkeeper	George Azcurra
Biggest home win	Toronto Olympians 11–1 North York Astros (September 19, 1999)
Biggest away win	York Region Shooters 1–7 Toronto Olympians (June 6, 1999)
Highest scoring	Toronto Olympians 11–1 North York Astros (September 19, 1999)
← 1998 2000 →

Changes from 1998 season

All founding members of the CPSL returned with the exception of Mississauga Eagles P.S.C. The newest addition to the league were expansion franchise the Oshawa Flames.^[3] Other changes were Glen Shields changing their name to Glen Shields Sun Devils, and the York Region Shooters moving to Richmond Hill, Ontario.^[4]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
Glen Shields Sun Devils	Vaughan, Ontario (Thornhill)	Dufferin District Field	Dave Benning[5]
London City	London, Ontario (Westmount)	Cove Road Stadium	Tony Laferrara[6]
North York Astros	Toronto, Ontario (North York)	Esther Shiner Stadium	Rafael Carbajal[7]
Oshawa Flames	Oshawa, Ontario (Vanier)	Oshawa Civic Stadium	Jens Kraemer
St. Catharines Wolves	St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle)	Club Roma Stadium	Lucio Ianiero[8]
Toronto Croatia	Toronto, Ontario (Etobicoke)	Centennial Park Stadium	Bruno Pilaš[9]
Toronto Olympians	Toronto, Ontario (Scarborough)	Birchmount Stadium	David Gee[10]
York Region Shooters	Richmond Hill, Ontario	Richmond Green	Sam Foti

Vaughan London Oshawa St. Catharines Richmond Hill TORONTO Location of CPSL teams outside of Toronto for the 1999 CPSL season.

Toronto Olympians Toronto Croatia North York Astros York Region Shooters Glen Shields Sun Devils Location of CPSL teams in Toronto for the 1999 CPSL season.

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto Olympians	14	13	1	0	56	7	+49	40	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Toronto Croatia	14	8	2	4	31	19	+12	26
3	Glen Shields Sun Devils	14	7	4	3	34	18	+16	25
4	London City	14	5	5	4	30	36	−6	20
5	Oshawa Flames	14	3	6	5	19	26	−7	15
6	St. Catharines Roma	14	3	4	7	19	30	−11	13
7	York Region Shooters	14	3	3	8	20	34	−14	12
8	North York Astros	14	2	1	11	16	55	−39	7

Updated to match(es) played on September 23, 1999. Source: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/99cpw17b.htm
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Playoffs

Bracket

The top four teams qualified for a one-game semifinal that led to the championship game played on October 2 at Oshawa Civic Stadium in Oshawa, Ontario.

	Semifinals					Final
	1	Toronto Olympians	4
	4	London City	1
						1	Toronto Olympians	2
						2	Toronto Croatia	0
	2	Toronto Croatia	5
	3	Glen Shields Sun Devils	2

Semifinals

Toronto Croatia v Glen Shields Sun Devils

October 1, 1999	Toronto Croatia	5–2	Glen Shields Sun Devils	Oshawa, Ontario
7:00 ET	Ivica Jelic 6' Josip Draganic 44', 72' Zajac 79' Robert Mandekic 82'	(Report)	Fitzroy Powell 83' Marco Antonucci 88'	Stadium: Oshawa Civic Stadium Attendance: 100 Referee: Andrew Drajinsky (Ontario)

Toronto Olympians v London City

October 1, 1999	Toronto Olympians	4–1	London City	Oshawa, Ontario
9:00 ET	Gus Kouzmanis 10', 73', 84' Capporella 33'	(Report)	Mesanovic 87'	Stadium: Oshawa Civic Stadium Attendance: 100 Referee: Steve Mortimer (Ontario)

CPSL Championship

October 2

5:00 ET

Toronto Olympians	2–0	Toronto Croatia
Thomas 55' Handsor 73'	Report

Oshawa Civic Stadium, Oshawa, Ontario

Attendance: 100

Referee: Tony Camacho (Ontario)

GK 1 Brian Bowes RB 5 Tony Marshall CB 6 Peyvand Mossavat CB 4 Ian Cardey[11] LB 8 Bayete Smith RM 9 Elvis Thomas  77' CM 20 Danny Ziannis (c) CM 17 Chris Handsor  84' LM 7 Daryl Holmes ST 11 Gus Kouzmanis  79' ST 23 Eddy Berdusco  75' Substitutes: GK 22 Tom Bianchi[12] MF 12 Louie Ouroutzaglou DF 16 Ron Belfon  75' DF 14 Arte Alkatov  79' MF 15 Louie Katsavrias  84' MF 13 Danny Sanna FW 10 John Matas  77' Manager: David Gee

GK 1 George Azcurra RB 2 Daniel Pilas[13] CB 3 Josip Draganic CB 4 Domagoj Sain[14] LB 4 Ivica Sola RM 6 Ivica Jelic  71' CM 20 Robert Fran CM 9 Ante Musa LM 10 Tom Granic (c)  75' CF 8 Czeslaw Zajac  50' CF 11 Denny Draganic  67' Substitutes: DF 13 Nikola Marketic  75' MF 14 Robert Mandekic  67' MF 15 Paul Grguric  71' MF 19 Peter Curic  50' Manager: Bruno Pilas

Assistant referees: Steve Cahoon Nick Rose Fourth official: John Lopes

All-Star game

The league's inaugural all-star match was played on September 26, 1999 at Centennial Park Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. The CPSL All-Star team was selected from the six remaining clubs that didn't compete in the CPSL League Cup final, which excluded players from the Toronto Olympians and Toronto Croatia. The Canada Development team featured players from the CSA National Training Centre which consisted of senior national team players with a mix of young prospects with USL A-League experience.^[15][16][17]

September 26

1:00 ET

CPSL All-Stars	2–1	Canada Development Team
Giummarra 17' Giummarra 81'	Report	De Rosario 13'

Centennial Park Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 500

Referee: Nigel Johnson (Ontario)

GK 29 Adam Morandini  85' RB 5 Dave McDonald CB 15 Mike Marshall LB 25 Gerald Gallacher  35' RM 8 Mike Kim CM 10 Jurek Gebczynski (c)  35' CM 13 Lucio Ianiero CM 7 Phil Ionadi  78' LM 4 Mike Glasgow  63' ST 11 Willy Giummarra ST 17 Marco Antonucci[18] Substitutes: GK 1 Rafael Carbajal  85' DF 12 JP Rickwood  78' FW 18 Dave Kohek  63' FW 16 Alex Nardi  35' FW 9 Adrian Sciarra[19] DF 6 Anthony Whitney[20]  35' Manager: Tony La Ferrara Dave Benning

GK 1 Steve Cox RB 2 Carl Fletcher  70' CB 3 Victor Oppong[21] CB 5 Marco Reda LB 6 Nevio Pizzolitto RM 4 Adrian Serioux CM 8 Miles O'Connor CM 11 Toll Dasterridis  62' LM 12 Jordan Gillespie CF 9 Semir Mesanovic CF 10 Dwayne De Rosario Substitutes: GK 22 Alim Hassin MF 17 Matt Smith[22] MF 14 Jamie Dodds  70' MF 7 Adrian Llewellyn[23]  62' FW 16 Atiba Hutchinson Manager: Paul James

Assistant referees: Steve Cahoon O.J. Panic Fourth official: Stephanie Denhamm

1999 scoring leaders

Full article: CSL Golden Boot^[24]

Position	Player's name	Nationality	Club	Goals
1	Eddy Berdusco	Canada	Toronto Olympians	25
2	Elvis Thomas	Canada	Toronto Olympians	21
3	Gus Kouzmanis	Canada	Toronto Olympians	16
4	Mike Glasgow	Canada	Glen Shields	10
5	Phil Ionadi	Canada	Glen Shields	10
6	Andy Madeiros	Canada	Toronto Croatia	10
7	John Matas	Canada	Toronto Olympians	10
8	Semir Mesanovic	Canada	London City Soccer Club	10

CPSL Executive Committee

The 1999 CPSL Executive Committee.^[25]

Position	Name	Nationality
Chairman:	Bill Spiers	English
Director of Operations:	Chris Bellamy[26]	Canadian
Director of Finance:	Peter Li Preti	Canadian
Director of Officials:	Tony Camacho	Portuguese

Awards

Weekly awards

Week	CPSL Player of the Week		Reference
	Player	Club
Week 1	Semir Mesanovic	London City	[27]
Week 2	John Matas	Toronto Olympians	[28]
Week 3	Eddy Berdusco	Toronto Olympians	[29]
Week 4	Gus Kouzmanis	Toronto Olympians	[30]
Week 5	Mike Glasgow	Glen Shields Sun Devils	[31]
Week 6	Leo Marasovic	Toronto Croatia	[32]
Week 7	Mich D'Angelo	York Region Shooters	[33]

Individual awards

George Azcurra was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year

The CPSL held their second annual awards ceremony on November 21, 1999 at the Hollywood Princess in Concord, Ontario.^[34] The Toronto Olympians went home with the majority of the awards with 4 wins.^[35] David Gee along with Tony LaFerrara of London City won the Coach of the Year award. Gee became the first manager to win the award consecutively twice. Canadian internationals Elvis Thomas and Eddy Berdusco received the MVP and Golden Boot award. Toronto's final award was the Fair Play award for being the most disciplined team throughout the season. London City produced their fourth straight Rookie of the Year with Semir Mesanovic. While Toronto Croatia received their first CPSL club award with George Azcurra being named the Goalkeeper of the Year. Silviu Petrescu who later went on to officiate matches at the international level and Major League Soccer was recognized with the Referee of the Year award.

Award	Player (Club)
CPSL Most Valuable Player	Elvis Thomas (Toronto Olympians)
CPSL Golden Boot	Eddy Berdusco (Toronto Olympians)
CPSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award	George Azcurra (Toronto Croatia)
CPSL Rookie of the Year Award	Semir Mesanovic (London City)
CPSL Coach of the Year Award	David Gee (Toronto Olympians) Tony LaFerrara (London City)
CPSL Referee of the Year Award	Silviu Petrescu
CPSL Fair Play Award	Toronto Olympians