CSL News

The CSL Championships will be held at Esther Shiner Stadium in Toronto on Sunday, October 26, the Canadian Soccer League has announced.

 The CSL Championship Final follows the post-regular season playoffs involving the quarterfinal and semifinal games to be played October 12 -19.The CSL Awards Night will precede the championship day and will be held the previous night, Saturday, October 25. Both events are hosted by North York Astros.

 The CSL Championship was last held at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York in 2008, a memorable final when Serbian White Eagles defeated Trois Rivieres Attak in a rain-drenched thriller over 120 minutes and penalty kicks. The match was played before overflow standing room only attendance despite stormy conditions with lightning that knocked out a few floodlights.

 The CSL Second Division Championship will be played first on championship day, a 12 noon kickoff, to be followed at by the CSL Championship at 4.30 pm.

 Academy teams from the Canadian Academy of Futbol (CAF) will play their championship games at the same venue.

 SC Waterloo are the current CSL champions, having defeated Kingston FC at Niagara Falls November 3, 2013.

 Ticket information and other details are yet to be announced.

York Region Shooters increased their unbeaten streak to eight games with a 1-1 tie with Brampton City Utd, the only game in the CSL First Division Wednesday night.

York Region Shooters took the lead at the 45^th minute mark at the Terry Fox Stadium in Brampton  when midfielder Hector Mackie collected the ball  in a goalmouth scramble to find the net out of reach of Brampton goalkeeper Christian Montero Velez. It was 1-0 at the break.

Each side had few opportunities to score, but the home side succeeded when Leaford Allen collected a right wing cross from Marcus Baker to drive the ball past Shooters’ goalkeeper Adrian Ibanez at the 55^th minute mark to tie the game 1-1, and the score held until the final whistle. It was Allen’s sixth goal of the season.

York Region now have a 6-0-2 WLT record for 20 points and lead the CSL First Division by four points over second place Burlington SC, while Brampton are at 2-4-2 for eight points in 8^th position in the standings.

 

 

York Region Shooters maintained their hot pace at the top of the First Division with a 2-1 defeat of Niagara United while Burlington SC moved into second position in the standings with a 4-3 away victory at Waterloo, two games in the CSL Sunday.

Following a scoreless first half, Niagara opened the scoring at the St.Joan of Arc ground at Maple, a goal at 49 minutes by forward Mohammed Mohammed, his fifth of the season,  but the lead was short lived when three minutes later Richard West tied the game 1-1 for the home side. The goal was scored when he followed a cross from the right wing to head into the net out of reach of Niagara goalkeeper Angelo Cavalluzzo.

York Region’s Yora Enzam, a substitute at resumption of the game following the break, struck the winner at 83 minutes when he tapped the ball in from close range and it was 2-1 at the final whistle.

The victory brought York Region Shooters undefeated streak to seven games for a three-point lead over second place Burlington at the top of the table.

Burlington are proving to be consistent with a four-game undefeated streak including a tough 4-3 victory over the current CSL champions SC Waterloo at Warrior Field in Waterloo.    Burlington jumped into a 2-0 early lead, the opening goal by forward Domagoj Zubac at five minutes and this was followed by a goal immediately after the re-start by Marijan Vuka.

Waterloo responded with two first half goals, the first by midfielder Harris Fazlagic at the 36^th minute mark and a goal one minute later by Kiril Dimitrov for a 2-2 score a the interval.

Burlington took a 3-2 lead on a second  goal by Vuka at 47 minutes and the visitors went further ahead 4-2 with a goal by defender Nenad Nikolic at 51 minutes.

Defender Vladimir Zelenbaba struck for Waterloo at 83 minutes and the game ended 4-3 in favour of Burlington.

In CSL Second Division action Saturday Winstars Shooters tied 2-2 at home to Milton FC and in the late game York Region Shooters B are at home to Niagara United B.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serbian White Eagles scored late to defeat Kingston FC 1-0, while Toronto Croatia controlled their game with Brampton City Utd for a 3-1 victory, two games in the Canadian Soccer League Saturday night.

It was a cliff hanger at the Queen’s West Field in Kingston that went almost to the final whistle when forward Sahjah Reid took advantage of a falling save by Kingston goalkeeper Jaroslav Tesar to find the top left corner of the net, a 1-0 final score.

The well-attended game could have gone either way with Kingston midfielder Catalin Lichioiu close to scoring on two occasions late in the second half.

Toronto Croatia scored three unanswered goals for a 3-0 lead at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, two by midfielder Ivan Cutura at 12 and 29 minutes and a third by Bohdan Sulypka at 48 minutes before  Leaford Allen struck for the visitors at the 78th minute mark, a 3-1 score at the final whistle.

In the CSL Second Division, Kingston FC reserves blitzed Serbian White Eagles B 12-0 with Mademba Ba finding the net seven times to almost repeat a similar scoring spree on June 29 when the prolific striker struck eight times in a 10-1 rout of Burlington SC reserves.

In one other Second Division match played Saturday, SC Waterloo B and Burlington SC B tied 2-2.

 

A last-gasp equalizer by London City salvaged a 1-1 tie with North York Astros in a well-played encounter at the Hellenic Centre in London, the only game in the Canadian Soccer League Friday night.

The Astros took the lead at the 19 minute mark, the goal coming from a free kick then headed down to midfielder Jose Melo who sent the ball into the back of the net out of reach of London goalkeeper Vladimir Markotic. It was Melo’s fifth goal of the season.

North York defended the lead for the rest of the first half and almost the entire second half until at 94 minutes and just before the final whistle, London’s Marin Vucemilovic Grgic sent a volley into the net from 12 yards to tie the game 1-1.

It was Grgic’s seventh goal of the season and follows the prolific striker’s hat-trick in London’s 5-2 victory over the current CSL champions SC Waterloo July 11. Grgic was the CSL’s MVP in 2012 for his outstanding goalscoring and attacking ability while playing with Toronto Croatia.

The Astros are fifth in the standings with nine points following the tie, while London City are tied for seventh position with seven points.

Remaining games this weekend:

                                                     FIRST DIVISION

Sat July 19 Queen’s West Field 6.45 pm Kingston FC vs Serbian White Eagles

Sat July 19 Hershey Centre 8 pm Toronto Croatia vs Brampton City Utd

Sun July 20 St. Joan of Arc 6.30 pm York Region Shooters vs Niagara United

Sun July 20 Warrior Field 7pm SC Waterloo vs Burlington SC

                                                   SECOND DIVISION

Sat July 19 Warrior Field 10 am SC Waterloo B vs Burlington SC B

Sat July 19 Queen’s West Field 4.30 pm Kingston FC B vs Serbian White Eagles B

Sun July 20 St. Joan of Arc 4 pm Winstars Shooters vs Milton FC

Sun July 20 St. Joan of Arc 9 pm York Region Shooters B vs Niagara United B

 

 

York Region Shooters will continue their unbeaten hot pace at the top of the First Division with a home encounter against Niagara United Sunday evening as the CSL resumes to a full schedule of games following the World Cup,  and the initial television listings are released this weekend for the popular The CSL This Week show. The show is now available Canada-wide and the initial listings are shown here.

While the First Division is underway with a game in London Friday night, followed by games Saturday and Sunday, there are four games in the Second Division and certain games listed in both divisions are under a revised schedule.

FIRST DIVISION

Fri July 18 Hellenic Centre 8.30 pm London City vs North York Astros

Sat July 19 Queen’s West Field 6.45 pm Kingston FC vs Serbian White Eagles

Sat July 19 Hershey Centre 8 pm Toronto Croatia vs Brampton City Utd

Sun July 20 St. Joan of Arc 6.30 pm York Region Shooters vs Niagara United

Sun July 20 Warrior Field 7pm SC Waterloo vs Burlington SC

SECOND DIVISION

Sat July 19 Warrior Field 10 am SC Waterloo B vs Burlington SC B

Sat July 19 Queen’s West Field 4.30 pm Kingston FC B vs Serbian White Eagles B

Sun July 20 St. Joan of Arc 4 pm Winstars Shooters vs Milton FC

Sun July 20 St. Joan of Arc 9 pm York Region Shooters B vs Niagara United B

                                   THE CSL THIS WEEK

                                     30-minuteTV Show <a
                                     (All Times Eastern)     

  Saturday July 19
 TVI: 1:30-2:00 (1.30 am to 2 am)

Channel 668 on Rogers

Channel 887 on BellFibe

RBTI: 23:00-23:30 (11 pm to 11.30 pm)

Channel 669 on Rogers

Channel 885 on Bell

Pro7: 19:30-20:00 (7.30 pm to 8 pm)

Channel 895 on Rogers

Channel 710 on Bell

Channel 852 on BellFibe

FTV: 18:00-18:30 (6 pm to 6.30 pm)

Channel 869 on Rogers

Channel 725 Bell

Channel 860 BellFibe

 Sunday, July 20

TVI: 1:30-2:00 (1.30 am to 2 am)

Channel 668 on Rogers

Channel 887 on BellFibe

RBTI: 23:00-23:30 (11 pm to 11.30 pm)

Channel 669 on Rogers

Channel 885 on Bell

Pro7: 23:15-23:45 (11.15 pm to 11.45 pm)

Channel 895 on Rogers

Channel 710 on Bell

Channel 852 on BellFibe

FTV: 18:00-18:30 (6 pm to 6.30 pm)

Channel 869 on Rogers

Channel 725 Bell

Channel 860 BellFibe

 

 

Paolo Di Canio may well be given the title clown prince of soccer.

Blessed with considerable skills which took him to Lazio, Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan before embarking upon a stay in the UK where he played for Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton, the Rome-born forward was certainly the most entertaining and controversial  player to venture outside of Italy.

On the skills side, Di Canio is credited by Dutch great Marco van Basten with scoring one of the most memorable strikes ever seen, an acrobatic scissor kick for West Ham again Wimbledon March 2000. On the lighter side a few months later Di Canio won the FIFA Fair Play Award for a ‘special act of sportsmanship’ rarely witnessed in any sport.

While playing for West Ham against Everton and with the opposing goalkeeper on the ground injured 20 yards away, Di Canio took a cross from the right wing and was poised to head the ball into the empty net. But he stunned the crowd when instead he elected to catch the ball like a goalkeeper. He then pointed to the injured player. West Ham manager Harry Redknapp said at the end of the game “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry”.

Di Canio was adored by the fans at West Ham, playing more games for the east London club than any other team in Italy or the UK, but was banned while at Sheffield for pushing a referee to the ground. The fiery Italian walked away from his first job as manager with League One side Swindon, and was fired by Premier League club Sunderland in 2013 after just 13 games, a decision that disappointed his large fan base in north-east England.

Even in his native Italy, Di Canio was not without controversy, particularly when in 2005 he was suspended for giving a straight arm fascist salute to Lazio fans during his side’s 3-1 win over rivals Roma. The incident has dogged him, but he has insisted ever since that he is not and never was, a fascist.

Paolo Di Canio will be in Toronto Sunday July 20 with a group of Italian soccer legends and will attend a banquet that night staged by the CSL’s York Region Shooters owner Tony De Thomasis. The following night, Monday. July 21, the Italian legends meet a Portuguese legends team at the BMO Field, an 8 pm kickoff.

The banquet on Sunday is being held at the Embassy Grand, 8800 Gore Road in Brampton and tickets may be obtained by following the details on the display ad on the CSL website.

The Italian legends listed as coming to Toronto are: Roberto Baggio, Cudicini, Galli, Paolo Maldini. Baresi, Alessandro Nesta, Costacurta, Zambrotta, Grossi, Annoni, Paolo Di Cannio, Camoranesi, Perotta, Eranio, Baroni, Marcolin, Toto Schillaci, Delvecchio, Giordano, and  Materazzi, while the Portuguese side is listed as Neno, Paulo Santos, Pauleta, Miguel, Beto, Paulo Madeira, Bruno Basto, Abel Xavier, Rui Bento, Fernando Meira, Pedro Mendes, Luis Boa Morte, Fernando Gomes, Sa Pinto, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha, Maniche and Dimas.

It looks like a once in a while opportunity for fans in southern  Ontario to see some greats of the recent past and De Thomasis, who promotes the world game at every opportunity, is donating the proceeds to the Sick Kids hospital in Toronto.

 

London City gained their second win of the season, a 5-2 defeat of SC Waterloo at the Hellenic Centre in London and the only First Division game in the CSL Friday night.

The victory added to the early season woes of Waterloo, the current SCL champions, now with just one win in eight games and tied with London for the last two places in the standings.

Frane Gredas opened the scoring for the home side at the 19^th minute mark, catching the bottom corner from 14 yards after receiving a pass from midfielder Gent Miftari.

Striker Marin Vucemilovic Grgic scored on a penalty five minutes later to make  it 2-0 for London City after referee Davor Krasic pointed to the spot following a foul inside the box.

Grgic struck his second goal after receiving a long ball from Miftari to send a volley into the bottom corner, the goal coming at the 42^nd mark for a 3-0 London lead, the score at the break.

Younan Samra made it 4-0 at 49 minutes, a drive from 35 yards to beat Waterloo goalkeeper Imad Hakura, the ball entering the top corner of the net.

Waterloo’s Ranko Golijanin reduced the lead to 4-1 with a goal at 75 minutes, beating two defenders and London goalkeeper Vladmir Markotic to score from close in.

Defender Vladimir Zelenbaba found the net for Waterloo for a 4-2 score at 81 minutes, and Grgic’s solo effort for a hat-trick at 89 minutes completed the scoring, a 5-2 result at the final whistle. It was Grgic’s sixth goal of the season.

“We played really well and deserved the win following some hard training sessions recently and this win should be the beginning of a much-improved London City, “ said goalscorer Younan Samra who praised his team following the game.

There was one game in the CSL Second Division Friday night, Toronto Croatia B defeating Brampton City Utd B 5-3 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, and there is one game remaining in a light CSL schedule during the final World Cup weekend:

Sat. July 12 Eglinton Flats 11 am Serbian White Eagles B vs Milton FC

Serbian White Eagles defeated SC Waterloo 4-0 in the only game played in the CSL Sunday.

Striker Milos Scepanovic opened the scoring for the visitors in windy conditions at Warrior Field in Waterloo, the goal coming at 17 minutes from a penalty kick awarded by referee Marco Jaramillo following a foul in the box.  It was Scepanovic’s fifth goal of the season.

Vitomar Jelic increased the lead at the 30^th minute for Serbian Eagles, the defender found the net out of reach of Waterloo goalkeeper Imad Hakura for a 2-0 score at the 30^th minute mark, and this was followed six minutes later with a goal by forward Sahjah Reid who drove the ball into the bottom left of the net to increase the lead to 3-0.

It was 3-0 at the interval and while the home side had the benefit of the wind in the second half they were unable to break through and at 86 minutes midfielder Ramon Bailey struck the fourth goal for the Toronto area side and it was 4-0 at the final whistle.

The win moves Serbian White Eagles up to fourth position in the standings while Waterloo remain in ninth position with just one win from seven games.

Last week’s home defeat of Kingston FC to Burlington confirms the 2013 First Division title winner in unlikely to be back in the catch-me-if-you-can mode demonstrated throughout last season and which brought eventual success.

An additional three players – Nathan Klemencic, Akil DeFreitas and Michel Paulin – are returning from injuries to bring Kingston almost back to full strength, which is bound to make a difference starting with Saturday’s home encounter with Brampton City Utd. That’s a 6.45 pm. kickoff.

Much of the attention on Saturday will be on York Region Shooters, however, as the team from north of Toronto faces a tough proposition while visiting Toronto Croatia in a bid to extend an unbeaten streak to six games.

Toronto Croatia appears to have found their stride following a slow early season start and will looking to break the impressive run that has Shooters on top of the standings, and that’s unlikely to change given the superior goal differential of York Region, whatever the outcome of Saturday’s match. The game goes at 8 pm.

The current CSL champions, SC Waterloo, are struggling under a slow start to the season with just one win in their six games and are hoping to improve that record at home to Serbian White Eagles, a 7 pm kickoff on Sunday at Warrior Field at Waterloo.

The weekend games were underway Friday night when last year’s Second Division title winner, Toronto Croatia B, nudged past York Region Shooters B by a 3-2 score.

FIRST DIVISION

Sat July 5 Queen’s West Field 6.45 pm Kingston FC vs Brampton City Utd

Sat July 5 Kalar Sports Park 7 pm Niagara United FC vs North York Astros

Sat July 5 Hershey Centre 8 pm Toronto Croatia vs York Region Shooters

Sat July 5 Hellenic Centre 8.30 pm London City vs Burlington FC

Sun July 6 Warrior Field 7 pm SC Waterloo vs Serbian White Eagles

SECOND DIVISION

Fri July 4 Hershey Centre  Toronto Croatia B 3, York Region Shooters B 2

Sat July 5 Warrior Field 10 am SC Waterloo B vs Serbian White Eagles B

Sat July 5 Kalar Sports Park 4 pm Niagara United B vs Milton FC

Sat July 5 Queen’s West Field 4.30 pm Kingston FC B vs Brampton City Utd B

Sat July 5 Sherwood East Field 6.30 pm Burlington SC B vs Winstars Shooters

 

 

Canada is a one soccer-developing country that has failed to recognize the importance of strengthening its professional soccer as a means of being more competitive on the world stage.

As Colin Miller puts it ‘We need more Canadian pro franchises to give Canadian players a chance to play’.

Miller, the head coach of Edmonton FC, was explaining as the former head coach of Canada’s national team for nine games including the CONCACAF Gold Cup last year, ‘seven of our Canadian national team players were unattached.’  His comments were part of a story published by the Times Colonist newspaper of Victoria, British Columbia.

Miller further elaborated in a telephone interview with CSL media: “So many players without a professional club is unheard of at the international level.”

The Canadian Soccer Association has continued to dodge what FIFA, coaches and technical specialists have been saying for years that a strong professional soccer structure plays a big part in strengthening the performance of a country’s national team in international competition, including the World Cup. They define professional soccer to include the semi-professional game.

Back as 2001 FIFA president Sepp Blatter visited Canada and didn’t mince words at a weekend press conference in Toronto, saying: “You must do something with your professional soccer,” a comment made while spelling out the need to have an independent pro soccer structure for promising players to stay within the country for serious development.

FIFA had the experience of congested Europe to fall back on and Blatter made it clear that it’s not every talented kid who wants to go to another country in search of an often elusive success while competing with local players for a place with the top clubs. “And you mustn’t count on the United States, they have their own interests,” he said.

The Canadian Professional Soccer League (forerunner of today’s CSL) came into focus at a subsequent meeting in Montreal immediately following Blatter’s visit which included a stop in Ottawa seeking support of the federal government.  Michael Vandale, the pro soccer committee chair for the Canadian Soccer Association then released a paper which summarized the CSA’s pledge which included: ‘to support the expansion of the CPSL in their drive towards establishing divisions across the major regions of Canada.’

Vandale’s statement also said: ‘The CSA Board of Directors should go on record as actively encouraging the membership of this Association to become more involved with the promotion and support of their regional club in order to better assist the future of pro soccer in Canada.’

No discernable steps were taken by the CSA following decisions to assist semi-professional soccer despite the CSL’s reputation (and that of its forerunner leagues) as a feeder system for producing players like Paul Munster (London City) to Slavia Prague, a top team in the Czech Republic, Atiba Hutchinson (York Region Shooters) to Toronto Lynx then to Oster of Sweden, Alen Marcina (Ottawa Wizards) to PAOK of Greece, and others who signed for overseas clubs and gained international honours with their national youth teams.

The attempt to launch the combination of a top-flight Canadian United Soccer League (CUSL) as Canada’s Division One, with the CPSL to be Canada’s Division Two, failed to get off the ground.

The most recent attempt to strengthen professional soccer in Canada – the expansion of the CSL – was met with little enthusiasm by the CSA and the league is now private.

Canada’s professional soccer structure – five clubs in two U.S.-based leagues, the CSL, and two undefined leagues finding their feet in Ontario and Quebec, is slim indeed, and the wishes of the Colin Miller, who played professionally in Scotland, England and Canada, and 61 times for the Canadian national team before becoming one of Canada’s top coaches, may be disappearing from the horizon.

A top-flight Canadian national league is just not in the cards for Canada and recent decisions of the CSA have left a fractured lower professional level attempting to redefine its place and purpose on the Canadian soccer landscape.