# 1989 Canadian Soccer League season

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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Toronto Blizzard | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 48 | 27 | +21 | 38 | Playoff semifinals |
| 2 | Hamilton Steelers | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 56 | 28 | +28 | 37 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 3 | North York Rockets | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 33 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 4 | Ottawa Intrepid | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 22 | |
| 5 | Montreal Supra | 26 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 26 | 46 | −20 | 15 | |

### West Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vancouver 86ers | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 65 | 33 | +32 | 42 | Playoff semifinals |
| 2 | Edmonton Brick Men | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 21 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 3 | Calgary Strikers | 26 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 19 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 4 | Winnipeg Fury | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 35 | 51 | −16 | 19 | |
| 5 | Victoria Vistas | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 14 | |

### Overall

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vancouver 86ers (C) | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 65 | 33 | +32 | 42 | Playoff semifinals |
| 2 | Toronto Blizzard | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 48 | 27 | +21 | 38 | Playoff semifinals |
| 3 | Hamilton Steelers | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 56 | 28 | +28 | 37 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 4 | North York Rockets | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 33 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 5 | Ottawa Intrepid | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 22 | |
| 6 | Edmonton Brick Men | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 21 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 7 | Calgary Strikers | 26 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 19 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 8 | Winnipeg Fury | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 35 | 51 | −16 | 19 | |
| 9 | Montreal Supra | 26 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 26 | 46 | −20 | 15 | |
| 10 | Victoria Vistas | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 14 | |

## Playoffs

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | | | 1W | Vancouver 86ers | 5 | 4 | 9 | | | |
| 2W | Edmonton Brick Men | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2W | Edmonton Brick Men | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | |
| 3W | Calgary Strikers | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | 1W | Vancouver 86ers | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2E | Hamilton Steelers | 2 |
| | | | | | 1E | Toronto Blizzard | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |
| 2E | Hamilton Steelers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2E | Hamilton Steelers | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | |
| 3E | North York Rockets | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |

### 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 | Goals |
| 1 | Ted Eck | Ottawa Intrepid | 21 |
| 2 | Justin Fashanu | Edmonton Brick Men | 17 |
| 3 | Amadeo Gasparini | Hamilton Steelers | 15 |
| 4 | Vladan Tomić | North York Rockets | 14 |
| 5 | Billy Domazetis | Hamilton Steelers | 13 |
| 6 | Andy Smith | Calgary Strikers | 11 |
| Reference: ||||

### Top goaltenders

| Rank | Player | Club | GAA |
| 1 | Paolo Ceccarelli | North York Rockets | 0.58 |
| 2 | Paul Dolan | Hamilton Steelers | 1.00 |
| 3 | Pat Harrington | Toronto Blizzard | 1.04 |
| 4 | Pat Onstad | Winnipeg Fury | 1.20 |
| 5 | Don Ferguson | North York Rockets | 1.23 |
| Reference: ||||

## Honours

The following awards and nominations were awarded for the 1989 season.
| Award | Player | Team |
| Most Valuable Player | Justin Fashanu | Edmonton Brick Men |
| Rookie 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

| Pos. | Team | GP | Average Attendance |
| 1 | Vancouver 86ers | 26 | 4,951 |
| 2 | Winnipeg Fury | 26 | 4,404 |
| 3 | Edmonton Brick Men | 26 | 2,273 |
| 4 | Toronto Blizzard | 26 | 2,173 |
| 5 | Victoria Vistas | 26 | 2,039 |
| 6 | North York Rockets | 26 | 1,937 |
| 7 | Montreal Supra | 26 | 1,841 |
| 8 | Hamilton Steelers | 26 | 1,819 |
| 9 | Ottawa Intrepid | 26 | 1,357 |
| 10 | Calgary Strikers | 26 | 1,233 |
| Total Attendance | Total Attendance | 260 | 2,403 |
| Reference: ||||