2006 Canadian Soccer League season

The 2006 Canadian Soccer League season was the 9th season for the Canadian Soccer League. The season began on May 19, 2006, and concluded on October 15, 2006, with Italia Shooters defeating Serbian White Eagles, 1–0, at Esther Shiner Stadium to win their first CSL Championship.[1] In the regular season Serbia clinched the International Division, and Oakville Blue Devils secured their first National Division title. The league was re-branded as the Canadian Soccer League, and renamed their two existing conferences into the International and National division. The changes brought about an increase in sponsorship, media coverage, and a 50% increase in attendance.[2][3] The CSL also received greater autonomy from the Ontario Soccer Association.[4]The league struck an agreement with the Toronto Community News which provided coverage for the league and its member clubs through their nine community newspapers.[5]

Canadian Soccer League

Season	2006
Champions	Italia Shooters
Regular Season title	Serbian White Eagles (International Division) Oakville Blue Devils (National Division)
Matches played	132
Goals scored	443 (3.36 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gabriel Pop (Serbian White Eagles) (27)
Biggest home win	9–0 Toronto Supra Portuguese v Caribbean Selects
Biggest away win	0–8 St. Catharines Wolves v Serbian White Eagles
← CPSL 2005 2007 →

Changes from 2005 season

The Canadian Professional Soccer League changed their name to the Canadian Soccer League. Two new conferences were created International, and National, replacing the Eastern, and Western conferences.[6][7] Vaughan Shooters changed their name to Italia Shooters and Toronto Supra changed their name to Toronto Supra Portuguese.[8] Both joined the newly created international division, re-kindling the spirit of the National Soccer League. The Serbian White Eagles, and the Caribbean Selects began play as an expansion franchise in the International Conference.[9][10] The White Eagles played under the same name in the CSL's predecessor league the National Soccer League in 1974.[11] The Hamilton Thunder, and the Durham Storm had their franchises revoked.[12] Most of the matches were scheduled for the weekend in order to save travel expenses for the clubs, and the league eliminated the playoff wildcard match for the host club.[13]

Teams

Team	City	Stadium	Manager
Brampton Stallions	Brampton, Ontario (Bramalea)	Victoria Park Stadium	Paul Dhillon[14]
Caribbean Selects	Toronto, Ontario (Liberty Village)	Lamport Stadium	Corcel Blair Jr.[15]
Italia Shooters	Vaughan, Ontario (Woodbridge)	Ontario Soccer Centre	Carmine Isacco
London City	London, Ontario (Westmount)	Cove Road Stadium	Harry Gauss[16]
Laval Dynamites	Laval, Quebec	Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne	Jawad El Andaloussi[17]
North York Astros	Toronto, Ontario (North York)	Esther Shiner Stadium	Pavel Zaslavski[18]
Oakville Blue Devils	Oakville, Ontario (Bronte)	Bronte Stadium	Phil Ionadi[19]
Serbian White Eagles	Toronto, Ontario (Etobicoke)	Centennial Park Stadium	Dragoslav Šekularac[20]
St. Catharines Wolves	St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle)	Club Roma Stadium	Miro Marjanovic
Toronto Croatia	Mississauga, Ontario (Streetsville)	Memorial Park	Mladen Pralija
Toronto Supra Portuguese	Toronto, Ontario (Brockton)	Brockton Stadium	Jose Testas
Windsor Border Stars	Windsor, Ontario	Windsor Stadium	Pat Hilton[21]

Brampton Vaughan London Mississauga Windsor St. Catharines Oakville TORONTO Location of CSL teams outside of Toronto for the 2006 CSL season. National Division International Division

Toronto Supra Portuguese North York Astros Serbian White Eagles Caribbean Selects Italia Shooters Location of CSL teams in Toronto for the 2006 CSL season. National Division International Division

Final standings

International Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Serbian White Eagles (A, C)	22	17	4	1	66	13	+53	55	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Toronto Croatia (A)	22	14	5	3	58	23	+35	47
3	Italia Shooters (A, O)	22	8	9	5	30	26	+4	33
4	Toronto Supra Portuguese (A)	22	7	7	8	43	34	+9	28
5	Caribbean Selects	22	1	3	18	15	87	−72	6

Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 2006. Source: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports06/06cpwk20.htm
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(A) Advance to a further round; (C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner.

National Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Oakville Blue Devils (A, C)	22	10	6	6	42	26	+16	36	Qualification for Playoffs
2	Brampton Stallions (A)	22	10	5	7	38	42	−4	35
3	Laval Dynamites (A)	22	8	7	7	37	29	+8	31
4	Windsor Border Stars (A)	22	8	6	8	30	30	0	30
5	St. Catharines Wolves	22	7	6	9	29	40	−11	27
6	North York Astros	22	3	8	11	28	45	−17	17
7	London City	22	3	6	13	27	58	−31	15

Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 2006. Source: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports06/06cpwk20.htm
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(A) Advance to a further round; (C) Champion.

CSL Championship playoffs

	QuarterFinals							SemiFinals							Rogers Cup final
	3	Toronto Croatia	1
	6	Laval Dynamites	0
								3	Toronto Croatia	0
								5	Italia Shooters	1
	2	Oakville Blue Devils	1
	7	Windsor Border Stars	2
															5	Italia Shooters	1
															1	Serbian White Eagles	0
	4	Brampton Stallions	0
	5	Italia Shooters	2
								1	Serbian White Eagles	6
								7	Windsor Border Stars	1
	1	Serbian White Eagles	3
	8	Toronto Supra Portuguese	0

Quarterfinals

Toronto Croatia v Laval Dynamites

October 1, 2006	Toronto Croatia	1–0	Laval Dynamites	Brampton, Ontario
1:30 ET	Tommy Ples  52'	(Report)		Stadium: Victoria Park Stadium Attendance: 150 Referee: Steven DePiero (Ontario)

Oakville Blue Devils v Windsor Border Stars

October 1, 2006	Oakville Blue Devils	1–2	Windsor Border Stars	Oakville, Ontario
3:30 ET	Pedro Czoli  5'	(Report)	Worteh Sampson  16' Wil Kletzien  45'	Stadium: Bronte Stadium

Italia Shooters were given the semi-final spot as a result of a 2-0 forfeit.

Brampton Stallions v Italia Shooters

October 1, 2006	Brampton Stallions	0–2	Italia Shooters	Brampton, Ontario
6:00 ET		(Report)		Stadium: Victoria Park Stadium

Serbian White Eagles v Toronto Supra Portuguese

October 2, 2006	Serbian White Eagles	3–0	Toronto Supra Portuguese	Toronto, Ontario
8:00 ET	Sasa Viciknez  53' Sasa Viciknez  89' Alex Braletic  91'	(Report)		Stadium: Centennial Park Stadium Attendance: 1200 Referee: Andrew Kravets (Ontario)

Semifinals

Toronto Croatia v Italia Shooters

October 7, 2006	Toronto Croatia	0–1	Italia Shooters	Toronto, Ontario
1:00 ET		(Report)	Jason DeThomasis  83'	Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 300 Referee: Silviu Petrescu (Ontario)

Serbian White Eagles v Windsor Border Stars

October 7, 2006	Serbian White Eagles	6–1	Windsor Border Stars	Toronto, Ontario
5:00 ET	Gabriel Pop  29' Milos Scepanovic  34' Gabriel Pop  36' Gabriel Pop  49' Gabriel Pop  61' Joshua Gordon  81'	(Report)	Ablaye Abdulla  68'	Stadium: Esther Shiner Stadium Attendance: 1000 Referee: Vito Curalli (Ontario)

CSL Championship

October 15

5:00 ET

Serbian White Eagles	0–1	Italia Shooters
	Report	Anthony Adur  62'

Esther Shiner Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 2000

Referee: Mercy Watfa (Ontario)

GK 23 Dušan Belić RB 2 Siniša Ninković CB 8 Nenad Stojčić LB 6 Mirko Medić RM 16 Joshua Gordon CM 10 Božo Milić  82' CM 13 Nikola Budalic  76' LM 21 Alex Braletic[22] ST 11 Gabriel Pop[23] ST 9 Saša Viciknez (c) ST 15 Miloš Šćepanović[24]  45' Substitutes: GK 1 Miodrag Bogdanović DF 4 Marc Jankovic[25] DF 5 Nikola Lukić DF 7 Mario Ostojić MF 12 Uroš Predić  82' MF 20 Milan Janošević  76' FW 22 Dragan Radović  45' Manager: Dragoslav Šekularac

GK 0 Camilo Benzi RB 22 Angelo Pollastrone[26] (c) CB 12 Alvaro Yaques[27] LB 11 Fitzroy Christey[28] RM 15 Luke Stedmond  57' CM 24 Anthony Adur CM 13 Frank Bruno[29]  82' CM 18 Bill Androutsos  65' LM 25 Sean Myers[30] FW 21 Luca Forno[31] FW 9 Jason De Thomasis[32]  84' Substitutes: GK 1 Pablo Alvarado DF 6 Franco Ruscetta[33]  65' DF 3 Diego Cardona MF 10 Josue Jaramillo  57' FW 14 Remone Metyas FW 20 Rob Black  84' FW 23 Aundrae Rollins  82' Manager: Tony De Thomasis

Assistant referees: Amato DeLuca Vito Curalli Fourth official: Yusri Rudolf

All-Star Game

Clyde F.C. of the Scottish First Division conducted a Canadian tour, where they played two matches the first match against Windsor Border Stars and the second against a CSL All-Star team assembled by Velemir Crljen.[34][35] The match was played at Esther Shiner Stadium at North York, Toronto.

May 7, 2006

3:00 pm

CSL All-Stars	1 - 2	Clyde F.C.
Saša Viciknez  6'	Report	Dougie Imrie  18' Stephen O'Donnell  55'

Esther Shiner Stadium, North York, Toronto

Attendance: 200

Referee: Steve DePiero (Ontario)

GK 23 George Azcurra  52' RB 22 Antonijo Župan (c) CB 25 Orlin Chalmers  66' LB 4 Domagoj Šain RM 12 Danny Draganic  31' CM 17 Desmond Humphrey  79' CM 16 Caswain Mason  86' CM 13 Hayden Fitzwilliams  80' LM 19 Fitzroy Christey  75' ST 10 Peter Curic  70' ST 18 Saša Viciknez  66' Substitutes: GK 1 Dušan Belić  79' GK 21 Haidar Al-Shaïbani  52'  79' DF 15 Deny Velastegui  75' DF 2 Mirko Medić  66' DF 7 Mario Ostojić  90' DF 3 Zeljko Dukic  79' MF 6 Selmir Sehic  31'  90' MF 8 Gentjan Dervishi MF 11 Eris Tafaj  86' MF 24 Geoffrey Attard  80' FW 17 Judah Hernandez  70' FW 5 Alex Braletic  87' FW 14 Jean Tshimpaka  66'  87' Manager: Velimir Crljen

GK 1 Peter Cherrie RB 5 Craig McKeown CB 2 Neil McGregor CB 4 Chris Higgins  74' LB 3 Dougie Imrie RM 11 Michael McGowan CM 6 Kevin McDonald CM 7 Steven Masterton  45' LM 8 Stephen O'Donnell FW 10 Tom Brighton  10' FW 9 Alex Williams Substitutes: GK 17 Paul Jarvie DF 12 Bob Harris MF 15 Kevin Bradley  10' MF 16 Paul McHale  45' MF 19 Ian Sinclair  74' FW 14 Gary Arbuckle Manager: Graham Roberts

Assistant referees: Amato DeLuca Mike Roecken Fourth official: Vito Curalli

Top goal scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Gabriel Pop[36]	Serbian White Eagles	27
2	Saša Viciknez	Serbian White Eagles	23
3	Castro Uarlem	Toronto Supra Portuguese	20
4	Hayden Fitzwilliams	Toronto Croatia	12
5	Tomislav Ples[37]	Toronto Croatia	11
6	Sam Hassam	Oakville Blue Devils	10
7	Rachid Madkour	Laval Dynamites	9
8	Hugo Herrera	Brampton Stallions	8
9	Petro Czoli[38]	Oakville Blue Devils	8
10	Micheal DiLuca[39]	Toronto Supra Portuguese	8

Updated: September 30, 2006
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20070203180901/http://cpsl.org/stats.asp

CSL Executive Committee and Staff

The 2006 CSL Executive Committee.[40][41]

Position	Name	Nationality
Commissioner:	Cary Kaplan	Canadian
Executive Director:	Stan Adamson[42]	English
Director of Discipline:	Clifford Dell[43]	Canadian
Director of Officials:	Walter Kirchner	Romanian
Director of Marketing:	John Marsico	Canadian
Office Manager:	Janet Leonard	Canadian
Administration/PR:	Stephen McCaffrey	Canadian
Referee-in-Chief:	Hugh Elliott	Canadian
Community Services:	Peter Li Preti	Canadian
Legal Counsel:	Ira Greenspoon	Canadian
Financial Auditor:	John Morgan	Canadian

Awards

Gabriel Pop won the CSL Golden Boot

The annual CSL awards ceremony was held at the La Contessa Banquet Hall on October 22, 2006 in North York, Toronto.[44]The majority of the awards were taken by the International Division teams.[45] The league chose Sasa Viciknez as its MVP, a former Serbian football veteran who played in the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League. Romanian import Gabriel Pop took the Golden Boot for the White Eagles. The Goalkeeper of the Year went to George Azcurra of Toronto Croatia, which marked his fifth award a record amount.

Due to his longstanding dedication to the league Toronto Supra Portuguese owner Isac Cambas was given the President of the Year award. Supra's Uarlem Castro was named the Rookie of the Year after finishing as the third highest goalscorer in the league. After defying the odds in the championship final by defeating a team stacked with European football experience, Tony De Thomasis was presented with the Coach of the Year award. Expansion franchise Caribbean Selects were given the Fair Pay award, and Mercy Watfa was named the Referee of the Year.

Award	Player (Club)
CSL Most Valuable Player	Saša Viciknez (Serbian White Eagles)
CSL Golden Boot	Gabriel Pop (Serbian White Eagles)
CSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award	George Azcurra (Toronto Croatia)
CSL Defender of the Year Award	Fil Rocca (Windsor Border Stars)
CSL Rookie of the Year Award	Uarlem Castro (Toronto Supra Portuguese)
CSL Coach of the Year Award	Tony De Thomasis (Italia Shooters)
CSL President of the Year Award	Isac Cambas (Toronto Supra Portuguese)
CSL Referee of the Year Award	Mercy Watfa
CSL Fair Play Award	Caribbean Selects

References

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34. "May 5, 2006 CPSL Windsor Border Stars vs Clyde FC Scotland (from CPSL media release)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
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External links

• Rocket Robin's Home Page of the 2006 CSL Season