Rocket Robin's thoughts on the 1998 CPSL season.
October 26, 1998.
The Canadian Professional Soccer League completed it's first season in mid October. The league played with eight teams; four from the CNSL league and four new teams. The CNSL team Toronto Italia did not play in 1997 and as it turns out, 1998 neither but their indecision caused the league to wait until the last possible moment to make it's schedule. The new league had a result for every game except for two forfeits. The CNSL League in 1997 had a seven team league that had two teams fold before the year was over and had to reschedule the remaining games midway through the season.
I was able to catch just over one-third of the games (29 plus 2 half-games out of 89 played). Three of the four Toronto region teams played on Sunday nights but that would have a minimum effect on attendance as I seldom saw fans from one game watching from another stadium the next week.
Postponed games were quite annoying as many were not delayed because of the weather. There was little or no advance notice of these delays. I had the advantage of pressbox contact and even I was caught on the wrong night a few times so I can imagine how it would frustrate the fans who didn't hear. Sometimes at the games, there was no notice posted that there would be no game played or it was rescheduled.
Attendance was low for almost all games that I was at--anywhere from 30 to 300. Of the teams I watched regularly, Glen Shields seemed to have the best idea by having their youth league players and families at most games until the summer vacations were over and attendance fell.
The season ended in mid October and the league had the unfortunate luck to have the last half of October have better weather than the first half. The season lasted from the last day in May to mid October. That's 18 weeks to play 20 games League and Cup games and up to four Cup Semi and Cup Final games and 2 weeks for 0 to 3 League Playoff games in October. There's not much further they can compress it except for starting the season earlier. Some stadiums are available earlier in the year and some aren't so it would take some creative scheduling but I'd recommend it. If the league wants to link up for a cross-Canada playoff in future years they will have to do this or they'll be playing in the snow.
The season was dominated by the Toronto Olympians who won the League Championship and Cup Championship and were undefeated until the last game. The second best team St Catharines Roma Wolves beat them in the Playoff Championship and held them to three ties in their seven meetings (over 25% of their games) this season. Wolves tailed off at the end of the season with injuries and some of the other teams beat them but those two teams were in a tier all of their own. For the Cup groups, it turned out that Group B which containing Olympians and Wolves was much stronger than the other group but noone would have known that at the start of the year. The weaker teams London City, Mississauga, and the once powerful Toronto Croatia won a few end of season games and closed to repectability in the League standings.
There will be no Indoor League over the winter (no money?). The League should concentrate on the 1999 season. There is some interest in expansion franchises although the league would like them to be away from the Toronto area.
The League has got to do something to increase fan support.
Rocket Robin
robing@clo.com
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