American Professional Soccer League
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The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's
The league was sanctioned as Division II in the United States soccer league system but was the country's de facto top professional soccer league until 1995. In 1993, the APSL applied for the vacant Division I role but lost out to Major League Soccer who would begin play in 1996.[3]
For its final two seasons in 1995 and 1996, the APSL changed its name to the A-League. It was subsequently absorbed by the emerging USISL organization with six of seven clubs joining the new USISL A-League in 1997. The USISL (later USL) retained the A-League name until 2004 when it became the USL First Division.
History
In 1989, a match was held between the winners of the American Soccer League and the winners of the Western Soccer League to declare a national soccer champion.[4] On February 22, 1990, the two leagues merged as the American Professional Soccer League. To reduce travel expenses, the inaugural season would be played under two separate leagues akin to Major League Baseball: the ASL became the American Soccer Conference and featured teams from the East Coast, while the WSL became the Western Soccer Conference and featured teams from the West Coast.[5] Teams only played other teams from within the same conference and it was not until the title decider, between Maryland Bays and San Francisco Bay Blackhawks that teams from the two different conferences actually met in a competitive game.[2][6]
Throughout its existence, the league would struggle financially and its roster of teams quickly dropped from 22 in 1990 to just 5 in
As part of the conditions for been awarded the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the United States Soccer Federation had agreed to launch a new Division I professional league. In December 1993, together with League One America and Major League Soccer, the APSL was one of three proposals that was put before the USSF national board of directors. At the time the APSL was the only candidate who were currently operating a soccer league. It featured several established clubs and its roster of players included several members of the United States men's national soccer team. Despite this they lost out to MLS.[3][7]
Despite rebranding itself as the A-League in 1995, it faced increasing competition on two fronts. The
Complete team list
|
|
Champions
By year
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Top scorer |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Maryland Bays | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | Chance Fry |
1991 | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | Albany Capitals | Jean Harbor |
1992 | Colorado Foxes | Tampa Bay Rowdies
|
Jean Harbor |
1993 | Colorado Foxes | Los Angeles Salsa | Paulinho Criciúma |
1994 | Montreal Impact | Colorado Foxes | Paul Wright |
1995 | Seattle Sounders | Atlanta Ruckus
|
Peter Hattrup |
1996 | Seattle Sounders | Rochester Raging Rhinos
|
Wolde Harris |
By club
Club | Winner | Runner-up | Seasons won |
---|---|---|---|
Colorado Foxes | 2 | 1 | 1992, 1993 |
Seattle Sounders | 2 | 0 | 1995, 1996 |
Maryland Bays | 1 | 0 | 1990 |
San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | 1 | 1 | 1991 |
Montreal Impact | 1 | 0 | 1994 |
League average attendance
- Regular season/playoffs
- 1996: 4,946/4,781
- 1995: 3,347/5,280
- 1994: 3,478/6,082
- 1993: 2,271/2,903
- 1992: 2,104/1,502
- 1991: 1,827/3,106
- 1990: 1,082/2,039
References
- ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1995". Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ a b c "The Year in American Soccer – 1990". Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ a b c "The Year in American Soccer – 1993". Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1989". Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ Richardson, Kenneth (February 23, 1990). "Seattle part of new soccer merger". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. G4.
- ^ nytimes.com
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59213-885-2. ().
- ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1995". Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1996". Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.