1998 Canadian Professional Soccer League season
| Season | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Champions | St. Catharines Wolves |
| Regular Season title | Toronto Olympians |
| Matches played | 56 |
| Goals scored | 270 (4.82 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |
 Gus Kouzmanis (Toronto Olympians) |
| Biggest home win | Toronto Olympians 12-0 York Region Shooters |
| Biggest away win | Toronto Croatia 0-10 Toronto Olympians |
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1999 →
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The inaugural 1998 Canadian Professional Soccer League season began on May 31, 1998, and concluded on October 14, 1998, with the St. Catharines Wolves defeating the Toronto Olympians in 4-2 victory in a penalty shootout to claim the first CPSL Championship held at Centennial Park Stadium in Etobicoke, Toronto.Though Toronto was denied the treble they still managed to go undefeated the entire regular season, and dominate the league with the best offensive and defensive record.
The CPSL was created by an alliance forged by the Ontario Soccer Association with the Canadian National Soccer League in order to implement the Image of the Game Report to provide a suitable professional soccer structure in Ontario and potentially throughout the country for the development of players and to serve as a preliminary league for the major North American tier leagues. During the initial stages of the formation of the league it faced certain difficulties as the schedule was finalized just two weeks prior kickoff. The scheduling problem revolved mainly around the status of Toronto Italia as it disagreed with the league's policy and territory rights. Though they applied for membership it was challenged by Toronto Croatia over alleged debts being owned to them from the 1995 CNSL season. After refusing to pay the debt Italia withdrew and were refunded of its membership application fee, as a result the CPSL lost one of the country's most prestige clubs. In addition the league received sponsorship from Adidas, Labatt, and Coffee Time.
After the demise of the Canadian Soccer League in 1992 Canada was without a Division I national professional league. The Canadian soccer landscape was fractured into several different foreign and regional senior leagues. When the CSL ceased operations three of their clubs the Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto Blizzard, and Montreal Supra joined the American Professional Soccer League, which at the time was constituted as the highest tier league in the Canadian soccer structure. While the remaining clubs with the exception of London Lasers joined the National Soccer League the country's oldest and only exclusively Canadian professional league. After the addition of the Winnipeg Fury it changed its name to the Canadian National Soccer League.
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