| Competition: | Canadian Professional Soccer League |
| Season: | 2004 |
| Winners: | Toronto Croatia |
| Shieldtitle: | Regular Season title |
| League Topscorer: | Paul Munster (London City) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | George Azcurra |
| Matches: | 110 |
| Biggest Away Win: | DS 0-8 TC |
| Total Goals: | 415 |
| Prevseason: | 2003 |
| Nextseason: | 2005 |
The 2004 Canadian Professional Soccer League season was the seventh season for the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The season began on May 24, 2004 and concluded on October 11, 2004 with Toronto Croatia defeating Vaughan Shooters 4–0 to capture their second CPSL Championship (known as the Rogers CPSL Cup for sponsorship reasons).[1] The championship was hosted for the first time at Victoria Park Stadium in Brampton, Ontario, which granted the Brampton Hitmen a wildcard berth.[2] In the regular season the Toronto Supra clinched their first Eastern Conference title, while Hamilton Thunder secured their second Western Conference title. Though the league decreased in membership they managed to expand to the Windsor - Detroit territory with the addition of the Windsor Border Stars.[3]
The 2004 season saw the league decrease from 13 to 11 teams. The Ottawa Wizards, and the Durham Flames had their franchises revoked.[4] The Laval Dynamites went on hiatus as they awaited the completion of their home venue the Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne.[5] Though the CPSL lost 3 franchises they managed to expand to the Essex County with the addition of the Windsor Border Stars.[6] Founding member the Mississauga Olympians were sold to John O'Neill and replaced the Durham Flames under the name Durham Storm.[7] Vaughan Sun Devils changed their name to the Vaughan Shooters, while the North York Astros joined them in their move to the Ontario Soccer Centre.[8] Director of Officials Tony Camacho resigned and was replaced by former Director at Large Walter Kirchner.[9]
| Team | City | Stadium | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brampton, Ontario (Bramalea) | Steve Nijjar[10] | ||
| Oshawa, Ontario (Vanier) | Derek Bean[11] | ||
| London, Ontario (Westmount) | Harry Gauss[12] | ||
| Jorge Armua | |||
| Toronto, Ontario (Scarborough) | Goran Miscevic[13] | ||
| Toronto, Ontario (North York) | Vittorio Villacis[14] | ||
| St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle) | Club Roma Stadium | Lucio Ianiero[15] | |
| Mississauga, Ontario (Streetsville) | Memorial Park | Aldo Krajcar[16] | |
| Toronto, Ontario (Brockton) | José Testas[17] | ||
| Vaughan, Ontario (Woodbridge) | Sam Mederios[18] | ||
| Pat Hilton[19] | |||
| GK | 1 |  Brian Bowes | ||
| RB | 17 | Raj Takhar | ||
| CB | 2 | Angelo Pollastrone[23] (c) | ||
| LB | 4 | Jorge Molina | ||
| RM | 7 | |||
| CM | 11 | Branko Majstorovic[24] | ||
| CM | 10 | Joey Todaro[25] | ||
| CM | 8 | Chris Turner | ||
| LM | 21 | Marco Casilinuovo[26] | ||
| ST | 13 | |||
| ST | 9 | Jason De Thomasis[27] | ||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 0 | Roberto Scala | ||
| DF | 12 | Fitzroy Powell | ||
| DF | 15 | Fitzroy Christey[28] | ||
| DF | 6 | Tony Marshall | ||
| MF | 23 | Ricardo Forno | ||
| FW | 19 | Jose Anikewe | ||
| FW | 20 | Steve Said | ||
| Manager: | ||||
| width=25 | ! | width=25 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 1 | |||
| RB | 6 | Mario Kulis | ||
| CB | 5 | |||
| LB | 3 |  Halburto Harris[29] | ||
| RM | 22 | Danny Draganic | ||
| CM | 9 | Zvjezdan Kresic | ||
| CM | 8 |  Hugo Alstitud | ||
| CM | 11 | |||
| LM | 21 | Marko Milicevic | ||
| FW | 16 | Edin Kalic | ||
| FW | 10 | Leo Laurito | ||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 12 | Vinko Kozina | ||
| DF | 2 | |||
| DF | 4 | Rudy Spajic | ||
| MF | 7 | Andrew Saulez | ||
| FW | 20 | Leo Marasovic | ||
| FW | 23 | John Sola | ||
| Manager: | ||||
| Theo Krajacic | ||||
| Assistant referees
|
In the 2004 All-Star game Boavista F.C. of the Primeira Liga conducted a North American tour where one of their opponents were a CPSL Select team assembled by Harry Gauss, and Steve Nijjar.[30] The match was played at Cove Road Stadium in London, Ontario.[31]
| Squad | |||
| GK | Toronto Croatia | ||
| D | Peter Zorba | North York Astros | |
| D | Mason Greene | Durham Storm | |
| D | Brampton Hitmen | ||
| D | Marko Peeters | London City | |
| MF | Sasha Kosanovic | Metro Lions | |
| MF | Kosta Stojkovic | Metro Lions | |
| MF | Justin Medeiros | London City | |
| MF | Metro Lions | ||
| F | Metro Lions | ||
| F | London City | ||
| Squad | |||
| GK | London City | ||
| MF | Gentjan Dervishi | London City | |
| MF | Kareem Reynolds | Metro Lions | |
| MF | Brampton Hitmen | ||
| MF | Billy Ninopoulos | Metro Lions | |
| F | Marko Janjicek | Metro Lions | |
| Head coach | |||
| Harry Gauss Steve Nijjar | London City Brampton Hitmen |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London City | 25 | |
| 2 | Toronto Supra | 15 | |
| 3 | Alex Braletic | North York Astros | 10 |
| Michael Diluca | Hamilton Thunder | ||
| Windsor Border Stars | |||
| 4 |  Maxim Elie Dorneval | Metro Lions | 9 |
| Hayden Fitzwilliams | Metro Lions | ||
| Kevin Nelson | Hamilton Thunder | ||
| Matthew Palleschi | Vaughan Shooters | ||
| 5 |  Aaron Byrd | Windsor Border Stars | 8 |
| Brampton Hitmen | |||
| Daniel Jaroch | North York Astros | ||
| Leo Laurito | Toronto Croatia | ||
| Sasa Milaimovic | Hamilton Thunder | ||
| Craig Patton | Metro Lions | ||
| Joey Todaro | Vaughan Shooters | ||
A list of the 2004 CPSL Executive Committee.[32]
| Position | Name | Nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|
| President & Chairman: | Vincent Ursini | Canadian | |
| League Administrator/Director of Media: | Stan Adamson[33] | English | |
| Director of Discipline: | Clifford Dell[34] | Canadian | |
| Director of Officials: | Walter Kirchner | Romanian | |
| Administrative Co-ordinator: | Janet Leonard | Canadian | |
| Community Services: | Peter Li Preti | Canadian | |
| Legal Counsel: | Ira Greenspoon | Canadian | |
| Marketing Consultant: | Cary Kaplan | Canadian | |
| Marketing Manager: | Jess Krajacic | Canadian |
The annual CPSL awards ceremony was held on October 9, 2004 at the La Contessa Banquet Hall in North York, Toronto.[35] London City and Windsor Border Stars were both tied with the most wins with 2 awards.[36] London City's Paul Munster had a tremendous season where he captured both the Golden Boot and Rookie of the Year, which later spring boarded his career back to Europe to sign with Slavia Prague in the Czech First League. After leading expansion franchise Windsor Border Stars to an Open Canada Cup, former English football player Pat Hilton was given the Coach of the Year. While Windsor's Justin Marshall was voted the Defender of the Year.
The league chose Danny Amaral as its MVP after making his return to Canadian soccer with Toronto Supra after several seasons in Portugal. George Azcurra of Toronto Croatia won his fourth Goalkeeper of the Year. The Referee of the Year went to Amato De Luca, which marked his second CPSL accolade. The most disciplined team throughout the season were Durham Storm. The league also introduced the President of the Year award in order to recognize the top executive or organizer, and the inaugural recipient was North York Astros Bruno Ierullo.
| Award | Player (Club) | |
|---|---|---|
| CPSL Most Valuable Player | Danny Amaral (Toronto Supra) | |
| CPSL Golden Boot | Paul Munster (London City) | |
| CPSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award | George Azcurra (Toronto Croatia) | |
| CPSL Defender of the Year Award | Justin Marshall (Windsor Border Stars) | |
| CPSL Rookie of the Year Award | Paul Munster (London City) | |
| CPSL Coach of the Year Award | Pat Hilton (Windsor Border Stars) | |
| CPSL President of the Year Award | Bruno Ierullo (North York Astros) | |
| CPSL Referee of the Year Award | Amato De Luca | |
| CPSL Fair Play Award | Durham Storm |