| Competition: | Canadian Soccer League |
| Season: | 2008 |
| Winners: | Serbian White Eagles |
| Shield: | Italia Shooters (International Division) Trois-Rivières Attak (National Division) |
| Shieldtitle: | Regular Season title |
| League Topscorer: | Daniel Nascimento (Brampton Lions) (18 goals) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Andrew Olivieri |
| Matches: | 121 |
| Biggest Home Win: | 9–0 Trois-Rivières Attak v Windsor Border Stars |
| Biggest Away Win: | 0–7 London City v Brampton Lions 4–7 London City v Toronto Croatia |
| Total Goals: | 419 |
| Prevseason: | 2007 |
| Nextseason: | 2009 |
The 2008 Canadian Soccer League season was the 11th since its establishment where a total of 16 teams from Ontario and Quebec took part in the league. The season began on May 16, 2008, and ended on October 26 with the Serbian White Eagles claiming their first championship by defeating Trois-Rivières Attak 2-1 in a penalty shootout.[1] [2] This was the third consecutive year the White Eagles had reached the CSL finals losing respectively to Italia Shooters in 2006, and to rivals Toronto Croatia in 2007. While during the regular season Italia won their second division title with Trois-Rivières becoming the first Quebec team to claim the National Division title.[3]
The CSL added another team to the Peel Region after the relocation of the Canadian Lions to Brampton, Ontario to play as the Brampton Lions in the National Division. Toronto FC of the Major League Soccer established a relationship with the league by entering TFC Academy to the National Division, and TFC Academy II to the Reserve Division.[4] Further significant changes introduced by the league was the creation of the 5 team reserve division in the Toronto region to provide a developmental platform for young players in order to make the transition to the professional ranks.[5] The Ontario Soccer Association reached an agreement with the CSL to receive Operational Independence from the provincial governing body. The league received more coverage from Rogers TV which would broadcast a CSL match on Friday nights.[6] [7]
| Team | City | Stadium | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brampton, Ontario (Bramalea) | Armando Costa[12] | ||
| Vaughan, Ontario (Maple) | Carmine Isacco | ||
| London, Ontario (Westmount) | Eddie Edgar | ||
| Toronto, Ontario (North York) | Rafael Carbajal | ||
| Toronto, Ontario (Liberty Village) | Jose Testas | ||
| Toronto, Ontario (Etobicoke) | Milan Cancarevic | ||
| St. Catharines, Ontario (Vansickle) | Club Roma Stadium | James McGillivray | |
| Toronto, Ontario (Liberty Village) | Jason Bent | ||
| Mississauga, Ontario | Miroslav Buljan | ||
| Trois-Rivières, Quebec | Marc Dos Santos | ||
| Pat Hilton | |||
Full article: CSL Golden Boot[13]
| Rank | Player | Nationality | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Nascimento | Brampton Lions | 18 | ||
| 2 | Andrew Loague | London City | 14 | ||
| Selvin Lammie[14] | North York Astros | 14 | |||
| 4 | Dragan Radović | Serbian White Eagles | 12 | ||
| 5 | Hayden Fitzwilliams | Toronto Croatia | 11 | ||
| 6 | Saša Viciknez | Serbian White Eagles | 10 | ||
| Danny Amaral | Portugal FC | 10 | |||
| Jonathan Hurtis | North York Astros | 10 | |||
| 9 | Tihomir Maletić | Toronto Croatia | 9 |
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| Assistant referees
|
A list of the 2008 CSL Executive Committee.[15]
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Commissioner: | Cary Kaplan |  Canadian |
| Executive Director: | Stan Adamson[16] | English |
| Director of Discipline: | Clifford Dell[17] | Canadian |
| Director of Officials: | Tony Camacho | Portuguese |
| League Coordinator: | Brock Robinson | Canadian |
| Office Manager: | Janet Leonard | Canadian |
The annual CSL awards were presented before the CSL Championship final on October 26, 2008. All the awards were taken by the National Division teams with the Brampton Lions, North York Astros, and Trois-Rivières Attak receiving the most awards with 2 wins each.[18] Daniel Nascimento of Brampton was chosen by the league as the MVP, and received the Golden Boot. After recording the best defensive record with Trois-Rivières, former Montreal Impact player Andrew Olivieri was named the Goalkeeper of the Year. Trois-Rivières were also recognized with the Fair Play award for being the most disciplined team throughout the season.
The Defender of the Year was given to Carlos Zeballos of North York. After improving his craft in Europe, Rafael Carbajal returned to the North York Astros to achieve the club's highest finish in their club's history. TFC Academy produced the Rookie of the Year with Adrian Pena. While Isaac Raymond was given the Referee of the Year, and down the road in 2015 was appointed the Manager of Canada's Referee Department for the Canadian Soccer Association.[19]
| Award | Player (Club) | |
|---|---|---|
| CSL Most Valuable Player | Daniel Nascimento (Brampton Lions) | |
| CSL Golden Boot | Daniel Nascimento (Brampton Lions) | |
| CSL Goalkeeper of the Year Award | Andrew Olivieri (Trois-Rivières Attak) | |
| CSL Defender of the Year Award | Carlos Zeballos (North York Astros) | |
| CSL Rookie of the Year Award | Adrian Pena (TFC Academy) | |
| CSL Coach of the Year Award | Rafael Carbajal (North York Astros) | |
| CSL Referee of the Year Award | Isaac Raymond | |
| CSL Fair Play Award | Trois-Rivières Attak |
| Competition: | Canadian Soccer League Reserve Division |
| Season: | 2008 |
| Winners: | Italia Shooters Reserves |
| Matches: | 40 |
| Total Goals: | 155 |
| Prevseason: | NSL 1990 |
| Nextseason: | 2009 |
In 2008, the league formed the Reserve Division to build a developmental structure within the CSL. The previous time a reserve division was in operation was in the 1990 season in the predecessor league.[20] The intentions of the division was to provide clubs with a supply chain of players with additional playing time, and establish a developmental platform for players in order to make the transition to the professional ranks.[21] [22] The original 5 members of the division were from the Greater Toronto Area with a schedule running from June 2, 2008 to October 6, 2008.
| Team | City | Stadium |
|---|---|---|
| Italia Shooters Reserves | St. Joan Of Arc Turf Field | |
| North York Astros Reserves | Esther Shiner Stadium | |
| Portugal FC Reserves | Esther Shiner Stadium | |
| TFC Academy II | Ontario Soccer Centre | |
| Toronto Croatia Reserves | Hershey Centre | |
Mohamed Sylla 
Miloš Šćepanović