UPDATED - January 27, 2007
American Professional
Soccer League
1991 Season
Albany Capitals - Colorado Foxes - Ft. Lauderdale Strikers - Maryland Bays - Miami Freedom
Penn-Jersey Spirit - Salt Lake Sting - SF Bay Blackhawks - Tampa Bay Rowdies
1991 Home - 1991 Results - 1991 Stats
1991 FINAL STANDINGS
American Conference GP W
L SO GF GA BP
Pts
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 21 15
6 4-2 39 21 31 117
Albany Capitals 21 10 11 0-3 27 29 26 92
Tampa Bay Rowdies 21 8 13 0-0 26 27 21 69
Penn-Jersey Spirit 21 6 15 2-2 26 50 25 61
Miami Freedom 21 6 15 1-0 19 53 18 52
Western Conference GP W L SO GF GA BP Pts
Maryland Bays 21 19 2 1-0 54 23 46 158
San Francisco Bay Blackhawks 21 17 4 4-1 32 16 32 126
Colorado Foxes 21 13 8 1-1 36 27 35 111
Salt Lake Sting 11 3 8 0-2 12 26 12 34
Win-6pts, SOW-2pts, SOL-1pt, 1 bonus point per goal scored
in regulation, maximum of 3 per game
Salt Lake Sting terminated by the league on July 5
All remaining matches v. Salt Lake count as 1-0 forfeit
Each team played one match against either Supra de Montreal, Vancouver 86ers, or Millionaros that counted in the standings
1991 PLAYOFFS *-after extra time First Round Sept. 5 Maryland 1-2* Albany Sept. 14 Albany 1-2 Maryland Series tied 1 game apiece Maryland wins mini-game, 1-0
Sept. 7 San Francisco 1-0* Ft. Lauderdale Date n/a Ft. Lauderdale 0-1* San Francisco San Francisco win series 2 games to 0
APSL Championship Sept. 22 Albany 3-1 San Francisco Sept. 28 San Francisco 2-0 Albany San Francisco win championship 2 games to 0 |
Leading Goalscorers Jean Harbor, Maryland 17 Kevin Sloan, Maryland 14 Zico Doe, Colorado 12 Derek Sanderson, Ft. Lauderdale 10 Bryan Haynes, Maryland 9 Paul Doughrerty, Ft. Lauderdale 7 Mike Masters, Albany 7 Ramiro Borja, Albany 7 Andrew McKay, Ft. Lauderdale 6 Townsend Qin, San Francisco Bay 6 Chance Fry, SF Bay 6 Scott Benedetti, Colorado 5 Chance Fry, San Francsico Bay 5 Dzung Tran, Salt Lake/SFB 5
Goalkeeping Leaders GAA Mark Dougherty, San Francisco Bay 0.81 Scoop Stanisic, Albany 1.02 Arnie Mausser, Ft. Lauderdale 1.02 Steve Powers, Maryland 1.04 Tony Meola, Ft. Lauderdale 1.06 Mark Dodd, Colorado 1.24 Chris Viccaro, Penn-Jersey 1.40
1991 APSL Award Winners
Most Valuable
Player: Jean Harbor, Maryland
1991 APSL First XI
G - Mark Dougherty,
San Francisco Bay Home Attendance G Total Avg. N/A |
Overview of the 1991 APSL Season - From the American Soccer History Archives Although 1991 would see the first interlocking schedule for the recently unified APSL, cold financial reality had set in after the 1990 season, dampening their hopes for to establishing the first nationwide professional league since the demise of the NASL in 1984. Travel costs would be exorbitant for teams that would repeatedly cross the country, and many teams were already reeling because of the salaries commanded by the best players. Although attendance was respectable, ranging as high as 5,000 per game, the revenue flow simply wasn't enough to meet existing expenses, much less the anticipated travel costs. As a result, only nine teams chose to continue into 1991. The financial woes didn't end there, as the Salt Lake Sting folded near the end of the season, despite having one of the best attendance figures, and Penn-Jersey, Albany, and Maryland (despite their stellar record) folded afterwards, leaving only five teams to continue into 1992. What was lost in quantity was made up for in quality -- the teams remaining were generally the strongest teams, and many of the better players were concentrated on their roster. The APSL was the top professional league in the country, and would eventually be awarded division 2 status by the USSF. A number of players were already veterans of the National Team, including Tony Meola (Ft. Lauderdale), Desmond Armstrong (Maryland), Marcelo Balboa (San Francisco), Bruce Murray (Maryland), Peter Vermes (Tampa Bay), Eric Wynalda (San Francisco), Steve Trittschuh (Tampa Bay), and Jean Harbor (Maryland). The league consisted of two conferences, with a 21-game interlocking schedule. Maryland Bays quickly took the league in the South Conference, never looking back. They would go on to set a league record for most wins (19) in taking the conference title, on the strength of goal-scoring by league leader Jean Harbor (17 goals, 55 points), Kevin Sloan (14 goals, 32 points), and Bryan Haynes (9 goals, 23 points). Meanwhile, the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers took the lead in the North Conference, winning the title by five games. Ft. Lauderdale scoring standouts included Derek Sanderson (10 goals, 23 points), and Andrew McKay (6 goals, 20 points). In the semifinals, San Francisco earned a surprise victory over Ft. Lauderdale in consecutive 1-0 overtime wins. In the North, Albany Capitals split a pair with heavily favored Maryland , 2-1 and 1-2, before winning the deciding mini-game 1-0. So the championship saw an exciting series between two underdogs. Albany took the first game 3-1, but San Francisco rallied to earn a 2-0 shutout, and take the ensuing mini-game to take home the Commissioner's Cup. |
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