American Soccer League
1988 season
Season1988
ChampionsWashington Diplomats
(1st title)
PremiersNew Jersey Eagles
(1st title)
Top goalscorerJorge Acosta
(14 goals)
← First season
1983 (2nd ASL)
1989 →

The 1988 American Soccer League was the first season of the third American Soccer League which took place during the summer of 1988.

History

The third American Soccer League owed its creation to several events in the early 1980s. In 1983, the second American Soccer League collapsed from over-expansion, runaway spending and a restricted fan base. A year later, the North American Soccer League collapsed for essentially the same reasons. In 1985, the West-coast based Western Soccer Alliance was created as a regional, financially austere league. This new league kept expenditures low while building its fan base. In 1987, the Lone Star Soccer Alliance began its first season, mimicking the WSA model with teams in or near Texas. On May 7, 1987, several team executives led by Clive Toye announced the creation of an east coast-based league using the WSA model.[1] This new league, named the American Soccer League, planned to begin its first season in 1988. Chuck Blazer was announced as the league's commissioner and Clive Toye was named its chairman. The league planned a twenty-game schedule with at least six teams having a $75,000 salary cap.[2] The league initially concentrated on the northeast, but in August 1987, plans expanded to include teams situated in Florida.[3] This was soon followed by announcements of the entry of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Tampa Bay Rowdies. By October 1987, the list of teams was finalized with the addition of the Orlando Lions and Miami Sharks. The league now divided itself into two five-team divisions. On April 9, 1988, the American Soccer League began its first season when the New Jersey Eagles defeated the Miami Sharks, 2–1. When the regular season ended the first week of August, Eagles had topped the standings with forty-five points. Four teams made the playoffs, the top two from both the Northern and Southern Divisions. The Washington Diplomats which had the worst record of the four playoff teams, stunned the league by defeating first the New Jersey Eagles, then the Fort Lauderdale Strikers to win the first league championship.

League standings

Northern Division

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA Pts
1 New Jersey Eagles 20 15 5 39 24 45
2 Maryland Bays 20 12 8 32 31 36
3 Washington Stars 20 11 9 31 28 33
4 Boston Bolts 20 9 11 31 33 27
5 Albany Capitals 20 7 13 26 35 21
Source:

Southern Division

Pos Team Pld W L GF GA Pts
1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 20 14 6 46 25 42
2 Washington Diplomats 20 10 10 27 30 30
3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 20 10 10 23 21 30
4 Orlando Lions 20 8 12 21 31 24
5 Miami Sharks 20 4 16 24 42 12
Source:

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals
Best-of-3 		1988 ASL Championship
Best-of-3
          
1 New Jersey Eagles 1 1 1
4 Washington Diplomats 4 0 4
4 Washington Diplomats 4 3 -
2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3 2 -
2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 5 6 -
3 Maryland Bays 2 0 -

Semifinal 1

Maryland Bays (MD)2–5Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)
Vernon Skinner Yellow card 28'
Sylvanus Oriaikhi 44'
Kurt Dasbach 80'		 Report 17' Ray Hudson
65', 75', 85' Steve Kinsey
85' Ricardo Alonso
Attendance: 1,808


Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)6–0Maryland Bays (MD)
Steve Kinsey 5', 46', 88'
Ken Fogarty Yellow card 13'
Miljce Donev 44'
Ray Hudson 64'
Marcelo Carrera 69'		 Report Yellow card 90' Sylvanus Oriaikhi
Attendance: 1,406

Fort Lauderdale advances two games to none.

Semifinal 2

Washington Diplomats (DC)4–1New Jersey Eagles (NJ)
Duncan Reynard 13'
Jean Harbor 18', 65'
Leonel Suazo 84'		 78' Mario Chavez
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 2,346


New Jersey Eagles (NJ)1–0Washington Diplomats (DC)
Ken Lolla 64'
Attendance: 1,531


New Jersey Eagles (NJ)1–4Washington Diplomats (DC)
Mario Chavez 2' 11' Jean Harbor
13', 26' Marco Casas-Cordero
20' Fernando Iturbe
Attendance: 1,531

Washington advances two games to one.

ASL Championship Final

Higher seed Series Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 Mini-game Attendance
Fort Lauderdale Strikers2–0Washington Diplomats3–42–3xAugust 21 • RFK Stadium • 5,745
August 27 • Lockhart Stadium • 4,257

Game 1

Washington Diplomats (DC)4–3Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)
Michael Brady 17:26', 21:43'
Joaquin Canales 54:29' (Harbor, Simmons)
Ronald Simmons 89:30' (pen.)		 Report Ricardo Alonso 56:50' (Carrera, Hudson)
Mark Schwartz 57:11' (Hudson)
Thomas Rongen 86:36'
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 5,745

Game 2

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (FL)2–3Washington Diplomats (DC)
Ricardo Alonso 27:57', 33:20' (Carrera) Report Leonel Suazo 29:40' (Canales)
Keith Trehy 30:50'
Michael Brady 35:30' (Hong)
Attendance: 4,257

Points leaders

Rank Scorer Club Goals Assists Points
1 Jorge Acosta New Jersey Eagles 14 4 32
2 Steve Kinsey Fort Lauderdale Strikers 10 3 23
3 Teófilo Cubillas Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7 5 17
4 Mark Lamb Orlando Lions 8 1 17
5 Scott Snyder Washington Stars 8 1 17
6 Maicol Antelo New Jersey Eagles 6 4 16
7 Roger Chavez New Jersey Eagles 5 6 16
8 Marcelo Carrera Fort Lauderdale Strikers 4 8 16
9 Mirko Castillo Fort Lauderdale Strikers 5 5 15
10 Guillermo Pizzaro Miami Sharks 6 2 14
11 Andy Bing Boston Bolts 5 4 14
11 Russ Downing Albany Capitals 4 6 14
11 Leonel Suazo Washington Diplomats 6 1 13
11 Mike Sweeney Boston Bolts 5 3 13
11 Kurt Manal Boston Bolts 5 3 13

1988 ASL All-Star game

The ASL All-Star game was hosted by the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Lockhart Stadium. Players that were unable to play due to injury, as well as any Strikers selected to the squad were replaced, since the All-Stars' opponent was the Strikers. George Best also suited up for the Strikers in the match.[4] The match ended in a 3–3 draw after 90 minutes, and moved directly to a penalty shootout. Both teams converted four of five attempts, and in an unusual move agreed to end it there with the consent of the referees.

All-Star selections

All-Stars  Position  Alternates
Winston DuBose, Tampa Bay G Alan Rough, Orlando
Troy Edwards, Miami D Ross Irwin, Boston
Brian Ainscough, New Jersey D -
Lou Karbiener, Orlando D -
George Lidster, Washington Stars D -
Steve Powell, Albany[5] (injured) M Dirceu Guimarães, Miami • Andy Harrison, Albany
Sonny Askew, Washington Stars M Ray Hudson, Fort Lauderdale
Rob Ryerson, Maryland M Teofilo Cubillas, Fort Lauderdale
Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay F Joaquin Canales, Washington Diplomats
Elvis Comrie, Maryland F -
Jorge Acosta, New Jersey F -
Lincoln Phillips, Maryland Coach John Kerr, Washington Stars (assistant coach)

Match summary

Fort Lauderdale Strikers3–3ASL All-Stars
Miljce Donev 14:00' (Cubillas, Carrera)
Ray Hudson 36:00' (Carrera)
Marcelo Carrera 44:28' (Hudson)		 Report 1
Report 2
Report 3		 Dirceu Guimarães 53:00' (pen.)
Dirceu Guimarães 57:10' (Alonso)
Elvis Comrie 60:00' (Acosta, Canales)
Penalties
? soccer ball with check mark
? soccer ball with check mark
? soccer ball with red X
? soccer ball with check mark
? soccer ball with check mark		 4–4 soccer ball with red X Steve Wegerle
soccer ball with check mark ?
soccer ball with check mark Elvis Comrie
soccer ball with check mark ?
soccer ball with check mark Dirceu Guimarães
Attendance: 3,179
Referee: Ed Bellion

See also

References

  1. ↑ NEW SOCCER LEAGUE SETS NEWS CONFERENCE The Record (New Jersey) - Thursday, May 7, 1987
  2. ↑ NEW LOCAL SOCCER FRANCHISE WILL WATCH EXPENSES The Record (New Jersey) - Friday, May 8, 1987
  3. ↑ ASL TO DISCUSS EXPANSION TO FLORIDA Sun-Sentinel - Wednesday, August 19, 1987
  4. ↑ "1988 ASL All-Star Game At A Glance". Palm Beach Post. June 16, 1988. p. 7C. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  5. ↑ Lazzarino, Chris (June 16, 1988). "1988 All-Stars rally in second half to tie Strikers". Sun Sentinel. p. 7C. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
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