Season 1995 Champion Seattle Sounders | Start date 1995 People also search for 1996 A-League | |
Champions Seattle Sounders
(1st title) Premiers Montreal Impact
(1st title) Top goalscorer Peter Hattrup
(11 goals) | ||
Overview
In 1995, the American Professional Soccer League, which was the de facto highest level of U.S. soccer (officially sanctioned U.S. second division) until MLS commenced, changed its name to the A-League. The league had ended its 1994 season with seven teams and intended to expand to ten for the 1995 season. These plans were stymied when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Los Angeles Salsa and Toronto Rockets all folded. This left the league with only four teams. The addition of the New York Centaurs and Atlanta Ruckus gave the league six teams and allowed it to compete for another season. Training camps opened in March and the season began on May 5, 1995, when the Vancouver 86ers defeated the Atlanta Ruckus. By the time the regular season ended on September 10, 1995, the Montreal Impact had topped the chart. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Ruckus. Seattle defeated Vancouver in the first round, then defeated Atlanta in the final to take their first championship. The league introduced a new scoring system for the regular season. No games ended in a tie. If the score was tied at the end of regulation, every game went to a shootout. A win gained a team three points, a shootout win two points, a shootout loss one point and a loss zero points.
Regular season
1995 A-League scoring System was
The Atlanta Ruckus advance to the finals.
The Seattle Sounders advance to the final.