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Despite a 1-0 home loss to
Montreal Dynamites on
October 5, the team
eventually came very close to
taking the runner-up position
in the Eastern Conference.
It took longer than expected
for Metro Lions to produce the
results most people were
looking for and at one time
near the mid-point of the
current campaign the team
was showing a disappointing
While Mike Glasgow was often
dangerous around the net for the Lions -
scoring a number of goals just when they
were needed, and captain O’neil Brown
was often a tower of strength on
defence, there were no standouts. There
were no stars in a team that played and
succeeded with a team effort during the
second half of the season under the
strong coaching of Aldwyn McGill and
Junior Parker.
Whatever happens on the road to the
Rogers Cup - Metro Lions can consider
their inaugural year to be a
successful one.
. He took over the coaching duties
when the club got off to a 3-3 start.
McGill then guided the Lions to an
8-3-2 record during the final 13
contest. For his efforts he was
chosen as the Coach of the Year. He
received his award at the league
banquet held on Sunday.
McGill said it’s too early to speculate
whether he’ll will return as the team’s
coach, GM and president next year. “
Now I just want to rest” he said.
If McGill does relinquish some
responsibilities, chances are he’ll do
so by bringing in another coach. “As
far as running the organization. I don’t
think that will be a problem.” he added.
McGill also believes the Lions do have
to make some personnel changes
.“We’ve got to bring in a few midfield-
ers and a couple of more forwards that
can really score,” he said. “ As far as
our defence, I think we have the best
defence anywhere.”
The Wizards went on to win the
league final by blanking the host
North York Astros 2-0 on Sunday
in a game at Ester Shiner
Stadium.
Lions coach Aldwyn McGill
wasn’t entirely satisfied with what
his squad accomplished this
season, It would have been
better if we had won the
championship,” he said “ I guess
we’ll have to do that next year.”
McGill said it is a bit of a
consolation having his team’s
season end at the hands of the
Wizards, the eventual league
champs. “We match up well
against them,” he said. “They
(Wizards) are the measuring
stick of the league.” McGill
began the season as the Lions
Liason person before moving
into the president and general
manager job
Lions had just 12 points from its
first nine games. But the team
launched by Arnold Milan as a
component of All Nations Soccer
Club with promise of large
contingent of supporters of new
Canadians from the African
continent began to pick it up
mid-season. The difference was
just a single point when Montreal
took the second position
following an unbeaten streak of
five games before losing its last
game of the season.
By Stan Adamson
By Sam Laskaris
Most first-year franchises have
their share of growing pains but
somebody obviously neglected
to tell that to the Metro Lions.
The Scarborough-based club,
which competes in the
Canadian Professional Soccer
League (CPSL) had a
successful inaugural campaign.
The Lions, who played their
home games at Birchmount
Stadium, posted an impressive
11-6-2 regular season record,
finishing third in their seven
team Eastern Conference.
The Lions also won their first
playoff contest before losing
1-0 decision to the Ottawa
Wizards in a CPSL semi-final
contest this past Saturday in
North York.