1995 A-League

The 1995 A-League season was the sixth A-League season and first after being renamed from the American Professional Soccer League. The A-League was the de facto highest level of U.S. soccer until Major League Soccer commenced the following year.

Overview

The league had ended its 1994 season with seven teams and intended to expand to ten for the 1995 season with new franchises in Detroit and Atlanta. 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. As with previous years, no games ended in a tie. If the score was tied at the end of regulation, a penalty shootout would determine a winner. A win was worth three points, a shootout win two points, a shootout loss one point and a loss zero points.

The Atlanta Ruckus advance to the finals.
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The Seattle Sounders advance to the finals.
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''The Seattle Sounders win the A-League title.''

MVP: Peter HattrupLeading goal scorer: Peter HattrupLeading goalkeeper: Marcus HahnemannRookie of the Year: Giuliano OlivieroCoach of the Year: Lothar OsianderDefender of the Year: John DoyleOfficial of the Year: Esfandiar BaharmastFirst Team All League