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| Full name | Durham Flames | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Flames | |
| Founded | 1999 (asOshawa Flames) | |
| Stadium | Oshawa Civic Stadium Thornton Rd South / Gibb Street Oshawa Canada | |
| Capacity | 2,000 | |
| League | Defunct club Former members ofCanadian Professional Soccer League | |
Durham Flames were a semi-professionalCanadianfootball club based inOshawa,Ontario,Canada. The club competed in theCanadian Professional Soccer League for five seasons from 1999 to 2003.
Durham Flames(previously known as Oshawa Flames) played in theCanadian Professional Soccer League which is the third tier ofCanadian football pyramid. The club was founded in 1999[1] and played their home matches at theOshawa Civic Stadium inOshawa.[2] The stadium is able to accommodate 2,000 spectators. The club was affiliated to theCanadian Soccer Association.
Durham Flames were originally known as Oshawa Flames and first entered theCanadian Professional Soccer League in1999, as a replacement for theMississauga Eagles. The club's first head coach wasCSL andAPSL veteranJens Kraemer. Notable acquisition wereDarryl Gomez,Pat Sullivan, andHubert Busby, Jr.[3] The club finished in fifth position and reached the semi-finals of the League Cup before going out 2–0 on aggregate toToronto Croatia, the second match proving decisive atCentennial Park Stadium.[4] Thefollowing season the team hired the services ofDurham College head coach Stan Bombino to coach the team. Bombino led Durham to a seventh-place finish which reflected the fact that they drew 9 of their 14 matches.[5]Jimmy Kuzmanovski was the club's top goal-scorer with 9 league and cup goals.[6] At the conclusion of the season Kuzmanovski was awarded the CPSL Rookie of the Year award.[7] Under their new title of Durham Flames, and under the leadership of Danny Stewart the club again failed to reach the championship playoffs in the2001 and2002 seasons.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Though Durham failed to reach the postseason they received the CPSL Fair Play award in 2001.[14]
In their final season in2003 in the Eastern Conference the club struggled, winning just one of their 18 league matches. This contrasted with their performance in theOpen Canada Cup when they reached the Cup Final weekend before losing 4–1 toLondon City in a wild card game on 29 August 2003. The Flames last ever match was played on 30 September 2003 when they went down 3–1 away toVaughan Sun Devils.[2][15][16][17][18] On October 5, 2003, the organization was awarded their second CPSL Fair Play award for being the most disciplined team.[19]
It was reported in the local press that The Flames were excluded from the League in December 2003, their franchise having been revoked following their failure to pay league fees and fines.Durham Storm took over their slot for home games in Oshawa's Civic Stadium on Friday nights. However The Storm bought theMississauga Olympians franchise and did not take over the Durham Flames franchise.[20]
| Season | League | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Playoffs | League Cup | Club name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Canadian Professional Soccer League | 5 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 14 | Did not qualify | Semi-final | Oshawa Flames |
| 2000 | Canadian Professional Soccer League | 7 | 14 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 22 | 35 | 9 | Did not qualify | Group stage | Oshawa Flames |
| 2001 | Canadian Professional Soccer League | 10 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 39 | 53 | 24 | Did not qualify | Group stage | Durham Flames |
| 2002 | Canadian Professional Soccer League (East) | 5 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 28 | 44 | 23 | Did not qualify | Durham Flames | |
| 2003 | Canadian Professional Soccer League (East) | 6 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 28 | 73 | 9 | Did not qualify | Durham Flames |
The following players represented Durham Flames in their final season:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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The key officials of the club during the last season were:
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| Years | Name | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Jens Kraemer |  Canada |
| 2000 | Stan Bombino | Canada |
| 2001 | Danny Stewart | Canada |
| 2002-2003 | Steve Hamill | Canada |
