In soccer circles, Andrew Loague is regarded as a winner.

He won countless titles as a star striker for London Portuguese. He played for St. Catharines when the Roma Wolves captured a championship in what is now the Canadian Soccer League.

But the 38-year-old has never been through a summer like this.

With 11 goals, Loague is just three off the CSL scoring lead. Remarkable, considering his team -- London City -- has only five matches left to avoid the worst season in league history. City (0-15-2) still hasn't won a game.

"Let's just say it's been a challenging season," Loague said. "Our biggest problem has been fitness. We had guys who would play on Friday, then come out and try to play another for us the same night and you can't do that at this level. Games we could've won, we ran out of steam. That, and not having enough guys consistently make it out. We had six or seven regulars, but you need a starting 11 and we never had that all year."

Loague returned to City this year to prove a point. A lot of people in the Western Ontario Soccer League thought he was washed up.

"I didn't really count on playing as many games this year," he said, "but I've felt good. I wanted to show some people I wasn't done and I'd really like to take a shot at winning the scoring title because it would be something for this team, something positive for our club."

The CSL hasn't seen a winless team since two name changes ago when the North York Talons of the then Canadian National Soccer League went 0-12 in 1997.

Still, the Gauss family refuses to sell the club. London GM Ryan Gauss has quashed that talk, vowing the team will rebound strong -- under the same leadership -- in 2009.

"There's absolutely zero truth to the rumour that we're selling," he said. "We're already preparing for next year. On the field, we haven't had the kind of results we were hoping for, but off the field, we're dong well. Our attendance was up 10, 15 points this year and our sponsorship base is established and strong."

But even the old Durham Storm, league doormats who suffered through a 20-loss season in 2005, managed to win once before calling it quits. In 2006, the Caribbean Selects had a 1-18-3 mark as an expansion squad.

City is a long-standing franchise. This is its 35th year and the club played up that longevity at the start of what they hoped would be a summer of pride, celebration and renewal with the return of former boss Harry Gauss -- Ryan's dad -- from brain tumour surgery.

Right now, they're in a mad dash to deny themselves a most dubious distinction.

"I'm not going to say we don't want a victory," Gauss said. "Of course, we do. No one wants a winless season. But whatever happens, we'll be back next year. Look at the Tampa Bay Rays in baseball. They improved. The London Knights went 3-60-3 one year in hockey and then won the Memorial Cup."

London has a couple of shots at a win. The best figures to be on Sunday when it travels to play St. Catharines. The Wolves are 6-9-2 this year.

City also has another crack at one of the teams it tied this summer -- Portugal FC -- on Sept. 26. Their other point in the standings came against Toronto FC's Academy team on July 4.

City has tried all kinds of strategies already. Gauss parted ways with coach Eddie Edgar shortly after the season started and put in his brother Sean.

Gauss can't fire his own brother now, can he?

"Sean was brought in to stop the bleeding and look at what he's done," Gauss said. "We have two ties. The scores are a lot closer. He's giving us a chance to win. We'll sit down and talk after the season about what he wants to do."

Even if they win all five remaining games, City, which has scored 17 times and allowed 63, will miss the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years. Since 1998, the franchise has played 204 games, winning just 38. Its biggest moment was a surprise Open Canada Cup win five years ago.