Looks like York 9 will be dropping the "9" from the name and rebrand which makes sense. They represent "York Region" (9 municipalities of about 1.2M people north of Toronto) but they play in Toronto at York Lions Stadium in North York (1 of the 6 boroughs of Toronto, home to over 860k). The club changed their leadership and Angus McNab said that the team will remain in North York for the foreseeable future. Dropping the 9 makes SO MUCH SENSE. They play at York University , which is actually not in York Region. Yes, you could throw a rock into it from there, but it’s literally not in the place it’s claiming to represent. Take that and factor in that Toronto used to be called York...— Duane Rollins (@24thminute) June 5, 2020 The Nine Stripes are considering making changes to the club’s brand and visual identity.Do you think that’d be a good move for @York9FC? https://t.co/c7SiJ7xvgb#CanPL #York9FC #UniteYork— Northern Tribune (@northtribune) June 5, 2020 It's really hard to beat in terms of location too. The location is perfect and the club will be spending in upgrading the stadium. Also, Toronto used to be called "York" while another borough further south of North York is called simply "York". There's potential to try an represent a market of over 2 millions people. Stadium location Subway is at the bottom right corner on Steeles Avenue West. North of Steeles is Vaughan in York Region. The stadium is at the heart of York University. Stadium upgrade The tracks are supposed to be removed by 2021. Food and beer garden on both ends Cameras will be facing the main stands Identity Living in North York for a decade, this borough still very much has it's own identity despite being part of Toronto. North York used to have it's own CSL club so there's a football history here. This has become increasingly urban over the years with it's own downtown
Interestingly enough, CPL has eyes for another club in Toronto Commissioner reiterates that Quebec — Montreal or Quebec City — is a priority for expansion. But interestingly, he also mentions the possibility of another team in Toronto. #CanPL https://t.co/G5XV6vA8Bl— Oliver Platt (@plattoli) June 8, 2020
Another point of comparison between USL and CPL Just over a million per year. https://t.co/cCBLqpDB8M.— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) June 9, 2020 The CPL deal is way more lucrative than USL who has to split it amongst all those teams. Just putting it out there
Pacific FC took over an existing academy on Vancouver Island and will oversee the youth side for both boys and girls from 13 to 18. Pacific Football Club takes leadership of Vancouver Island Wave soccer. ⚽️🌊Full details 👇https://t.co/MuMzqBJnN7#PoweredbyPacificFC #ForTheIsle #yyj #VancouverIsland pic.twitter.com/0fFBCYaFab— Island Training Centre (@ITCVanIsle) July 2, 2020
CPL approached all three Canadian MLS clubs and offered loan opportunities for their younger players. Vancouver took them up on it (no real U23 team for Vancouver), Montreal turned them down because they didn’t feel anyone was ready (wtf Montreal... Such a trainwreck not to have a quality academy cranking out players), and Toronto hasn’t responded yet (TFCII is likely a factor in the non-response). I can report that the #CanPL officially approached all three Canadian MLS teams to offer loan opportunities to their young players. So far, only Vancouver has taken them up.Montreal declined and TFC has yet to respond.— Duane Rollins (@24thminute) July 9, 2020
The Montreal part was debunked by a Montreal journalist saying that there's a possibility for some of them to go on loan Je n’ai pas eu les mêmes échos. Il y aurait une possibilité pour certains joueurs, mais dans le contexte particulier de la saison, de l’effectif et du mercato, rien de sûr pour l’instant.— Vincent Destouches (@100_Soccer) July 9, 2020 They are looking at the MLS reserve league that's supposed to launch from what I've heard. It would have been a long shot for the CSA to sanction a new club in USL. TFC already loaned a player to Cavalry
As Robert Borden pointed out, TFC has Robert Boskovic loaned out to Calgary. They loaned Ryan Telfer out to York last season. But, yes, the existence of TFC II does play into possible loan decisions. Montreal does have James Pantemis loaned out to Winnipeg, no? I think the relationship between the CPL and the Canadian MLS teams is reasonable. It seems fairly cooperative and I can only see loans being good for player development.
Sounds like they were looking for more than just one or two. With the pandemic, I’d imagine CPL is having issues bring in players that aren’t already in Canada, so may be looking to fill roster spots. There’s also apparently talk about inviting TFCII to the CPL’s mini competition to give teams extra games.
Perhaps, but he’s also saying there is interest inside the CPL for it. Whether it comes to pass, who knows, but it could be a good way to get CPL games in front of TFC fans and get them more interested in the league.
From coaches and players but not from those who matter like the league executives and owners who pumped millions in the league. Such a move would impact negatively the league's brand and it's not congruent with the league saying "no" so decisively to allowing MLS reserve teams. The league has absolutely nothing to gain by bringing in TFC II in their tournaments. Rollins, who's TFC biais is legendary, even pointed out that the league could win over the TFC II fans (which is tiny and that's being generous) TFC II should get friendlies with League 1 Ontario clubs or organize exhibition games with other clubs in Canada, they don't belong in a CPL tournament
I guess the question, which plays into Expansion Franchise's comment above, is whether they are talking about a short term thing for covid times or a permanent thing. Short term things are very messed up for all soccer leagues, so who knows what's even worth putting the effort in to? Long term, I'd like to see co-operation continue between the CPL and the Canadian MLS teams. Personally, I think there would be mutual benefits to having the MLS reserve teams like TFCII play in the CPL, but the CPL is very much against that. So co-operation where useful and fostering player development is the name of the game.
Launching a D2 with the 3 MLS being involved would be try beneficial to all parties. It sad to see that they aren't at the table when they could put a reserve team at that level. CPL doesn't benefit from having reserve teams.
It would depend on the level of CPL2. I'm not sure it would be high enough for TFC II given how TFC II stacked up in the past against USL teams. It would in that it would instantly get three stable franchises in the three major cities. The CPL clearly feels the downside of acknowledging that they are playing at a lower level than MLS is greater than this potential advantage. And maybe they don't need those teams to thrive, in which case good for them. We should know the answer to that once the CPL has five or six actual seasons under its belt.
More feedback reinforcing that CPL is above USL. An agent had already confirmed that European league are watching CPL and not really USL. Same feedback from Jamaica http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20200725/marshall-ready-canadian-premier-league Quote from Cavalier FC technical director Rudolph Speid: “Why we love the Canadian League more than even the USL (United Soccer League) is that this is going to be the second season of the Canadian League and they have already sold about four players to Europeans clubs."
CPL MVP Tristan Borges & OH Leuven promotes to Jupiler League, Belgium's top league. This is great win for the player and CPL Tristan Borges is headed to the Belgian first division! 🇨🇦🔝#CanPL | #CanMNT https://t.co/ECOp8SDNAu— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 31, 2020
Lots of good information from this Quebec-based magazine about a potential Quebec City club and Canadian soccer ⚽️⚽️QUÉBEC SOCCER EST ARRIVÉ⚽️⚽️▶️Les répercussions du #covid sur le soccer au #QC▶️L'arrivée de la #CPL à Québec se précise▶️Longue entrevue avec Luis Binks #IMFC▶️Les points forts/faibles de l'IMFC▶️Rencontre avec @MaximTissot▶️#MLS #soccer https://t.co/JET7wc1Dzc pic.twitter.com/LeB9wn4FjL— Quentin Parisis (@QParisis) August 12, 2020 I'm just copy and pasting from the Voyageurs Source Jean Gandubert, Former President and Director-President of Quebec Soccer Federation and former Adviser to the Federal Sport Ministry. He is now the Strategic Advisor to the investors being the liaison between them and the Regional Association, CSA and CONCACAF Pierre Marchand, Soccer Quebec President Who are the Investors Confidential but they have VERY deep pockets and capable of covering the losses of others due to the pandemic (not sure what he means by that, but take away is RICH!) The ownership seems to be a mix of individuals and companies They have been talking with the league since summer 2019 but talks have slowed down due to the pandemic Talks have already happened between the investors and Quebec City mayor Stadium: The goal is the construction of a new soccer specific stadium smaller than Laval University stadium which has been deemed too big and would look empty with a bad atmosphere which is vital for Quebec City to work There's been no information given to city departments for building a stadium yet. CPL Women's League CPL are interested in a Women's League but the focus is to develop/grow the current league at the moment. Eva Havaris, Vice-President of the league operations and strategic VP at CSB (according to LinkedIn) is said to be aiming for that league to become a reality Future of the PLSQ? CPL wants to acquire PLSQ like it did League 1 Ontario Provincial Leagues or Regional Leagues? Provincial leagues had seemed to be the destination for CPL reserve teams but the NEW goal is to have 3 minor leagues in Canada (East, West & Central) just like the CHL and like the CSA wanted in their previous strategic plan PLSQ's structure will be completely revamped to integrate this model Plans are already underway to lead towards a merge PLSQ-L10 league for as soon as 2021 (COVID slowed down the talks) The format and league structure to be determined. There should be a "co-commissioner" for Quebec to reflect the French contribution Soccer Quebec President would not be involved in the league but would like to make sure that teams have Quebec players and teams are mostly under 23. Discussions have already taken place and it seems everyone agrees with these conditions. Moving towards the model of a developmental league is vital to attract young promising players pointing out that Montreal Impact never loaned anyone to PLSQ due to the league being too low in quality and structure The goal would be to add Atlantic Canada teams to this "Eastern League" but Quebec-Ontario is the priority Clubs will have to fit this structure financially and have the proper infrastructure using the word "professional" (This might mean that not all L10 or PLSQ teams might make this league at launch) Confirmation that BC are working towards a league Foreign investors? Other Quebec markets including Montreal are being explored, no investors have been revealed Altetico Madrid's arrival has changed the landscape. There will be attempts to try and leverage interest from French clubs in investing in CPL via the FFF CPL is currently trying to get European investments into the league, not necessarily for Quebec but he mentioned Toronto as a possibility
I would be super leery of CPL encouraging foreign investors, tbh. Particularly foreign clubs. For niche leagues like CPL and MLS having a local investor that knows their market is far more important than having deep pockets. There are, of course, going to be exceptions, but the further removed the owner is from the market, the less likely the club is going to be able to connect with their market. If the investors end up being mostly foreign clubs, it also seems to fly in the face of the league not wanting to be viewed as a development league and its initial resistance to having the MLS academy teams play there...
I think the Atletico model of matching a local manager to the owner overseas is what the league wanted for Ottawa. Lopez (in Madrid) works with Jeff Hunt (in Ottawa) to make the team work as Hunt has the expertise on the market. I don't think that the league wants to replicate that all over the place but I think that Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will be the most likely to get those kind of people interested. For the league it means instant expertise and credibility to the most valuable markets in the country like Atletico is doing for Ottawa. Not many knows that the Belgium club OH-Leuven are owned by the same owners as Leicester City. That's the type of ownership I'm hoping for going forward. Medium-size and smaller markets will most likely be domestic investors. I don't think we can compare having MLS academies to foreign giant clubs in the league. They weren't that well intention-ed in pursuing putting reserve teams in CPL. I have some knowledge on the main reason why CPL and MLS aren't talking and why they only have basic communication with MLS clubs...it wasn't CPL being difficult...it was the 3 MLS clubs making it virtually impossible for the founding CPL owners to want to work with them.
That's not always going to work out tho and is realistically more miss than hit from what I've seen. Even with a local manager, the foreign owner thinks they know better and the local owner doesn't have full control. So, four of the clubs.. Depending who the investors are that's going to be rough. Again. It depends. If the clubs are interested in it for more than having a foot in the Canadian market, than it can work, but, tbh, there have been far more misses than hits. The ownership of OH-Leuven came after Leicester City and King Power seemed to be more interested in just having multiple clubs. That's a different model than trying to build a global brand like Red Bull and City Group are doing with their clubs. That's also one of the things that concerns me about Atletico Ottawa. Forcing the Atletico branding on Ottawa bothers me as there isn't really any tie with Ottawa and really indicates that everything is really focused on Atletico Madrid and not necessarily on building a club in Ottawa. It's obviously way too soon to draw conclusions like that, but I haven't seen it really work anywhere it's been implemented. That's pretty much all of CPL tho. Even if the club is in a big city like Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto, it seems like the focus is going to be on a sub-unit of that city rather than the entire city. Gonna be honest here.. CPL doesn't want the foreign giants in the league. They are the ones more likely to half ass it. Particularly with a league as small as CPL is right now.
This is why CPL have to carefully pick with whom they agree have such deal. Atletico made sense because they could study how it worked out in San Luis in Liga MX and it seems to go very well for all parties. You don't make a deal like that with Espanyol I'm just speculating but we have heard about Lyon (who could be a fit with Montreal) and Roma (maybe Toronto) Not sure about Vancouver as it really isn't as big as people think and Surrey will become bigger very soon. That's a fair point and more situations like NY Red Bull would not be a good thing in my opinion. There were push backs in the Atletico name but the league couldn't realistically turn them down while it did help bury the Fury once and for all. Should be a case by case thing. Lyon owning in Montréal makes sense as the Olympics are a huge symbol of what the city represents. OL Montreal or Olympique Montrealais works perfectly but Montreal Saint-Germain is ridiculous...agree on that From an American perspective, yes. But many big Euro clubs are from cities/Metro areas that are as populated as our own. The appeal of CPL is that they have a Canadian view of Canada, not US meaning they know that if a club can be huge in comparable markets in Europe, it's doable in Canada as well. Multiple clubs in mega metro areas is the norm, not the exception elsewhere, thats why the league believes that multiple clubs in Toronto and Montréal within multi tiers is 100% realistic. I understand that culturally, that's the exception in the states. They want it where it makes sense and they bring value. So far, Atletico looks fine and based on San Luis in Mexico, there's reason to be optimistic. The league might be small but it's owners aren't and I think they will see their vision through. Atletico didnt need a local partner but to the league that seemed like the red line. Jeff Hunt is the best they could have hope for in Ottawa.
The problem is that Canada's sports market is more similar to the US sports market than the European sports market. The reason why multiple clubs in European cities works is because soccer is really the only sport that matters over there. In Canada, that sport is hockey and that means Canada could and does support multiple hockey clubs at all levels in its major cities. However, in addition to hockey, Canada also has CFL, NFL, MLB, NBA, and (to a much lesser degree) MLS eating up valuable dollars and time.