KAS Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I know that the MNT rarely plays in Canada, but I was wondering where you think the CSA should have the MNT play to give the team the best chance of winning? What are the best currently available options, and the best spot for a theoretical new stadium? I ask because there are many ways to look at this. Do you go with the money? Where the team will play the best? Where the opposing team will play the worst? The place that will offer the largest crowd and most money may lead to the most media interest and funding for the team. To get this started though, I will dodge the money issue and suggest the best current option where our team is best, and a theoretical stadium option where the opposition would be at their worst. Among current options, I would suggest the newly refurbished King George V field in St John's Newfoundland. I like this option because although its' capacity is only slightly greater than Swanguard, it is alot closer to Europe and is therefore easier on our best players. Jet lag is not an issue as it is only 3.5 hours behind Britain instead of 8hrs for BC. The shorter distance means a much shorter flight - especially since it is in range of the smaller, reasonable affordable, but very fast private jets instead of Air Canada and airport hassles or a ridiculously expensive Gulfstream V. Finally, the last MNT game at King George V saw Canada win a decisive game infront of 13,000+ to qualify for the 1986 World Cup - so the Karma is good! As for a theoretical stadium location, I would pick somewhere that would torture the opposition. I know that many have joked about Yellowknife since our CONCACAF opposition come from warm climates and would be terrified of the Arctic, but I have another idea: Altitude! When you look at Cuba, Jamaica, Barbados, T&T, ect, you will notice that not only are they used to warm weather, they are also used to living and playing at/near sea level. I therefore propose that a small soccer stadium for MNT games be built either in Calgary (3500'+ = barely adequate), or just West of there (5000-5500'). If you hold training camps there prior to games (and issue altitude beds for those stuck in Europe until just before the game), then the MNT will be able to go full-out for 90 minutes at that altitude and any Caribean-based team that tries to keep up will be gasping for air by half-time! This is why Kenyans win marathons (they grow up living/running at 8-10K feet) and why Canadian and American olympic athletes have their main training centres in Alberta and Colorado (both ~5500'). Oh, BTW, Alberta at high altitude will still be cold enough to kill your average Jamaican player. So, King George V in St John's Newfoundland, and a new stadium at high-altitude in Alberta. Any comments? Any other suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 If I had the chance to pick a place somewhere in Canada to build a stadium for the MNT only based on where the opposition would play worst and we would have the best chance to win, I would pick a place like Timmins, Ontario. Its north of North Bay and Sudbury, about 13 hours N of Toronto. We would never have the problem of being out numbered by the opposition. Now to address the other question of money. I totally understand why Toronto is getting a new stadium. It is one of the most diverse and heavily popluated areas in North America. But it might not always be the best place to stage national team games because the immigrants (ie. Hondurans, Mexicans, Guatemalans and Jamaicans) stop being Canadian when their mother country comes to town. Have you ever been to the city when a EURO championship is being held? hell no, the streets are crowded to the max!! But back to the stadium issue, I love the idea of St. John's, it has a history, more "secluded" than Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver, it has a decent sized population to get media attention and people to turn out and its mostly 2nd,3rd,4th generation immigrants that would support CANADA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I think the Men's Team should have a rotational game schedule ie. Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Winnipeg, Edmonton (for high profile matches where we can sell out), Vancouver in order to showcase the team across the country and get the players to visit schools and do community events throughout the country. But since the CSA doesn't even schedule games any more, this is a bit of a pipe dream. For really important matches, it should be done on case by case scenario. I like the St. John's idea as it will make it easier on our Europe based players. Yellowknife would kick ass against Guatemala and Honduras assuming our players were used to it. As for a stadium at high altitude, I'm not sure if our players would have much of an advantage as most of them wouldn't have the lung capacity for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Man Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Once Pogey Park is built in Toronto, all games will be played there- or why build it? A shame really. They could have been hosting games in Ottawa or at Molson Stadium in Montreal, both have Fieldturf™ surfaces much like the planned home of the MNT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelownaguy Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 G-man,, I very highly doubt all games will be played at Pogey Park. I think you will see a lot of games played there,, but I'm pretty sure national games will still be played in Edmonton, Vancouver's new stadium, and hopefully Montreal with all the fan support there... I think the St.John's idea is great , especially when we have a game where there is very little prep time for,, and many of our players are flying in from Europe.. minimize the jet lag... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 quote:Originally posted by G-Man Once Pogey Park is built in Toronto, all games will be played there- or why build it? A shame really. They could have been hosting games in Ottawa or at Molson Stadium in Montreal, both have Fieldturf™ surfaces much like the planned home of the MNT. I would be surprised if all</u> MNT games were played in Toronto. I still think Vancouver and Edmonton will get their fair share (not as many as now, but some). Did Yallop not say early in his tenure that he's hesitant about playing in Toronto due to the potential for an anti-Canadian crowd? As for which is the best, I really don't know. I'd like to say a somewhat-expanded Swangard because of the potential for atmosphere, although I've never been there. I don't know much about King George V but it sounds pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I would like to see a MNT friendly in the new SSS in Montreal and see what kind of crowd and atmosphere we could get (comparable to the Impact???). I'm against any WCQ game being played in the West(Edmonton and Vancouver) unless players arrive at least one week before the game or we have an away WCQ game before. I like the St-John's idea for a WCQ or a friendly, it's not too far from England and I'm sure the atmosphere is great, plus the climate can be very rough for our central american opponents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Pure idle and lazy speculation on my part, but I'd bet flying London-Halifax-St.John's wouldn't be a whole lot faster than London-Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Pogey Park....has a nice ring to it. And I'm in favour of having a stadium in Toronto... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Last year when I came back from London, we did stop in St-John's after 4 hours (approx.) before flying to Halifax. Of course if they have to go to Halifax before going to London, there's no point of not playing in Toronto with the new stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 The flight path from London to Toronto on my last direct trip went directly over St. John's. I love the idea myself. Especially those Wednesday games like the Guatemala game last year when the team had to fly right in and right out for one game. I'd doubt any Hondurans, Costa Ricans etc would ever find their way up to St. John's for a game. Now that the baby leafs have left town there's not much in terms of major sporting events occuring on the rock so a World Cup game would be pretty big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussoccerfan Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Toronto gets everything. Toronto isn't the rest of Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Domi Rulezz Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 quote:Originally posted by aussoccerfan Toronto gets everything. Toronto isn't the rest of Canada. Cry me a river. Do you ever have anything else to say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOareaFan Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I think every friendly should be played at the new stadium in Toronto. Maximize revenue even if it feels like an "away" game due to the penchant for our immigrant population to cheer for the "old" country. Every game that matters, though, should be played in other venues. Edmonton seems like an obvious choice but if there is a stadium of suitable size in St. John's then that would be great too. One question, how come the games in Vancouver are never hijacked by the oppisition expats the same way the games in Toronto are? Vancouver is nearly as diverse a city as Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 quote:Originally posted by TOareaFan One question, how come the games in Vancouver are never hijacked by the oppisition expats the same way the games in Toronto are? Vancouver is nearly as diverse a city as Toronto. From what I recall, the last WCQ saw a sizable Guatemalan and Costa Rican following at Swangard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Rudi I was not present for the C/R game, but you are correct about the Guatemalan contingent. I'd say about 10%, maybe 15, of the crowd and vocal as to create an impression of at least half the crowd. I am sure it is more or less the same as in Toronto. A decent contingent who are far more vocal than Canadian typically are and thus contribute to an impression that they are in the majority as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timotas Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 This question will be based on biased answers from everyone. People in Edmonton want it at Commonwealth, people in Toronto want it at the new stadium, people in the Northwest Terrorities want it at ummm.... you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I'm from Edmonton and I like a rotational system, including St. John's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOareaFan Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 quote:Originally posted by River City I'm from Edmonton and I like a rotational system, including St. John's... And I am from Toronto and I am an advocate of all meaningful games being rotated to all cities excluding Toronto and all meaningless, but money spinning, games being played here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 quote: although I've never been there. I don't know much about King George V but it sounds pretty good. King George V is adjacent to Quidi Vidi Lake(home to the St. John's Regatta, the oldest sporting event in north america)and within like 2 minutes from downtown St. John's. It's getting 6500 permanent seats, TV towers, Scoreboard, New Clubhouse with dressing rooms and all that. Only downfall is that it's getting a Fieldturf, which is good for the game in Newfoundland because we despretly need one to extend our playing season. But for MNT games? This could be seen as bad. Well, not nessasarly though, our proposed National Stadium is getting one. lol Currently, There is a big parking lot used for the King George V, the old Memorial Stadium Parking lot(Former home to the St. Johns Maple Leafs). But with plans to turn Memorial Stadium into a super market...the parking situation is up in the air. But back to the thread...... Something i dont think has been mentioned yet. For a city the size of St. John's, i doubt your going to find a more "Pro-Canadian" crowd. Comapared to most cities our size, we have very few immagrients. Like mentioned earlier, the lack of a pro franchise will ensure any MTN game is the main show in town. Hell...we got nearly 10,000 for the 2002 Callenge Cup Finals....and that was with temporary bleachers. ......................... Too bad Calgary doesn't have a SSS of at least 6,000 or more. It's the fastest growing CMA in Canada and produces lots of god players. Plus the Altitude.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussoccerfan Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Domi Rulezz Cry me a river. Do you ever have anything else to say? National Team games should be played in the maritimes too. It's time for TORONTO to learn what it feels like to be ignored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante79 Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 am telling you, Montreal has the best soccer crowds!! look at the atmosphere there is in every Impact matches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Dante79 am telling you, Montreal has the best soccer crowds!! look at the atmosphere there is in every Impact matches I am inclined to agree with you. When was the last time Montreal had an MNT game? Like I mentioned before, if we were to play USA again, I would love to have it in Montreal. Better than Kingston ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Dante79 am telling you, Montreal has the best soccer crowds!! look at the atmosphere there is in every Impact matches I am inclined to agree with you. When was the last time Montreal had an MNT game? Like I mentioned before, if we were to play USA again, I would love to have it in Montreal. Better than Kingston ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 quote:Originally posted by redhat I am inclined to agree with you. When was the last time Montreal had an MNT game? Like I mentioned before, if we were to play USA again, I would love to have it in Montreal. Better than Kingston ... I think the MNT played Turkey or Iran in MTL in 1995 or 1996 (too lazy to check at this time). I also remeber our MNT playing Morocco in MTL in 1994 prior to the WC. Montreal would be a nice place to play a team like the US or an European country (except some coutries like Italy, Greece or Serbia). Canada-France in MTL would be awesome, but unlikely to happen.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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