What does the Canadian

[Robert]

What does the Canadian in the "Canadian Soccer Association" and the "Amway Canadian Championship" stand for? Apparently to these 2 organizations, all the other large CANADIAN communities listed below are meaningless. They mean nothing, Nada, zilch. Those cities don't matter. They are not important. They are a waste of time. It doesn't matter how good the CANADIAN soccer players from these CANADIAN soccer communities are, they do not get to play in the Amway Canadian Championship. These othe CANADIAN cities will never get to host an international match featuring the CSA's MNT. No way, Jose! Just send us your money and if like want to see a live match featuring the CSA's MNT you better go to Toronto and buy a ticket there!

Rank Population centre [5] Population in 2011 [6] Population in 2006 Class

1 Toronto, Ontario 5,132,794 4,732,361 Large urban

2 Montreal, Quebec 3,407,963 3,260,508 Large urban

3 Vancouver, British Columbia 2,135,201 1,955,278 Large urban

4 Calgary, Alberta 1,095,404 988,079 Large urban

5 Edmonton, Alberta 960,015 862,544 Large urban

6 Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario/Quebec 933,596 867,593 Large urban

7 Quebec City, Quebec 696,946 661,011 Large urban

8 Winnipeg, Manitoba 671,551 641,556 Large urban

9 Hamilton, Ontario 670,580 647,682 Large urban

10 Kitchener, Ontario 444,681 422,514 Large urban

11 London, Ontario 366,191 353,874 Large urban

12 Victoria, British Columbia 316,327 303,977 Large urban

13 St. Catharines–Niagara, Ontario 309,319 308,820 Large urban

14 Halifax, Nova Scotia 297,943 285,480 Large urban

15 Oshawa, Ontario 290,937 270,059 Large urban

16 Windsor, Ontario 276,165 278,869 Large urban

17 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 222,035 202,425 Large urban

18 Regina, Saskatchewan 192,756 179,246 Large urban

19 Barrie, Ontario 166,634 157,501 Large urban

20 St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 165,346 152,729 Large urban

21 Abbotsford, British Columbia 149,855 140,275 Large urban

22 Kelowna, British Columbia 141,767 128,127 Large urban

23 Sherbrooke, Quebec 140,628 134,882 Large urban

24 Trois-Rivières, Quebec 126,460 121,671 Large urban

25 Guelph, Ontario 122,362 115,635 Large urban

26 Kingston, Ontario 117,787 112,580 Large urban

27 Moncton, New Brunswick 107,086 96,987 Large urban

28 Sudbury, Ontario 106,840 106,612 Large urban

29 Chicoutimi-Jonquière, Quebec 106,666 106,184 Large urban

30 Thunder Bay, Ontario 102,222 103,247 Large urban

31 Kanata, Ontario 101,760 86,632 Large urban

32 Saint John, New Brunswick 95,902 91,352 Medium

33 Brantford, Ontario 93,650 90,192 Medium

34 Red Deer, Alberta 90,207 82,732 Medium

35 Nanaimo, British Columbia 88,799 84,100 Medium

36 Lethbridge, Alberta 83,679 74,870 Medium

37 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec 83,053 78,519 Medium

38 White Rock, British Columbia 82,368 74,023 Medium

39 Peterborough, Ontario 80,660 77,348 Medium

40 Sarnia, Ontario 79,526 78,827 Medium

41 Milton, Ontario 75,573 45,486 Medium

42 Kamloops, British Columbia 73,472 70,549 Medium

43 Châteauguay, Quebec 70,812 66,204 Medium

44 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario 67,646 67,734 Medium

45 Chilliwack, British Columbia 66,382 58,593 Medium

46 Drummondville, Quebec 66,314 62,199 Medium

47 Saint-Jérôme, Quebec 65,825 62,368 Medium

48 Medicine Hat, Alberta 65,671 62,203 Medium

49 Prince George, British Columbia 65,503 65,066 Medium

50 Belleville, Ontario 63,985 64,310 Medium

51 Fredericton, New Brunswick 61,522 57,255 Medium

52 Fort McMurray, Alberta 61,374 47,705 Medium

53 Granby, Quebec 60,281 56,777 Medium

54 Grande Prairie, Alberta 54,913 47,066 Medium

55 North Bay, Ontario 53,515 53,100 Medium

56 Beloeil, Quebec 50,796 46,574 Medium

57 Cornwall, Ontario 49,243

[Lord Bob]

It's like how "Canadian men's national team" means "Toronto men's national team". There's nothing new here, sad to say.

[Redcoatsforever]

I agree, and cite my own generic regional grievance!

[Cheeta]

*shrug*

All the other considerations aside Vancouver just doesn't have a suitable facility to play a World Cup Qualifier in. Nor does anyplace else West of southern Ontario. Will be happy to be shown I'm wrong.

Would bet the mortgage that if we win through to The Hex Montreal will get at least one fixture. Maybe two.

[BeepBeepImaJeep]

How does one go through life so consistently angry and bitter, Robby?

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

*shrug*

All the other considerations aside Vancouver just doesn't have a suitable facility to play a World Cup Qualifier in. Nor does anyplace else West of southern Ontario. Will be happy to be shown I'm wrong.

Would bet the mortgage that if we win through to The Hex Montreal will get at least one fixture. Maybe two.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong but wasn't there an article about a month ago saying Saputo would have fake turf? And didn't Hart say the team only wanted to play on real grass?

[Cheeta]

^The plastic will be installed on the near by training facilities, Stade Saputo keeps its wonderful grass pitch.

Can just imagine what the turf will be like after the good long stretch of rest its had during this expansion. Give me a ball and wait until closing, me and mine will be climbing the fence for a bit of an unauthorized twilight kick about!

[RS]

^The plastic will be installed on the near by training facilities, Stade Saputo keeps its wonderful grass pitch.

Can just imagine what the turf will be like after the good long stretch of rest its had during this expansion. Give me a ball and wait until closing, me and mine will be climbing the fence for a bit of an unauthorized twilight kick about!

They ripped the old surface out before they started the expansion. There currently isn't any grass at Stade Saputo.

[nfitz]

It's like how "Canadian men's national team" means "Toronto men's national team". There's nothing new here, sad to say.

Not sure what the issue is. There currently isn't any other suitable stadiums in Canada, with the loss of Edmonton, and Saputo being out of commission this year. Perhaps they should have played on in Moncton ... I don't think playing them all in Toronto is good.

But really, instead of starting up with anti-Toronto bigotry again, perhaps you should tackle the real issue. That your city has failed to build a proper stadium. Toronto saw very few games during the decade or so there was no suitable stadium here, and even then didn't get that many games until they put grass into BMO. With Montreal, Ottawa, and Hamilton getting grass suitable grass stadiums in the next few years, I'm sure we'll see a lot more games outside of Toronto during the 2018 qualifying cycle.

Still, I'm sure Toronto will still get a lot of games, and increasingly so - and not really surprising how much of Canada's population is near Toronto. The population of the Greater Golden Horseshoe grew from 8.1 million (24.8% of Canada) in 2006 to 8.8 million (26.2%) in 2011, and is forecast to grow to 11.5 million by 2031. Greater Vancouver only grew from 2.1 million to 2.3 million in 2011. BC itself only grew from 4.1 million to 4.4 million. Greater Montreal only grew from 3.6 million to 3.8 million. The Toronto area is bigger than Montreal and British Columbia combined, and growing faster.

I look forward to Vancouver having a proper stadium, and Canada being able to play at home in February.

[Lord Bob]

And I look forward to people defining "proper stadium" by reason and science rather than the sort of mouth-frothing superstition which will confirm our eternal future as a third-rate soccer nation.

[Danny Boy]

And I look forward to people defining "proper stadium" by reason and science rather than the sort of mouth-frothing superstition which will confirm our eternal future as a third-rate soccer nation.

Whatever it is I don't believe it's the one the women qualified for the Olympics in. It sure don't feel like proper stadium. But the one in Toronto looks like a proper one because no one seems to want to sit in it. :-P

[nfitz]

And I look forward to people defining "proper stadium" by reason and science rather than the sort of mouth-frothing superstition which will confirm our eternal future as a third-rate soccer nation.

Grass ... significantly more than 5,000 seats.

I'm surprised this isn't obvious to you.

[Lord Bob]

Grass ... significantly more than 5,000 seats.

I'm surprised this isn't obvious to you.

Also, the dowsing rod has to point to it and the feng shui has to be good?

[Redcoatsforever]

Also, the dowsing rod has to point to it and the feng shui has to be good?

The differences between grass and artificial turf may not be as severe as everyone acts like they are, but the fact is that male soccer players are primma donnas and try to avoid turf like the plague. So you're not going to get something based on reason and science, because a prerequisite to being on the CMNT is not being reasonable or a scientists.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Also, the dowsing rod has to point to it and the feng shui has to be good?

I thought it was having fans dressed as empty seats.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Grass ... significantly more than 5,000 seats. I'm surprised this isn't obvious to you.

It's not obvious to me when FIFA says facilities like Vancouver have perfectly acceptable surfaces.

[Cheeta]

^"surfaces"? Probably. But half the high schools in Winnipeg could probably get FIFA accreditation. Doesn't make them suitable for any sort of MNT WCQing matches. If it has to be explained why there's really no point in try to.

Swangard? Too small, thank Gawd we've outgrown that park and it's long history of disappointing results.

Or maybe you mean BC Place stadium. FIFA says they have a perfectly acceptable playing surface but then...

FIFA-man says A LOT of things! Oh, yeah!

[Joe MacCarthy]

Or maybe you mean BC Place stadium. FIFA says they have a perfectly acceptable playing surface but then...

FIFA-man says A LOT of things! Oh, yeah!

That's not much of a defense.

[Joe MacCarthy]

The differences between grass and artificial turf may not be as severe as everyone acts like they are, but the fact is that male soccer players are primma donnas and try to avoid turf like the plague. So you're not going to get something based on reason and science, because a prerequisite to being on the CMNT is not being reasonable or a scientists.

From what I recall from the FIFA documents I've read is that the testing is done to have an artificial surface as closely as possible mimic turf. It is a players issue and one of the problems I have is that our players haven't earned the right to dictate terms. It's almost as if they don't know what is good for them (ie if they drew a sold out 10,000 rabid pro Canadian fans in St John's)

[paul-collins]

It is a players issue and one of the problems I have is that our players haven't earned the right to dictate terms.

... that right is reserved for forum members.

[Joe MacCarthy]

... that right is reserved for forum members.

I was thinking more in line with people from the association who would have knowledge and preparation of where a large pro Canadian crowd could be had on specific days (local holidays etc). Let's face the reality, most of the the players want to play near their home and see family and friends. What do many sports teams do when they have an important playoff game at home? They stay in a hotel so the players are isolated from friends and family.

The players don't want to play on an artificial surface. Well that just about removes every stadium in the country from the mix. Is that realistic that our NT can only play in Toronto, Montreal, Kingston and for the present time Moncton. I don't think the CSA will ever truck in turf for one game considering the expense.

[An Old Fullback]

Another issue is cost. To play in a stadium that must add temporary seats for one game is very expensive. I was told that it would cost about $30+ to install each temporary seat for one game. If there were several games, that cost is spread amongst the games, but a "one of" means a per ticket price of near $40 to just pay for the ticket. Handling costs, taxes etc, Add on a few dollars for paying for stadium, team expenses etc., and there won't be any bums in the seats.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I was thinking more in line with people from the association who would have knowledge and preparation of where a large pro Canadian crowd could be had on specific days (local holidays etc)....

This looks like code for keep it away from the three biggest cities with MLS teams where there is a large recent immigrant demographic. Take a close look at who is playing for the team:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2012/06/08/sp-canada-defeats-cuba-in-world-cup-qualifier.html

...After the game, Serbian-born (sic) Borjan went to the corner of the pitch to join the hundred or so Canadian fans who had made the trip to Havana. The fans threw him a hat, a flag, and a scarf and Borjan put them on and celebrated with the fans before heading to the locker-room.

That's the best thing that can happen to a player when their home fans come to a visitor's field," Borjan said. "I don't know how to explain it. It's just awesome. Thanks to them for coming."

Canada's next game is Tuesday against Honduras at Toronto's BMO Field.

There is massive potential for soccer to be a key expression of shared national pride in urban multicultural Canada in the years ahead if the CSA markets the team intelligently and is able to convert most of the fanbase of the three MLS teams into being fans of the CMNT fans as well. If other cities want to be part of the equation then the obvious first step to becoming part of the growing domestic soccer culture is to get a D2 pro team with an SSS with 10,000+ seats like Edmonton should have by the middle of the decade instead of being content to play second fiddle to the CFL.

http://the11.ca/2011/10/12/new-edmonton-downtown-soccer-stadium-highlights-heart-of-the-capital-campaign/

[Joe MacCarthy]

There is massive potential for soccer to be a key expression of shared national pride in urban multicultural Canada in the years ahead if the CSA markets the team intelligently and is able to convert most of the fanbase of the three MLS teams into being fans of the CMNT fans as well.

And this looks like code for keeping the NT out of Moncton, Winnipeg, St John's etc, places that at least should have an opportunity unlike two of the above who have been tried and found wanting.

[xcalibre]

Those footballing hotbeds of Beloeil and Cornwall really should be hosting MNT games, to be fair to Robert.