CPL General

[Rheo]

4 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

There's also loads of empty land in the area, unless Calgary's sprawl has managed to eat it up since I was there. Hard to imagine a reason to locate it on the property unless the family was directly involved

 

Sprawl did come up on the Spruce Meadows Wikipedia entry but seems to date back a few years

• Recently, the Southern family, who have owned the facility since its inception, have become vocal regarding the encroaching city development—once several kilometres outside of town, Spruce Meadows is now located adjacent to the residential neighbourhoods of Bridlewood and Somerset, with a third, Silverado, now partly constructed. Effective January 1, 2011 Spruce Meadows ceased to be within the City of Calgary in a deal with the MD of Foothills. The City of Calgary annexed approximately 176.25 acres of land located northeast of the Sirocco Golf Course from the MD of Foothills. The MD of Foothills annexed approximately 138.45 acres of land situated between Highway 22X and the then municipal boundary.

[BuzzAndSting]

2 hours ago, Red Renaissance said:

Calgary CPL will play at Spruce Meadows, they will be operated by the owners of those grounds

 

5 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

There's also loads of empty land in the area, unless Calgary's sprawl has managed to eat it up since I was there. Hard to imagine a reason to locate it on the property unless the family was directly involved

 

 

[Complete Homer]

2 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

 

 

Yeah sorry, didn't read the thread. 

We'll see what happens. Would be neat, just wary of sources 

[Ansem]

Still, downtown Calgary is much more desirable. How far is this from downtown, 30 minutes by car with no traffic?

[Rheo]

Yeah downtown would be nice but someone is willing to back it and believes in it and it's not in the downtown core who cares.  As I've said from the beginning, not everything is going to 100% ideal, perfect dream soccer world when it comes to the league.  

[harrycoyster]

7 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Still, downtown Calgary is much more desirable. How far is this from downtown, 30 minutes by car with no traffic?

22-40 minutes depending on time of day according to Google Maps.

[matty]

34 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

Not saying the rumour is true, just saying that I'd have a hard time seeing a prestigious show jumping venue risking ruining the facility with the unwashed soccer masses and cleats. But it could seem plausible that the group would put a modular stadium down on a different part of the property 

I agree this is the weirdest part aside from how it came to our knowledge. The whole story is weird but it had enough legs to get far.  It's a real shame that it went down how it did.

[Rheo]

New Sea to Sea pod up

http://www.northernstartingeleven.com/sea-to-sea-podcast-episode-9-canadian-soccer-history-with-les-jones/

[Rheo]

Just started Sea to Sea now and it's with a soccer historian going over some of the history in prospective CPL cities.  Really interesting stuff (at least to me lol)

Also goes into a discussion of the latest CPL news (although not news on here as they haven't podded in a bit)

Edited December 5, 2017 by Rheo

[Complete Homer]

On 12/5/2017 at 12:38 PM, Rheo said:

Just started Sea to Sea now and it's with a soccer historian going over some of the history in prospective CPL cities.  Really interesting stuff (at least to me lol)

Also goes into a discussion of the latest CPL news (although not news on here as they haven't podded in a bit)

Zambrano agrees with you 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Complete Homer

[Rheo]

Nice to see him that interested in our past (and that he has the same thoughts as myself lol)

[Rheo]

Kurt Larsson of the Toronto Sun sat down with MLS commish Don Garber and he asked him about the CPL. 

http://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/mls/toronto-fc/exclusive-the-suns-kurt-larson-sits-down-with-commissioner-don-garber-ahead-of-mls-cup

• Q: Garber on the Canadian Premier League:

  A: We’re like everyone else, trying to understand what it is. I have a good relationship with (CSA President) Steve Reed and (CSA General Secretary) Peter Montopoli. Both of them will be at the game. I know that Victor Montagliani, when he was president, wanted to have more professional opportunities for young Canadian players. It’s still developing. Our clubs are interested in understanding how this might impact their second teams, which are very important for the development of their clubs and their player programs. We will get closer and closer with the CSA and look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.

[Complete Homer]

25 minutes ago, Rheo said:

Kurt Larsson of the Toronto Sun sat down with MLS commish Don Garber and he asked him about the CPL. 

http://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/mls/toronto-fc/exclusive-the-suns-kurt-larson-sits-down-with-commissioner-don-garber-ahead-of-mls-cup

• Q: Garber on the Canadian Premier League:

  A: We’re like everyone else, trying to understand what it is. I have a good relationship with (CSA President) Steve Reed and (CSA General Secretary) Peter Montopoli. Both of them will be at the game. I know that Victor Montagliani, when he was president, wanted to have more professional opportunities for young Canadian players. It’s still developing. Our clubs are interested in understanding how this might impact their second teams, which are very important for the development of their clubs and their player programs. We will get closer and closer with the CSA and look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.

Translation: They aren't talking to us or our clubs, but we've got to add a subtle jab at CPL by implying the B teams ought to be there. All in the name of cooperation and Canadian development, of course. 

[BradMack]

I like how Garber said "second teams" like theres not only one team left in Canada. He is right though, the second teams were pretty important... How else would Vancouver have found 2 more Kiwi's to sign to their first team over Canadians. 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Same old same old for Canadian pro soccer if the stakeholders can't come to a reasonable compromise and agree to push in the same direction for the benefit of all. The 2026 World Cup bid is likely to bring the CSA and USSF/MLS/SUM closer so the dynamic of the next decade or so is going to be very different from what it would have been with a solo bid aligned with Traffic Sports as appears to have been the plan three years ago.

[matty]

10 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Same old same old for Canadian pro soccer if the stakeholders can't come to a reasonable compromise and agree to push in the same direction for the benefit of all. The 2026 World Cup bid is likely to bring the CSA and USSF/MLS/SUM closer so the dynamic of the next decade or so is going to be very different from what it would have been with a solo bid aligned with Traffic Sports as appears to have been the plan three years ago.

Dude stop with the solo bid talk. Like fuck do you honestly think the joint bid was not seriously discussed prior to 2015?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

7 minutes ago, matty said:

Dude stop with the solo bid talk. Like fuck do you honestly think the joint bid was not seriously discussed prior to 2015?

The USSF were going to sit out 2026 because of what happened over Russia and Qatar being awarded 2018 and 2022, so there was no joint bid in the works at that point. It was arguably CONCACAF's turn, however, so that would have made it Canada vs Mexico and Mexico had already had it twice, so arguably it would have been Canada's turn at that point. There was a genuine opportunity for a solo bid to work before Sepp Blatter fell from grace and FIFA's corruption issues were addressed. The U-20 World Cup in 2007 and the Women's World Cup in 2015 were steps towards hosting the big one.

Edited December 8, 2017 by BringBackTheBlizzard

[matty]

1 minute ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

The USSF were going to sit out 2026 because of what happened over Russia and Qatar being awarded 2018 and 2022, so there was no joint bid in the works at that point. It was arguably CONCACAF's turn, however, so that would have made it Canada vs Mexico and Mexico had already had it twice, so arguably it would have been Canada's turn at that point. There was a genuine opportunity for a solo bid to work before Sepp Blatter fell from grace and FIFA's corruption issues were addressed. The U-20 World Cup in 2007 and the Women's World Cup in 2015 were steps towards hosting the big one.

The US were going to sit out but FIFA were talkign about the US hosting in 2013 and 2014 so that point goes to shit.

Canada being the nation it is was unlikely to fun a bunch of 45k+ stadiums after building several new 25k ones literally just before.

While they likely were plotting a solo, they were also likely looking into a joint bid.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

A solo bid could have been done with as few as 10 stadiums as things stood back then. Certain stadia would have had to be upgraded but there would have been no need for a bunch of new builds. There's a reason why Rollins' early blogs on this subject revolved around the CFL because they would have been the ones providing the stadiums and I don't doubt there was some substance to what he was posting as the approach to the NASL to form a Canadian division was later confirmed to have happened by the NASL's commissioner. The league that is being pushed for now is a pale imitation of what was originally rumoured, so it's not obvious to me why MLS affiliates following the Ottawa Fury model could not be accomodated even if reserve teams with TFC II type branding can reasonably be labelled a non-starter. Hopefully that can all be sorted out because it would be good to see something actually launch and be stable and successful afterwards.

[harrycoyster]

1 minute ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

A solo bid could have been done with as few as 10 stadiums as things stood back then. Certain stadia would have had to be upgraded but there would have been no need for a bunch of new builds. There's a reason why Rollins' early blogs on this subject revolved around the CFL because they would have been the ones providing the stadiums and I don't doubt there was some substance to what he was posting as the approach to the NASL to form a Canadian division was later confirmed to have happened by the NASL's commissioner. The league that is being pushed for now is a pale imitation of what was originally rumoured, so it's not obvious to me why MLS affiliates following the Ottawa Fury model could not be accomodated even if reserve teams with TFC II type branding can reasonably be labelled a non-starter. Hopefully that can all be sorted out because it would be good to see something actually launch and be stable and successful afterwards.

Man, I completely forgot about NASL Canada. 

[matty]

29 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

A solo bid could have been done with as few as 10 stadiums as things stood back then. Certain stadia would have had to be upgraded but there would have been no need for a bunch of new builds. There's a reason why Rollins' early blogs on this subject revolved around the CFL because they would have been the ones providing the stadiums and I don't doubt there was some substance to what he was posting as the approach to the NASL to form a Canadian division was later confirmed to have happened by the NASL's commissioner. The league that is being pushed for now is a pale imitation of what was originally rumoured, so it's not obvious to me why MLS affiliates following the Ottawa Fury model could not be accomodated even if reserve teams with TFC II type branding can reasonably be labelled a non-starter. Hopefully that can all be sorted out because it would be good to see something actually launch and be stable and successful afterwards.

He also said the NASL involvement was exaggerated.

About half the stadiums you're talking about would have needed upgrades right after being built almost. On top of that, it's likely you'd have to build an east coast stadium, a new one in Toronto that seats 85k and there's a good chance Hamilton would not be allowed to host due to it's proximity to Toronto (so find another city and build a stadium)

The change does not pale to before. 6 team vs. 7 teams. No substantial idea about cost other than they're willing to BUILD STADIUMS which is a massive expense. Not to mention a decent possibility of Calgary and Ottawa coming on still.

Can I ask why you want them to actively limit the league's ceiling?

Edited December 8, 2017 by matty

[matty]

4 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Man, I completely forgot about NASL Canada. 

It was exaggerated

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, BradMack said:

I like how Garber said "second teams" like theres not only one team left in Canada. He is right though, the second teams were pretty important... How else would Vancouver have found 2 more Kiwi's to sign to their first team over Canadians. 

Garber = Bettman Jr./wanabee

[Ivan]

So what happened to the big announcement that was coming this week according to the Hamilton Group?

[Rheo]

They're just teasing us so that some of the hardcore fans can continue to spend their time complaining about the lack of news and creating even more ill will and alienation that will more assuredly lead to the failure of the league if it ever does launch.

Or we don't know