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Canada's first soccer specific stadium (SSS) meeting WC standard.

lamptern

By lamptern
in Men's National Teams

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lamptern Mentor

lamptern

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Canada is the last developed country (over 5 million in population) to have its own professianl soccer league (tell me if I'm wrong) .   So, is  Canada the only G7 country or even the only developed country (over 5 million in population) that doesn't have a soccer specific stadium (SSS) meeting World Cup standards?  I don't know.

A WC standard SSS should:

*Designated to soccer competition only 

*Has 40,000 seats or more 

*Has surrounding stands encircle the pitch

*Has grass(or hybrid) instead of turf

*No athletic track in stadium

*Can be match ready throughout the year

I can't see one in the process at the moment.  Will we have one in Canada before WC2026? From the history of Canadian speed, Not likely.

Can we have one at time of CMNT in the top 20 in FIFA ranking? Hopefully. 

I could be lucky to see a stadium(dream) come true while i am alive. 

With soccer culture being more maintream, I sincerely wish it happens sooner.

Edited by lamptern
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  • lamptern changed the title to Canada's first soccer specific stadium (SSS) meeting WC standard.
baulderdash77 Proficient

baulderdash77

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Well you are arbitrarily adding requirements that FIFA doesn’t ask for and omitting many that FIFA actually does ask for.

The primary requirements are:

-40,000 seats for group stage, 60,000 for semi finals, 80,000 for opening and closing.  

-All stadium seats must be seated and at least 50 cm wide with a 30 cm tall back rest.

-Must be North-South facing (to not dazzle players)

-4 distinct grandstands, each with their own entrances and exits.  Seats are not to be more than 120 meters from the pitch.

-Pitch surfaces 105x68m plus surface areas, perfectly level

-2 - 28 seat protected benches with transparent seat covers

-Lots of highly technical specifications over training areas, cameras, anti-doping areas

-Lots of rules around designated media and emergency medical facilities 

 

Canada definitely does have stadiums that meet these requirements for the World Cup.

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Califax Mentor

Califax

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It's BMO.

I mean BMO's roof is god awful and I hope they find a way to make it louder because the sound behind the supporters just goes up to die, but that's what we've got. No one is building a soccer only stadium when the best one in the country is already there. 

Short of Halifax and Calgary, everyone has newish or refurbished stadiums, and neither of those cities will build to the criteria above. 

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Free kick Grand Master

Free kick

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Posted (edited)

What is the actual definition of Soccer specific?  there really is no technical definition.   But what is generally and often inferred by SSS is by what Major league  soccer has determined.  And hence it means the total opposite of what was used by the NASL of the 1970-80's which was:

  • Oversized stadiums with too much/capacity and inventory required for soccer. 
  • Artificial surfaces 
  • Multipurpose with configuration that allows for  usage by other pro sports: Baseball, Football, track and Field etc.
  • Sightlines that are more distant from the action
  • Where soccer is a secondary tenant

The opposite of the above would be what is generally (but not exclusively) inferred as Soccer specific

  • 20-30K seats.  Meaning that you can have sellouts and by extension stimulates demand for advance sales of tickets
  • Natural surface
  • Configured with seating that is close to the field of play rather than distant (ie.: commonwealth stadium)
  • Sightlines that bring the spectator closer to the action
  • Where soccer is a primary tenant

No where else in the world (that i am aware of) is the term soccer specific stadium used.  The term SSS is  derived from the lessons learned in the failure of the old NASL.  

 

PS.:  here is good example of the contradiction of the term soccer specific:   Does the stadium in San Pedro Sula qualify as soccer specific?   By the general definition, No it wouldn't because its got a huge track and hence poor sightlines.   But it is used for soccer soccer?  would anyone not call it a soccer specific stadium? No

Edited by Free kick
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Ozzie_the_parrot Grand Master

Ozzie_the_parrot

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Perhaps worth pointing out that BMO Field is not even close to being Canada's first SSS or even the first in that part of Toronto. Was Lamport Stadium not built to host NSL games back in the 1970s after an older stadium at Stanley Park that had earlier been owned by that league got demolished? Paul Beirne & Co invented professional soccer in Toronto in much the same way that Al Gore invented the internet.

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CanadianSoccerFan Experienced

CanadianSoccerFan

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50 minutes ago, Free kick said:

What is the actual definition of Soccer specific?  there really is no technical definition.   But what is generally and often inferred by SSS is by what Major league  soccer has determined.  And hence it means the total opposite of what was used by the NASL of the 1970-80's which was:

  • Oversized stadiums with too much/capacity and inventory required for soccer. 
  • Artificial surfaces 
  • Multipurpose with configuration that allows for  usage by other pro sports: Baseball, Football, track and Field etc.
  • Sightlines that are more distant from the action

The opposite of the above would be what is generally (but not exclusively) inferred as Soccer specific

  • 20-30K seats.  Meaning that you can have sellouts and by extension stimulates demand for advance sales of tickets
  • Natural surface
  • Configured with seating that is close to the field of play rather than distant (ie.: commonwealth stadium)
  • Sightlines that bring the spectator closer to the action

No where else in the world (that i am aware of) is the term soccer specific stadium used.  The term SSS is  derived from the lessons learned in the failure of the old NASL.  

 

PS.:  here is good example of the contradiction of the term soccer specific:   Does the stadium in San Pedro Sula qualify as soccer specific?   By the general definition, No it wouldn't because its got a huge track and hence poor sightlines.   But it is used for soccer soccer?  would anyone not call it a soccer specific stadium? No

With respect to NFL stadiums, the problem was not that seats were too far away, it's that they were too close.  To this day, most NFL stadiums can't fit the full 68 metre width for a regulation pitch.  Some stadiums like Atlanta and MetLife have massive removable sections needed to fit the needed width. 

 

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RS Grand Master

RS

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11 minutes ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

To this day, most NFL stadiums can't fit the full 68 metre width for a regulation pitch.

I thought the NFL stadium boom of the past couple of decades solved this problem. Without looking it up, I'd guess the vast majority of current NFL stadiums can easily fit a full-sized soccer field.

Maybe some older ones like Lambeau Field or the one in Buffalo are still built too narrow, but they are in the minority now.

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CanadianSoccerFan Experienced

CanadianSoccerFan

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23 minutes ago, RS said:

I thought the NFL stadium boom of the past couple of decades solved this problem. Without looking it up, I'd guess the vast majority of current NFL stadiums can easily fit a full-sized soccer field.

Maybe some older ones like Lambeau Field or the one in Buffalo are still built too narrow, but they are in the minority now.

The illusion comes from the fact that games are played there regardless so it's not obvious.  The new Vegas stadium is way too narrow.  During the Gold Cup final there was a lot of twitter chatter about it because media had measured it. Corner flag was up against the wall.  Other stadiums that can fit the full width just remove corner sections for soccer games.  The best ones are stadiums like Nashville, Tampa, and Charlotte because the seats don't pinch the corners on an angle.  They're as wide at the corners as they are at midfield.

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lamptern Mentor

lamptern

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5 hours ago, Cheeta said:

Or Hampden and a few hundreds others I'd expect.  The suitability for other sports in a venue shouldn't on its own somehow disqualify it as a SSS.  I don't think it's hard to know when design features of the venue do that.  Sort of a you know it when you see it thing.

I am not opposing to share other sports in a SSS. But definitely no football or rugby should be played there.

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RS Grand Master

RS

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21 minutes ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

The illusion comes from the fact that games are played there regardless so it's not obvious.  The new Vegas stadium is way too narrow.  During the Gold Cup final there was a lot of twitter chatter about it because media had measured it. Corner flag was up against the wall.  Other stadiums that can fit the full width just remove corner sections for soccer games.  The best ones are stadiums like Nashville, Tampa, and Charlotte because the seats don't pinch the corners on an angle.  They're as wide at the corners as they are at midfield.

Fair enough.

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Free kick Grand Master

Free kick

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29 minutes ago, lamptern said:

Totally,  but that is for the title of post:  "Canada's stadiums meeting WC standard".

 

The only FIFA requirements for the WC is: 1) Natural surface 2) 45K minimum seating capacity.    There is no other stated or known requirements.   Currently no stadium in Canada even meets the FIFA requirements.    BMO field is the only one close enough to meeting this requirement with minimal enhancements (ie.: Temp seating).

 

Edited by Free kick
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Free kick Grand Master

Free kick

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Exactly.  i was aware of the temp seating plan as i have been following these stories.   What i was getting at was that BMO field is pretty much there as far as being compliant with FIFA.  So i was really responding to the earlier assertion that "Canada definitely has stadiums that meet FIFA requirements",  which is something i dont see at all.

Edited by Free kick
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Kent Grand Master

Kent

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22 hours ago, lamptern said:

So, is  Canada the only G7 country or even the only developed country (over 5 million in population) that doesn't have a soccer specific stadium (SSS) meeting World Cup standards?

Going back to this question, but ignoring the SSS aspect of it, a quick search has found that Norway, Finland, and Denmark are all countries of 5 million population with 0 stadiums with 40k capacity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stadiums_in_the_Nordic_countries_by_capacity

Also Switzerland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_stadiums_in_Switzerland

Czech Republic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_stadiums_in_the_Czech_Republic

Slovakia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_stadiums_in_Slovakia

Other countries I looked up that have 1 or 2 stadiums large enough include Belgium, Netherlands, Ukraine, Portugal and Greece.

Edited by Kent
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