York United - 2023 Season Thread

[Kent]

Some good points in this youtuber's take. His main points are that the club has never had a clear vision. Started out being billed as a York Region team, playing in a temporary home in Toronto, but will move away when they build a new stadium somewhere in York Region. Then they kind of silently gave up that stadium plan, rebranded to kind of distance themselves from York Region, but also looking to move the club elsewhere, maybe Woodbine.

 

[Shway]

Hipsters lol….I’m far from that @Rocket Robin, as I’ve lived in the suburbs my entire life, and have had zero interest of living downtown. I think you need to learn what a hipster is before using it.

Location, location, location.

Those talking about how lamport is bad because a stop isn’t open on certain days or because it’s old is stupid. Comparing TFC reserves is another misperception that you are alluding to that it’s minor league.

I was just there helping my sister-in-law move into her $2,500 hotel condo, and I was on the balcony and seen right into the stadium.

I’ll say it again…location, location, location. It’s in the heart of an area where you can do a lot of things whether before or after. It’s a spot that caters to the drivers, and the public transporters regardless if you have to walk or hop on a transfer bus. It’s surrounded by young professionals who are always looking for things to do….NONE of that exist at York Lions Stadium. So if you don’t think Lamport isn’t ideal cool just don’t say York Lions Stadium is better - cause that’s BS.

Yes Lamport is old, yes it needs sprucing up. But only deep pocket owners who are willing to do what’s necessary for a club to survive in the GTA should be required. Lamport or not. The team needs an actual stadium, not a university stadium, not a stadium that has tracks.

The city is big enough to have two professional teams that play in two separate leagues, but also participate in two of the same competitions. The experience doesn’t have to be the same, but it should be comparable. 

[Shway]

Outside of fan attendance…York Lions Stadium is easily the worst in the league, when it should be one of the best. 

I hate how this key point is being understated. 

[Cheeta]

A view from the outside.

What Faths left CPL when they threw in the towel in Edmonton doesn't feel anything like what the league is getting from Baldassarras' with York.  By that I mean as a footballing organization York looks to be a serious, proper venture.  Marketing and revenue aside of course.  They just never got a handle on that. Clearly.

The timing is curious isn't it?  CPL HQ couldn't have been surprised by this development, unless of course they'd assumed the previous ownership would stick it out for 2023 and were caught unawares.  But then why would the Baldassarras' hesitated after last season?  It didn't seem like they were doing anything in their operations which would have hinted at a wind down.  Very curious as to what moved the needle, and maybe quite dramatically at that.

Speaking of CPL HQ you know they'll be trying to shape this into an opportunity, as they should.  Relocation has been mentioned.  Quite rightly in my mind.

On a personal note it's a bit of a pity.  Been meaning to brainstorm something clever to jear at York when they are in Winnipeg come June.  You'll never be the Eddies.  You're York United and no one cares.  That sort of thing, you know?  Well now it feels all sort of sad in a way.

What am I typing?  Phfffff.  Fu'k that.  I've got a couple of months to make a giant paper mache casket. Time flys, best get started.  

  

Edited April 25, 2023 by Cheeta

[CanadaFan123]

18 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Are you being sarcastic with that? If the Valour lost close to $1 million last year, it is likely a lot closer to $2 million with York because their crowds are a lot smaller. Any transfer fees received have been relatively modest ones.

Wonder what it was that made the Baldassarras finally pull the plug? It's been blindingly obvious since well before the first game when they drew a pathetic number of memberships (or whatever they were called) compared to what was happening in the other cities that this team wasn't going to do well.

Either Woodbine is dead in the water or the obvious absence of a post-Qatar bounce in interest made them question how much difference 2026 is going to make would be my guess.

Sorry - What I meant was that the poor attendance is offset by player sales over the last year in terms of income. Not that they’re breaking even altogether. 

The greater point stands in that there is a framework for a really solid club here. They just need identity/marketing. This isn’t an FC Edmonton situation - this is a proper football club. Come to think of it, this would be a perfect club for a similar Atletico Madrid type venture. 

[RS]

10 hours ago, Shway said:

Outside of fan attendance…York Lions Stadium is easily the worst in the league, when it should be one of the best. 

I hate how this key point is being understated. 

Nah, it's better than Wanderers Grounds and whatever Vancouver FC is building. It's a modern, permanent structure, unlike those other two.

Halifax's atmosphere hides just how spartan the stadium really is (I've been there twice).

[SoccMan]

51 minutes ago, RS said:

Nah, it's better than Wanderers Grounds and whatever Vancouver FC is building. It's a modern, permanent structure, unlike those other two.

Halifax's atmosphere hides just how spartan the stadium really is (I've been there twice).

It’s just your typical one stand Stadium that we see all over Canada , you don’t even need a ticket to watch York play just stand outside the fence and you have one of the best views of the game . 

[RS]

34 minutes ago, SoccMan said:

It’s just your typical one stand Stadium that we see all over Canada , you don’t even need a ticket to watch York play just stand outside the fence and you have one of the best views of the game . 

I agree that they should close off the fencing so that people can't see through it, but your view from outside the fence would actually be pretty terrible compared to from the stands.

The structure itself is sound and new(ish) and not a set of temporary bleachers, that was my point.

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, RS said:

Nah, it's better than Wanderers Grounds and whatever Vancouver FC is building. It's a modern, permanent structure, unlike those other two.

Halifax's atmosphere hides just how spartan the stadium really is (I've been there twice).

You've been to all three then?

I agree fully about solid architecture and agree concrete is essential. Not chicken wire. But any stadium that has four stands close to the field is better for fans, however "precarious".

Edited April 25, 2023 by Unnamed Trialist

[RS]

10 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

You've been to all three then?

I agree fully about solid architecture and agree concrete is essential. Not chicken wire. But any stadium that has four stands close to the field is better for fans, however "precarious".

Nope, just Halifax and York.

I'm admittedly going by what's seen in photos for VFC, but I've been to enough bleacher-heavy grounds to know what to reasonably expect there.

And you're right — four sides is far better from an optics and atmospheric standpoint, but even that seems like a tall order in Canada. Hopefully Halifax has earned enough goodwill to convince the powers that be to build something more permanent and complete. And hopefully VFC can follow in Halifax's footsteps by creating an atmosphere that makes the cheap structure feel like an afterthought.

[Shway]

20 minutes ago, RS said:

Nope, just Halifax and York.

I'm admittedly going by what's seen in photos for VFC, but I've been to enough bleacher-heavy grounds to know what to reasonably expect there.

And you're right — four sides is far better from an optics and atmospheric standpoint, but even that seems like a tall order in Canada. Hopefully Halifax has earned enough goodwill to convince the powers that be to build something more permanent and complete. And hopefully VFC can follow in Halifax's footsteps by creating an atmosphere that makes the cheap structure feel like an afterthought.

Okay your structure points stands. 
However in HFX they don't have anything else to support professionally, nevertheless a professional team to compare too. 
So it works for them.

I know you picked the part about  York Lions being the worst stadium, but left out that it should be one of the best. 

I'm curious on your thoughts (and anyone else who's been to a York 9/United game) what do you think would be a better suited stadium, when getting one built is near impossible.

[RS]

7 minutes ago, Shway said:

Okay your structure points stands. 
However in HFX they don't have anything else to support professionally, nevertheless a professional team to compare too. 
So it works for them.

I know you picked the part about  York Lions being the worst stadium, but left out that it should be one of the best. 

I'm curious on your thoughts (and anyone else who's been to a York 9/United game) what do you think would be a better suited stadium, when getting one built is near impossible.

Why should it be one of the best? Unless York is playing out of BMO, there is no stadium in the GTA that is as good or better than the likes of IG Field in Winnipeg (by far the best stadium in the CPL) or even THF or TD Place.

York needs one of the better venues in the CPL to succeed, for sure, but there's a middle ground between YLS and IG Field. I actually do agree with you that the team would likely fare better at Lamport than at YLS, but as someone who's been to Lamport hundreds of times I can say without hesitation that YLS is structurally far superior. If York Lions had an equivalent stand on the opposite side of the current stand, it would blow Lamport out of the water (but the location would still be inferior).

[Shway]

6 minutes ago, RS said:

Why should it be one of the best? Unless York is playing out of BMO, there is no stadium in the GTA that is as good or better than the likes of IG Field in Winnipeg (by far the best stadium in the CPL) or even THF or TD Place.

Actually if they were playing out of BMO it probably still wouldn't be better than IG Field (other than the turf).
My main point is that the stadium and location has to be better in order to succeed in Toronto.

 

6 minutes ago, RS said:

York needs one of the better venues in the CPL to succeed, for sure, but there's a middle ground between YLS and IG Field. I actually do agree with you that the team would likely fare better at Lamport than at YLS, but as someone who's been to Lamport hundreds of times I can say without hesitation that YLS is structurally far superior. If York Lions had an equivalent stand on the opposite side of the current stand, it would blow Lamport out of the water (but the location would still be inferior).

I agree to the bolded point. But in regards to the structure, are you referring to the building/stands? To me (who's not a construction engineer), the many times that I went there and went snooping around it's seemed structurally sound, just extremely old and outdated. It's the reason why I said investment is needed. 2M into Lamport and that stadium would bring far more than just soccer. 

 

[RS]

22 minutes ago, Shway said:

Actually if they were playing out of BMO it probably still wouldn't be better than IG Field (other than the turf).
My main point is that the stadium and location has to be better in order to succeed in Toronto.

 

I agree to the bolded point. But in regards to the structure, are you referring to the building/stands? To me (who's not a construction engineer), the many times that I went there and went snooping around it's seemed structurally sound, just extremely old and outdated. It's the reason why I said investment is needed. 2M into Lamport and that stadium would bring far more than just soccer. 

 

The entire structure is outdated and needs way more than $2 million in upgrades 

Have you been there when more than a few hundred people are in attendance? The corridors and hallways are way too narrow to handle even a thousand people at once, despite the “official” capacity being around 9-10,000. IIRC at Wolfpack games they simply threw the south end gates open to let people into the parking lot because the bottlenecks to get out of the stadium are dangerous when there are that many people leaving at once.

Thats not even mentioning the surface, which is crowned for drainage. If you stand on one sideline and look at a player on the opposite sideline, you won’t be able to see his feet. That would need to be fixed for any real level of soccer to be played there (not the crappy pickup matches and beer leagues I’ve spent years playing in).

Lamport’s location cannot be beat, and there’s a good footprint to work with, but it needs A LOT of love — from the seats to the concourses to the change rooms, etc. — before it can be considered a proper professional venue that will attract enough fans for a CPL team to be viable there.

The Wolfpack benefitted from being the only rugby around, so all the warts of the stadium could be overlooked (similar to what’s happening in Halifax with the Wanderers). Any soccer team playing at Lamport won’t have the same advantage.

 

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, RS said:

Nope, just Halifax and York.

I'm admittedly going by what's seen in photos for VFC, but I've been to enough bleacher-heavy grounds to know what to reasonably expect there.

And you're right — four sides is far better from an optics and atmospheric standpoint, but even that seems like a tall order in Canada. Hopefully Halifax has earned enough goodwill to convince the powers that be to build something more permanent and complete. And hopefully VFC can follow in Halifax's footsteps by creating an atmosphere that makes the cheap structure feel like an afterthought.

Related to your opinion, SFU build a very nice new stand, in the same neo-classical modernist style as the historical Erickson buildings on that campus, and of course they play higher level university sports. But the capacity is still low, and there's a track, you are a long way away from the pitch. So it's potentially right, solid and nice architecture--but then it's wrong for soccer and wrong for real fan experience

[RS]

8 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Related to your opinion, SFU build a very nice new stand, in the same neo-classical modernist style as the historical Erickson buildings on that campus, and of course they play higher level university sports. But the capacity is still low, and there's a track, you are a long way away from the pitch. So it's potentially right, solid and nice architecture--but then it's wrong for soccer and wrong for real fan experience

I don't mind that for an ambitious League1-level side. If there's another stand opposite (and no track), it would make a decent CPL venue.

That's pretty much what York Lions Stadium is, albeit a bit smaller and with a track and a partial roof. The track being removed at YLS was the best thing that could have happened for York United at that location, barring another stand being built.

[Markoaleks]

Watched the YouTube video posted upthread

Good insight as I was at the first CPL match Forge v York and there was a lot of road support that has seemingly dissipated. Forgot about that- they were loud and plentiful back then 

That said- an old boss used to tell me “hope is not a strategy “ but CPL will be better with a Toronto”ish” team in the league - no closer Derby will exist between Forge and this team and will be better for the league to have this close rivalry- not unlike Ticats and Argos 

[brianjc]

I remember that there was interest from an Italian club - Roma, I think - to set up a club in Toronto.

 

[Watchmen]

I wonder what the transfer/sale terms to new ownership would be.

[Ansem]

I think what's happening with prospective groups is somewhat similar with Atletico who was talking to the league and pulled the trigger once Ottawa and a stadium became available.

I'm guessing that the groups the league is currently talking too are now being told that the Toronto market just became available with an existing club with players under contract and with land put aside for a new stadium next to a new casino district.

This should also attract new investors as well.

We'll see. I don't disagree with the league buying out the Baldassara who obviously had no vision for the club and what to do with it

[Tigers]

For anyone interested, the Le Rouge Rugby podcast did an interview with the owner of the Toronto Arrows discussing the pros and cons of Lamport vs York - the team split their home games between the two in 2019, and currently trains at Lamport but plays everything at YLS.

If you could drop YLS onto Lamport's location it would be ideal.

It does need lots of work, probably so much that it wouldn't be renovating vs rebuilding.  The hallways/bathrooms are more suited to small elementary school rather 5 figure sports attendance. If they did rebuild, and as some have suggested it here made it a new home for the Argos, it would need to take land from the city parking lot because the current field isn't long enough for a CFL field. 

 

 

[Joe MacCarthy]

5 hours ago, RS said:

Hopefully Halifax has earned enough goodwill to convince the powers that be to build something more permanent and complete.

I can't see that happening in a major way without a nod to CFL expansion. While the old proposed CFL ownership group is now dead in the water the league now seems to have a successful partnership with investment banking partner, Park Lane in scouting possible future ownership candidates.  Although I don't know if or how much they were involved in the Peledeau/Als deal, it happened in record time.

The CFL commissioner seems hell bent on getting a team in Halifax, so we'll have to see if the CPL wants to be part of it (stadium wise).  As of now they seem fairly content. 

I am asking because I don't know or remember, is there any real money behind the Wanderers.  The CFL has become pretty much a billionaires club now.  They will need that kind of stroke to get the government on board, do the Wanderers have the type of cash to sit at the table.  Just asking because I don't know who or what is behind Derek Martin.

[Tigers]

IIRC wasn't Bob Young some of the money behind HFX?

[Big_M]

martin said hes majority and young doesnt have shares

[Ansem]