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11 Comments

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Are You Ready For Some Futball?

By Rob Shostak

2006_07_06torontofc.jpg
Every couple of years, everyone outside of Europe in North America decides to become soccer fans. Can that feeling of excitement be sustained over the regular season?
Well, in the middle of World-Cup Fever, our Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty gave $27-million to construct Canada’s first soccer stadium. Total cost: $62-million. Expected completion date: May 1st, 2007… 10 months from now…
The new stadium will be built at Exhibition Place and will be home to the Toronto FC, our first Major League team.
Torontoist is intrigued, and sees this as a continuation to the revitalization of the waterfrontish area. But there should also be a more serious investment in the infrastructure in order to make it easy for people to get there. Not even the love of futball will make us walk through an urban dead zone.

Comments

  • rek

    While I’d love to see a Toronto team, how can they city put $9 million into the stadium (which will probably end up being bought by some corporation for a fraction of that) while the TTC and our schools go without?

  • Robonto

    Rek obviosuly doesn’t have Football fever…
    you’re thinking here (points at head) while you should be thinking here (points at heart) and here (points at ass… I mean wallet.)
    Children are not our future. THe World Cup in Toronto is the future.

  • Christian

    What a great way to spend $9 million dollars, professional soccer has such a history of success in Toronto…oh wait…it has ALWAYS failed…every soccer fan in Toronto has an allegiance to a team in a top tier league (Spain, England, Italy, Portugal)…why not use it to build a park? lower TTC costs? pay teachers? more affordable housing? this is one of the worst wastes of money in Toronto history…there is no question this team will fail, will it be one year, or two?

  • Cargo

    Who can forget the spectacular success of Toronto Blizzard? What a sports legend in the making that was.

  • http://brokenengine.blogspot.com brokenengine

    Agreed on all points, but I’m still excited. Although, I can’t agree that it is hand down going to fail. Football(soccer) in Canada is MUCH MUCH bigger than it was when the Bliz were around. Now, more kids are enrolled in soccer every year in North America than in baseball.

  • http://www.usector.ca Shawn

    Actually, the Blizzard *was* pretty successful in this town – however its league folded around it.
    Who knows if soccer will succeed in this town this time around – but why not give it a chance instead of shooting it down?
    A supporters’ messageboard for the new team is at http://www.usector.ca

  • Michael

    Feds are putting up 27M, Province 8M, City 9.8M and MLSE 62M(!). Considering Toronto and its citizens will be benefiting greatly from this facility (junior world cup, rent from MLSE, jobs, jobs, jobs), throwing in less than 10% doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

  • Matt

    The Blizzard wewre the first pro team. When the NASL was collapsing all around North America, Toronto was one of the last three teams still standing at the end. I used to go to matches with my parents — first at the CNE and then at Varsity Stadium. Toronto went to the finals the last two years of the NASL. The stadium was packed! The NASL used to import players from Europe — Blizzard players played for N. Ireland, England, Scotland, and Canada in the World Cup (anyone remember Bruce Wilson?).

  • tik

    Yea, Toronto will support a team fine and the staduim means jobs anyway you look at it, the part that bothers me is the location. Not because I think its an “urban deadzone” (what do you want condos? cause pantalone would love nothing more, and who doesnt love the ex?) but because Lansdowne Park would be a great location. Why not tear down the staduim and put it there? It would attract more people to that area putting money into local buisness’s that I’m sure could use it. I always thought it made sense…..

  • DJ

    I have to object to the ‘everyone outside of Europe’ bit. Soccer is huge pretty much everywhere but North America. I

  • http://htt://www.bethmaher.com beth maher

    The CNE is a great location, and one that has long been missing a major league stadium. How short are you people’s attention spans? I’m only 24 and I still remember that people used to pack in for Baseball at the old Exhibition Stadium. Then they tore it down and built the Skydome.
    And if transits your issue, than this would be a great excuse to get transit better to Parkdale (although to be fair, it functions pretty fine during the Ex).
    My little brother, and all his friends have played soccer all their lives and are pretty non-nationalistic kinda kids. They’d watch soccer cause it was soccer – and I know that most kids their age have had the same experience.
    What you fail to understand about the game, is that those who play it love it. The love the game. They will go out of their way to play it, watch it, live it. This is more than just a nationalistic thing.
    This is perhaps an investment in the future, but I think it’s one that will do very, very well given time.
    Why does everything gotta be doom and gloom with you people?