FC Edmonton to make stadium announcement in early March By Steven Sandor Posted on February 15, 2012 3 0 733 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter FC Edmonton fans will need to wait just a couple of more weeks before learning where the team will play its NASL home games in 2012. The team has confirmed that it is targeting the first week of March for a major announcement on its stadium plans for the upcoming season. As reported by IMSoccer News (see here), NASL set a Feb. 15 deadline for the club to let the league know about its stadium plans. It is The 11’s understanding that FCE has satisfied that requirement, but that we shouldn’t expect the league to announce the stadium ahead of the team. FCE has made it clear that it did not want to be at the University of Alberta’s Foote Field for the long-term. It played its inaugural 2011 season there on a small pitch which featured very hard artificial turf, a surface which actually forced coach Harry Sinkrgaven to alter his preferred 4-3-3 because the system is almost impossible to utilize in such cramped quarters. The team received an endorsement from Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel in September 2011, when FIFA officials toured the city to look at its preparations for the 2014 U-20 Women’s World Cup and the 2015 Women’s World Cup. At the time, the mayor said that there wasn’t “any question” that the team needed a 10,000- to 15,000-seat stadium it could call home. Since that time, FCE staff and city officials have met to discuss long- and short-term solutions for the club. One of the options discussed was Clarke Stadium, next door to Commonwealth Stadium, even though the Clarke’s capacity — currently at 1,200 — would need to be raised for NASL action. FCE’s Amway Canadian Championship semifinal home leg against the Vancouver Whitecaps is slated for Commonwealth Stadium, no matter where the team plays its NASL home schedule.
