Home NASL & USL FC Edmonton Montopoli hopes all-Canadian Div. 2 can be “FC Edmonton times eight”

Montopoli hopes all-Canadian Div. 2 can be “FC Edmonton times eight”

3
0
811

Canadian Soccer Association General Secretary Peter Montopoli is hopeful that the FC Edmonton experiment can be repeated in cities across the country — in an all-Canadian Division-2 league.

The Canadian Soccer Association has given consultants Rethink Management Group until the spring of 2012 to study the viability of an all-Canadian Division-2. But the CSA has made it clear that it does not want to run a league; it just wants to see if the climate is right for private investors across the country to take the same risks that FC Edmonton’s Tom and Dave Fath have taken.

“We would rather see FC Edmonton playing in a national league, and doing what they were successful at this year, developing Canadian players,” said Montopoli. “I think FC Edmonton has been a bright light. It has shown us that a team that is based on Canadian talent can work, that we have a Division two team that can put emphasis on them (Canadians). What we would like to see is FC Edmonton times six or FC Edmonton times eight.”

FC Edmonton and the Montreal Impact played in the NASL in 2011; the Eddies made the playoffs with a lineup made up mostly of Canadian players. The Impact will move to MLS next season after missing the playoffs in its final Div. -2 season. Ottawa is set to join NASL in the next couple of years.

But the NASL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which mandates that the league’s membership be at least 75 per cent American based.

“We need to be more than 25 per cent of teams in a U.S.-based league,” said Montopoli.

The CSA had placed a moratorium on new Canadian Div.-2 clubs joining U.S. based leagues earlier this year. It didn’t stop Ottawa from going ahead with its NASL plan.

Montopoli said that Rethink’s researchers will be asked to weigh four factors.

The first? Players. Are there enough Canadian players available to stock a domestic Div.-2 league?

“Do we have enough players in our country? I would like to think that we do,” said Montopoli.

The second factor? Coaching. Does Canada have enough coaches with the skills to lead high-calibre professional sides?

Third? Infrastructure and stadiums. A few years back, the Canadian Soccer League announced that it was hoping to expand to Western Canada. It never happened. Teams would take in small ticket sales, but there’s no getting around the cost of traveling. As well, the question of where teams would play could never be answered. There aren’t enough stadiums in the country to seat a few thousand for soccer.

The Rethink Management team will explore if there are enough stadiums or plans for stadiums; and it will look how a league would or could be structured in the second-largest country (by land size) in the world.

Finally, and this is likely the big one, Rethink will see if there are enough investors out there interested in Div.-2 soccer. Saying that you support local soccer is one thing; signing paycheques for a pro team is another. For example, NASL road trip can cost up to $20,000, with flights and hotels factored in. So, no matter the good intentions, a league needs money — and lots of it. Are there enough entrepreneurs out there?

Rethink will prioritize the four factors after it is done the research.

Montopoli thinks that, with so much MLS on our television and fan support rising for the national teams, that this is the time to try and bring Canadian fans out to see Canadian players in a Canadian Div. -2.

“We are on the crest of the wave. We have three MLS teams and the national teams are experiencing some success.”

Load More Related Articles
Load More By Steven Sandor
Load More In FC Edmonton

3 Comments

  1. Kahkakew

    November 9, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    NASL needs to expand to two conferences..one American and one international. Either 8-12 teams in each conference. Cities like Hamilton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Halifax, Calgary, Winnipeg and possibly Victoria may be able to support a NASL club and have stadia already in place or being built. I cant see more than 12 clubs here including MLS and the NASL but it would make the NCC a legit tourney.

  2. K

    October 14, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    Andre,

    The reason the current CSL and the PCSL aren’t part of the Nutrilite set-up is because the gap in talent is just too wide compared to MLS.

    Given that we only have 3 MLS sides, I’d expect all Canadian D2 sides to participate in the Champions League. That, or the top 3 or 4 Canadian D2 sides.

    A Canadian D2 league implies a league that is on-par with the NASL. The CSL is considered a Division 3 league, and that’s being forgiving.

    USL is now considered a US Division 3 league, while the NASL is a US division 2. Based on the quality of the USL, I’d argue the CSL is really a Division 4 league.

    If any existing CSL franchise make to jump to this a Proposed Canadian D2 League, it will only be the very best CSL sides (IE: Toronto Croatians)

  3. Andre

    October 14, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    This is a good idea, however we need to ensure that these Canadian D2 sides are allowed to play in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. In my estimation that tournament can be the vehicle for soccer developement in Canada. If every semi pro – pro team in the country could aspire to play Toronto FC or Vancouver Whitecaps, and possibly make the Champions League, you would start to see serious local fan support for such teams, as their games would mean something. Short of that, this will be another failed CSA innitiative. Our Nutrilite Canadian Championship should be like the English FA Cup, teams from TFC and WFC all the way down to your lowly neighbourhood team, as long as they are participating in an official national division (MLS, NASL, D2, CSL, etc…) This would also seve to inspire local kids from communities where they don’t have access to a TFC, and so they would be more prone to support a local team, especially if that team could aspire to play TFC.

Check Also

Canada Soccer plays most of the hits, saves Herdman for the encore

Having Herdman come out to give the final words at a press conference is like knowing that…