The two teams will play April  27, exactly one year after the league launched its identity and branding.

“Wataru is technically gifted, incredibly exciting to watch, and he’s got exactly the right frame of mind to come continue his professional career in Canada.” said York 9 manager Jim Brennan in a release issued by the team. “He’s explosive and exceptionally quick off the ball. He’s going to be a great asset to our club.”

With York 9, Manny Aparicio will get the chance to do something he didn't get to do in three years as a Toronto FC player. And that's play a league game in front of family and friends.

Greenhouses don’t have as many seedings as the new, improved Canadian Championship will have in 2019.

One of the goals of the Canadian Premier League was to give opportunities to Canadians playing in Europe — and then fallen off the radars of fans back home — the chance to repatriate themselves.

It's still early in the "announcement of signings" process, but York 9 looks to be putting together an all-star team of League1 Ontario products.

Simon Adjei had a heck of a strike rate in 2016, when he played for Aurora FC in League1 Ontario. The Swedish/Ghanaian forward scored 19 times in 19 matches before heading back to Europe.

At time of writing, the club’s membership numbers have nearly tripled during October to 702, an amount that still leaves them behind five of the other clubs preparing to kickoff in April, but represents a significant increase.

The task is daunting. The CanPL coaches are building a soccer league in a country that has never really embraced one. Success on the field, in the stands, and with player development may be elusive for years.

“What we’re concerned about is that when these games come, we want 6,000 to 10,000 people in the seats. A membership is nice. But we’re not worried about that. We know what we’ve got coming down the line … all of the events that we’ve done, and the interest that we have, so we’re not worried about [memberships].”