In just four weeks, ten teams will kickoff a new Canadian Soccer League season in a year that’s considered to be the beginning of a new era in professional soccer in Canada.
The CSL has announced the 2019 First Division line-up as FC Vorkuta (current CSL champions), Scarborough SC (2018 CSL Championship finalist), Brantford Galaxy, CSC Mississauga, Hamilton City, Kingsman SC, Real Mississauga SC, Serbian White Eagles, FC Ukraine United, SC Waterloo.
Kingsman SC was the one successful expansion team of five that applied for 2019 First Division entry.
It’s been 95 years – in 1924 – since Canada ventured on to the world soccer stage, but its men’s national team has made only one appearance in the World Cup finals since that time. That was in 1986 when the team failed to score a goal in the three games played in Mexico.
Much has been said about Canada’s failure to gain a place in the World Cup finals since 1986, while many countries with less player and economic resources have basked in the glory of at least making an appearance.
Canada is all about hockey after all, it has been said. But demographics reveal a vastly different story, showing that the soccer community has been rich in player population for 20 years now – more than any other team sport – with an abundance of technical expertise following a flood of post-war arrivals of immigrants from countries steeped in soccer tradition. Dozens of coaches and players have settled in Canada after experiencing high level soccer elsewhere.
The lack of sufficient professional soccer, which includes the semi-professional game, for promising players to step into is now believed to be a major reason for Canada’s failure to develop a sufficient number of high level players for its men’s national team, a team strong enough for an appearance in the World Cup finals. It’s not every special player who wants to go outside of Canada during those early stages of uncertainty.
More high level soccer in Canada, consisting of Major League Soccer, the Canadian Soccer League and the launch of the Canadian Premier League on April 27, is expected to start paying dividends that will show results in the years to come.
“We will play our part and continue a longstanding CSL practice and tradition of encouraging special Canadian players to strive for excellence that may give them a chance of entry into one of the youth national teams and eventually the men’s national side,” said CSL president Doug Bakoc.
In 2026, Canada should also be given a chance to compete in a World Cup as co-host with Mexico and the United States.
The CSL First Division regular season will run from mid-May to September with the post season playoffs leading to the CSL Championship in October.