Hamilton Croatia, Brantford Galaxy and Milltown FC – which represents the town of Milton just west of Mississauga - will boost the CSL’s teams to 13 in a single top division.
The teams will each play 24 games in an almost six-month long campaign from early May to the playoffs late October.
The Hamilton Croatia entry was announced by the league on February 4 and the Brantford Galaxy and Milltown FC memberships were finalized last weekend.
The City of Brantford has been in the spotlight for many years with its favourite son, Wayne Gretzky, and it will be the first time the community has ventured into professional soccer. “We’re here because we’ve seen an opportunity for soccer to grow and because of the new direction of the CSL,” Gerry Crnic, one of the principals of the new team along with president Bosko Borjan, told the Brant News.
The team is situated between Hamilton and London in the heart of southwestern Ontario, known to produce an abundance of youth players with the talent and skills for a higher level.
“Our ownership group is very excited to bring exciting Canadian Soccer League action to Milton. This fast growing and incredibly dynamic community will be the ideal home for our club”, said Dino Rossi Jr., president of Milltown FC. “Soccer is the most popular participation sport in the Town of Milton. We intend to give the local soccer community a professional club to embrace and call their own. We also want to give the thousands of youth soccer players in Milton, and Halton Region in general, something to aspire to.”
Milltown is a description popular and familiar to many in the population just north of Oakville and south of Halton Hills, going back to the community’s formation. It was a big reason for the team adopting the name.
“These expansion teams have been awarded membership for 2010 season, and in each case we have sought out a group that would be committed to providing leadership in the community in youth soccer development,” said CSL chairman, Domenic Di Gironimo. “ We are confident that the relationship between these new CSL teams and their respective youth affiliates will ensure this objective is met."
The CSL also takes an expansion step with its Reserve Division where it’s expected up to 11 teams will compete in an environment strong on professional development. The new entries from Hamilton and Brantford will be in, while Milton is expected to make an announcement next week. Players have an opportunity to accelerate their development in the CSL Reserve Division while waiting for a chance to move to the higher level.
Postscript.............Italia Shooters owner Tony De Thomasis and CSL Director of Officials Tony Camacho are both interviewd by Anthony Totera on OSATv Touchline, seen on the OSA Website now.
