CSL HOPEFUL OF A SOCCER STADIUM IN MISSISSAUGA
The soccer community in southern Ontario, including the Canadian Soccer League, has for many years encouraged the building of a soccer stadium in the city of Mississauga and recent discussions have led to a decision by Canada’s sixth largest municipality to allocate $100,000 to study the question.
Mississauga, located in the region of Peel and the adjacent Halton region, has for many years been one of the fastest growing areas in Canada for soccer. The Peel-Halton Soccer Association, with a registered outdoor and indoor player population of 83,000, is the largest district soccer association in the country and the Canadian Soccer League has had a strong presence in the municipality going back to the launch of the professional Toronto Croatia team in 1956, with the club’s headquarters in Streetsville for many years.
The long-standing Canadian Soccer League and the Canadian Premier League – first announced in 2013 and with a more recent timeline for kickoff in 2019 – both have an interest in an enclosed community stadium in Mississauga. The CSL presently has teams playing out of nearby community stadiums Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke. Esther Shiner Stadium in North York and Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough. There are three CSL teams located in Mississauga, one of which uses Centennial Stadium in nearby Etobicoke as its home ground. There are also CSL teams in Toronto, Hamilton, Milton, Halton Region, Brantford, Waterloo, Scarborough and York Region
Mississauga councilor Dave Cook, who attended the Real Mississauga vs. Hamilton City CSL game on July 6, explained at that time: “Mississauga has approved$100,000 expenditure for a feasibility study to construct a soccer stadium and while previous discussions over the years did not come to fruition, this is a first step and it does look promising,” he said
CSL administrator Pino Jazbec said the possibility of a soccer stadium in Mississauga is an exciting prospect for his league. “Mississauga is a great soccer community with CSL teams based in the city and the consideration of an enclosed soccer stadium would encourage clubs to step up to this level,” he said.
Mississauga submitted a stadium design to the province as early as 1983 and the city considered building a soccer stadium for the 2015 Pan American Games, two of several attempts over the years.
Stan Adamson