The news about Ottawa joining the CPL has been mentioned on the MLS thread but now that it's official, it seemed like the right time to start one for all Canadian football in 2020. I had been wondering why it was taking so long to publish the CPL schedule for this season and am still waiting for a call from the HFX Wanderers ticket office to entice me to buy another half-season ticket but now it's clear why there was no news until the last possible minute (deadline for CPL team registrations is tomorrow, I think) - here's the official CPL press release about the Ottawa team. I guess the team name will be confirmed officially at the unveiling on Feb 12th.
Having an 8-team league will make scheduling a lot easier and should reduce the number of single midweek fixtures that were required to tidy things up last season. It doesn't feel like there should be any problems fitting in the fixtures for so few teams, but having the spring and autumn season format, plus Canadian Championship matches and Forge's involvement in the Concacaf League all in the same window (which is effectively restricted to April-October by the weather, and the fact that ice hockey absolutely dominates the schedules in the winter months) makes it a trickier job.
Looks like Canada Soccer were not expecting a CPL expansion team - the Canadian Championship fixtures were announced recently and reflect the situation without an Ottawa representative (Ottawa Fury competed last season, reaching the semi-final). This year's fixtures throw up some interesting match-ups in the quarter-finals: assuming that Halifax beat Quebec champions Blainville, they get to face Montreal Impact, while York9 get a big local derby against Toronto if they can see off Ontario champions Masters Futbol Academy (League1 is going to have to work on the some of the daft team names, I think...).
2020 Canadian Championship Schedule
Qualifying Round 1 (16-25 June 2020)
Match 1 - FC Edmonton (CanPL) v Pacific FC (CanPL)
Match 2 - Valour FC (CanPL) v Forge FC (CanPL)
Match 3 - AS Blainville (PLSQ) v HFX Wanderers (CanPL)
Match 4 - Masters Futbol Academy (L10) v York9 FC (CanPL)
Quarterfinal Round (7-16 July 2020)
Match 5 - Winner Match 1 v Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS)
Match 6 - Winner Match 2 v Cavalry FC (CanPL)
Match 7 - Winner Match 3 v Montreal Impact (MLS)
Match 8 - Winner Match 4 v Toronto FC (MLS)
Semi-Final Round (11-20 August 2020)
Match 9 - Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6
Match 10 - Winner Match 8 v Winner Match 7
Final Round (15-24 September 2020)
Match 11 - Winner Match 9 v Winner Match 10
Having an 8-team league will make scheduling a lot easier and should reduce the number of single midweek fixtures that were required to tidy things up last season. It doesn't feel like there should be any problems fitting in the fixtures for so few teams, but having the spring and autumn season format, plus Canadian Championship matches and Forge's involvement in the Concacaf League all in the same window (which is effectively restricted to April-October by the weather, and the fact that ice hockey absolutely dominates the schedules in the winter months) makes it a trickier job.
Looks like Canada Soccer were not expecting a CPL expansion team - the Canadian Championship fixtures were announced recently and reflect the situation without an Ottawa representative (Ottawa Fury competed last season, reaching the semi-final). This year's fixtures throw up some interesting match-ups in the quarter-finals: assuming that Halifax beat Quebec champions Blainville, they get to face Montreal Impact, while York9 get a big local derby against Toronto if they can see off Ontario champions Masters Futbol Academy (League1 is going to have to work on the some of the daft team names, I think...).
2020 Canadian Championship Schedule
Qualifying Round 1 (16-25 June 2020)
Match 1 - FC Edmonton (CanPL) v Pacific FC (CanPL)
Match 2 - Valour FC (CanPL) v Forge FC (CanPL)
Match 3 - AS Blainville (PLSQ) v HFX Wanderers (CanPL)
Match 4 - Masters Futbol Academy (L10) v York9 FC (CanPL)
Quarterfinal Round (7-16 July 2020)
Match 5 - Winner Match 1 v Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS)
Match 6 - Winner Match 2 v Cavalry FC (CanPL)
Match 7 - Winner Match 3 v Montreal Impact (MLS)
Match 8 - Winner Match 4 v Toronto FC (MLS)
Semi-Final Round (11-20 August 2020)
Match 9 - Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6
Match 10 - Winner Match 8 v Winner Match 7
Final Round (15-24 September 2020)
Match 11 - Winner Match 9 v Winner Match 10
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