Currently the CSA is working to improve the standard of soccer in Canada. They are trying to navigate around a partially infiltrated American pyramid which puts American player development above Canadian.
If you could start over with professional
soccer in Canada, and Canadians cared as much about soccer as they do about
hockey, and if the top markets weren’t already gobbled up by the American
soccer pyramid, so Canada could have their largest markets back to start their
own league, this might be what that soccer pyramid could look like. Pretend there are no teams and no leagues, only cities and potential.
Also, pretend there are big investors eager to spend their money this way. ;)
This idea is not considerable due to the current control over top markets by foreign leagues, but perhaps a few ideas could be
used.
Canada being so large, geography is a major factor in the developing a
first division national league that does not lean on the American pyramid, so
here’s a wild idea:
- Canada’s first division: Canadian League (C-League): 20 Teams: represented are the best from the 3 conferences: 6 representatives from each conference plus 2 extra spots available to be earned by performance
- Canada’s second division: 3 Conferences: West Conference (BC, Yukon, NWT, Alberta, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Manitoba), Ontario Conference, and Quebec-East Conference (Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia)
- Promotion of 2 teams from each conference into the C-League each season
- Relegation from C-League to make room for 2 promotions from each conference
- 14 of 20 teams remain in C-League while 6 teams are relegated each season and 6 promoted
Below is a hypothetical 20 Team C-League (Canadian League) using
population statistics (6 West Spots, 6 Ontario Spots, 6 Quebec East Spots, +2
spots extra for stronger conferences awarded to the 1st and
2nd place finishers' home conference from the previous season, i.e. if Toronto Club 1
finishes 1st and Montréal Club 1 Finishes 2nd, then
Toronto Club 1 earns a 7th spot for Ontario Conference in the
C-League for the next season, and Montréal Club 1 earns a 7th spot
for Quebec-East Conference. Therefore, the West Conference would have 6 teams,
the Ontario Conference would have 7 teams, and the Quebec-East Conference would
have 7 teams in the C-League the following season)
Larger cities would likely work their way to the C-League.
The three largest cities in Canada with the strongest soccer fan base would
have 2 teams each to increase parity and derbies (Toronto, Vancouver,
Montréal), which is similar to London, Manchester, and Liverpool, or New York and LA for that matter. All cities represented are the top 100 populations in Canada.
C-League
1. Toronto Club 1 (Ontario Spot 1)2. Toronto Club 2 (Ontario Spot 2)
3. Ottawa Club (Ontario Spot 3)
4. Mississauga Club (Ontario Spot 4)
5. Brampton Club (Ontario Spot 5)
6. Hamilton Club (Ontario Spot 6)
7. Montréal Club 1 (Quebec-East Spot 1)
8. Montréal Club 2 (Quebec-East Spot 2)
9. Quebec City Club (Quebec-East Spot 3)
10. Laval Club (Quebec-East Spot 4)
11. Gatineau Club (Quebec-East Spot 5)
12. Longueil Club (Quebec-East Spot 6)
13. Calgary Club (West Spot 1)
14. Edmonton Club (West Spot 2)
15. Winnipeg Club (West Spot 3)
16. Vancouver Club 1 (West Spot 4)
17. Vancouver Club 2 (West Spot 5)
18. Surrey Club (West Spot 6)
19. *extra spot 1 (1st place team in C-League from previous season earned this extra spot for their conference)
20. *extra spot 2 (2nd place team in C-League from previous season earned this extra spot for their conference)
West Conference (Division 2)
1.
Burnaby Club
2.
Saskatoon Club Promotion
line
3.
Regina Club
4.
Richmond Club
5.
Abbotsford Club
6.
Coquitlam Club
7.
Kelowna Club
8.
Saanich Club
9.
Langley Club Relegation
line
10. Delta
Club
11. Strathcona Country Club
12. Red Deer Club Promotion line
13. Kamloops Club
14. North Vancouver Club
15. Nanaimo Club
16. Lethbridge Club
17. Victoria Club
18. Chilliwack Club
19. Maple Ridge Club Relegation line
20. Prince George
21. New
Westminster Club
22. Wood
Buffalo Club Promotion line
23. St.
Albert Club
24. Medicine
Hat Club
25. Port
Coquitlam Club
26. Grand
Prairie Club
Ontario Conference (Division 2)
1.
London Club
2.
Markham Club Promotion
line
3.
Vaughan Club
4.
Kitchener Club
5.
Windsor Club
6.
Richmond Hill
7.
Oakville Club
8.
Burlington Club
9.
Sudbury Club Relegation line
10. Oshawa
Club
11. Bairrie
Club
12. St.
Catharines Club Promotion
line
13. Cambridge
Club
14. Kingston
Club
15. Whitby
Club
16. Guelph
Club
17. Ajax
Club
18. Thunder
Bay Club
19. Chatham-Kent
Club Relegation
line
20. Waterloo
Club
21. Brantford
Club
22. Pickering
Club Promotion
line
23. Clarington
Club
24. Milton
Club
25. Niagara
Falls Club
26. New
Market Club
27. Peterborough
Club
28. Sault
Ste. Marie Club
29. Kawartha
Lakes Club Relegation
line
30. Sarnia
Club
31. Norfolk
Country Club
32. Caledon
Club Promotion line
33. Halton
Hills
34. North
Bay Club
35. Aurora
Club
36. Welland
Club
37. Belleville
Club
Quebec-East League (Division 2)
1.
Halifax Club
2.
Sherbrooke Club Promotion
line
3.
Saguenay Club
4.
Lévis Club
5.
Trois-Rivières Club
6.
Terrebonne Club
7.
St. John’s Club
8.
Cape Breton Club
9.
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Club Relegation line
10. Repentigny
Club
11. Brossard
Club
12. Drummondville
Club Promotion
line
13. Saint
John Club
14. Moncton
Club
15. Saint-Jérôme
Club
16. Granby
Club
17. Fredericton
Club
18. Blainville
Club
19. Saint-Hyacinthe
Club
20. Shawinigan
Club
Hypothetical Season
2 teams must be promoted from each of the 3 conferences each
year, but how many teams are relegated depends on standings.
West
Vancouver Club 2 finished 1st in the C-League;
therefore, their conference receives a 7th spot in the C-League next
season. The West Conference had 6 spots in the C-League this season, and they
got a 7th spot for next season, so 2 teams get promoted from the
West Conference to the C-League and 1 team gets demoted.
Ontario
Toronto Club 1 finished 2nd in the C-League;
therefore, their conference receives a 7th spot in the C-League next
season. The Ontario Conference had 7 spots in the C-League this season, and
they got seven spots for next season, so 2 teams get promoted from the Ontario
Conference and 2 teams get
demoted.
Quebec-East
The 1st and 2nd place finishers of the
C-League were not from Quebec-East; therefore, their conference will only
receive 6 spots in the C-League next season. The Quebec-East Conference had 7
spots in the C-League this season, and they only get 6 spots next season, so 2
teams get promoted form the Quebec-East Conference and 3 teams get demoted.
Pros of this system:
- Gives Canada their own Division 1 League and Canadian players playing time
- Professional clubs in almost everyone’s back yard
- 1 strong brand instead of dozens of leagues making it easier for Canadians to follow domestic soccer
- Is broken up into 3 main sections to decrease traveling expenses for 2nd division (West Conference, Ontario Conference, Quebec East Conference)
- Teams in the 1st division (C-League) have a lot to play for… (CONCACAF Champions League birth if first, extra conference representative is 1st or 2nd, fighting to avoid relegation because 2/6th or 1/7th or 3/7th of your conference representatives in the C-League will be relegated each season depending on who earns the extra spots and the unknown factor means every game is important, fight hard against cross-conference opponents so they won’t earn the extra spot, fight hard against inter-conference opponents so you’re not the team that gets relegated from your conference group
- Teams in 2nd division (West Conference, Ontario Conference, Quebec East) have the chance to make the 1st division (C-League) with 2 spots open every season, develop rivalries playing teams from same area, 2nd and 3rd division with 10 teams in each conference division to increase parity, and promotion/relegation ‘battles’, so they have more to play for if they are not near the top two (promotion spots)
- Fans of teams in the 2nd division would cheer for teams representing their conference in the 1st division because it could enable an extra spot for their conference if a team from their conference does well in the C-League; therefore, division 2 team fans would be invested in the 1st division
- 14 Teams will remain in the C-League each season increasing rivalries and the majority of the clubs from each conference will stay in the C-League
- Increase interest for fans because all larger populations in Canada do or could have a team in the C-League, so it would improve TV viewing, interest, and attendance (Hopefully)
- A Salary Cap would be in place for the entire league with many teams failing to be able to get to the cap, but it would level the top 10-16 richest clubs so there is parity near the top of the pyramid
Concerns:
- Having teams representing the same conference playing each other toward the end of the season could increase potential for collusion. For example, if Laval played Montréal Club 2 the last game of their season, then it would be in Laval’s best interest for Montréal Club 2 to beat Laval so Montréal Club 2 would pass Toronto Club 1 in the standings and give Quebec-East an extra spot in the C-League for the following season keeping Laval from being relegated. This would be rare because teams would be afraid of dropping in the standings more than anything, but teams from the same conference shouldn’t play each other for the last 5 games of their seasons to limit the temptation to collude. Nonetheless, each team’s fate is in their own hands and shouldn’t leave it up to the results of other games.
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