Edmonton city council is being asked to expand Clarke Stadium to a minimum 7,000 seats to help land a soccer team in the new Canadian Premier League (Can PL) that intends on launching in 2019.
A report going to next week’s Community and Public Services Committee links an expanded Clarke Stadium to the Fath Group obtaining a new franchise in the league.
It calls for FC Edmonton to be primary venue partner in a new working agreement that would see seating increased from 4,153 to 7,000 seats – plus standing room – as well as other upgrades to washrooms and concessions.
The agreement would also include exclusion from the existing city food service and beverage contracts, naming rights for the field in Clarke Stadium and upgraded lighting.
There is no price tag for the renovations in the city report.
“We’ve been talking to the city and it’s based on guidelines that Can PL has set,” FC Edmonton founder Tom Fath said.
FC Edmonton was the lone Canadian team in the North American Soccer League and had seen increasing attendance, however it ceased operations last fall.
“(The league) would like to wind up being in Edmonton for sure,” Fath said. “We’ve got some interest in it, and we’ve said that before but it’s going to be something sustainable, of course, and part of that is to have the right facility.”
Councillor Andrew Knack said expanding Clarke makes more sense than talk of building a new soccer specific facility.
“I think that feels like a more logical approach to put a little bit more seating in to make sure there’s enough space to host Premier League Soccer.”
Knack, who considers himself a soccer fan, said a domestic league makes more sense than what FC Edmonton faced in its seven seasons in the NASL with all the travel the teams faced.
“Almost every other country has a premier league and we can do it by simply adding a few more seats and tweaking some of those rules around food service and naming rights. I think those are things we can work through.”
Fath agrees there are a lot of moving parts still to get a deal struck. He said time is of the essence.
“The Can PL is getting very anxious because they need enough lead time to launch. So it’s got to be fairly quick for the ’19 season.”
“In general people would like to have it before the World Cup.”
The World Cup begins in Russia in June.
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