Canadian Premier League Teases Ninth Team

Update: The Canadian Premier League has expanded to Saskatchewan!

There appears to be a ninth team set to join the Canadian Premier League in the very near future.

This evening, Canada’s top flight domestic league released a creative Zoom-based teaser showing all eight Canadian Premier League sides joining a Zoom call – but when the CPL club meeting was set to begin, a ninth entrant came was admitted to the chat with their logo out of view.

It’s not immediately clear whether this team will be joining in time for the third-ever Canadian Premier League season, or simply establishing its roots for the following year.

It appears the league will be unveiling this new arrival tomorrow at 11:00AM EST.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, CPL Commissioner David Clanachan had revealed that the league had made significant progress with multiple ownership groups in Quebec, where ventures in both Quebec City and Montreal were reportedly in advanced stages and a brief Olympique Lyonnaise ownership rumour came about. While Clanachan has recently mentioned there’s room in Toronto for a second team, there has also been chatter about a potential expansion side in Fraser Valley, too.

Fans in Saskatchewan are more likely to be left waiting, with SK Summer Soccer Series organizing Joe Belan having recently told us that there was no news on his venture’s expansion front. There had also been talks about another team joining from out east, but as of right now it’s truly an unknown.

While it remains to be seen where this ninth team will be based out of, this is a significant statement regarding the health of the Canadian Premier League in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clanachan had promised fans that the league would still be standing after the pandemic, and if it even manages to grow during all that’s going in there’s a lot to be celebrated.

This week saw the professional league confirm its 2021 salary cap details, which sees a higher minimum salary for athletes and a high player salary cap roof for teams, too. The 2021 Canadian Premier League season is tentatively set to kick off in late May. If this ninth team is arriving in time for such, an uneven number of team would beget the return of midweek matches – though it’d be a small price to pay overall. If it’s not arriving until 2022, there’s also the possibility of another team joining by then.

The above video also pokes some light-hearted fun at the York United rebrand, with the side set to undergo its first season under its new monicker this year.

The league had announced its first-ever expansion team, Atletico Ottawa, in a similarly creative manner by way of an elevator skit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a bubble tournament, the Ottawa-based side has yet to have a home opener at TD Place.

While the eighth team’s arrival was leaked prior its announcement, today’s news has come as a genuine surprise. The Canadian Premier League didn’t put a timeline on the announcement, but it’s likely to come in the immediate future before the arrival can be leaked.

The league is expected to announce its second expand team tomorrow at 11:00AM EST.