CPL Commissioner Steps Down To Helm New Expansion Side

David Clanachan has formally stepped down from his role as the commissioner of the Canadian Premier League in order to helm an a new expansion side in his hometown of Windsor, Ontario.

The venture with the league’s eleventh potential side required him to vacate his position as league commissioner due to a conflict of interest, with Clanachan now granted exclusive rights to an expansion side in the Windsor – Essex County area.

He now needs to secure a soccer-specific stadium to lock in the potential expansion side, among other as-yet-undisclosed league criteria.

Everybody involved with the CPL and Canadian Soccer Business would like to thank David for his contributions to this incredible project. Very few thought we could pull this off when we started talking about this with David five years ago, and yet here we sit with a league that is clearly been a great success despite the obstacles and that is destined to establish itself as one of the more important leagues in the world. We want to also express our appreciation to David for his commitment in helping us with a seamless transition to our next leader. 

CPL and CSB Co-Found Scott Mitchell

While details on Clanachan’s Windsor-based venture are scarce, he states that it’s always been a dream of his to bring professional soccer to the area of Windsor and Essex County – an expansion venture that came seemingly out of the blue.

It would mark the first professional soccer team to call Windsor home.

Windsor’s passionate sports community has always inspired me and fueled my love of soccer. […] I am looking forward to this next chapter and beginning the work necessary to bring a club to my hometown.

David Clanchan

Clanachan was named the league’s inaugural commissioner ahead of its first season in 2019, with the former Tim Hortons chairman helping the burgeoning professional top flight division through its first steps.

The CPL has increased from seven launch teams to eight in its three seasons under his tenure, or ten if you count still-to-arrive sides Vancouver and Saskatoon.

His departure clears the way for an eleventh potential side, so long as he can hit the metrics that he himself had enforced as the commissioner.

The league has not yet named a successor, but states an announcement about the league’s next steps will be made shortly.

With two of the league’s three first three seasons having come under a pandemic, the commissioner made good on his promise to keep the league standing through two seasons that included bubble tournaments and, despite the difficulties brought on by the pandemic, ultimately saw growth in terms of expansion plans.

The upcoming 2022 Canadian Premier League season will be the league’s fourth. Pacific FC are the reigning champions after defeating previous back-to-back winners Forge FC.

More details to come.