We already have the MLS, which does have some decent footy in it from the upper tier teams (thankfully of which Toronto FC now is after scraping the bottom for well over a decade). Iâve been to a Forge FC game and watched a few on telly and yeah. Itâs not pretty. Lots of sloppy play, cards due to careless challenges, etc. Stuff youâd expect to see from the best players in your local Sunday league instead of a pro league.
Right now itâs a league for really young players, guys who couldnât quite cut it in the MLS or others who are well-travelled journeymen in the various European leagues on the absolute tail-end of their careers⌠David Edgar is a classic example of someone like that. He played in the Prem for a bit, then ended up playing 2nd and 3rd division footy for clubs like Burnley Huddersfield, Sheffield United, Birmingham, Vancouver Whitecaps, Nashville, Hartlepool, etc,. before he came back home to play for the Forge. Heâs 33.
The idea however, is that Canada has been without a wholly domestic pro league from coast to coast for over twenty years and thatâs shown in our results on the global stage. Teams who have a professional league tend to do better in terms of World Cup qualification. Canada havenât qualified since 1986! Another aspect of it was in order to host the World Cup, it was my understanding that FIFA requires the host country to have a domestic pro league. So now that weâre co-hosting in 2026, hopefully by then weâll have had some academies and such produce some decent domestic talent instead of relying upon what is essentially an American league (MLS) with three Canadian teams in it, as well as the talented kids taking off to Europe when theyâre 14/15; only for them to decide to play for said nation once they get there.
The MLS was utter shite when it first started. The same can be said for the CPL. Thereâs nothing âpremierâ about it, but itâs got good financial and corporate backing, so I hope it succeeds. Atletico Madrid have sunk a bunch of money into a sister team in Ottawa (much like Man City with NYC FC), so that suggests that people see the potential. Theyâve even got a TV deal - which is what other leagues outside of MLS havenât been able to accomplish. Itâs an improvement to the semi-pro leagues scattered around the country and is hopefully the beginnings of a promotion and relegation system down the line. Officially itâs the second tier of Canadian footy, but the MLS doesnât do relegation or promotion because theyâre a franchise system so weâll see if they ever change that model once theyâre full up and stop continuing expansion.
I suspect my area will have a team in the CPL within the next five years and I will fully support them.
Ideally down the line Iâd like to see it go something like MLS 1st Division, MLS 2nd Division, domestic pro league (USL for US, CPL for Canada), regional semi-pro leagues, etc. Thatâs a while out yet.
