Expansion of Canadian Championship?
With the new Ottawa NASL team, this 4 team tournament format may not be applicable starting in 2013, here's an article from mlssoccer.com discussing possible expansion of this tournament. To possibly including semi-professional (CSL) and amateur teams in the competition.
I think it's a good idea and would really like seeing some CSL teams possibly challenge the Canadian MLS teams
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...adian-open-cup
Add PLSQ teams too. If the interleague matches don't start too early in the competition then hopefully the teams can build the momentum/support to cover the further interleague travel costs. To be honest I think the team(s) that would make it all way through should be fine, playing competive games against teams of that high of profile should be profitable.
Now a Different Source: http://www.canadasoccer.com/the-road...onship_article
The road to and from Amway Canadian Championship 2012
The Amway Canadian Championship is the Canadian Soccer Association's annual professional club cup competition. The Championship winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and is registered as Canada's representative in CONCACAF Champions League, the confederation championship which in turn qualifies one club for the FIFA Club World Cup.
The Championship itself is a knock-out competition, with four teams split into two semi-final series. Each semi-final winner advances to the final series. Every series is played over two matches, with each team hosting one leg at their home venue. The team with the most goals scored after two matches wins the series.
In 2012, Toronto FC will face Impact Montréal in one semi-final series while Vancouver Whitecaps FC will face FC Edmonton in the other semi-final series. Semi-final matches will be played on Wednesday 2 May (in Montréal and Edmonton) and Wednesday 9 May (in Toronto and Vancouver). The two final series matches will be played on Wednesday 16 May and Wednesday 23 May.
TIE-BREAKER RULES
If the two teams score the same number of goals over the two legs, the team which scores more away goals is determined as the winner. If this tie-breaker does not produce a winner, then both teams will play two 15-minute periods of extra time after the second leg. If, during extra time, both teams score the same number of goals, the away goals will count as double in favour of the visiting team. If no goals are scored during extra time, then kicks from the penalty mark (in accordance with FIFA Laws of the Game) will be used to determine the winner.
SEEDING THE TEAMS
At the moment, the four teams participating in the Amway Canadian Championship come from Major League Soccer (first division) and the North American Soccer League (second division). To determine the semi-final match-ups, teams are seeded based on standings in their respective leagues. As such, it will be the 2012 MLS and NASL standings that determine the seeding for the 2013 Amway Canadian Championship (three MLS teams followed by one NASL team). For the 2012 Championship, the seeding was based on the 2011 standings, with Toronto FC first (MLS), Vancouver Whitecaps FC second (MLS), FC Edmonton third (NASL) and Impact Montréal fourth (until last year, NASL).
When more Canadian teams join a second division (ie, NASL), then a Championship Qualifying round will be played to determine the fourth team in the Amway Canadian Championship. The qualified team from second division (NASL) would still be seeded behind the three automatic berths from first division (MLS).
CLUB ROSTERS
Seven days before the Amway Canadian Championship, the clubs must submit their rosters to the Canadian Soccer Association. The roster must feature no more than 30 players. No later than 48 hours (two days) before each match, clubs must submit a list of 23 players from their roster. Sixty-five minutes before kickoff, clubs must submit an 18-player lineup with 11 starters and seven substitutions. A maximum of three of those seven substitute players can be used in the match.
Club rosters will feature a maximum of 30 players. As such, clubs that submit fewer than 30 players at the onset of the competition can then add new players until they have filled their 30 roster spots. A player must appear on the club roster to be eligible to compete in the Amway Canadian Championship. After featuring in a match with one club, a player may not appear for any other club for the duration of that season's Amway Canadian Championship.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
CONCACAF Champions League features 24 teams from across the continent, with presently one Canadian team included in the competition. The Amway Canadian Championship is the only qualification route for Canadian professional clubs to enter this competition. As such, a Canadian champion must be declared in advance of the new CONCACAF Champions League season, in accordance with the schedule set forth by CONCACAF. The 2012 Canadian champion will qualify for the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League season; the 2012-13 CONCACAF champion will then qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2013.
FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP
The annual FIFA Club World Cup features continental champions from across the world. The tournament features six continental champions plus a club from the host country. If the top team from the host country is the same as the continental champion, then a continental runner-up will be selected to ensure that no country is represented more than once in the competition. The first match of the competition will then feature the host country club against the OFC (Oceannia) champion. The winner of that match as well as continental champions from CONCACAF, CAF (Africa) and AFC (Asia) will face each other in the next round (single-match elimination), with the match-ups determined by a draw. Two winners will then advance to the semi-final phase to face the continental winners from CONMEBOL (South America) and UEFA (Europe), with again the match-ups pre-determined by a draw. The two semi-final winners then advance to the championship final.
At the moment, the four teams participating in the Amway Canadian Championship come from Major League Soccer (first division) and the North American Soccer League (second division). To determine the semi-final match-ups, teams are seeded based on standings in their respective leagues. As such, it will be the 2012 MLS and NASL standings that determine the seeding for the 2013 Amway Canadian Championship (three MLS teams followed by one NASL team). For the 2012 Championship, the seeding was based on the 2011 standings, with Toronto FC first (MLS), Vancouver Whitecaps FC second (MLS), FC Edmonton third (NASL) and Impact Montréal fourth (until last year, NASL).
When more Canadian teams join a second division (ie, NASL), then a Championship Qualifying round will be played to determine the fourth team in the Amway Canadian Championship. The qualified team from second division (NASL) would still be seeded behind the three automatic berths from first division (MLS).
That's the most important part of it. 4spots overall. 3MLS and 1NASL if there are more 2nd Division Teams(NASL) then they play among themselves to determine who gets the Lone Spot left. And I can only assume that if there were 3NASL Teams then they would have a tournament in the same manner as the 3MLS sides had until Edmonton arrived.
Well, I really think there are four ways to go about this.
- Give the top two MLS teams a by and the other MLS team, the NASL teams and the best CSA team play a random preliminary stage.
Pro: CSA gets more acknowledgement, more incentive for MLS teams to perform better then Canadian rivals
Con: CSA stadiums are not equipped to handle MLS teams/fanbases, extends series from 6 to 10 games, may cause scheduling issues.
- Give the NASL teams a free pass and each team plays eight games, best record wins the championship using goal differential as the tiebreaker.
Pro: Fair to everyone as each gets a home and away game vs each team.
Con: Extends the series from 6 to 20 games which will cause scheduling issues, some prefer knockout format, no benefit based on league performance
- Give NASL one berth and whichever Canadian NASL team has the best regular season record gets it.
Pro: Closest to existing format doesn't extend series, Offers NASL teams incentive to be better then their Canadian rivals
Con: Possible for a NASL champion to not qualify, Hurts NASL expansion desire as only given one potential berth
- Give NASL one berth and they play one another for that berth before the tournament starts
Pro: Close to existing format as it extends series by only two games.
Con: Extends series from 6 to 8 games, Hurts NASL expansion desire as only given one potential berth
Really, I'd like to see more games in the Canadian championship, but there is scheduling constraints with MLS and NASL. I'd like to see the second option, but I think the fourth option is the realistic option.
Hoping that Hamilton gets a 2nd Division team.
There is of course a fifth, insane option that the article above suggests. Run it like the FA Cup. Everyone in MLS, NASL, CSL, PDL/PCSL gets a chance, but that's not likely. Keep in mind, most CSL teams play out of 2,000 seat stadiums and their PDL/PCSL counterparts sometimes are even smaller if you throw them into the mix. The amount of money you'd have to throw, flying people across country is crazy as well, unlike in all of Europe where you and load the team onto a bus and drive in the same country. Add the challenge trophy teams to that, and it becomes even more crazy.
Heck Ontario alone is about the size even the largest European countries (Russia doesn't count). It works in Europe because you can take a bus to your opponent. It would be great to see, but it's just not feasible unless the government severely steps up it's funding for the CSA. Now just having MLS, NASL and CSL teams is a bit more reasonable given that save for the Whitecaps and FC Edmonton all the teams are in bus distance in Ontario and Quebec (if they draw Vancouver or Edmonton, they redraw or the CSA can pick up that tab) but that's not really fair to the rest of the country given the CSL is an Ontario based league. That is unless the CSL expands (which it should into CHL like tiers in my opinion).
Last edited by -Hammer-; 05-14-2012 at 10:48 PM.
Hoping that Hamilton gets a 2nd Division team.
Originally Posted by -Hammer-
Another Option would be for Ottawa(assuming the next NASL Team), Edmonton and the 3MLS sides to play in a Group format which means 8games. Since Realistically I do Not See another team of NASL "caliber" for a while in the Canadian sky. Tha would only add 4games to the schedule. Which could have the Voyageurs Cup start same time as the NASL season. MLS team would have an advantage there. But since there would be 8games(4home/away) to be played that would also mean one team gets to Pause at any given week. But that could be worked out too.
Once a 6th Team appears then I am not sure which would be best. 2groups of 3teams with the Winners of each Group going for the Final or 6teams playing 10games..........
As much as I love to see the possibility of having an FA Cup style of play we have to rmbr that even in the FA Cup format the TOP Teams do not enter until the 3rd Round of qualifying. Another issue to ponder is the Lack of infrastructure in many place in the country, as well as where is the Cut-Off between Amateurs, Semi-Pro and Pro. I mean even on this board we are sometimes having difficulty in agreeing which league represents what strenght.
David vs Goliath would sure be a nice story thou
Man, I wish I put this under one post. Oh well.
One last thing I would comment, what does Canada plan on doing if it ever gets two or even three berths at CONACAF? I'd hope they would at that point keep the existing Canadian championship and best MLS record, but that's another question I have to ask. Can the CSA rank a team based on how they fared in a US league when they determine said berth? Both MLS and NASL are technically US leagues.
Hoping that Hamilton gets a 2nd Division team.
The ONLY way Canada gets more Berth is if we "consistently" get out of the Group Stage, we Create our Own Canadian League( D2 like NASL) or another country has infrastructure issues and gets their Berth taken away from them. Now the last one has already happened (Belize) so the next step would be for Canadian teams to consistently get out of the Group Stage. Then after let say 5yrs they could ask for a review and the SemiFinalists would probably get the 2spots while the winner gets the Bragging Rights to the Voyageurs Trophey.
Yes the CSA can rank teams based on their Ranking in US leagues simply Because CANADA Does NOT HAVE A "Fully" Pro League on their own of D2 caliber or Higher. And yes MLS is higher ranked than NASL that is a fact.
If Canada did have a D2 League with say 8teams on Top of 3MLS everyone here would think they died and were in Heaven....lol
And then you could have 1berth for Voyageurs Cup(FA Cup style competition) and maybe 1berth for D2 league champion(Overall league standing not the playoof style please...)
The CSL doesn't need to expand. There is already the Pacific Coast Soccer League (PCSL) and the Quebec Premier Soccer League (QPSL). The CSA just needs to rename the CSL to 'Ontario Soccer League' (OSL), create the umbrella of *New CSL* for all three leagues and there you go, we have our CHL-like league.
I'd like to see the winners of the above mentioned leagues play in a round robin tourney to determine the *New CSL* champion (A-la the CHL Memorial Cup). The winner gets a berth in the Canadian Championship and if they can't afford to be in the tournament then the runner up or 3rd place team goes. Eventually the potential for exposure in the Canadian Championship will get these teams sponsorship money that will allow them to attend.
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