Will the Canadian Premier League turn the country into a football power?

Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver compete in MLS, but an exclusively Canadian professional league is hoping to boost the national team

Just a few years ago, young Canadian soccer players like Ryan Telfer and Kadell Thomas had little shot at professional careers. Without a professional domestic league solely based in Canada players entered their 20s with a sense of uncertainty: despite having the talent to progress into academies, colleges and semi-pro leagues, they would either be forced to play abroad – unless they made it to the handful of Canadian MLS teams – or quit the game altogether. “There are so few options,” said Telfer in 2018.

But this weekend, Telfer and Thomas entered the annals of Canadian soccer history. And more importantly, they now have a pathway to sustained success. On a windy Saturday afternoon in front of 17,611 spectators at Hamilton’s Tim Horton’s Field, Telfer and Thomas each scored in an entertaining 1-1 draw between York 9 FC and Hamilton’s Forge FC in the first ever Canadian Premier League match. The seven-team league has been in the works for more than five years now and is sanctioned by Canada’s governing soccer association as the country’s top-tier league. The league has hopes to expand and eventually develop a tiered system with promotion and relegation.

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from US news | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2ISv5o3