“It’s an active file,” assures Julie Dionne, director of the sports activities department at Laval University, regarding the project of an expansion team of the First Canadian Soccer League (PLC) in Quebec, during of a telephone interview with La Presse.
Why are we involving this large Quebec establishment in this discussion? This is because the arrival of a team in the Capitale-Nationale region will most likely have to involve renting the Telus Rouge et Or stadium for a few years… until a venue dedicated to soccer, Approximately 5000 to 6000 places will be built.
Julie Dionne, therefore, says she has been in contact with “several groups” of investors wanting to acquire a professional team. “And when I say several, I mean more than two,” she adds.
“It has been several years since I have been contacted by potential groups who would like to have a PLC franchise. »
She specifies that “nothing has materialized” yet, but she knows that “there are active groups who want to come and settle in Quebec.”
Mark Noonan, commissioner of the PLC, said in September that his league had “momentum in Quebec at the moment,” according to comments collected by the daily Le Droit. Note that Noonan had also mentioned Laval and Trois-Rivières as potential cities for possible expansion in the province.
“But a PLC club could not evolve permanently at Laval University,” said the commissioner. This should be a short-term solution. We are not going to approve a club in Quebec if a stadium project is not attached to it. »
And what does Quebec City think?
“We are open,” Jean-François Gosselin, elected official responsible for sports at Quebec City, explains to La Presse. We are in collaboration mode. We hope this will come to fruition. »
He points out that there were previously four interested groups. Today, “a group, maybe two,” is still in the race. He cannot name them, as he is “not authorized” to do so. On the other hand, he indicates that one of the groups would have “European investors”, without having more details to offer on this subject.
“We see that it’s really serious,” says Jean-François Gosselin. We see that things are progressing. We see that there is credibility with the League. »
“We are convinced that a PLC team would work in Quebec. »
Let’s take a step back.
In 2021, a committee was set up to assess the feasibility of the project and measure the level of interest from the Quebec market. It was made up of several players from the Quebec soccer community, including the former president and general manager of Soccer Quebec, Pierre Marchand and Mathieu Chamberland, the general director of the Quebec Regional Soccer Association (ARS Quebec), Philippe Bernard, as well as as former executive vice-president of the Montreal Impact Richard Legendre.
The conclusions of their market study, revealed in October 2022, were all very favorable to the arrival of a professional PLC team.
Since then, Richard Legendre’s tenure with the committee has ended, Marchand and Chamberland have taken turns accepting positions with Canada Soccer in 2023, and progress on the project has appeared to slow down, at least publicly.
But for Philippe Bernard, the results of the report and the steps taken can still be useful.
“We had meetings with the mayor of Quebec City” about the potential construction of a soccer stadium, explains the CEO of ARS Quebec. What Jean-François Gosselin also confirmed to us.
“We had discussions for different potential sites,” continues Bernard. We came to a certain conclusion. There are sites that, unfortunately, the City could not unblock for various reasons. »
Throughout his interviews, it became quite clear that one site stood out from the others: “the Laval University sector”.
“After looking at the land available, what it was possible to do in terms of the City, public transport, accessibility, customers, I would tell you that the number one place, for everyone who we spoke to is quite a lot from Laval University. »
But with the Telus stadium, “the viability is not there” in the medium and long term, he says.
The current Rouge et Or enclosure, with its athletics tracks, “is far too large to create a soccer atmosphere,” believes Bernard. He knows something about it: ARS Québec trains and plays on the grounds of Laval University.
But Julie Dionne has nuance.
“Athletics tracks pose a problem in terms of atmosphere and distance,” she agrees. But it’s still a really nice stadium. […] In football, we experience the same thing, we are less close to the game. But we need an athletics track. So that’s part of the game. »
She also notes that three current PLC teams play in football stadiums, namely in Winnipeg, Hamilton and Ottawa.
What Julie Dionne is discussing with interested groups – groups she also isn’t naming – is whether Telus Stadium can actually become the first home for a new PLC team.
“The fact remains that we need to do market research. Our facilities are already in use. We have to see if these are things that can coexist. The City, if I am not mistaken, paints the same picture of the situation. »
