The Future of the Canadian Championship

By: Lee | July 3rd, 2009

In its first two seasons, the Canadian Championship has provided entertaining soccer, memorable moments and has advanced the prominence of the club game in this country. In response to its success (and failures), there has been talk of changing the format and expanding it to include teams from lower leagues such as the CSL and PDL.

While I definitely think the tournament should expand, I would be reluctant to include CSL or lower level teams. While it would be intriguing to see our own version of Havant and Waterlooville vs. Liverpool, I don’t think the game has grown enough yet for such a match to attract enough fans/media coverage. Look at the struggles of the US Open Cup. Nobody is going to pay to see TFC play Italia Shooters. While I think most soccer fans would eventually like the Canadian Championship to become something like the FA Cup, for now the tournament should only include MLS and USL1 teams.

However, that does not mean we’re stuck with a three team round robin until soccer becomes the biggest summer sport in the country. With Vancouver going to MLS in 2011 and serious talk of USL expanding to Victoria, the format of competition will have to change. A four-team round robin, home-and-away format will not work: the champion could already be decided by the fourth game (out of 6). It would also be difficult to schedule 12 games.

One realistic option is to have an aggregate knock out format. This way every team is guaranteed a home game and the Champion has to play an adequate number of games. In the first round, the USL teams could be paired up with the MLS teams to make things fair. The only drawback of this format is that the final is decided on aggregate instead of a single, decisive game.

Another option would be a page-playoff format, similar to what curling and the Australian A-League use. In this format, the MLS teams would play each other in an aggregate series and the winner would get a bye to the final. The loser would then play the winner of the USL aggregate series to decide who goes to the final. The final would also be decided home-and-away to ensure the champion plays at least four games.

Each option has its advantages and disadvantages. I prefer the aggregate knockout format as the page-playoff system rewards the MLS teams, which I believe goes against the spirit of cup competitions. Also, it may be difficult to schedule the additional two games needed in the page-playoff format.

What are your thoughts? How do you think the Canadian Championship should grow?