Lamport Stadium

Lamport Stadium

Lamport Stadium pictured in September 2017
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Full name	Allan A. Lamport Stadium
Location	1151 King Street West Toronto, Ontario M6K 1E9
Coordinates	43°38′20″N 79°25′23″W
Public transit	504  King
Owner	City of Toronto
Operator	Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation
Capacity	9,600
Field size	110 x 75 m
Surface	Artificial turf
Construction
Built	1974–1975
Opened	September 19, 1976; 48 years ago (1976-09-19)
Renovated	2007–2008, 2018
Tenants
Rugby League Canada national rugby league team (2013–present) Toronto Wolfpack (TWCC) (2017–present) Rugby Union Toronto Arrows (MLR) (2019) Soccer TFC Academy (CSL) (2008–2012) SC Toronto (CSL) (2008–2012) Toronto FC II (USL) (2018) Internacional de Toronto (L1O) (2014) Serbian White Eagles FC (CSL) (1975–79, 2014) Lacrosse Toronto Nationals (MLL) (2010) Athletics Ryerson Rams (U Sports) (2012) Toronto Rush (Ultimate Frisbee Association) (2024)

Allan A. Lamport Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium on King Street West in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the practice facility for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. It is also partial home for Canada national rugby league team. The playing surface of the 9,600 seating capacity stadium is also dually marked for soccer and field hockey.^{[citation needed]} The stadium was named for long-time Toronto politician Allan Lamport, who was associated with sporting activities in the city.^[1]

History

Lamport Stadium began construction during the winter of 1974 on the site of the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women.^[2][3] Construction was completed on July 1, 1975.^[4] The stadium was originally set to open in April 1976^[5][6] but was officially opened on September 19, 1976.^[4]

Renovation works at Lamport Stadium in April 2008.

As part of a deal with the city to convert BMO Field to natural grass, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment spent CA$1.2 million adding a winter bubble to Lamport Stadium in the winter of 2009–2010.^[7][8][9] MLSE manages the operations of the facility during the winter season, when the field is covered by the dome and community soccer programs are held.

Facilities

Since opening in 1976, the playing surface has been artificial turf.^[4] Lamport Stadium's indoor field measures 68 metres by 105 metres, allowing a full eleven-a-side game.^[10]

Sports usage

Canadian football

The home games of the semi-professional American football team Toronto Athletics Football Team were played at the stadium from 1993 to 1996. The team provided players looking to keep playing sought to be scouted by professional gridiron football teams. The Athletics won the Mid-Continental League Championship in 1993, and was ranked as high as 9th over all in the American Semi Professional Football Rankings in 1995.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, the professional Canadian football team, the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, announced that they would use the stadium as their practice facility.^[11]

Lacrosse

The Toronto Nationals played their 2010 season at Lamport Stadium before moving to Hamilton.

Soccer

Since the opening of Lamport Stadium the National Soccer League used the stadium as a home venue for many of its clubs based in Toronto.^[12]

In 1980, Lamport was one of the hosts of a friendly tournament known as the Toronto International Soccer Cup which featured Benfica and Partizan Belgrade.^[4]

Both SC Toronto and Major League Soccer team Toronto FC's Academy side played their Canadian Soccer League home games at Lamport Stadium. The OUA's Ryerson Rams soccer teams also call the stadium home. In 2014, the Serbian White Eagles of the Canadian Soccer League and Internacional de Toronto of League1 Ontario also played their home games at the stadium. Toronto FC II announced in August 2017 that it would move its home games from the Ontario Soccer Centre to BMO Field and Lamport Stadium beginning with the 2018 season.^[13] However, with their drop to the division 3 USL League One for the 2019 season, the team moved their home games to BMO Training Ground.^[14] The University of Toronto Schools high school team also uses Lamport Stadium as a practice field and for home games.

Rugby league

On 21 May 2012, it was announced that Lamport Stadium would be the new home of the Canada national rugby league team, the Wolverines.^[15] The 2013 Colonial Cup opener against the United States national rugby league team saw a crowd of 7,168 turn out to witness a comeback victory for the Wolverines.^[16]

The stadium also hosted a professional rugby league club, the Toronto Wolfpack who played there between 2017 and 2019.^[17]

The Toronto Wolfpack playing against the London Broncos at Lamport Stadium in 2018

On May 18, 2019, Lamport hosted the inaugural Americas 9s tournament.^[18]

International matches

Date	Home	Score	Away	Competition	Attendance	Ref.
July 21, 2012	Canada	18–12	Jamaica	Caribbean Carnival Cup	4,630	[19][20]
August 11, 2012	Canada	36–18	Lebanon	International Friendly	2,300	[21][22]
September 8, 2012	Canada	24–28	United States	Colonial Cup	4,675	[23]
October 6, 2012	Canada	4–68	England Lions	International Friendly	5,000	[24]
July 6, 2013	Canada	36–20	United States	Colonial Cup	7,168	[16][25]
July 20, 2013	Canada	38–14	Jamaica	Caribbean Carnival Cup	5,700	[26]
September 7, 2013	Canada	20–28	United States	Colonial Cup	3,128	[27][28]
September 24, 2013	Canada	22–30	United States	Colonial Cup	5,176	[29][30]
June 21, 2014	Canada	18–40	Royal Air Force	Friendly
July 5, 2014	Canada	12–36	England Lions	International Friendly
July 19, 2014	Canada	24–20	Jamaica	Caribbean Carnival Cup	3,129	[31]
August 9, 2014	Canada	52–14	United States	Colonial Cup	7,356	[32]
August 20, 2016	Ontario State	6–38	North West English Lionhearts	International Friendly		[33]
September 3, 2016	East Canada	18–22	England Young Lions	International Friendly		[34]
September 24, 2016	Canada	8–14	United States	2016 Americas Rugby League Championship Colonial Cup		[35][36]
October 15, 2016	Canada	10–22	South Wales Ironmen	Club vs. Country
September 16, 2017	Canada	18–38	United States	2017 Americas Rugby League Championship Colonial Cup	8,456	[37][38]
October 19, 2024	Canada	28–6	Jamaica	International Friendly		[39][40]

Canada's International Record at Lamport
Competition	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	% Won
Caribbean Carnival Cup	3	3	0	0	100%
Colonial Cup	7	2	0	5	28.57%
International Friendly	4	2	0	2	50%
Total	14	7	0	7	50%

Updated 22 October 2024

Toronto Wolfpack Attendance

Toronto Wolfpack
League	Fixtures	Average Attendance	Highest	Lowest
2017 League 1	10	7,656	7,972	5,646
2018 RFL Championship	7	7,604	8,217	5,287
2018 Rugby League Qualifiers	5	8,133	9,266	7,540
2019 RFL Championship	12	7,882	9,974	6,735

References:^[41]

Rugby union

In January 2019, Major League Rugby expansion team, the Toronto Arrows announced that they would split home games between Lamport Stadium and Alumni Field at York University for their inaugural season.^[42] They were scheduled to play games at the stadium in 2020, but the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team moved their home games to York Lions Stadium for the 2022 season.^[43]

Ultimate Frisbee

The Toronto Rush of the Ultimate Frisbee Association will play the 1st half of their 2024 home schedule at Lamport Stadium while their regular home stadium Varsity Stadium is undergoing renovations.^[44]

Non-sports usage

Besides sporting events, the stadium also hosts a major Caribana event each summer: the crowning ceremony for the King and Queen of Caribana.^{[citation needed]}

Homeless encampment

The area around the stadium became a homeless encampment for a period of time, but was cleared by police and city staff on July 21, 2021, resulting in arrests of both homeless people who had been staying there and protestors standing in solidarity with them. Images of police brutality from the incident were heavily circulated on various social media platforms as well as getting coverage from a variety of news outlets.^[45][46][47]

See also

• List of rugby league stadiums by capacity
• Rugby league in Canada

References

1. Best, Michael (June 25, 1975). "Allan Lamport's work deserves a memorial". The Toronto Star. Toronto. p. D1.
2. "Stadium named for Allan Lamport". The Toronto Star. Toronto. June 14, 1974. p. A8.
3. "Government loan launches stadium on old Mercer site". The Toronto Star. Toronto. October 31, 1974. p. C3.
4. Vujcic, Djuradj (October 25, 2021). "The Time Partizan Played in Toronto". Urban Book Circle. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
5. UNBC photo
6. TPL photo
7. "Upgrades to BMO Field at Exhibition Place and Allan Lamport Stadium" (PDF). City of Toronto government. September 22, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
8. "Upgrades to BMO Field at Exhibition Place and Allan Lamport Stadium" (PDF). City of Toronto government. September 9, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
9. "Grass at BMO Field Attains Final Approval". Major League Soccer. January 23, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
10. "Lamport Stadium". Ontario Soccer Association. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
11. "Argonauts to relocate football-operations staff". The Sports Network. June 1, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
12. Kernaghan, Jim (June 13, 1975). "One league in control of city's new stadium". Toronto Star. p. C1.
13. Kelly, Tim (August 29, 2017). "TFC II leaving Vaughan for Toronto after 3-season run; stadium size at issue". Vaughan Citizen. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
14. "Toronto FC II 2019 USL League One Regular Season Schedule Announced". Toronto FC. December 10, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
15. RLFC, Canada (May 21, 2012). "Canada Wolverines to take on the World at Lamport Stadium". Canada RLFC News. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
16. "Colonial Cup 2013". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
17. "Rugby Football League officials joined by Mayor John Tory to unveil team brand and league information". April 25, 2016. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
18. "Inaugural Americas Nines tournament in Toronto | Rugby League Planet". March 4, 2019.
19. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. July 21, 2012. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
20. "Caribbean Carnival Cup 2012". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
21. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. August 11, 2012. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
22. "Canada vs. Lebanon". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
23. "Colonial Cup 2012". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
24. "Canada vs. England Lions". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
25. "Canada comes from behind to beat the USA 36-20". Canadarugbyleague.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
26. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. July 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
27. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. September 7, 2013. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
28. "Colonial Cup 2013". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
29. "USA edge Canada in Colonial cup decider". Canadarugbyleague.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
30. "Colonial Cup 2013". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
31. "Caribbean Carnival Cup 2014". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
32. "Colonial Cup 2014". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
33. "ONTARIO STATE VS. NWML ENGLISH LIONHEARTS". European Rugby League. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
34. "England Young Lions vs Canada East Wolverines". Canada Rugby League. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
35. "Americas Championship 2016". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
36. "USA wins inaugural Rugby League Americas Championship". USARL. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
37. "USA Hawks defeat Canada to lift Americas Championship". Rugby League International Federation. September 20, 2017. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017.
38. "Americas Championship 2017". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
39. "Senior International Matches 2024". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
40. "Match report". European Rugby League. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
41. "Lamport Stadium". Rugby League Project. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
42. "Toronto Arrows to split Major League Rugby home games between York and Lamport". National Post. January 17, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
43. "Arrows Announce 2022 Regular Season Schedule". Toronto Arrows. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
44. "Toronto Rush to Split 2024 Home Games at Historic Lamport & Varsity Stadiums". April 23, 2024.
45. Patton, Rocca, Jessica, Ryan. "26 arrested as City of Toronto officials, police move to clear Lamport Stadium encampment". Global News. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
46. "26 arrested at Toronto's Lamport Stadium park as city, police clear encampment". CBC News. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
47. Manisha, Krishnan (July 22, 2021). "Toronto Cops Say They Did 'Tremendous Job' After Beating People, Destroying Homeless Camp". Vice World News. Retrieved March 3, 2022.