Lamport Stadium

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. The stadium was named for long-time Toronto politician Allan Lamport, who was associated with sporting activities in the city.[1]

Lamport Stadium
Lamport Stadium is located in Toronto
Lamport Stadium
Lamport Stadium
Location in Toronto
Lamport Stadium is located in Ontario
Lamport Stadium
Lamport Stadium
Location in Ontario
Lamport Stadium is located in Canada
Lamport Stadium
Lamport Stadium
Location in Canada
Full nameAllan A. Lamport Stadium
Location1151 King Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M6K 1E9
Coordinates43°38′20″N 79°25′23″W
Public transit  504  King
OwnerCity of Toronto
OperatorToronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation
Capacity9,600
Field size110 x 75 m
SurfaceArtificial turf
Construction
Built1974–1975
OpenedJuly 1, 1975 (1975-07-01)
Renovated2007–2008, 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)

History

Lamport Stadium was built during the winter and spring of 1974–1975 on the site of the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women,[2] and opened on July 1, 1975.[3]

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.[4][5][6] 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 1975, the playing surface has been artificial turf. Lamport Stadium's indoor field measures 68 metres by 105 metres, allowing a full eleven-a-side game.[7]

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.

In 2018, the professional Canadian football team, the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, announced that they would use the stadium as their practice facility.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] Their first game of 2013, the Colonial Cup opener against the United States national rugby league team saw a crowd of nearly 8,000 turn out to witness a comeback from the Wolverines.

The stadium also hosted a professional rugby league club, the Toronto Wolfpack, which began playing there in 2017.[13]

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

On May 18, 2019, Lamport hosted the inaugural Americas 9s tournament.[14]

International matches
DateHomeScoreAwayCompetitionAttendance
July 21, 2012 Canada18-12 JamaicaCaribbean Carnival Cup4,630[15]
August 11, 2012 Canada36-18 LebanonFriendly2,300[16]
October 6, 2012 Canada4-68 EnglandFriendly5,100
July 6, 2013 Canada36-20 United StatesColonial Cup7,200[17]
July 20, 2013 Canada38-14 JamaicaCaribbean Carnival Cup5,700[18]
September 7, 2013 Canada20-28 United StatesColonial Cup3,128[19]
September 24, 2013 Canada22-30 United StatesColonial Cup5,176[20]
June 21, 2014 Canada18-40 Royal Air ForceFriendly
July 5, 2014 Canada12-36 EnglandFriendly
July 19, 2014 Canada24-20 JamaicaCaribbean Carnival Cup3,129
August 9, 2014 Canada52-14 United StatesColonial Cup7,356
August 20, 2016 Canada6-38 EnglandFriendly
September 3, 2016Canada East Canada18-22England England Young LionsFriendly
September 24, 2016 Canada8-14 United States2016 Americas Rugby League Championship,
Colonial Cup
October 15, 2016 Canada10-22 South Wales IronmenClub vs. Country-
September 16, 2017 Canada18-38 United States2017 Americas Rugby League Championship[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

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.

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.[24][25][26]

See also

References
  1. Best, Michael (June 25, 1975). "Allan Lamport's work deserves a memorial". The Toronto Star. Toronto. p. D1.
  2. "Government loan launches stadium on old Mercer site". The Toronto Star. Toronto. October 31, 1974. p. C3.
  3. "Stadium named for Allan Lamport". The Toronto Star. Toronto. June 14, 1974. p. A8.
  4. "Upgrades to BMO Field at Exhibition Place and Allan Lamport Stadium" (PDF). City of Toronto government. September 22, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  5. "Upgrades to BMO Field at Exhibition Place and Allan Lamport Stadium" (PDF). City of Toronto government. September 9, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  6. "Grass at BMO Field Attains Final Approval". Major League Soccer. January 23, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  7. "Lamport Stadium". Ontario Soccer Association. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  8. "Argonauts to relocate football-operations staff". The Sports Network. June 1, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  9. Kernaghan, Jim (June 13, 1975). "One league in control of city's new stadium". Toronto Star. p. C1.
  10. 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.
  11. "Toronto FC II 2019 USL League One Regular Season Schedule Announced". Toronto FC. December 10, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  12. 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.
  13. "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.
  14. "Inaugural Americas Nines tournament in Toronto | Rugby League Planet".
  15. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. July 21, 2012. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  16. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. August 11, 2012. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  17. "Canada comes from behind to beat the USA 36-20". Canadarugbyleague.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  18. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. July 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  19. "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com. September 7, 2013. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  20. "USA edge Canada in Colonial cup decider". Canadarugbyleague.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  21. "USA Hawks defeat Canada to lift Americas Championship". Rugby League International Federation. September 20, 2017. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017.
  22. "Toronto Arrows to split Major League Rugby home games between York and Lamport". National Post. January 17, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  23. "Arrows Announce 2022 Regular Season Schedule". Toronto Arrows. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  24. Patton, Rocca, Jessica, Ryan. "26 arrested as City of Toronto officials, police move to clear Lamport Stadium encampment". Global News. Retrieved March 3, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. "26 arrested at Toronto's Lamport Stadium park as city, police clear encampment". CBC News. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  26. Manisha, Krishnan. "Toronto Cops Say They Did 'Tremendous Job' After Beating People, Destroying Homeless Camp". Vice World News. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
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