Atlantic Schooners

CFL team
name = Atlantic Schooners
helmet = Atlantic Schooners.png
founded = 1984
folded = 1984
location = Halifax, Nova Scotia flagicon|CAN
colours = Black and silver
owner = J.I. AlbrechtThe Atlantic Schooners was a conditional Canadian Football League expansion team in 1984, and had plans to play out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Schooners folded before they played a single game because the owners of the team (led by J.I. Albrecht) couldn't secure the financing for a new stadium for the team. Since there was (and still is) no CFL-calibre stadium in Halifax the team had no choice but to fold. [ [http://rightofcenterice.blogspot.com/2008/03/rider-nation-smiles-as-four-guaranteed.html Right of Center Ice: Rider Nation smiles as four guaranteed points return to Ottawa ] ] Since then there have been endless rumours of a stadium being built in the area and with it, a CFL team, although there currently is a group on Facebook put together in hopes of building a stadium. It has over 3,500 members. [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2248041900 Build a Stadium in Halifax, Nova Scotia]

One urban legend around the Halifax area is that the old scoreboard from the New England Patriots stadium is in a warehouse in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, left there awaiting the proposed stadium. Another legend is that J.I. Albrecht had already bought turf for the stadium. When the club folded he took the turf and threw it into the Atlantic Ocean.

On June 11, 2005, a CFL exhibition game, called "Touchdown Atlantic" between the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, was held in Halifax. This game served as a gauge for possible CFL expansion. The venue was Huskies Stadium (capacity 11 000) on the campus of St. Mary's University. Tickets for the event, which cost upwards of $60.00, sold out rapidly. The game ended in a 16-16 tie. Another CFL exhibition game would have taken place on June 3, 2006, but the suspension of the Ottawa Renegades, who were scheduled to play the game, forced the game to be cancelled altogether.Possible considerations are being made to locate the next franchise in Halifax. If Halifax had landed the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the city may have had to build a stadium, which in all likelihood would lead to a franchise in the CFL; however, Halifax withdrew its bid for the games in early March 2007.

Nevertheless, a Schooners delegation took part in the festivities at the 2007 Grey Cup. [cite news |first=Matthew |last=Coutts |title=Football fans remain loyal to Atlantic Schooners |url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071123/greycup_atlantic_071124/20071124?hub=Canada |publisher=CTV |date=2007-11-24 |accessdate=2007-12-16 ] A ninth CFL team has been located in Ottawa, meaning were the Schooners to join the league they would become the tenth club. The CFL has been extremely cautious about expansion in recent years, following the failed expansion into the United States of the mid 1990s. It is believed that the league are keen to have a tenth team, with five in the eastern division and five in the west. This has been seen as supportive of the idea of a team in Halifax making the league "truly national" [ [http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/football/cfl/renegades/story.html?id=89aa7044-a969-42dd-bdfb-eb949c65a6a2 Windsor 'ready and willing' for CFL expansion team ] ]

ee also

*Canadian Football Hall of Fame
*Canadian football
*List of CFL seasons

References

External links

* [http://www.thescore.ca/blogs/spinOrspun/2005/04/should_the_cfl.html Spin or Spun: Should the CFL expand to Halifax? Debate]