CPL boss steps down to lead Windsor expansion team

TORONTO — David Clanachan is stepping down as commissioner of the Canadian Premier League to spearhead the launch of an expansion club in the Windsor/ Essex County region.

The league announced Monday that Clanachan has been been awarded exclusive rights for a CPL expansion club in his hometown, contingent on delivering a soccer-specific stadium and “other expansion criteria to league standards.”

The eight-team CPL, which wrapped up its third season last month with Pacific FC crowned champion, already has expansion plans with Vancouver expected to come on board in 2023 and a conditional franchise awarded to Saskatoon.

A league spokeswoman said there was no agreement about getting a franchise when Clanachan became the CPL’s first commissioner in January 2018. And Clanachan said he faces the same vetting as any potential owner.

“I’ve got to fulfil all the same things that everyone else has to do as far as the vetting process, the financial — all the expansion criteria that the league standards have, I know them as well as anybody,” he said in an interview. “I have to be able to punch those tickets as well.”

Clanachan said realistically 2024 would be the target to have the Windsor-area club begin play, with the goal to have the franchise up and running prior to the 2026 World Cup that Canada is co-hosting.

Clanachan said while he alone is behind the proposed Windsor franchise, “there are people that are interested.”

“I wouldn’t say that we’ve actually inked any deal at this point in time. That’s not what I’m worried about,” he added. “I’m more concerned about making sure we get moving on where we’re going to play first.”

He pointed to Halifax’s Wanderers Grounds as a model worth following, given its proximity to the city centre.