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28-682: The Toronto Metros joined the NASL in 1971. Their home field was Varsity Stadium . In 1975, 50% of the team was purchased for $ 250,000 by the Toronto Croatia of the National Soccer League (NSL), and the team became the Toronto Metros-Croatia . The club won the 1976 Soccer Bowl championship. However, they continued to struggle at the gate. In mid September 1976, it was reported that team owed $ 100,000 to

56-606: A 1.28 goals-against average placing him tenth in the overall goalkeeping stats. He also helped the Lancers secure a playoff berth and played in the opening round of the competition where Rochester was eliminated to Toronto Metros-Croatia . Tamindžić departed from Rochester following the conclusion of the season. In 1977, he returned to the National Soccer League to sign with Montreal Castors . In late 1977, Tamindžić along with six Montreal players were traded to

84-541: A team in NASL's indoor league in 1975 and 1976, as did the Blizzard from 1980 through 1982. In 2010, the 1976 Soccer Bowl winning team was inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame . On March 28, 1985, the NASL officially suspended operations for the 1985 season, when only Toronto and Minnesota Strikers were interested in playing. In the meantime Blizzard owners York-Hanover purchased Dynamo Latino of

112-418: A winter bubble enabling use during inclement weather. The multi-use capability was one of the main reasons that the plan was passed by the governing council, as opposed to the 25,000-seat stadium. Compared to the old Varsity Stadium, the seating is closer to Varsity Arena, almost making the two structures one conjoined complex. Part of the red brick wall along Bloor Street was maintained for historic purposes, but

140-660: A world record in the 100 metres with a time of 10.3 seconds at Varsity Stadium during the Canadian Track and Field Championships in 1930. Varsity Stadium has for its entire history been host to the University of Toronto's collegiate Canadian football team, the Varsity Blues . However it was, until the opening of Exhibition Stadium in 1959, the home of the Toronto Argonauts of what would become

168-526: Is a retired soccer goalkeeper . He was nicknamed Baja , which was also his kit name in one season, as well as Blaggy . Tamindžić played in abroad in the National Soccer League in 1973 with the Serbian White Eagles where in his debut season was named the league's top goalkeeper. He returned to the Serbs the following season where once more he was named the top goalkeeper. Throughout

196-606: Is an outdoor collegiate football stadium located in Toronto , Ontario , Canada. It is home to the Toronto Varsity Blues , the athletic teams of the University of Toronto . Athletic events have been hosted on the site since 1898; the current stadium was built in 2007 to replace the original permanent stadium built in 1911. Varsity Stadium is also a former home of the Toronto Argonauts , and has previously hosted

224-603: The Canadian Football League . Although it has not hosted a meaningful CFL game in almost half a century, it still holds the record for the number of times any stadium has hosted the Canadian professional football championship game, the Grey Cup . Capacity of the stadium has varied with time, but peaked at about 22,000 in the 1950s although, with the use of temporary bleachers, a record crowd of 27,425 watched

252-610: The Grey Cup , the Vanier Cup , several matches of the 1976 Summer Olympics soccer tournament, and the final game of the North American Soccer League 's 1984 Soccer Bowl series (which was also the last game played by the original NASL). It is located next to Varsity Arena . Athletic teams of the University of Toronto have used the site as an athletic ground since 1898. In 1911, the university opened Varsity Stadium. Canadian sprinter Percy Williams set

280-555: The National Soccer League with the intention of renaming them the Toronto Blizzard. Though the Blizzard franchise had never actually folded, they had ceased operations for several months between these incarnations and NSL regulations did not permit a name change in the midst of the season. The following season (1986) Dynamo Latino began play as the Toronto Blizzard. A history of this team can be found at Toronto Blizzard (1986–93) . Varsity Stadium Varsity Stadium

308-473: The Netherlands were also staged in 1994. Minor league professional soccer team Toronto Lynx moved into the stadium in 1997 but was forced to move to Centennial Park Stadium due to the impending demolition of the historic facility. The stadium was demolished mid-2002 after the cost of maintaining the large facility was far more than it generated in revenue. At that time, several structural sections of

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336-515: The Ontario government and $ 95,000 to the metropolitan Toronto government, that several star players were free agents and the team might fold. The Global Television Network purchased 85% of the struggling Toronto Metros-Croatia on February 1, 1979, for $ 2.6 million. Following the purchase, Toronto Croatia returned to the NSL as a separate club. With only 7 of the 26 players from the 1978 roster staying,

364-558: The Toronto Blizzard and again made it their home for the 1984 season. On October 3, 1984, before 16,842 fans, the last game ever contested in the original North American Soccer League was played at Varsity Stadium when the Chicago Sting defeated the Blizzard 3–2 to win the deciding game of 1984 Soccer Bowl Series. The NASL would fold before the start of the next season. In mid-1986, Varsity Stadium played host to

392-850: The World Lacrosse Championships , a tournament featuring the United States, Canada, England, and Australia. The US defeated Canada in the final, 18–9. The new Toronto Blizzard returned to Varsity in 1987 as part of the Canadian Soccer League but would move to the smaller Centennial Park Stadium as a cost-cutting move. They returned in 1993 as a member of the American Professional Soccer League but again were forced to move, this time to Lamport Stadium, again due to financial difficulties. Varsity Stadium continued to host

420-612: The All Night Newsboys , Gene Vincent , Junior Walker & the All Stars , Little Richard , Doug Kershaw , Screaming Lord Sutch , Nucleus , Milkwood , and Whiskey Howl . KISS performed at the stadium during their Destroyer Tour on September 6, 1976. Rush performed at the stadium on September 2, 1979, during their Permanent Waves Warm-up Tour. Blagoje Tamind%C5%BEi%C4%87 Blagoje Tamindžić ( Serbian Cyrillic : Благоје Таминџић ; born April 8, 1952)

448-490: The Canadian intercollegiate championship, the Vanier Cup (as it had been for most years from 1965 to 1988 [with exception of 1973–75]), but that too moved to larger quarters such as SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre ) as the popularity of the collegiate championship grew. Canada's national soccer team played several matches at Varsity Stadium, including crucial World Cup qualifying matches versus Costa Rica in 1985 and Mexico in 1993. Friendly matches versus Germany and

476-760: The Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes 50–27 in the 1956 Grey Cup final. Perhaps the most famous Canadian football game played in the Stadium was the 1950 Mud Bowl for the Grey Cup championship. During the 1976 Summer Olympics , Varsity Stadium hosted several soccer matches, and was the site of the semi-final game between Brazil and Poland . The NASL's Toronto Metros-Croatia used Varsity Stadium through 1978, before moving to Exhibition Stadium. They returned six years later as

504-419: The NASL team was renamed the Toronto Blizzard following the takeover. Under the new ownership, attendances nearly doubled. From 1979 to 1983 the Blizzard played home games at Exhibition Stadium before returning to Varsity Stadium for the 1984 NASL season . The Blizzard were members of the NASL until 1984, the last year of league operations. The team were runners-up for the league championship in 1983, losing

532-560: The Ottawa Tigers in order to assist in their playoff match against Toronto Croatia to gain promotion to the NSL First Division. The transaction provided Montreal with the bargaining rights to Mick Jones . He re-signed with Montreal for the 1978 NSL season. He returned to the national NASL in 1979 to sign with the Toronto Blizzard . After the conclusion of the 1982 season, he was transferred to Phoenix Inferno of

560-921: The Soccer Bowl to the Tulsa Roughnecks 2–0 in front of nearly sixty thousand people at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium. They were runners-up again in 1984 when they lost to the Chicago Sting two games to none in a best of three championship series. The club was coached in these final two years by Bobby Houghton , assisted by Dave Turner and featured Roberto Bettega , David Byrne , Cliff Calvert , Pasquale De Luca , Charlie Falzon , Sven Habermann , Paul Hammond , Paul James , Conny Karlsson , Victor Kodelja , Trevor McCallum , Colin Miller , Jan Möller , Jimmy Nicholl , Ace Ntsoelengoe , Randy Ragan , Neill Roberts , John Paskin , Derek Spalding , and Bruce Wilson in its lineup. The Blizzard qualified for

588-477: The games, the facility was configured to hold roughly 2,000 spectators per session. The facility also hosted the archery events of the 2015 Parapan American Games In addition to hosting several University of Toronto athletic programs, the stadium has also hosted several events including military, musical, and sporting games. The stadium has also been host to several concerts most notably the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival , which Rolling Stone once called

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616-500: The new facility is much more open and visible from the streets overall. The new facilities are designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects . Following the renovation, the Argonauts returned to the stadium, hosting their 2013 preseason game at their former home. Their 2014 and 2015 preseason home games were also scheduled for the stadium. For the 2015 Pan American Games the facility hosted archery between July 14 and 18. During

644-862: The play-offs on only two other occasions, in 1979 and 1982, losing in the first round each time. Prominent players during the first four years included Clyde Best , Željko Bilecki , Jimmy Bone , Roberto Bettega , Drew Busby , David Byrne, Cliff Calvert, Tony Chursky , David Fairclough , Colin Franks , George Gibbs , Jimmy Greenhoff , Steve Harris-Byrne , Graham Hatley , Victor Kodelja, Sam Lenarduzzi , Peter Lorimer , Ivan Lukačević , Drago Vabec , Mike McLenaghen , Willie McVie , Alan Merrick , Charlie Mitchell , Juan Carlos Molina , Jan Möller, Francesco Morini , Ace Ntsoelengoe, Bobby Prentice , Randy Ragan, Neill Roberts, Malcolm Robertson , Peter Roe , Jomo Sono , Gordon Sweetzer , Blagoje Tamindžić , Jose Velasquez , and Bruce Wilson. The Metros-Croatia fielded

672-600: The regular season, he helped the White Eagles win the regular season title. He also helped the club secure the Canadian Open Cup which granted the Serbs a spot in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup . In 1976, he joined former head coach Don Popovic south of the border to play in the North American Soccer League with Rochester Lancers . In his debut season in the NASL, he finished the season with

700-402: The second most important event in rock & roll history. This concert led to the production of a documentary, Sweet Toronto , as well as John Lennon 's Live Peace In Toronto album. Performers included: The Doors , Plastic Ono Band , Bo Diddley , Chicago Transit Authority (later renamed "Chicago"), Tony Joe White , Alice Cooper , Jerry Lee Lewis , Chuck Berry , Cat Mother &

728-506: The stadium were being held up by temporary repairs, and the future integrity of the structure was in question. The field and track were retained after the demolition. During the demolition and re-building of the site Toronto Varsity Blues relocated to Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough . From 2003 through 2005, temporary seating of about 1,500 was installed to permit the use of the field for intercollegiate games. The name Varsity Field

756-576: The time of its demolition, Varsity Stadium was the second largest capacity stadium in Canada with a grass field, after Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta (however, that stadium has since switched to an artificial playing surface). The stadium opened in 2007. Facilities and features built in the first phase of the stadium's reconstruction include an IAAF Class II 400m eight-lane track, artificial field turf (FIFA 2 Star rated surface by Polytan), and

784-399: Was used from 2002 to 2006 during the period when the old stadium was demolished and the new stadium was being built. A plan to build a new 25,000 seat multi-purpose stadium on the site in 2005 was voted down by the governing council of the University of Toronto due to concerns over its cost. The facility was then planned to be built on the grounds of York University but that too failed. At

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