The Canadian Soccer League announced yesterday that it had awarded an expansion franchise to Windsor restaurateur Filip Rocca.
The club will play out of a new facility being constructed at McHugh Park and will participate in the 2011 season, which starts in May.
Rocca was a member of the Windsor Border Stars, a team that saw limited action in the CSL and eventually folded from weak local support in 2008. During his time there Rocca won two defender of the year awards.
Windsor joins the Mississauga Eagles, Kitchener-Waterloo United FC, Ottawa and Pickering Power as new teams entering the CSL in 2011.
And while it hasn't been officially announced, it's widely known the CSL will be divided into East/West divisions for 2011. Four teams will advance from each division for the Ginova Cup Playoffs.
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Expansion news is always nice but perhaps the most interesting tidbid to come out of yesterday's announcement was the revelation of exactly how much expansion fees are.
Rocca will pay the CSL $30,000 to secure a franchise. $20,000 of that is annual dues, the other $10,000 is for administrative fees. For as closely as we worked with the CSL last year, they would never give us a clear indication of how much a team was worth. So, there you have it - $30,000 can get you an expansion franchise in the CSL.
The question now becomes, with a player pool that is only so deep, has Ontario reached its cap for expansion? Or is there still room for more without sacrificing the quality of play?