The Rugby Football League first received an application from a Canadian consortium based in Toronto, led by the Chairman of the national governing body Canada Rugby League Eric Perez, in 2014 to compete in the United Kingdom's third tier of professional rugby league.[2] Perez was denied permission to join the first-tier Super League directly, and will instead attempt to build the club up to the point where it can be promoted.[3][4] A press conference was held on 27 April 2016 at which details on the franchise, which will begin play in 2017, were revealed.[5][6] The team will be the first professional rugby league team to be based in Canada.[6] A group of 10 businessmen, including Canadians and Australians, own the club.[7]
It was suggested that it was an attractive market due to Canada having the largest following of rugby league outside of Australia, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.[8][9] The club plans to play in blocks of four home matches, four away matches, and cover all expenses of visiting teams throughout the season.[10][11] All away games are expected to be broadcast locally according to Perez.[4]
Lamport Stadium based in the Liberty Village neighborhood of Toronto.
The team's planned home stadium is Lamport Stadium in Toronto,[6] which seats 9,600. The stadium was opened in 1975 and has an artificial field. In addition to rugby, it has also hosted soccer and lacrosse. The stadium attracts average crowds of around 7,000 for international rugby league fixtures.[2] The team signed a three year lease.[12]
The team will be made up of full-time professional players,[13][4] and is expected to sign players from the Championship and League 1 initially, but a long term objective is to recruit from the Canadian domestic competition.[14][15] Former Great Britain player and coach Brian Noble will be the club's director of rugby and former England and Leigh Centurions player and coach Paul Rowley will be the inaugural coach of the team.[3][16]
Paul Rowley
Simon Finnigan
David Argyle
Eric Perez
