August 24, 2010 CSL--St Catharines Wolves vs Toronto Croatia (from CSL website)
WOLVES VS. CROATIA CALLED OFF ......wet conditions on eve of Toronto Croatia's departure for BC friendly
2010-08-24
Yet another game involving Toronto Croatia was unable to be played with the postponement of the game with St. Catharines Wolves at Club Roma Wednesday night.The referee judged the ground too wet following recent rains.
The postponement comes on the eve of the club's trip to Vancouver and a game with Athletic Club of BC being played at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby on Friday night.
Toronto Croatia face a heavy schedule of 11 league games to be played in just five weeks to the end to the regular season prior to a demanding playoff schedule if the club is one of the top eight clubs in the First Division.
And following an impressive unbeaten streak going back 11 games, the Mississagua-based Croatia is expected to qualify.
Athletic Club BC won the Fraser Valley Soccer League title earlier this year, one of the top leagues in that province. The club also has teams in other leagues in British Columbia.
Toronto Croatia is one of the longest standing professional clubs in North America with a long list of achievements going back to the 50s. They won the CSL championship in 2000, 2004 and 2007, a year they went undefeated to win the inaugural world tournament for Croatian teams, a competition that included Austria, Germany, Australia, the United States and France. A year earlier, in 2006, the club celebrated 50 years in Canadian soccer.
But the club is best known for being Toronto Metros-Croatia, winner of the North American Championship in 1976, a time when the team attracted world stars such as Portuguese superstar Eusebio. Just two months ago the club was inducted into Canada's Soccer Hall of Fame for that championship win.
"We are very pleased to play in British Columbia and appreciate the opportunity to play Athletic Club BC and for the chance to play before Vancouver fans," said Toronto Croatia president, Joe Pavacic.
CSL executives, including CSL Commissioner Domenic Di Gironimo, will be on hand to meet with interested soccer administrators in the province with a view to explore ways Canadian soccer at the upper level can be structured to help develop more players for professional soccer and for Canada's national teams.
"We must work together to move Canada forward at home and in world soccer and I look forward to reaching out to those in western Canada who share this common purpose," said Di Gironimo in accepting an invitation to visit the province.
"We are looking forward to this game and we will take the opportunity to stimulate discussion for a CSL presence in British Columbia," said Richard Gablehouse, Chairman of Athletic Club BC.
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