Varsity Stadium

Lore & Background

The site has been used for athletics since 1898, with the first permanent stadium opening in 1911. Varsity Stadium was the home of the Toronto Argonauts until 1959 and holds the record for the most Grey Cup games hosted by any stadium. The 1950 Mud Bowl and the 1956 Grey Cup (attended by 27,425) are among its most famous Canadian football events. During the 1976 Summer Olympics, the stadium hosted soccer matches, including the Brazil–Poland semi-final. The original North American Soccer League ended at Varsity Stadium on October 3, 1984, when the Chicago Sting defeated the Toronto Blizzard 3–2 before 16,842 fans. The stadium also hosted the 1985 and 1993 World Cup qualifying matches for Canada's national soccer team, as well as the 1988 Sir Stanley Matthews Cup and friendlies against Germany and the Netherlands in 1994. The old stadium was demolished in mid-2002 due to high maintenance costs and structural concerns. A new 25,000-seat plan was voted down, and the current stadium opened in 2007 with a smaller capacity, an IAAF Class II track, artificial turf, and a winter bubble. The red brick wall along Bloor Street was partly preserved.

Reader's Guide

Varsity Stadium's significance lies in its century-long role as a multi-sport venue in Toronto. It was the primary home of the Toronto Argonauts during the early decades of the Canadian Football League and set a record for Grey Cup hosting. The stadium also served as a key soccer venue, hosting Olympic matches, NASL finals, and World Cup qualifiers for Canada. Its demolition and replacement in the 2000s reflected the challenges of maintaining an aging facility, while the new stadium continues to serve university athletics and professional teams such as the Toronto Rush. The 2015 Pan American Games archery events held there demonstrated its adaptability for international competition. The stadium's legacy includes its association with the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival concert, which produced John Lennon's Live Peace In Toronto album and was called the second most important event in rock & roll history by Rolling Stone.

Did You Know?

• Canadian sprinter Percy Williams set a world record in the 100 metres (10.3 seconds) at Varsity Stadium during the 1930 Canadian Track and Field Championships.
• The 1950 Grey Cup final, known as the Mud Bowl, was played at Varsity Stadium.
• The last game of the original North American Soccer League was played at Varsity Stadium on October 3, 1984.
• The stadium hosted the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, which Rolling Stone called the second most important event in rock & roll history.

A Century of Gridiron Glory

The grounds on Toronto's St. George campus have witnessed athletic competition since 1898, and the first permanent stadium structure rose in 1911. For the better part of a century, that facility served as the home field of the Varsity Blues football squad, and until Exhibition Stadium opened in 1959, it also anchored the Toronto Argonauts' Canadian Football League schedule. Even though the Argonauts have not played a meaningful CFL game there in nearly fifty years, the venue still claims the all-time record for the number of Grey Cup championship games hosted by a single stadium. Among those marquee contests, the 1950 "Mud Bowl" remains the most celebrated, while the 1956 final drew a record crowd of 27,425 spectators as the Edmonton Eskimos overwhelmed the Montreal Alouettes 50 to 27. The grounds also produced a moment of individual brilliance when Canadian sprinter Percy Williams clocked a 10.3-second 100-metre world record at the 1930 Canadian Track and Field Championships.

A Stage for the World

Beyond its deep roots in Canadian football, the stadium repeatedly put Toronto on the global sporting map. During the 1976 Summer Olympics, it hosted several soccer matches, most notably the semi-final clash between Brazil and Poland. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, Canada's national soccer team played pivotal World Cup qualifying fixtures on the field, including matches against Costa Rica in 1985 and Mexico in 1993. The 1986 World Lacrosse Championships brought teams from the United States, Canada, England, and Australia to the venue, with the Americans ultimately defeating the hosts 18 to 9 in the final. Soccer-related events continued to flow through the 1980s and 1990s: Canada hosted the Sir Stanley Matthews Cup in 1988, and friendly internationals against Germany and the Netherlands were staged in 1994. Decades later, the rebuilt facility was selected to host archery competition during the 2015 Pan American Games, extending the site's international pedigree well into the twenty-first century.

The NASL's Final Curtain

The stadium played a bittersweet role in the history of North American professional soccer. The Toronto Metros-Croatia of the North American Soccer League called the venue home through 1978 before relocating to Exhibition Stadium. Six years later, the franchise returned as the Toronto Blizzard and made Varsity Stadium its home again for the 1984 season. On October 3, 1984, in front of 16,842 fans, the Chicago Sting defeated the Blizzard 3 to 2 in the deciding match of the Soccer Bowl series. That contest marked the very last game ever played in the original NASL, a league that folded before the following season could begin. The Blizzard's relationship with the stadium proved fragile in subsequent years: a 1987 stint in the Canadian Soccer League ended with a move to the smaller Centennial Park Stadium for cost reasons, and a 1993 return under the American Professional Soccer League was cut short by financial difficulties, forcing another relocation to Lamport Stadium. The Toronto Lynx, a minor-league side, moved in for 1997 but were also displaced by the impending demolition.

Demolition and Rebirth

By the early 2000s, the aging structure was in serious disrepair; several sections were propped up by temporary repairs, and the cost of maintaining the large facility had far outstripped the revenue it generated. The stadium was demolished in mid-2002, though the playing field and surrounding track were preserved. During the interim, the Varsity Blues football team played out of Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough, and temporary seating for roughly 1,500 spectators was installed from 2003 to 2005 to keep intercollegiate games running. A 2005 proposal for a 25,000-seat multi-purpose stadium was rejected by the university's governing council over cost concerns, and an alternative plan at York University also fell through. The new, smaller facility that opened in 2007 was designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects and emphasized multi-use capability, which was the key factor in winning council approval. It features an IAAF Class II 400-metre eight-lane track, a FIFA 2 Star-rated artificial turf surface installed by Polytan, and a winter bubble for inclement-weather use. A section of the original red brick wall along Bloor Street was retained for historic purposes, and the seating was positioned closer to Varsity Arena, effectively linking the two structures into a single conjoined complex.