Lamport Stadium

History

Lamport Stadium began construction during the winter of 1974 on the site of the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women. Construction was completed on July 1, 1975. The stadium was originally set to open in April 1976 but was officially opened on September 19, 1976.

As part of a deal with the city to convert BMO Field to natural grass, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment spent adding a winter bubble to Lamport Stadium in the winter of 2009–2010. MLSE manages the operations of the facility during the winter season, when the field is covered by the dome and community soccer programs are held.

Facilities

Since opening in 1976, the playing surface has been artificial turf. Lamport Stadium's indoor field measures 68 metres by 105 metres, allowing a full eleven-a-side game.

Sports usage

Canadian football

In 2018, the professional Canadian football team, the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, announced that they would use the stadium as their practice facility.

Lacrosse

The Toronto Nationals played their 2010 season at Lamport Stadium before moving to Hamilton.

Soccer

Since the opening of Lamport Stadium, the National Soccer League used the stadium as a home venue for many of its clubs based in Toronto.

In 1980, Lamport was one of the hosts of a friendly tournament known as the Toronto International Soccer Cup which featured Benfica and Partizan Belgrade.

Both SC Toronto and Major League Soccer team Toronto FC's Academy side played their Canadian Soccer League home games at Lamport Stadium. The OUA's Ryerson Rams soccer teams also call the stadium home. In 2014, the Serbian White Eagles of the Canadian Soccer League and Internacional de Toronto of League1 Ontario also played their home games at the stadium. Toronto FC II announced in August 2017 that it would move its home games from the Ontario Soccer Centre to BMO Field and Lamport Stadium beginning with the 2018 season. However, with their drop to the division 3 USL League One for the 2019 season, the team moved their home games to BMO Training Ground. The University of Toronto Schools high school team also uses Lamport Stadium as a practice field and for home games.

In November 2025, as part of the rebranding of Inter Toronto FC, the club ownership is looking at upgrading Lamport through investments and renovations in order to make the stadium it's new home sometime in the future.

Rugby league

On 21 May 2012, it was announced that Lamport Stadium would be the new home of the Canada national rugby league team, the Wolverines. The 2013 Colonial Cup opener against the United States national rugby league team saw a crowd of 7,168 turn out to witness a comeback victory for the Wolverines.

The stadium also hosted a professional rugby league club, the Toronto Wolfpack which played there between 2017 and 2023.

On May 18, 2019, Lamport hosted the inaugural Americas 9s tournament.

International matches

Updated 22 October 2024

Toronto Wolfpack Attendance

References:

Rugby union

In January 2019, Major League Rugby expansion team, the Toronto Arrows announced that they would split home games between Lamport Stadium and Alumni Field at York University for their inaugural season. They were scheduled to play games at the stadium in 2020, but the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team moved their home games to York Lions Stadium for the 2022 season.

Ultimate Frisbee

The Toronto Rush of the Ultimate Frisbee Association played the 1st half of their 2024 home schedule at Lamport Stadium while their regular home stadium Varsity Stadium was undergoing renovations.

Non-sports usage

Besides sporting events, the stadium also hosts a major Caribana event each summer: the crowning ceremony for the King and Queen of Caribana.

Homeless encampment

The area around the stadium became a homeless encampment for a period of time, but was cleared by police and city staff on July 21, 2021, resulting in arrests of both homeless people who had been staying there and protestors standing in solidarity with them. Images of police brutality from the incident were heavily circulated on various social media platforms as well as getting coverage from a variety of news outlets.

References

References

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3. (June 14, 1974). "Stadium named for Allan Lamport". The Toronto Star.
4. (October 31, 1974). "Government loan launches stadium on old Mercer site". The Toronto Star.
5. Vujcic, Djuradj. (2021-10-25). "The Time Partizan Played in Toronto".
6. [https://search.nbca.unbc.ca/uploads/r/northern-bc-archives-special-collections/1/3/133024/NBCA_2009_6_13_49_0327.jpg?token=fc5fda40b221586354a14a6e679f7ac6377973bfd77e0b9e85929c834bee2a1b UNBC photo]
7. [https://digitalarchiveontario.ca/objects/323767/former-mayor-allan-lamport-right-tells-crowd-hes-a-proud-a TPL photo]
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39. "Americas Championship 2017".
40. "Senior International Matches 2024".
41. "Match report".
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43. (January 17, 2019). "Toronto Arrows to split Major League Rugby home games between York and Lamport". [[National Post]].
44. (November 9, 2021). "Arrows Announce 2022 Regular Season Schedule". [[Toronto Arrows]].
45. (April 23, 2024). "Toronto Rush to Split 2024 Home Games at Historic Lamport & Varsity Stadiums".
46. "26 arrested as City of Toronto officials, police move to clear Lamport Stadium encampment".
47. "26 arrested at Toronto's Lamport Stadium park as city, police clear encampment".
48. (July 22, 2021). "Toronto Cops Say They Did 'Tremendous Job' After Beating People, Destroying Homeless Camp".