VARSITY STADIUM

GRB-519

Varsity Blues (1898–present) Toronto Argonauts (CFL) (1898–1907, 1916–24, 1925–58) Vanier Cup (CIS) (1965–72, 1976–88) Toronto Falcons (NPSL/NASL) (1967–68) Toronto Metros-Croatia (NASL) (1975–78) Toronto Blizzard (NASL/APSL) (1979–84, 1993) Toronto Lynx (USL) (1997-2001)

Varsity Stadium is a collegiate football stadium that is home to the Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While the present structure was built in 2007, it is in fact the third major incarnation of the stadium that has occupied the same site since 1898. Varsity Stadium is also a former home of the Toronto Argonauts, and has previously hosted the Grey Cup, the Vanier Cup, and the soccer semifinals of the 1976 Summer Olympics.

In soccer, the NASL's Toronto Blizzard made Varsity Stadium its home for the 1984 season. The Toronto Blizzard returned to Varsity in 1987 as part of the Canadian Soccer League but would move to the smaller Centennial Park Stadium as a cost cutting move. They returned in 1993 as a member of the American Professional Soccer League but again were forced to move, this time to Lamport Stadium, again due to financial difficulties. Varsity Stadium continued to host the Canadian intercollegiate championship, the Vanier Cup, but that too moved to larger quarters such as Skydome (now known as Rogers Centre) as the popularity of the collegiate championship grew.

Minor league professional soccer team Toronto Lynx moved into the stadium in 1997, but was forced to move to Centennial Park Stadium due to the impending demolition of the historic facility.

The stadium was demolished over the summer of 2002 after the cost of maintaining the large facility was far more than it generated in revenue. At that time, several structural sections of the stadium were being held up by temporary repairs, and the future integrity of the structure was in question. The field and track were retained after the demolition. From 2003 through 2005, temporary seating of about 1,500 was installed to permit the use of the field for intercollegiate games. The name Varsity Field was used from 2002 to 2006 during the period when the old stadium was demolished and the new stadium was being built.

Unused 3 3/4" x 5 3/4" continental size chrome

Dist. by Gustavo Ramirez