Rob Ford Stadium (formerly Centennial Park Stadium) is a 2,200-seat

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is primarily used for

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and occasionally for

kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

. It is located within Centennial Park in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

, just south of

Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. Pearson is the ...

and near the intersection of Rathburn Road and Renforth Drive. It was built in 1975. The stadium has seating in a grandstand on the west side and a small scoreboard on the north end of the field. The stadium was renovated in 2009 with the installation of new seating and

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

Usage

* The stadium hosted the first edition of Veteran Athletes Championships in 1975. * The stadium hosted the closing ceremony of the

1976 Summer Paralympics The 1976 Summer Paralympics (), branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 3 to 11 August 1976, marking the first time a ...

and some of the sporting events. * The stadium hosted the CPSL/CSL Championship finals in 1998, 2010, 2011, and 2014. * The stadium hosts the Relay For Life in Toronto West event each June, a fundraiser for the

Canadian Cancer Society The Canadian Cancer Society () is Canada's largest national cancer charity and the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada. History The Saskatchewan Medical Association formed Canada's first cancer committee in 1929, whi ...

. * The stadium is also used for the ROPSSAA football finals and the PSAA (Private Schools Athletic Association) on the first Monday of May for an annual Track and Field Meet.

Name

The stadium was originally named for Centennial Park, which it is located in and opened during Canada's centennial year of 1967; the stadium was opened in 1975, eight years after the centennial. In 2017, there were calls and support for the stadium to be renamed after former mayor

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

as ''Rob Ford Memorial Stadium'', but city council voted down the motion 11 to 24 on October 4, 2017. In 2023, amid the re-imagining of the park through the Centennial Park Master Plan that was also approved in 2021, city council again considered a motion to rename the stadium after Ford, this time passing 17 to 6. The stadium was officially renamed Rob Ford Stadium on May 28, 2024. The first game played on the re-named stadium was a

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

encounter between Serbian White Eagles FC and Spanish Future Stars on May 31, 2024.

Usage

Name

References

See also