Atlantic Schooners
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Atlantic Schooners | |
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| League | Canadian Football League |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Folded | 1984 |
| Based in | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Colours | Black and Silver |
The Atlantic Schooners was a conditional Canadian Football League expansion team in 1984, to play out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Schooners folded before they played a single game because the owners of the team (led by J.I. Albrecht) couldn't secure the financing for a new stadium for the team. Since there was (and still is) no CFL caliber stadium in Halifax the team had no choice but to fold. Since then there have been endless rumours of a stadium being built in the area and with it, a CFL team.
One urban legend around the Halifax area is that the old scoreboard from the New England Patriots stadium is in a warehouse in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, left there awaiting the proposed stadium.
On June 11, 2005, a CFL exhibition game, called "Touchdown Atlantic" between the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, was held in Halifax. This game served as a gauge for possible CFL expansion. The venue was Huskies Stadium (capacity 11 000) on the campus of St. Mary's University. Tickets for the event, which cost upwards of $60.00, sold out rapidly. The game ended in a 16-16 tie. Another CFL exhibition game would have taken place on June 3, 2006, but the suspension of the Ottawa Renegades, who were scheduled to play the game, forced the game to be cancelled altogether. Possible considerations are being made to locate the next franchise in Halifax. If Halifax can land the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the city will have to build a stadium which in all likelihood would lead to a franchise in the CFL.
