Women’s sport is taking a step forward: after the launch of the Professional Women’s Hockey League in January, Montreal will have its own professional women’s soccer team. The metropolis thus becomes the fifth Canadian city after Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax to introduce a club into the new Canadian professional women’s soccer league. An initiative which is part of “a social movement”, according to the instigators of the project.
The project started by former Canadian professional soccer player Diana Matheson finally sees the light of day: the Olympic medalist announced the name of the league on Monday as well as the six clubs which will kick off in the spring of 2025. The Montreal team will have around twenty athletes, including seven international players.
“Honestly, if you had told me three years ago that we would be here doing this, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” Diana Matheson confided in an interview with Duty. But there was, in Canada, this incredible opportunity to build now […] something for women’s soccer [avec] people who believe in how big this can be and see the opportunity here. »
The women’s national team is among the top 10 teams in FIFA and notably won gold at the last Olympic Games. However, the absence of a professional league allowing Canadian players to compete in their country forces them to play for other leagues elsewhere in the world.
“They have no choice,” says businesswoman and co-founder of the Isabèle Chevalier team. “We have, in Canada and in Quebec specifically, such a large pool of talent, of players, but who cannot make a living from their sport. They are forced to emigrate and live abroad, therefore far from their family, for years, if they want to do that. […] Unfortunately, there are many who give up. »
Jean-François Crevier, entrepreneur and co-founder of the team, said to himself that something had to be done. “We have an inequity here to resolve,” he defends. […] Montreal is a place where we should have a women’s soccer team. »
For Diana Matheson, who grew up in the Toronto suburbs, a local women’s professional soccer team would have been “a dream” when she was younger. “In my youth, there was no women’s soccer on television, we didn’t know that women’s soccer was a job,” she says. […] Before I was 20, I didn’t even know I could go play professionally anywhere. I hadn’t even thought about it. »
“Every time I played for Canada and had the opportunity to come home, it was so special to know that [mes] friends and [ma] family were in the crowd, continues Diana Matheson. […] It would have been a dream come true to be able to put on the jersey, to compete […] with a local club. »
Isabèle Chevalier is clear: the plan is to repatriate the players here. The businesswoman also sees it as attractive to French-speaking athletes from all over the world. “There are several athletes around the world who would also be very happy to play in French. »
“It’s a world-class league that we want, which compares with other world-class leagues,” adds Jean-François Crevier. We are going to create a professional organization with professional infrastructures so that women want to come back […] and that they see that they can develop in Canada. »
A legacy to give
And are there already those interested? “It’s certain that at the moment, everyone [a un] contract, so it’s informal,” says Isabèle Chevalier.
” We are [persuadés qu’on pourra] attract players to Quebec, adds Jean-François Crevier. Diana has been talking about the league since December 2022, so Canadians know it’s coming. »
Especially since the team’s payroll will amount to $1.5 million, which is “very competitive on a global scale”, according to Diana Matheson, who is confident of being able to attract them to Canada.
Although the project is embryonic, the team is “very capable” of paying this amount, assures Isabèle Chevalier. “We also really have the vision of having a league and teams that compete internationally. »
The co-founders have also developed a business model that will allow fans to be shareholders in the team. “We are in the process of determining at what height, how it could be done and also, what rights and privileges could be given,” explains Jean-François Crevier, who wanted to open the investment for reasons of community, with the aim that “it belongs to Quebecers, to Montrealers”. “People will feel that it’s their team,” he believes.
Announcements regarding sponsors, particularly regarding the telecast of the games, as well as the various positions to be filled are expected in the coming weeks. But according to Jean-François Crevier, the team’s responsibility for inclusiveness goes beyond the players: the surrounding structure must reflect this change of direction “at all levels”.
“When you look at sport today, we are years behind,” laments Isabèle Chevalier. So it’s high time for things to change and we feel that the community is ready. We have a legacy to give. »