Professional soccer nearing its post-pandemic return to Halifax
According to Derek Martin, the Halifax Wanderers will start the 2021 soccer season in Winnipeg.
However, they plan to return to their home city by mid-summer.
"The first of August is really our target date to get back here to the Wanderers Grounds," says Martin, the team's founder and president, adding it is all contingent on the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
“We are working with Dr. (Robert) Strang and his phased approach. Everything looks to be a go for the first of August and we are really excited to get back."
A full capacity, the Wanderers Grounds can hold close to 8,000 fans.
“Our hope would be at least 50 per cent of the 8,000," says Martin.
That would mean as many as 4,000 people could attend games within two months.
Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub owner Joe McGuinness says the Wanderers and overflow crowds help boost downtown business. Their return to action would be loaded with positive symbolism.
"It's great for Haligonians to say 'we're getting to the end of this pandemic'," says McGuinness.
Wanderers fan James Covey is adamant the games are much more than just a sporting event.
"They are heartbeat events, In the middle of downtown,” says Covey. “Everybody converging at the park on match day. It's about getting together - 6,000 strong."
"It's not really about the score, or where we are in the standings,” added Halifax Mayor Mike Savage. “It’s about people coming together in the city."
That experience could be opening up to thousands of soccer fans by early August.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.