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.
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.
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.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
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.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
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.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.