Atlético Ottawa superfans Bryce Crossman and Jon Hopkins are preparing to travel to a February ‘home’ game that will take them nearly 500 kilometres away — to Hamilton — to watch their favourite team face Nashville SC.
Atlético Ottawa qualified for the first round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup after its viral, snow-covered
Canadian Premier League final victory
in November. But ongoing construction work on Lansdowne 2.0 means the club can’t host the game at TD Place.
“There’s definitely a level of disappointment,” said Hopkins. “But it wasn’t necessarily unexpected disappointment, because we knew going in the condition Lansdowne was going to be in once Lansdowne 2.0 got approved.”
Some fans took to social media expressing their frustration with the location of the game.
“We understand the frustration from the fans,” said Alex Mejia, the club’s chief of operations and compliance officer. “However, there are things that we don’t control, of course, like the construction happening at Lansdowne.”
Despite the scheduling challenge, Mejia said his team is fully supportive of Lansdowne 2.0, and he’s excited about the opportunity it presents. “We’ll have newer facilities, better accessibility and, overall, we’re just continuing to raise the fan experience.”
Mejia said the club looked at several stadiums closer to Ottawa, but ruled them out because CONCACAF requires hosts to meet certain standards, including adequate suite and club seating, broadcast facilities, locker rooms and parking.
He also pointed out that Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is undergoing renovations and Toronto’s BMO Field is being upgraded as it prepares to host World Cup action in 2026.
“Hamilton was the closest stadium we could use, and we had a positive track record of organizing trips to watch
Atlético Ottawa
play there,” said Mejia.
Crossman and Hopkins said they have made the trip to Hamilton before to cheer on the capital city and they are optimistic many fans from Ottawa will be making the trip.
“We have so many fans that understand the importance of this game, and we don’t know the next time we’ll be playing against an MLS team,” Crossman said. “I’m sure we have at least a few hundred that are contemplating making the drive down and seeing that game in person.”
Crossman and Hopkins help lead the Capital City Supporters Group, a fan club for Atlético Ottawa. The group was originally founded in 2020, in line with the return of professional soccer to the city.
Since then, they’ve watched the team grow and recently got to witness the iconic “icicle kick”
Canadian Premier League finals
goal, which garnered over one billion views on social media, according to the league.
“The final was really special,” Hopkins said. “It was a moment I’ll never forget.”
The championship game drew more than 13,000 fans at TD Place and Mejia said he’s confident the club can continue building on that momentum into next year despite the location of this game.
He said the club is planning on organizing buses for fans willing to travel to Hamilton for the match.
Mejia said Atlético Ottawa will also be hosting a watch party at Glebe Central Pub for those who aren’t able to make the trip.
For next year, Mejia said construction affecting the field is scheduled to be completed before April, ahead of when the Canadian Premier League season gets underway. This means Atlético Ottawa will be able to use TD Place for their 2026 season.
