Atletico Ottawa kicks off new season at TD Place

Atletico Ottawa kicks off new season Soccer returns to the capital for a new CPL season. CTV’s Shaun Vardon reports.

Atletico Ottawa kicked off its Canadian Premier League season against the Halifax Wanderers Saturday afternoon at TD Place.

The game ending in a draw but fans CTV News spoke to Saturday are excited for the future.

The home opener was a "Pay What You Can" game for fans, with a portion of each ticket sold and part of the 50-50 proceeds donated to CHEO.

Eddy Benhin, part of the Capital City Supporters fan group, has high hopes for this season. He says Saturday’s warm weather was a perfect way to start what he believes will be a championship season for the club.

"It’s been a long cold winter to wait for soccer to return and the first game it’s summer weather," Benhin said. "We are going to win at least one trophy but I’m going to say we win everything."

With more than 7,000 fans in the stands for the home opener, it was a great day for two charities. Thousands of dollars were raised for CHEO and Lily Miller, whose charity is raising funds to buy a dialysis machine for CHEO.

Thomas Stockting, the communications and community development manager for Atletico Ottawa, says soccer in the capital is on the rise and the 7,000 spectators at Saturday's game is proof of Ottawa’s growing love affair with professional soccer.

"We’ve got the World Cup being hosted in 2026, partly in Canada, we had a staggering success last year winning the regular season and hosing the final in front of 15,000 people," Stockting said. "If you had asked me a couple of years ago if I’d see 15,000 people out for a soccer game in Ottawa, I would not have believed you."

The next Atlético Ottawa home game is April 29 against York United.