Atlético Ottawa supporters say they were disappointed to learn the club’s first-ever CONCACAF Champions Cup home match will be played in Hamilton, Ont., after TD Place was deemed unavailable due to ongoing Lansdowne 2.0 renovations.
The Canadian Premier League club is set to host Nashville SC in the opening round of the tournament, which features top clubs from across North and Central America. Under tournament rules, each team is guaranteed one home and one away leg. Ottawa’s home match, however, will take place nearly 300 kilometers away after construction made TD Place unavailable in February.
For some fans, the news landed with frustration and disbelief because one of the team’s biggest moments on an international stage will not be played at home.
“Shock, disgust, anger, pretty much every negative emotion there is,” said long time supporter Shayne Wilkinson, who says he will not attend the match in Hamilton.
“As a working class person, it would require me to take two days off of work to travel, which I think is a big thing for a lot of people,” he said. “Secondly, I don't plan on attending out of principle. I don't want to watch my team play in a rival stadium.”
In a statement posted on Instagram, the club confirmed the match will be played in Hamilton and described the Lansdowne 2.0 renovations as “exciting,” saying TD place will be better positioned to host major events in the future. The club said venues across Ontario and Quebec were explored.
That framing frustrated some fans.
“There's nothing reasonable about potentially six hours on snowy roads,” Wilkinson said. “The language, it was too corporate. Like, glorifying the exciting 2.0 Lansdowne project, which is very controversial to begin with.”
Joey, another long-time fan, who asked to remain anonymous, said that he disagreed with the language in the statement.
“I disagree with them calling the renovation exciting and trying to get a positive out of it. I feel like the club should have made a firmer stance on their own disappointment,” he said.
Joey said that his anger is targeted towards the city, rather than the club.
“The club staff is amazing, and they've been put into an untenable situation. I would not want to be them. I feel nothing but sympathy for them, but I'm bitterly disappointed by the city in which I call home.”
Leaders within the Capital City Supporters Group, the official group for fans of Atlético Ottawa, say the relocation was expected.
“We knew as soon as we qualified that we wouldn't be playing that game at home. We already knew the stadium wouldn't be available in February,” Bryce Crossman, the president of the group, said.
Vice-president Jonathon Hopkins said some fans are planning to make the trip, but the timing and distance create barriers for many supporters.
“It's a big ask of people to get on a bus and go for probably about six and a half hours, once you factor in stops and things like that, on a work day,” Hopkins said. “And then come back, getting back to Ottawa, probably between four and 6am and then work the next day.”
Despite the challenges, the group plans to support the team both in Hamilton and in Ottawa. Supporters will travel with drums and chants, while others will gather for a watch party at the Glebe Central Pub in the capital.
“Our objective remains to be as loud as we can, to bring as much energy as we can and encourage our team through song, through drums … whatever the rules that Hamilton stadium allows,” Hopkins said.
Atlético Ottawa was formally informed TD Place would be unavailable after city approval of Lansdowne 2.0 in early November, the club said in a written statement.
The club also said that no regular-season Canadian Premier League matches will be affected and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group has guaranteed the 2026 home opener will be played in Ottawa.
For supporters, the focus remains on what is being lost through the relocation.
Wilkinson said that soccer is a “working-class sport.”
“It belongs to the working class, and our considerations should always come first,” he said.
Joey shared a similar sentiment.
“This city would rather see its lower class, it's unhomed, and it's low income people removed from the city then even try in the slightest to provide us with affordable community entertainment that has already gathered thousands of people together across the city, across this province, to come here and watch the sport,” he said.
“They need to know that their constituents exist if they make less than $20,000 a year.”