Forget about Waterfront Stadium being Lions new home

[120dB]

Forget about Waterfront Stadium being the Lions new home. The latest proposal just submitted by the Whitecaps now shows the Stadium being built over the Seabus terminal on pylons much like the new Convention Center instead of over the railway tracks. There is a very important meeting with City Council on Thursday.

As you can see below, the Stadium is not designed for a CFL sized field. Case closed.

[squishy35]

I'm pretty sure that the blueprints for the Waterfront Proposal do not exist as yet. And the Lions' ownership have already indicated that they do not want to be part of the Whitecaps' stadium proposal.

[Belize City Lion]

A soccer field is wider than a CFL field... but is it shorter? I remember a few times at Empire during Whitecaps games when visiting teams would think a ball had gone into touch when it crossed the CFL sidelines....

[Canuck_4_Life]

FIFA has set minimum and maximum field dimensions for play. There is no set field size for soccer.

[Hambone]

FIFA has set minimum and maximum field dimensions for play. There is no set field size for soccer.

FIFA's "Laws of the Game" shows a fairly liberal range of dimensions but they become more stringent for International Matches. According to FIFA's "Laws of the Game":

The field of play must be rectangular. The length of the touch line (sideline) must be greater than the length of the goal line.

Length: min 90m (100 yds); max 120m (130 yds)
Width: min 45m (50 yds); max 90m (100 yds)

INTERNATIONAL MATCHES:

Length: min 100m (110 yds); max 110m (120 yds)
Width: min 64m (70 yds); max 75m (80 yds)

It's safe to assume the Whitecaps' stadium proposal would be designed to accomodate International matches. A CFL field is 65 yards wide X 150 yards long. Football being what it is requires a extra room to accomodate team bench areas as well as extra room at the back of the endzones. Comparitively speaking soccer requires very little room beyond the field of play. Often there is no more than 4 or 5 yards from the sidelines to the first row of seats and just enough room behind the goal line to accomodate the goal nets.

If one took the maximum field of play required for International soccer matches and added 5 yards to each side and end you're looking at a total surface of 90 yards X 130 yards.

If one took the CFL field and added 10 yards to each sideline and 5 to each the back of each end zone youre looking at a total surface of 85 yards X 160 yards.

Width-wise the proposed Whitecap stadium would likely accomodate a CFL field. Length-wise however could be a problem.

An overall surface width of 85 yards would likely cover both CFL and International soccer needs. The length of the field would be the dimension with the greatest disparity. Soccer could get away with 130 yards to cover the maximum field length plus nets. A CFL field would require a minimum of 160 yards which leaves only 5 yards extra from the back line for a receiver to come to a halt.

[David]

I was under the impression that when BC Place was built, the CFL endzones were not standard size due to its multi-use limitations (at the time Senator Ray Perrault was very keen to bring MLB to Vancouver).

While I'm not saying our endzones are vastly shorter than say, Winnipeg Stadium, I do believe there is a size difference.

Can anyone confirm this?

DH 8)

[B.C.FAN]

The standard CFL endzone was 25 yards until B.C. Place was built. The Lions got league permission to use 20-yard endzones due to the limitations of B.C. Place. Shortly afterwards, the league changed the rules and adopted 20-yard endzones as standard across the country.

[Belize City Lion]

looking at the above picture, if the Lions were to use the stadium I can imagine the following during a game....

"the pass is complete to Geroy who is wide open at the 30, he's at the 20, one man to beat at the 10, he's in for the (SPLASH)"

[120dB]

There is a windscreen at the north end of the stadium made of glass. This location will be breezy as it's right on the water.

It is conceivable a high pass could go over the windscreen or a wide receiver could crash through the glass and end up in the water

[Hambone]

Maybe it'll be like McCovey Cove with guys with kayaks and fishing nets floating around waiting for souvenir footballs or soccer balls to come sailing into the drink.