Varsity Stadium
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| Location | 299 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Coordinates | 43°40′0″N 79°23′50″W / 43.66667°N 79.39722°W |
| Public transit | St. George |
| Owner | University of Toronto |
| Operator | University of Toronto |
| Capacity | 500 (1898–1910) 10,500 (1911–23) 16,000 (1924–49) 21,739 (1950–2001) 1,500 (2003–05) 5,000 (2007–present) |
| Surface | grass (1898-2005) Polytan Ligaturf (2006-present) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1898 (athletic grounds) 1911 (first stadium) 2007 (present stadium) |
| Expanded | 1924, 1950 |
| Demolished | 2002 (first stadium) |
| Construction cost | $61.7 million |
| Architect |
Craig and Madill (1929-1930) Diamond+Schmitt Architects (2007) |
| Tenants | |
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Toronto Varsity Blues (U Sports) (1898-present) Toronto Argonauts (IRFU/CFL) (1898–1907, 1916–1958) Vanier Cup (1965–72, 1976–88) Toronto Rifles (ConFL) (1966–1967) Toronto City (USA) (1967) Toronto Falcons (NPSL/NASL) (1967–68) Toronto Metros-Croatia (NASL) (1975–78) Toronto Blizzard (NASL/APSL) (1984, 1993) Toronto Lynx (USL) (1997–2001) Toronto Rush (AUDL) (2013–present) North Toronto Nitros (L1O) (2016-present) |
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Varsity Stadium is a collegiate football stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Toronto Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto. Athletic events have been hosted on the site since 1898; the current stadium was built in 2007 to replace the original permanent stadium built in 1911. Varsity Stadium is also a former home of the Toronto Argonauts, and has previously hosted the Grey Cup, the Vanier Cup, the soccer semifinals of the 1976 Summer Olympics, and the final game of the North American Soccer League's 1984 Soccer Bowl series.
Varsity Stadium has for its entire history been host to the University of Toronto's collegiate Canadian football team, the Varsity Blues. However it was, until the opening of Exhibition Stadium in 1959, the home of the Toronto Argonauts of what would become the Canadian Football League. Although it has not hosted a meaningful CFL game in almost half a century, it still holds the record for the number of times any stadium has hosted the Canadian professional football championship game, the Grey Cup. Capacity of the stadium has varied with time, but peaked at about 22,000 in the 1950s although, with the use of temporary bleachers, a record crowd of 27,425 watched the Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes 50-27 in the 1956 Grey Cup final.
During the 1976 Summer Olympics, Varsity Stadium hosted football games, and was the site of the semi-final game between Brazil and Poland. Perhaps the most famous Canadian football game played in the Stadium was the 1950 Mud Bowl for the Grey Cup championship.
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