Franchise History
On May 13, 1982, Maritime Professional Football Club Ltd. was granted a conditional expansion franchise. The team was to pay a $1.5 million expansion fee and could begin play in 1984 if a suitable stadium was built in time for the league opener. The team name was selected based on a study followed by a name-the-team contest in which "schooner" was the winning selection. The logo was a stylized "A" in the shape of a schooner that rode on four waves, each representing the four Atlantic provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Acadia Axemen coach John Huard was named the team's first head coach. The Schooners proposed home was a 30,000-seat stadium located on leased land in the city of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, said to be built at a cost of $6 million. The owners purchased a scoreboard from the New England Patriots for use in their new stadium. The Schooners were unable to meet the deadlines set by the league, including the deadline for a financing plan for the new stadium. On June 16, 1983, Maritime Professional Football Club Ltd. officially withdrew their application for a franchise. Since then there have been endless rumours of a stadium being built in the area and with it, a CFL team, although none has yet been built.
Read more about this topic: Atlantic Schooners
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