Canadian Premier League releases 2020 schedule and format

The Canadian Premier League announced its 2020 schedule on Friday, revealing a new format and playoff structure for their second season.

With the addition of Atletico Ottawa this year, the CPL can adopt a balanced schedule that will see each team play 28 games - 14 home and 14 away. Each squad will play the other twice home and away.

The league has also abandoned the split seasons in favour of a single table system. In the league’s inaugural 2019 season, the winner of the 10-game Spring Season and the winner of the 14-game Fall Season would meet in the final, but as Cavalry FC won both, Forge FC were the other finalist because they had the second-best overall record.

Instead, the 2020 format will see the team that finishes top of the table automatically earn a spot in the 2020 CPL Finals, with the second and third-placed teams facing off in a semi-final to join them.

The season will kickoff a bit earlier than last year, on April 11th. Forge FC’s Tim Hortons Field will again be the venue for the first game of the season, as the defending North Star Shield winners will take on Cavalry FC in a rematch of the inaugural CPL Finals.

Expansion team Atletico Ottawa’s first game falls on April 18th against Forge FC, and their first home game at TD Place Stadium is on May 16th against HFX Wanderers.

Once again, OneSoccer will be broadcasting every single CPL game.

The full 2020 schedule can be found here.