Originally By John Jacques

The Northern Super League could see expansion news in Western Canada sooner than many had expected.

Even before league co-founder Diana Matheson told us that Winnipeg was a primary target for the NSL, Winipeggers Desiree Scott and Rob Gale have been putting in the hard yards to make that idea into reality. In fact, this month the duo are hoping to clear a big hurdle in bringing a Northern Super League expansion club to Winnipeg by 2027.

Canada Soccer’s Annual Meeting is about to take place, with the duo hoping to earn sanctioning for a prospective Northern Super League team – something that would elevate their expansion efforts into overdrive, though it still wouldn’t mean the job is done. The NSL is certainly a willing partner, but landing local investors and a firm stadium plan are absolute musts.

Both Scott and Gale now back at home in Winnipeg working to secure both of the above, and while they say it’s nice to be back, they’re certainly not here on vacation. For both proud Winnipegers, landing their home a Northern Super League club is a deeply personal project.

The idea to bring NSL to Winnipeg actually dates back beyond the league’s inaugural season, though the timing only recently aligned. From the moment Scott heard about Diana’s vision to launch a professional women’s league in Canada, she wanted her hometown to be part of it, quickly enlisting Rob Gale to seek out the possibility. Back then, however, both of their careers kept them abroad, and they missed the launch window for the Northern Super League.

Things are different now, with both of them back home and working to to pitch the city as a suitable Northern Super League expansion city.

Photo Credit: John Jacques

It’s no secret that between Toronto and Calgary, there remains a conspicuous absence of professional women’s soccer. For Scott, that gap represents both an opportunity and a longstanding frustration – her home is in that gap, and she’s always dreamt of filling it.

“We’ve been in tons of meetings with potential investors, and getting petitions out there to see that the community support is there. We’re working day in and day out to secure these things to get us across the line, and we’re getting closer and closer every day,” Desiree Scott tells us in an exclusive interview.

Scott has just wrapped a decorated playing career that saw her feature in the inaugural seasons of both the NWSL and NSL, and Gale now back from his coaching NWSL heavyweight Portland Thorns. The dynamic duo have been quick to combine their focus back home to Winnipeg, gathering municipal support, investors, community backing, and everything in between as they aim to convince Canada Soccer that Winnipeg is ready for the Northern Super League.

Gale and Scott have also had what they describe as good, positive conversations through multiple levels of government, including with Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham and his deputy Marcus Chambers, along with figures like Manitoba Minister of Sport Nellie Kennedy and deputy Jeff Hnatiuk, who led Sport Manitoba for over two decades.

“We’ve got some really good people in our corner who are really rooting for the team and are looking at ways that we can get all the levels of support,” adds Gale, who also notes that the Red River Rising fangroup that was once Valour-specific has expanded to supporting the game at all levels, including bringing an NSL expansion club to the city. It’s that kind of community passion, he says, that will be a key element to a Northern Super League venture in the city.

Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League

“We’re a city of a million people that feels like 15,000, and we know there’s more than that in registered soccer players alone. So it’s just us doing our due diligence, meeting everybody, discussing the projects,” adds Gale, who notes that while he would’ve loved to see a professional soccer team in Winnipeg for a World Cup year, he’s still keen to fill the void in as soon as possible.

Gale and Desiree have been part of several large, successful sporting organizations throughout their careers, having worked directly with Canada Soccer in the past but also for organizations like NWSL powerhouses like the Kansas City Current and Portland Thorns, giving them plenty of experience in what it takes to run a successful and sustainable soccer enterprise.

“In all the most successful clubs, team, and organizations, it’s about getting good people on board – there’s no doubt about that,” says Gale. “We want good people. We want the right people. We want people that are going to be in it for the empowerment of women’s sports and to bring a professional team here, and who are passionate about Winnipeg.”

NSL co-founder Diana Matheson and NSL President Christina Litz. (Photo Credit: John Jacques)

The Northern Super League itself also has an investment arm that they’ve worked with through the process, granting access to transparent financial and logistic figures for what it takes to launch and run a club – key metrics for not only Scott and Gale, but the investors and partners they’re aiming to onboard.

Beyond that, Scott was able to get an inside look at what the process was like during her final season as a player, with NSL launch team Ottawa Rapid providing her with plenty of modern insight on what it takes to get a team up and running from scratch.

“What’s great about this league is they have an investment arm and investment people, and they’re so transparent with the other ownerships because they want to see everybody succeed. I find that really refreshing,” says Gale. “It’s not just Desi and I talking: We can hand them on to the experts, and they show them the business models and all of the details across the league to make sure that everyone comes in eyes wide open knowing what it’s going to take. Then when they commit, you know they’re in it for the long term, and not just for a short equity turnaround.”

Photo Credit: Canada Soccer

For Scott, having a team in Winnipeg is something she’s always dreamt about for her own backyard. As ‘decision day’ approaches with the Canada Soccer Annual Meeting, she’s envisioned what it would be like to have a home opener in Winnipeg, and she’s doing everything she can to make it happen in reality.

“It’s a really untapped market, I think. I’ve always worn it on my chest – the Prairies often get overlooked. Winnipeg gets overlooked,” says Scott, who collected Gold at the Olympics in Tokyo, and says she and Gale have big standards for their hometown.

“I’m learning about the business side and how things tick. I’m just freshly retired, so that’s going to be a learning process for me, which is why having Rob makes us such a good combo with the passion that we bring. He’s built a club before, he’s been at the highest level with the national team. He’s done all the background work on scouting and recruiting. So with all that experience, us together and then building a team around us, I feel like we can be truly successful in creating something really, really special here in the city, for for women and girls and all the potential future national team players that the Prairies have not had or seen.”

Gale and Scott hope to secure a stadium similar to Montreal’s Stade Borealis (Photo Credit: Audrey Magny)

Rather than anchoring the club in a large multi-purpose stadium like the men’s Canadian Premier League had tried with Valour FC, the duo are seeking to secure a modular, mid-sized venue as a comprise between a too-small 3,000 seater and a too-large 30,000 seater. Gale believes that a middle-range ground would be perfect for hosting not just NSL matches, but would also allow the city to host CPL, international, Prairie Soccer League, and cup fixtures alike, bringing plenty of soccer-specific sporting opportunity to Manitoba.

Paramount to the modular stadium’s success in the community is the feel that Winnipeg’s stadium ground needs to feel intimate. When Gale coached Valour through the club’s inaugural season, he noted that even with over 5,000 passionate fans in attendance, the 32,000-seat Princess Auto Stadium felt too cavernous with most of the noise being soaked up in what was ultimately a space too large for the club.

“We had some great, great fans, Valour, unbelievable in the one section, but it got lost in the bigger picture, even when we had the 10,000 fans. So that’s the aim: Central location, vibe, and great atmosphere to really feel a part of the action, which is what all sports fans want to do. We’re making very good strides to make sure that that’s a reality. Should we be able to start in 2027, we’ll have as good as atmosphere as anywhere in the league.”

While it’s early days yet, the duo aren’t short on long-term aspirations in their stadium vision: Scott’s former side Kansas City Current is an inspiration for a permanent venue to aim for later on, having opened the soccer-specific 11,500-seater CPKC Stadium back in 2024. It made history as the first privately financed stadium ever built exclusively for a women’s professional soccer team, and took four years to go from proposal to opening up for a completely sold-out season. By all accounts, its proven to be a big success case for both the NWSL and Kansas City.

Gale most recently coached in the NWSL with the Portland Thorns. (Photo Credit: Portland Thorns)

That decision point for a potential 2027 launch is approaching quickly, with Canada Soccer’s vote expected to be ratified before the end of the month.

Should Canada Soccer give an NSL franchise in Winnipeg the green light, the work is hardly done. Scott and Gale would still need to submit a formal, tangible bid to be accepted by the Northern Super League, providing a business case that shows a women’s professional soccer league could not only succeed in a market where the men’s could not, but do so in convincing fashion.

There have been positive discussions with local investor groups, and while those details haven’t been finalized, having Canada Soccer approval and an agreement with the league would go a long way in bringing in the strong investor capital needed to launch a Northern Super League side.

“We’ve got to get make sure that we’re the most prepared bid and get that local investment. We still need to continue to drum that the local support,” says Gale. “We know if or when it gets announced that the people will support us, but it’s so key that you get things right behind the scenes. Having done it once before, you know you need those right people. We need the right groups to support and we know that it’s not an easy road to professional football to be sustainable and everything. We need everybody on board.”

There is credence in Gale’s careful preparations to be the primary bidder: Joe Belan had once sought to bring a Canadian Premier League team to Saskatoon, but was hoisted out of the project when his ownership group split apart and the CPL awarded expansion rights to someone who split from the group. Belan launched a lawsuit, and eventually the expansion project came crashing down entirely. In the years since, Saskatchewan has yet to come close to securing another professional soccer club.

With the Prairies starved for professional soccer, getting a Northern Super League launched successfully requires careful navigation and stewardship.

To that end, both Scott and Gale have solid experience from bigger markets where teams have established themselves strongly, and both have good profiles and personal drive to bring similar experiences to their hometown.

The NSL cracked top five in women’s sporting attendance in its first season. (Photo Credit: John Jacques)

“We always talk about taking a village just to develop a player, but to build a football club that’s going to last, you need the league, you need the partnerships, the majority investment, you know, the outside stuff is unbelievable, but it has to be supported by our entire group. Where I’m super optimistic and bullish is because it is the female game, there’s been no greater time for women’s sports. It’s long overdue, and we need to make sure that Winnipeg is at the forefront of that conversation,” says Gale.

At its core, the Winnipeg bid is positioned as a community-driven initiative – one that requires local ownership, local investment, and long-term civic buy-in from Winnipegers themselves. The emphasis is not simply on launching a team, but on embedding it within the fabric of the city. That approach reflects a broader truth about emerging leagues: sustainability is rarely driven by novelty alone. It is built through consistent engagement, shared identity, and a sense of collective ownership, and that’s something Winnipeg isn’t lacking.

“Like we always say, we’re the heart of Canada,” says Gale. “We firmly believe that, and we need that heart beating firmly and proudly, so we’ve just got to keep knocking on doors, making sure investment, partnerships, sponsorships, everything at all levels is a go, so that when that bid does get presented to the league there’s no question that we are the best applicant, and we will be one of the best football clubs once we’re up and running.”

Photo Credit: Canada Soccer

What might happen to Scott and Gale as the bid takes shape is pretty flexible, though Gale won’t be coaching and Scott won’t be dusting off her boots. He suggest that Desiree Scott would make a great Club President, though he’s refrained from suggesting anything at all for himself.

“I’ll just be happy to be standing there side by side in front of 6,000 of their closest friends, and to know that we played a role in bringing professional women’s sport – that’ll be a super proud moment for both Desiree and I if we can achieve that,” says Gale. “Roles and titles I’m not really interested in. if I can help out in any capacity and just be along for the ride with The Destroyer, then what a privilege.”

With NSL co-founder Diana Matheson also appearing bullish on Winnipeg, it sounds like the duo will have the league’s full support as Canada Soccer evaluates Winnipeg’s potential to host a professional women’s soccer club. Matheson would like to see one new expansion side for 2027 and follow that up with a second in 2028, bringing the total to eight. With a focus on Western Canada – Edmonton and Victoria have also been mentioned – the league is angling itself for East and West divisions down the road.

In the near-term future, however, it’s almost time to see if Canada Soccer thinks that Winnipeg is ready to host the league’s first-ever expansion city. If things progress well this month, 2027 will be the primary ambition for Gale, Scott, and a city full of football fans. Having grown up here, both firmly believe a Northern Super League club can succeed in Winnipeg not in perpetuity.

“It’s going to take that continued community support past year one. It’s going to continue to need local investment. This league is for Canadians, by Canadians, and we want it to feel really like a Winnipeg thing that everyone can rally behind and support and connect with,” says Scott, who notes that parties interested in supporting the bid can reach out at nslwinnipeg@gmail.com.