Toronto's World Cup Dream: The Vision of a 1960s Grocery Magnate

TORONTO, ON – June 18, 2026 – As the roar of the crowd for the FIFA World Cup 2026 echoes through Toronto's BMO Field, it’s easy to see the city as a modern, fully-formed soccer metropolis. The sold-out matches, the sea of international jerseys, and the massive economic infusion feel like an inevitable culmination of the sport’s global dominance. Yet, the seeds for this very moment were planted 65 years ago, not by a sports consortium, but by a grocery magnate with a vision that far outpaced his time.

With the world watching, the Steve & Sally Stavro Family Foundation is calling for the city to remember Steve Stavro, the man a 1961 Globe and Mail journalist aptly dubbed the 'merchant of soccer.' Long before Toronto FC became a civic institution and FIFA deemed the city worthy of its marquee event, Stavro was making an audacious bet: that Toronto belonged on the world soccer stage. It’s a story of market creation, long-term investment, and the unique intersection of business acumen and cultural foresight.

The Audacious Bet on a Niche Sport

In the early 1960s, professional soccer in Canada was a fragmented landscape, largely a passion project sustained by post-war immigrant communities. It was far from the commercial powerhouse it is today. Into this environment stepped Steve Stavro, a man whose name was synonymous with Knob Hill Farms, the pioneering big-box grocery chain he built from a single produce stand. He applied the same 'burning enthusiasm and indomitable optimism' that revolutionized retail to the beautiful game.

In 1961, Stavro co-founded the Toronto City Soccer Club to compete in the newly formed Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League (ECPSL). The league itself was an ambitious attempt to elevate the sport, but Stavro’s strategy was what set his venture apart. He wasn't just creating a team; he was importing an entire spectacle. He understood that to build a market, you first had to capture the public's imagination. This was less a hobby and more a calculated, if risky, investment in a future he saw with perfect clarity.

He and his partners, including journalist George Gross, bypassed the local talent pool and went straight to the source of the world’s best soccer: the United Kingdom. Their mission was to prove that Toronto could not only host but also embrace world-class talent.

Importing a Global Game

Stavro’s masterstroke was the recruitment of a slate of international superstars, a move unheard of in Canadian professional sports at the time. He successfully lured Johnny Haynes, the captain of the English national team and a revered playmaker for Fulham. Alongside him came Danny Blanchflower, the celebrated captain of Northern Ireland and Tottenham Hotspur. To complete the trifecta, they signed Tommy Younger, the captain of Scotland, who also served as the team's coach.

The lineup was astonishing—the captains of three of the four British home nations playing together in Toronto. But the biggest name was arguably the legendary Sir Stanley Matthews. At 46 years old, the 'Wizard of the Dribble' was still a massive draw, a living icon of the sport. His presence on a Toronto pitch was a statement.

The investment paid off immediately. The 1961 season opener at Varsity Stadium, a derby between Toronto City and Toronto Italia, drew a crowd of 16,509—a staggering number for a domestic soccer match at the time. Stavro had proven his thesis: if you bring world-class quality, the audience will come. These matches gave a generation of Toronto fans, many of them new Canadians, a rare chance to see their heroes in the flesh, creating a foundational layer of support for the professional game that would endure for decades.

More Than a Game: Uniting a Changing City

Beyond the financial investment and strategic marketing, Stavro's efforts tapped into a powerful social current. The 1960s were a period of significant immigration in Toronto, and for many newcomers from Europe and beyond, soccer was a vital cultural touchstone—a connection to home and a shared language in a new land. Teams in the ECPSL, like Toronto Italia and Montreal Cantalia, were often built around specific ethnic communities.

Stavro's Toronto City, with its focus on British stars, appealed to another large segment of the population while simultaneously elevating the entire league. His vision was bigger than catering to a single demographic; he saw soccer as a powerful tool for civic unity. The sport could be a bridge between newcomers and the established community, a common ground where diverse backgrounds could rally behind a single Toronto team. His work came at a pivotal time, validating the cultural importance of a sport that was being nurtured at the grassroots level by immigrant families.

This belief in the unifying power of sport became a hallmark of Stavro's career. It was a philosophy that recognized that economic vitality and social cohesion are deeply intertwined, a principle he would apply on a much larger scale in the decades to come.

From Grocery Aisles to Global Arenas

Stavro's foray into soccer was an early chapter in a long story of visionary leadership in Toronto sports. After building his Knob Hill Farms empire, he turned his attention to the city's most storied franchises. In 1994, he acquired controlling interest in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd., becoming the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1998, his company, now Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), acquired the Toronto Raptors.

He was the driving force behind the construction of the Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena), a state-of-the-art facility designed to house both teams and solidify Toronto’s status as a major North American sports hub. His impact was also felt profoundly in horse racing, where his Knob Hill Stables produced numerous champions. In 2005, his foundational work in soccer was officially recognized with his induction into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame as an 'honoured builder.'

Looking back, his 1961 venture with Toronto City was not an outlier but a prototype. It demonstrated a willingness to invest in a long-term vision, to build a market where one barely existed, and to understand that sport is a powerful economic and cultural engine. The line from bringing Sir Stanley Matthews to a cheering crowd at Varsity Stadium to the global spectacle of the FIFA World Cup unfolding in Toronto today is a direct one, drawn by an entrepreneur who saw the future of the beautiful game in his city long before anyone else.