In their first taste of continental soccer, Atlético Ottawa were eliminated from the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup after losing to Nashville SC 7-0 on aggregate, and fans were disappointed that the team wasn’t able to play the “home” leg in Ottawa.
As tournament rookies who had never faced an MLS team before, Ottawa went into the games as massive underdogs. To further complicate matters, the club were forced to play their home leg in Hamilton, Ont. due to construction at TD Place.
In the end, Nashville were simply too good, winning 2-0 in the first leg and 5-0 in the second.
In early November, Ottawa City Council approved the $419 million redevelopment plan for Lansdowne Park, known as Lansdowne 2.0 and as construction got underway, it was clear Atlético Ottawa would not be able to make their Concacaf Champions Cup debut at TD Place because of the ongoing renovations. As a result, the club announced they would play the match in Hamilton, Ont. at the home of Canadian Premier League (CPL) rivals Forge FC.
“ I think there was definitely an immediate frustration amongst (Capital City Supporters Group) membership. Maybe a bit of anger at the club, the city and the different stakeholders who meant we couldn’t host,” saidvJon Hopkins, vice president of the Group (CCSG).
“ Especially coming off of a snow final, we felt like we can do anything. … But there’s just really no other options and I think that kind of dawned on people.”
To help fans travel to the match, Atlético Ottawa organized a round-trip bus, which took fans from TD Place to Hamilton Stadium and included the cost of a match ticket. The bus departed TD Place at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday and arrived back in Ottawa at 5 a.m. the following day.
“It was a nice full bus full of different fans that I’ve known and some that I didn’t,” said Hopkins. “Rolling into Hamilton, there was a lot of excitement in the air.”
But for other supporters, returning to Ottawa at 5 a.m. on a weekday simply wasn’t feasible.
“Unfortunately, I’m not wealthy enough to get Tuesday and Wednesday off :(,” one Atlético Ottawa fan commented on Instagram.
“Frankly, the thing that was kind of overshadowing the game was, ‘Oh my God, how are we going to get to Hamilton?’” said Seth Malina, an Atlético Ottawa season ticket holder.
Instead of taking the bus, Malina had initially planned to drive from Ottawa to Hamilton.
“Usually, I would find a hotel with a couple of the guys and we would have a night out on the town. This time, none of the other guys were really looking forward to an away trip on a Tuesday evening down in Hamilton. So, it was just going to be me,” said Malina, who ultimately decided not to go.
For supporters who couldn’t make the trip to Hamilton, Atlético Ottawa also organized a watch party at the CCSG-affiliated Glebe Central Pub.
“The club actually sent out an email and tried to get as many people out – sort of a VIP list – which worked out quite well,” said Blair Brassard, co-owner of Glebe Central Pub. “They invited a hundred people and about 80 per cent of them actually did show. So about 80 people.”
“From there, we probably had another 40 people show up. So it was quite a good group of people that actually came.”
Ottawa qualified for the Concacaf Champions Cup by winning last season’s remarkable Canadian Premier League (CPL) final at TD Place, a match that stretched more than three hours because of delays needed to clear all the snow.
“That game was absolutely incredible,” said Hopkins. “It was probably the most memorable moment in sports for my entire life. … I was on cloud nine.”
Since that triumph, Atlético Ottawa’s squad has undergone a significant overhaul, including key departures and the addition of several young players.
As a result, the average age of their Concacaf Champions Cup roster was just 22.6.
Yet, in spite of Ottawa’s relative inexperience and new personnel, the first leg was fairly competitive.
Ottawa completed 24 sequences of 10 plus passes, the most of any team in the first leg of round one matches. Meanwhile, Nashville had 18 shots to Ottawa’s five, and scored twice.
“Overall, I think just about everybody who went down (to Hamilton) enjoyed themselves, were happy to get a first look at our team and pretty satisfied with that first performance,” said Hopkins.
Many of the supporters reconvened a week later to watch the second leg at Glebe Central Pub. Unfortunately for them, the attacking gap only widened in the second leg as Nashville scored five unanswered goals to send Ottawa home.
Still, Hopkins relished the opportunity to watch the club play for the first time since November.
“For a lot of us fans, we haven’t seen each other since the final, so it’s been months,” he said. “For those of us who were on the bus trip for leg one and at the pub for leg two, it was just great to reconnect with folks.”
And while Ottawa’s Concacaf Champions Cup journey was short-lived, Malina remains excited about the CPL season ahead.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how our team continues to gel and find that chemistry with the new guys who’ve come in to help bolster the team,” he said.
Atlético Ottawa are to return to TD Place for their CPL home opener on April 26 against Vancouver FC.
