The foundations of Canada’s newest soccer league were shored up this week when its name and logo were unveiled, along with two new teams and a schedule.
At the espnW Canada Summit on Tuesday, May 28, league CEO and co-founder Diana Matheson — a former Canadian national women’s team midfielder — announced the league would henceforth be called the Northern Super League and unveiled a league logo heavily influenced by the Northern Lights.
“A significant void in available pathways stunted the development of women’s soccer in Canada, and the Northern Super League will be the ‘big bang’ in the industry, kickstarting an entirely new universe next April,” the league’s website says.
The primary league logo — developed by Canadian creative agency Broken Heart Love Affair — features connected NSL letters, with a four-pointed star in the negative space formed by the L. The league’s website features the logo in bright green against either purple or black backgrounds, a color scheme inspired by the Northern Lights.
“The serpentine-style font symbolizes dynamic team play on the pitch. The four-pointed north star finally signifies the league’s strength, vision, and steadfast presence to cement itself as a beacon for what sport can and should be in Canada and beyond,” the NSL website says.
A secondary logo features the four-pointed star at the center of a stylized soccer ball.
A French language version flips the N to the end of the logo, as the league name translates to “Super Ligue du Nord.” The star remains in the negative space of the L.
The league had previously been known as “Project 8” while in the planning phase.
The NSL’s press release says that “women” was intentionally left out of the league name to firmly declare “its ambitions to be equal to other leagues in professional sports, inviting all who love the beautiful game and who want to be a part of the growth in professional women’s sports to feel included. ‘Super League’ communicates the elite calibre of players expected to fill club rosters.”
On Tuesday, Matheson also announced two new teams in Ottawa and Montréal, who join previously announced teams in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax. The six teams is the minimum needed to be sanctioned by Canada Soccer, and they’ll all play in the NSL’s inaugural season in 2025.
Each team will play 25 games in the regular season, facing each other club a total of five times. The top four teams will qualify for the playoffs, with the No. 1 seed taking on the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed facing the No. 3 seed in two-legged semifinals. The winners of those will square off in a one-game final.
Teams will have rosters of 20-25 players, including seven international roster spots. Each team will have an initial salary cap of $1.5 million, although they’ll also have one marquee spot, for whom only $75,000 of their salary counts against the cap.
An announcement about the NSL’s leadership structure is expected some time in June.