‘I want the Tiger-Cats to stay’

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats had some boosters - and city council had some unhappy voters - at a downtown rally tonight on the contentious Pan Am stadium issue.

More than 250 people crowded Gore Park to show their support for the football club in the face of council’s decision to build a stadium at a site not to owner Bob Young’s liking. There is fear the team could leave Hamilton and the gathering wants council to reconsider the issue.

“I want the Tiger-Cats to stay,” said rally organizer Matthew Campbell, 27, who set up a Facebook site called Save the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. “We need to find a solution that works for both. It’s not about being anti-city or anti-Tiger-Cats. It’s about being pro-city.”

Campbell, a data analyst with Microsoft Canada’s Mississauga office, has been going to Tiger-Cats games since he was a boy in the 1980s. He said he may hold other pro-Ticats events, but will take “a wait and see approach.”

Council has voted to place the Pan Am stadium at a west harbour site, which the Cats say would be a money loser for them because it would not be easy for traffic to reach. The Tiger-Cats preferred a site on the east Mountain, which was put forward by a conciliator trying to break the deadlock between the city and the team.