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SPORTS Varsity Stadium has for its entire history been host to the University of Toronto's collegiate Canadian football team, the Varsity Blues . However it was, until the opening of Exhibition Stadium in 1959 , the home of the Canadian professional football team the Toronto Argonauts . It still holds the record for the number of times any stadium has hosted the Canadian professional football championship game, the Grey Cup . Capacity of the stadium has varied with time, but peaked at about 20,000 in the 1950s. After professional football moved to larger quarters in the 1960s, the stadium became less viable as it often failed to fill to its even modest capacity. The Varsity Blues generally played fewer than five dates a year, and towards the end of the stadium's life often failed to draw more than a few thousand fans. Minor league professional soccer team Toronto Lynx moved into the stadium in 1997, but was later forced to move to smaller venues such as Lamport Stadium and Centennial Park Stadium . Varsity Stadium continued to host the Canadian intercollegiate championship, the Vanier Cup , but that too moved to larger quarters such as Skydome (now known as Rogers Centre ) as the popularity of the collegiate championship grew. Attempts were made to host international soccer matches at Varsity, but although the crowds were large, they were too rare an event to make the stadium viable. During the 1976 Summer Olympics , Varsity Stadium hosted soccer games, and was the site of the semi-final game between Brazil and Poland . Perhaps the most famous Canadian football game played in the Stadium was the 1950 Mud Bowl for the Grey Cup championship. OTHER EVENTS The stadium has also been host to several concerts most notably the 1969 ''Rock 'n Roll Revival Concert'', which Rolling Stone Magazine once called the second most important event in rock & roll history and resulted in a documentary movie, "Sweet Toronto" and John Lennon 's Live Peace In Toronto record. The performers were The Doors , Plastic Ono Band , Bo Diddley , Chicago Transit Authority (later renamed "Chicago"), Tony Joe White , Alice Cooper , Jerry Lee Lewis , Chuck Berry , Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys , Gene Vincent , Junior Walker & The All Stars , Little Richard , Doug Kershaw , Screaming Lord Sutch , Nucleus , Milkwood , and Whiskey Howl . CURRENT FACILITY The decision to demolish the stadium was made in 2002 as the cost of maintaining the large facility was far more than it generated in revenue. At that time, several structural sections of the stadium were being held up by temporary repairs, and the future integrity of the structure was in question. The field still exists and is still used by the Varsity Blues for home games, there are no permanent stands, only temporary bleachers, and capacity is limited to about 1,500. A plan to build a new 25,000 seat multi-purpose stadium on the site in 2005 was voted down by management of the University of Toronto due to concerns over its cost. The facility was then planned to be built on the grounds of York University but that too failed. At the time of its demolition, Varsity Stadium was the second largest capacity stadium in Canada with a grass field, after Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta . As FIFA rules require international matches to be played on natural surfaces, the loss of Varsity as a venue has resulted in financial difficulties to Canada's national soccer team in Canada's largest market as there are no large grass field stadiums remaining in Toronto. The university is currently studying a plan to build a new permanent 5,000 seat stadium on the site. REFERENCES
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