Toronto Wolfpack relocate home opener north of the city

The Toronto Wolfpack's first game on Canadian soil this season will take place more than 40 kilometres north of their usual home in downtown Toronto due to ongoing renovations at Lamport Stadium.

The team announced Monday that its match on May 5 against the Swinton Lions will take place at Fletcher's Fields in Markham, Ont., with a listed capacity of 3,200. Lamport Stadium, which is undergoing "much needed" field resurfacing work, holds 9,600 people.

The Wolfpack are now scheduled to return to Lamport Stadium on June 9, barring further delays. The team has played all its matches so far in either England or France and will host several of its designated "home" matches in England due to the renovations.

"We are really looking forward to playing at a revamped Lamport Stadium, and welcoming fans back to Liberty Village, in June. We appreciate our supporters' understanding during this time," said Scott Lidbury, the Wolfpack's commercial general manager.

Lidbury also said that the facilities at Fletcher's Fields would be "boosted" to accommodate the fans, and the club said it will work with season-ticket holders and the visiting Lions to provide access to transport on game day.

"We were determined that if Lamport wasn't ready then we would make a commitment to find ourselves a different venue in or near Toronto," head coach Paul Rowley said in a statement. "This is massive for us and I know will be massive for our fans."

The Wolfpack (8-1-1) sit atop of the second-tier Betfred Championship standings, having defeated the Batley Bulldogs 26-18 on Sunday. Toronto earned promotion from the third-tier of England's Rugby Football League during their inaugural 2017 campaign.

Toronto is back in action April 15 against the Dewsbury Rams at 10 a.m. ET.

All Wolfpack games can be streamed live at CBCSports.ca.