Tim Hortons executive to head Canada soccer league

Longtime Tim Hortons TORONTO executive David Clanachan has been appointed the first chairman and commissioner of the Canadian Premier League.

The men’s pro soccer league, which has been on the drawing board for some four years and under construction for one, is set to debut in the spring of 2019.

Clanachan (pronounced clana-han) says the league is dealing with 12 to 15 interested cities and expects to launch with eight to 10 teams.

Winnipeg and Hamilton are the only two announced entries, but the league says news of other franchises will follow in the coming months. The league’s goal is simple. “My No. 1 mandate is Canadian players, Canadian coaches, development of Canadian administration,” the 56-year-old Clanachan said. “I can see the commitment and the passion of the people that are involved and that’s what attracts me to it.”

Clanachan spent more than 35 years with the Tim Hortons company, starting at 14 unloading trucks and mopping floors at a Windsor franchise. He rose to president and COO before shifting to chairman of RBI Canada, parent company of the Canadian arm of Tim Hortons, in August 2016.

It was Clanachan who oversaw the move to “flash freezing” technology that allowed the chain to go from in-store baking to goods being shipped and reheated.

He notes there are more Canadian kids (more than 300,000) playing Timbits soccer than involved in its hockey equivalent.

“You can feel the momentum and the passion coast to coast from people when you talk about soccer,” he said.

A father of five, he has three girls and two boys ranging in age from 13 to 32. All have played soccer, as does his young grandson.