In May 1982,the Maritime Professional Football Club Ltd was granted a conditional expansion franchise with the team to pay CDN$1.5m franchise fee and to begin play in the 1984 CFL season as long as a suitable 30,000 stadium could be built in time for the season opener.

On 3rd November 1982,the team of Atlantic Schooners was chosen and announced by J. I. Albrecht,former general manager of the Montreal Alouettes at a press conference in Halifax,Nova Scotia and the site of the proposed team. Schooners had been chosen through the usual name-the-team contest along with Atlantic Windjammers and Atlantic Storm. Atlantic was chosen to represent Atlantic Canada with the stylized 'A' logo in the shape of a schooner (ship) on four waves that represent the four Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia,New Brunswick,Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The team colours were chosen to be silver,maritime blue,nautical brass and white.

The proposed stadium was to be a 34,000-seat stadium in Dartmouth,NS with a projected cost of CDN$6M. The real issue was the fact that the mayors of both Halifax and Dartmouth were still debating where the stadium should be built as both wanted to host the team,with neither governmental departments contributing to the funding of the stadium. The only time that they would step in would be for the hosting of international events like the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games.

Maritime Football Ltd is hoping to bring the 10th CFL team to Halifax,NS. It has proposed Shannon Park,along the east side of Halifax harbour,as the site for a 24,000-seat stadium. St.Mary's Huskies (U Sports Football) play at Huskies Stadium in the city which has a maximum capacity of 9,100 and therefore is not deemed suitable for a CFL team.

Anthony LeBlanc,leading the project and former owner of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes,has started a season ticket drive to see the number of people who will come to games. Fans can commit to a season ticket for less than a $100 deposit,but this will be fully refunded if the team never hits the field. Single game tickets are expected to be CDN$25 to CDN$30 and up to hundreds that include food for club seats.

Multiple city councils have stated that their priority would be to come out of the pandemic (2020) and therefore the stadium has been put on the backburner. With the delays,the team would not be operational until at least 2022 or 2023 with the intention of starting play temporarily at Huskies Stadium on the campus of Saint Mary's University or Croix-Bleue Medavie Stadium in Moncton while a stadium in Halifax is built.

As with the original Schooners franchise, the most significant impediment to the current application is believed to be the ability to secure funding for a new stadium.

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Atlantic Schooners	1982-1983
Atlantic Schooners	2018-

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