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“It’s a little humbling, just how far we’ve come in such a short period of time.”
Dana Ricker, head capo of the Dirigo Union, leads Portland Hearts of Pine fans during a game on Aug. 6, 2025. Ben Pennington/The Boston Globe
August 4, 2026 | 10:05 AM
3 minutes to read
The Portland Hearts of Pine, the USL League One soccer club that has taken Maine by storm over the last 18 months, announced Tuesday plans to build a 9,000-11,000 seat stadium at Cassidy Point on the city’s southern tip.
The club has entered into an agreement to acquire the land, which currently hosts an industrial coal storage site, and develop it into a soccer-specific stadium for the club’s men’s and women’s teams.
Since the men’s team debuted last spring, the Hearts of Pine have sold out every home game at Fitzpatrick Stadium, the city’s municipal ground that seats around 6,000.
With around 8,000 more supporters on the waitlist, expansion to a permanent home came around even faster than expected.
“To be here is a big step,” club founder Gabe Hoffman-Johnson told the Globe. “If you had asked me back in [2018 or 2019] what that dream would look like, I would have said, eventually, a full stadium, 10,000 seats … but here we are a year and a half into our existence. That level of excitement, it blows me away.
“It’s a little humbling, just how far we’ve come in such a short period of time.”
Hoffman-Johnson, a two-time Maine state player of the year at nearby Falmouth High, began leading the push to bring a club to Maine when the USL launched League One in 2019.
After a few years of planning and building, the Hearts debuted in 2025 and quickly became a phenomenon. A year on, the club announced plans to add a women’s team back in June, with 5,000 season ticket deposits selling out in under an hour.
The club has outgrown the capacity of Fitzpatrick — affectionately called “Fitzy” — in a hurry, as tickets quickly became hard to come by for Maine’s soccer-loving public.
Portland Hearts of Pine founder Gabe Hoffman-Johnson (right) was joined recently at Fitzpatrick Stadium by actor and Maine native Patrick Dempsey. – Courtesy of Portland Hearts of Pine
“Those thoughts come to mind in the many conversations with fans, with people in the community [who say], ‘Oh, I can’t get tickets,’ ” Hoffman-Johnson said. “I guess you could call it a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem of accessibility for these games.
“To have a waitlist like we do, that is more than the size of the capacity of the facility in which we play, really expedited our focus on meeting that need and doing right by the community that wants to support this club.”
An opportunity arose when a Portland city ordinance required large coal stockpiles to be removed over environmental and health concerns. That left the owners of the site at Cassidy Point evaluating options, and the Hearts of Pine are jumping at the chance.
For those driving into Portland from the south (or flying into nearby Portland International Jetport), Cassidy Point is one of the first things they’ll see. If all goes well, by 2029, they’ll see a stadium.
“Cassidy Point is like the front porch of Portland, where people gain their first impression as they arrive into the city,” said club president Kevin Schohl in a release. “We now have an opportunity to transform a site that’s been inaccessible for generations into a place that reflects the pride, creativity, and competitive spirit of Maine.”
A conceptual rendering of the Hearts of Pine’s proposed stadium at Cassidy Point. – Courtesy of Portland Hearts of Pine
The club is aiming to break ground by 2027 to open the stadium by 2029, with the teams still playing at Fitzpatrick Stadium until then. Total costs are projected to exceed $50 million, which will be predominantly privately funded, the club said.
One big challenge for the club is to build a new, larger stadium while capturing the matchday atmosphere at “Fitzy” that has made the Hearts so beloved in Portland.
“It’s important not to lose that,” Hoffman-Johnson said. “At Fitzy, there’s magic there. Part of that is its charm and character. I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can maintain the special pieces, of this street festival, meets farmers market, meets fair, meets soccer match.
“How do you design a space that can maintain those pieces and elevate those pieces and allow for more people to enjoy it? That’s going to be a huge area of focus for us to get right.”
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