Introduction

This is the Northern 90 Podcast with Pat Sweet, Episode 8.

Welcome to the Northern 90 Canadian Premier League Podcast, covering the beautiful game in the great white north. For more Canadian Premier League content, head over to Northern90.ca. That’s Northern Nine Zero dot ca.

Welcome

Hello, Canada, and welcome to the Northern 90 Canadian Premier League Podcast!

In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about the league schedule. The details were finally released on February 27, and today I’m going to unpack it, explain the ins and outs, and share my reactions to it.

But first, let’s tackle this week’s CPL headlines.

News

In this week’s headlines:

If you want even more CPL content, including the most important headlines delivered straight to your inbox, then sign up for the Northern 90 Supporters’ group. When you join, you get a weekly newsletter with the top headlines, podcast notifications, access to private supporter’s group Facebook group, and much much more. Also, it’s free. Check it out at northern90.ca/join.

Next up, we dissect the very first CPL season schedule.

Reactions to the CPL Schedule

As promised in last week’s episode, this week is all about digging into the first league schedule. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dive right in.

The basics

  • As many suspected would be the case, the league is taking on an apertura and clausura format. But, because Spanish is not one of our official languages, we’ll be calling them the opening and closing, or spring and fall halves.
  • The opening half runs from April 27 to July 1
  • The closing half runs from July 6 to October 19
  • The team that finishes with the most points by the end of the first half will play the team that finishes the second half with the most points to declare the overall Canadian Premier League Champion.
  • Important to note: the league standings reset at the beginning of the second half.
  • Points will be awarded the same way it is with most other soccer leagues, 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, and none for a loss.
  • One interesting bit is that the “halves” are uneven. The opening half will see each team play ten games. The second half is almost twice as long, with each team playing 18 games.
  • If the same team wins both halves, they’ll play the team with the second most cumulative points over the two halves. This means that the team that wins both halves may not necessarily win the league.
  • Every team will play 14 home and 14 away games.
  • All clubs will play four other clubs five times, and two clubs four times apiece.
  • Another interesting element of the season is that there will be three games played on the final day of each half of the season. This is similar to what MLS does with what they call Decision Day on the very last day of the season.

What I Like

  • I can’t believe it finally happened! All of a sudden, the league got a lot more real. I’ve already started making summer plans around game days in Halifax. It’s amazing.
  • I like the two halves of the season. It’s interesting. It’s different from anything else in North American sports. At the same time, it fits what other leagues, particularly in Liga MX, Central American Leagues, and in South America, so it still looks familiar to soccer fans.
  • Decision day! This means that the league can be undecided up to the very end. While there are no playoffs, there will still be excitement leading up to the last day. This is one of my favourite things about the MLS season set up.
  • The two halves will feel very different. The first half is shorter, but less dense, with an average of 6.5 days between games. The second half will have 5.8 days between games, and that pace will extend for almost twice as many games. The spring will be a sprint, and the fall will be a marathon, and both halves will emphasize different skills and aptitudes of each of the teams.
    • The spring will favour teams that work hard in the offseason, and teams that are consistent, meaning that there will be added value to hanging on to a squad, developing them, and keeping them together. It also means excitement on day 1 – every game will count.
    • The fall will favour teams that have deep squads, teams that can stay healthy, and teams that are more mature in terms of dealing with the grind of the season.
    • I don’t expect the same team to win both halves.
  • The fact that we’re taking breaks during FIFA International windows
    • No games during the June window
    • Two games during the September window.
    • A single game during the October window.

What I don’t like

  • The unbalanced schedule with respect to how many times each team plays each other team. There’s not a lot that can be done here though.
  • The fact that the winner of both halves can still lose the overall title. I understand the need for excitement and to have a final game to play up, but still.
  • There are 18 CPL games during Gold Cup. It’s looking good for Canada to qualify for Gold Cup based on their performance in the CONCACAF Nations League qualifying, so a number of important Canadian players will need to be away during this stretch. At the same time, this will point out some interesting things:
    • Do any Canadian CPL players get called up due to strong CPL performances?
    • How does Canada do in Gold cup (if they make it)?
    • How deep are the quads – can they still play while missing one or two key players?

What I still have questions about

  • Why are the halves unbalanced?
    • I already said I like it, but I’d love to know more about why things were set up this way.
    • Could this be part of a larger promotion/ relegation plan?
  • How will the different game rates be handled?
    • The first half has a game every 6.5 days. The second half has a game every 5.8 days and over a longer stretch. This will catch up to some teams.
  • Will we go to a longer schedule eventually? Would the weather permit it? MLS season has already started… with Canadian teams.

What do you think?

If you’ve listened to the show, you know I love to hear from you guys. I’d love to know what you think of this deal. You can:

  • Leave a comment at northern90.ca/episode8
  • Write to me at pat at northern90.ca
  • Fire me a note on Twitter @northernninety

Next up, the mailbag.

Mailbag

Some great messages and ideas this week to share with you.

  • Paul of www.uhoopsinsider.com wrote to me to say he was a fan of the podcast. He’s a career soccer journalist who’s started working in photojournalism, so definitely check his site out if you’re looking for high-quality sports photography.
  • David from California wrote to tell me about his project to visit every US and Canadian grounds that hosts MLS, USL Championship, USL Leauge 1 and CPL games. Thanks for the message, David, and best of luck!
  • Ed from Fergus, Ontario wrote to express that he was a fan of the show and that he had joined the N90 Supporter’s Group – thanks so much for the kind words, Ed.!
  • Ryan from Maple Ridge, BC wrote with some great suggestions on possible topics, including the relationship between MLS and CPL, behind the scenes looks at CPL venues, and CPL referees. Excellent ideas!

As I’ve mentioned before, I love getting your mail. Keep it coming! The best thing about doing this podcast is meeting other fans and talking about the game, so thank you for that.

Outroduction

That’s all we’ve got for the show today. If you liked the show, don’t forget to subscribe to it, and when you do leave an honest review. That helps me make the show better and others find it.

Also, if you’ve been enjoying this show, you should join my supporters’ group. When you join you get a weekly newsletter with curated CPL content, access to a members-only Facebook group, contests, giveaways, fantasy leagues, all sorts of good stuff. And it’s free. Check it out at northern90.ca/join.

Until then, have a great week.

 

Credits

Featured Image

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash.

Intro music

Move Like This by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: Texas Radio Fish, Alex Beroza, and Snowflake

Main Content Intro Music

260809 Funky Nurykabe by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Mailbag Music

I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

Outro music

Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: Morusque, Jeris, CSoul, Alex Beroza