Introduction
This is the Northern 90 Podcast with Pat Sweet, Episode 3.
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 another episode of the Northern 90 Podcast. I’m your host, Pat Sweet.
Today, we’re doing a meet and greet for each of the seven Canadian Premier League teams. Think of it as speed dating, and if you don’t already have a team to take to the ball, today may be the day you get swept off your feet and meet that special club.
The plan is to take three minutes per club, tell you a bit about them, key stats, important storylines to follow, and big questions as they move forward.
News
- League commissioner David Clanachan gave an interesting interview on Sportsnet this week. Some interesting tidbits here, including:
- Wanting to have between 14-16 teams in five years, which he thought would pave the way for promotion and relegation
- What keeps him up at night? Cutting through the chatter about other sports leagues.
- Roster rules were clarified a little. Rosters must have a minimum of 50% + 1 Canadians on the roster, AND there be a minimum of three Canadians on each team under the age of 21, and that all three get at least 1000 minutes.
- The schedule is coming out soon. The season will start in late April and end by the end of October
- League broadcast rights are coming out soon.
- On TSN 1290 Winnipeg, Clanachan also revealed that kits will drop in early April, which is fantastic.
So, some exciting stuff coming from Mr. Clanachan in the league’s front office, which gives us a ton to look forward to.
If you’d like to hear more league news, you might consider joining the Northern 90 Supporters’ Group – a free online supporters’ group I’ve launched. Members get a weekly newsletter with links to the best CPL content every week. Beyond that, there will be contests, giveaways, fantasy leagues, and a private members’ Facebook group to discuss games and the league. If you’re interested, just go to Northern90.ca/join.
Three Minutes on Each Team
Ok, so here’s what we’re going to do. Moving from East to West, I’ll tackle each team in three minutes or less to give you a sense for what each club is like, and how they compare.
Without further adieu, let’s talk about the clubs.
HFX Wanderers FC
Where: Halifax, NS.
Stadium: The Wanderers grounds. A natural grass pitch situated on a historic part of the city that’s been used since 1882 for athletics – originally by the Wanderers Amateur Athletic Club. Thus the team name. A temporary stadium has been erected at the site and will sit 6,500.
Head coach: Stephen Hart. Hart is a former Canadian Men’s national team coach, and Trinidad and Tobago men’s national team coach. He’s got some Halifax connections, too, having studied and played at St. Mary’s University and played for King of Donair, a nationally recognized soccer club in its day.
Ownership: Sports and Entertainment Atlantic.
Players signed: 8, 4 Canadians and 4 from Trinidad and Tobago.
Player to watch: Elton John – a Trinidad and Tobago international.
Fans: Privateers 1882 is the big supporters group here, and reports are that there are 3,000 season ticket holders as of January 17, 2019.
What to watch: HFX Wanderers is the only team in the league that is truly starting from scratch, in terms of there not having been a club previously or some sort of player development channel. It will be interesting to see how quickly Hart can get his team to gel, compared to others. No doubt his getting players he knows well and has worked with in Trinidad and Tobago is part of his efforts to get that team cohesion. Also, the fan base is already stoked about this team. Away teams are going to feel the heat in Halifax.
York 9 FC
Where: York Region, Ontario
Stadium: Starting at Alumni Field at York University, then York Lions Stadium once renovations are complete. Capacity at Alumni Field is 2,500 plus grass seating for 1,000. York Lions stadium will have a capacity of 8,000 once renovations are complete. Plans are in place to build a 15,000 seat stadium in the future.
Head Coach: Jimmy Brennan, who, for those of you unfamiliar with him, is Canadian soccer royalty. He played in England for much of his career, wrapped things up at Toronto FC, and has 49 caps for the Canadian Men’s National team. He’s got the honour of being the first Canadian to ever be sold for over one million pounds. He was part of Canada’s Gold Cup winning team in 2000 and has been inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.
Ownership: York Sports and Entertainment, which is backed by the Greenpark group. York Sports and Entertainment president Preben Ganzhorn was formerly involved in marketing, community relations, and game day operations at Toronto FC, so there’s clearly a lot of soccer know-how there.
Players Signed: 9 as of January 22. All Canadians, save for a Swedish striker and a Japanese midfielder.
Fans: There’s a York 9 FC CPL SG Twitter account out there, but it doesn’t seem to be very active. So, if you’re part of a York 9 supporter’s group, drop me a line!
What to watch: Canadian content and business savvy. The team is already taking advantage of local up and coming Canadian talent and has drawn particularly from the Toronto area and players who had been part of TFC’s system. Off the pitch, the guys running the show have a lot of experience and have reportedly done a good job of impressing fans and selling the more premium offerings, like team bench racecar seats.
Forge FC
Where: Hamilton, Ontario
Stadium: Tim Horton’s Field, located in the heart of East End Hamilton. It opened in 2014 and has a capacity for 24,000, but will be reduced to 10,000 during games to make for a more intimate atmosphere for fans.
Head Coach: Bobby Smyrniotis, who was previously the co-founder, technical director, and first team head coach for Sigma FC. For those unfamiliar, Sigma FC is arguably one of the best development programs in North America. Sigma produced the likes of Cyle Larin and Kyle Bekker.
Ownership: Bob Young is the leading co-founder, and also happens to own the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, who also play at Tim Horton’s Field.
Players: Six players so far, five of which are Canadian. Two players to watch are Kwame Awuha, who spent last season with New York City FC of MLS, and Kyle Bekker, a Canadian International who’s spent most of his career in MLS, and more recently in NASL and the USL Championship.
Fans: The Barton Street Battalion launched in 2016, and is probably the one supporters group that’s going to give Privateers 1882 a run for their money. Having lived in the Hammer for a few years myself, I can tell you that these people are going to be fiercely proud of their team, and won’t be afraid to show it.
What to watch: The 905 Derby. We know now that the first game in league history will be between Forge FC and York 9. The stands are going to be packed, and it’s going to be incredible.
Valour FC
Where: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Stadium: Investor’s Group Field, with a capacity of 33,234. It is home to the Winnipeg Bluebombers, the University of Manitoba Bisons Football team, and the Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Junior Football League.
Head Coach: Rob Gale. Gale has been involved in coaching in Canada at the national level since 2010 at the U 16, 17, 18, and 20 levels, making him very familiar with young Canadian talent.
Ownership: The Winnipeg Football group, which is the legal name for the Winnipeg Bluebombers.
Players Signed: 8, six of which are Canadian.
Player to watch: Skylar Thomas, a Canadian defender and former youth international who spent time with TFC II and the Charleston Battery in the USL. He was drafted by TFC in the first round of the 2015 MLS super draft.
Fans: Red River Rising is the first and largest supporters’ group, and has nearly 1,000 newsletter subscribers already.
What to watch: Watch out for Canadian youth and local player development. With Mr. Gale’s involvement in Canadian youth coaching at the national level, I think we’re going to see youth development play a prominent role in Winnipeg’s game from the word go.
FC Edmonton
Where: Edmonton, AB
Stadium: Clarke Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,200 seats.
Head Coach: Jeff Paulus, who’s been an assistant coach and academy director with FC Edmonton since 2011, during the time the club operated in the NASL.
Ownership: Tom and Dave Fath, who founded the club as part of the launch of the NASL in 2010.
Players Signed: Eight players and all but one are Canadian. Keep an eye on Allan Zebie, as he’s been with FC Edmonton since 2015. He’s bound to be a fan favourite.
Fans: The FC Edmonton Supporters’ group has a Facebook page that you can check out. And, if someone from Edmonton can explain the whole Rally Rabbit thing to me, that would be excellent. The fans actually convinced the Fath Group to relaunch the team in the Canadian Premier League after it left the NASL before the 2018 season, so you can bet that support is going to be strong here.
What to watch: The value of experience, both in the front office and the back office. Paulus and the Fath brothers have been running a professional club for years, so I expect that to be a competitive advantage as the season progresses. Also, the rivalry with Calgary is going to be epic.
Cavalry FC
Where: Calgary, AB.
Stadium: Spruce Meadows, a natural grass facility with seating for 6000. It’s being built at an existing horse ring, which is going to give it a really unique feel.
Head coach: Tommy Wheeldon Jr., who was the coach of the Calgary Foothills football club that won the USL League 2 Championship last year.
Ownership: The club is owned by Spruce Meadows Sports and Entertainment, which in turn is wholly owned by the Southern Family. The family originally built the Spruce Meadows facility in the 70s and have owned and operated it ever since.
Players signed: 11 players so far, all but two are Canadian. Nine of the 11 players signed so far, including one of the foreign-born players, come from Wheeldon’s winning Calgary Foothills team from last season.
Fans: The Foot Soldiers are a supporters’ group that formed in 2015 to support the Calgary Foothills, and they’ve definitely added Cavalry FC to the list of clubs they support.
What to watch: I’ll be very interested to see if the USL League 2 players signed can make the jump to CanPL, or if that even represents much of a jump. if we assume that CanPL will be at about a USL Championship level of play and that these guys were part of the top team in USL League 2, they can probably do it. Besides that, they’ll have familiarity with one another and with their coach to their advantage.
Pacific FC
Where: Victoria, BC.
Stadium: Westhills Stadium in Langford, BC, which is being renovated now to be able to host 6,000 fans.
Head Coach: Michael Silberbauer, a former Danish pro footballer and Danish international. Most recently, he was an assistant coach with C Luzern of the Swiss Super League.
Ownership: The club’s president is former Canadian international Josh Simpson, it’s CEO is another former Canadian International Rob Friend. Their chairman is the President and CEO of Knightsbridge Capital, Dean Shillington.
Players signed: Seven players so far. All Canadian. Most played with Vancouver Whitecaps II before that team was disbanded. Many went on to play for Fresno FC, which is the new USL Championship Affiliate of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Fans: The Lake Side Buoys, who’ve been supporting local soccer in Victoria since 2011. Like the Foot Soldiers, they’ve been behind USL League 2 soccer in the past, cheering on the Victoria Highlanders.
What to watch: It will be interesting to see how Silberbauer, the only coach on the league without Canadian experience, will fare, and how the many Whitecaps II/ Fresno FC players make the transition to the CanPL.
Mailbag
Send me your questions, comments, or reactions to:
- Twitter: @NorthernNinety
- Facebook: facebook.com/northernninety
If you send me good stuff, I’ll discuss it on the show!
Outroduction
That’s all the time we have for this episode! Thank you so much for listening.
In the next episode, I’ll go introduce you to each of the clubs that will take part in this inaugural season.
And please, if you’re excited about the Canadian Premier League, be sure to subscribe to this podcast to make sure you stay in the loop. Also, please leave a review. It helps me make the podcast better and helps others find the show, so that’s super important.
If you’d like to read what you’ve just heard, go to norther90.ca/episode3 to find the show notes.
In the meantime, have an excellent week. I hope to chat with you again soon!
Credits
Featured post image courtesy of JOHNNY LAI.
Mailbag Music
Outro music
