An Interview with #YEG4CanPL
@yeg4CPL (#YEG4CanPL) is an Edmonton soccer fan group that started after the Fath brothers announced the departure of FC Edmonton from the North American Soccer League (NASL), and the immediate discontinuation of professional franchise operations on November 24, 2017. This detailed interview sheds more light on the group and the inspiration behind its start.
Image Courtesy: IQRemix CC BY-SA 2.0.
Q: Tell us a little bit about how you got the group started?
R: Since FC Edmonton had been operating since 2010, there have been many people who have followed pro soccer in Edmonton for a significant amount of time. Unlike other CanPL groups, Edmonton's groups have had the luxury of having a first team to follow and rally behind. The loss of the clear path to the CanPL meant to some of us, that there needed to be a rallying cry, and something for soccer fans in Edmonton to get behind. It's designed to let both the Fath brothers know that there are many local fans and supporters of both FC Edmonton and pro soccer in Edmonton who see the CanPL as the preferred way forward for pro soccer in Edmonton. After the announcement, I think that fans of FC Edmonton were saddened and were feeling like the chance of us seeing a Edmonton team in the CanPL was significantly reduced. In order to counter that, as well as help give an target for people to aim at, several fans worked to try and identify a hashtag and group to work on. For those of us who created the social media accounts and are working on getting the message out that Edmonton still needs pro soccer, we just started talking about where we saw the club, and what we could do to make this passion known to people that matter in Edmonton.
Q: With the announcement of #CanPL in May, excitement has pretty much been unanimous for footy fans across Canada. Fans are eager to see a team in Edmonton, so what’s your group doing to make that happen?
R: I think the announcement in May had excitement mirrored here, as it did across the country. As I said earlier, Edmonton was slightly different as it had a club, and that club was already competing in a league, so there was some trepidation (as there might continue to be in Edmonton fan circles) about the quality, and there was some debate about the level of competition that the CanPL would provide. I think as the NASL became increasingly unstable over the fall, many fans wanted to see FC Edmonton demonstrate a desire to move to CanPL and join a league that would provide more sustainability to the FC Edmonton ownership, as well as one without the political and instability issues that have plagued the NASL over the past few years. I think most of the fans here wanted to see Tom and Dave Fath's dedication, passion and investments shown to be a positive and meaningful contribution to the Edmonton and Canadian sporting landscape, and I think that most would agree that the CanPL provides the most direct feedback to their vision of FC Edmonton being a club that provides opportunity for young Edmonton players.
Q: How about some of the challenges?
R: The biggest challenges that have faced the movement that we have started is the narrative that soccer has failed repeatedly in Edmonton. Over several generations, there have been numerous attempts of launching a soccer team, all of which have fallen flat either immediately, or after several years. I think that getting the message out that this sport can succeed is important, and I think that the "dark" 2018 will show some people that there are many opportunities to support the sport through means other than the NASL, or even pro soccer. Recently, I've had the fortune of interviewing FC Edmonton Academy Director Jeff Paulus, and I know that there are some very cool things in the works that will ensure that the FC Edmonton brand and identity are not lost through 2018, regardless of what might happen in 2019 and onward. The other substantial challenge is that Edmonton is first and foremost an Oilers town. Edmonton has long tied its identity with the Edmonton Oilers, and have supported that team to the point of losing other sports teams (the Edmonton Rush in the National Lacrosse League for example). This has been most clearly shown through the lack of support from significant sources such as the Edmonton City Counsel. FC Edmonton's struggles with the City have been documented over the years and one of the goals that we have as a group is to demonstrate that there is a significant amount of fans that value this club, and to work to help Counsel understand that for Edmonton to be a "World Class City", Edmonton needs to support all its pro sports, particularly one which could bring in sports tourists from across Canada.
Q: What would it mean for Edmonton to have a team?
R: Edmonton has massive historical significant in Canadian Soccer. For years it was the home of the national team at Commonwealth Stadium. The origins of the Canadian National Team supporters (The Voyageurs) can be traced back to Edmonton. It's in the top 5 largest cities in Canada, and is a finalist in the recent World Cup bid to host a World Cup game. To not have a professional soccer club, particularly in a city that may host a World Cup game is a travesty. Not to mention that there are thousands of young Edmonton players who have benefited from FC Edmonton over the years, through the academy, the training sessions that FC Edmonton players helped run, or even just through watching the professional game on the pitch. I think that having a strong Canadian professional game is vital to the continued development of young Canadian players, and to be lacking that in this city is disgraceful. While FC Edmonton has admittedly not pulled in sell out crowds over the years, the success that the club had in 2017 showed that there is a loyal and dedicated fan base in Edmonton that was growing. That support would continue to grow with a CanPL team in Edmonton, and I think having heated and significant rivalries with other Canadian cities (such as Calgary) would grow that support considerably and rapidly.
Q: How do you see #CanPL improving the reach of the game in Canada. Do you see it having an impact on the National team long term?
R: While I don't think that the CanPL should make Canadian development part of the mandate for the league, I think it would be impossible to have a domestic league without having some massive impact on the development of Canadian Soccer. The success of FC Edmonton's Academy system has shown that there is much work to do in this capacity, and with the increase of professional teams across the country, there would be a massive increase in talent. FC Edmonton has benefited through several players being promoted to the first team, has sold academy products to other clubs, can boast about academy talent now playing overseas, and has also worked hard to develop players into human beings. Tom Fath has recently stated on Episode 130 of the Loyal Co. of the River Valley Podcast that he sees the benefit of the academy being seen for generations in Edmonton through the development of better soccer minds, which will in turn continue to develop the Canadian soccer landscape for years through parent coaches (i.e. players going through the current system going on to coach when they have children, can use the knowledge, and skills they learned now to help develop players 20 years from now). If this is repeated over the country through CanPL academies, it will create a new Canadian Soccer culture and identity, which will benefit Canada when it comes to playing on a national level. I also believe that fans will want to see local players. FC Edmonton fans still continue to talk about Shaun Saiko, Antonio Rago and Paul Hamilton, even 4-5 years after they were forced to stop playing professionally. I think that having more options will keep players such as Shaun, Antonio and Paul playing at a high level as there will be more clubs playing and looking for players of that class, as well as the desire to play for a local club will continue to make young players work harder at developing in the future.
Be sure to follow the group on Twitter.