FC EDMONTON DRAWS A CROWD
Attendance bodes well for franchise
In the end, the score was inconsequential.
For the record, Foothills FC defeated the FC Edmonton Academy 4-0 in the first leg of the Al (Alberta) Classico at Clarke Stadium on Sunday.
What was important were the 3,205 fans who came out to take in the exhibition game, offering a sample of the appetite for the resurrection of the professional soccer franchise.
The two teams will play the second leg of the series next weekend in Okotoks, where Foothills FC will make their home this season.
“The supporters group brought up the idea a couple of years ago of Calgary and Edmonton doing something,” said FC Edmonton general manager Jay Ball. “This came together about a month ago, when the supporters group started realizing there could be an Alberta rivalry coming soon.”
FC Edmonton’s professional club folded in November after seven seasons in the North American Soccer League.
The club is looking at returning next summer as a member of the upstart Canadian Premier League, which intends to launch its inaugural season in 2019. Foothill FC, who currently plays in the Premier Development League — an umbrella league of the United Soccer League — is also rumoured to be joining the CPL next season.
“Academy head coach Jeff Paulus had invited Foothills FC up to play a friendly against them,” Ball said. “Then about two and-a-half weeks ago, we decided to open it up to fans, and then it really blew up over the last 10 days.”
Prior to folding, in large part due to the uncertainly of the NASL, which has since gone on a year hiatus, FC Edmonton had one of their best seasons, attendance-wise.
Despite their growing attendance numbers, however, the team was still losing money. It is believed owners Tom Fath and Dave Fath lost upwards of $1 million per season playing in the NASL.
Looking toward the CPL, FC Edmonton wants to make the endeavour financially viable and has approached the City of Edmonton requesting improvements to Clarke Stadium in order to meet CPL standards. Those improvements include a permanent dressing room for the professional club, additional washrooms and increased concession areas. FC Edmonton also wants to be the preferential tenant in the stadium, which they would share with various soccer groups around the city.
“I think this turnout is totally representative of how hungry people are for soccer,” Ball said. “They came out to support the game, they came out to support Tom, they came out to support FC Edmonton, who they haven’t seen in about six months. They ’ve heard all these rumours (about joining the CPL) and they just want to see the club play.
“There is a sense of reality and now it’s just a question of what’s next? And those are the things ownership will need to look at in the next, short time period.”
One of the hurdles of getting the upgrades to Clarke Stadium is coming to an agreement with the football community on the use of the stadium.
FC Edmonton’s request was met with opposition from the Edmonton Eskimos and local football clubs, who also use the facility.
The groups are expected to get together in the near future to discuss a compromise on the use of the stadium.
“We’re still going through the process and meeting with the stakeholders,” Ball said. “The city is pulling the groups together for discussion. That’s something that has to happen and we’ve always said we want to be good neighbours and we want to find a way to make it work and we will — we’ll find a way to make it work.
“We have to come together and talk. The club has been going down this process with this high-level idea for months and now we’re being guided by the city to get everybody together and talk it out and I’m sure it will be fine.”
On the field, the FC Edmonton academy players, who were joined by former alumni Paul Hamilton, Shaun Saiko, Allan Zebie and Sam Lam, were a bit outmatched by Foothills FC, who feature former Eddies captain Nik Ledgerwood and women’s national team goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe.
Foothills scored two goals inside the first seven minutes of the game, capitalizing on defensive mistakes by the FC Edmonton Academy. They added two more goals within three minutes of each other in the second half.
Labbe came into the game and played the last 10 minutes for Foothills FC. She made an outstanding save to keep FC Edmonton off the board late in the contest on a point-blank shot from the slot.
“I think this was a great day, it was just awesome,” Ball said. “It was a good show of support for the club and the Canadian game. People want soccer here, they want this level of soccer here, they want the CPL and they want Edmonton in the CPL.”