NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR ATLETICO
Team hopes to turn fortunes around in first major event since pandemic began
The Atletico Ottawa soccer club was formally introduced to the local sports landscape way back on Jan. 28, 2020.
A mere 535 calendar days later, Atletico finally, finally gets to play a real Canadian Premier League home game on the pitch at TD Place.
From training camps in Spain, to last year's abbreviated bubble season in Prince Edward Island to opening the 2021 regular season with 10 straight on the road, pro soccer finally returns to Ottawa Saturday at 3 p.m. in front of a “sellout” crowd of 12,000.
The game will mark the first major public event in Ottawa since the COVID outbreak.
It's also the first of three home dates in eight days with games again Wednesday and the following Saturday night, in the first leg of the Canadian Championship Series.
And Atletico won't be strangers for long with seven homes games between now and Sept. 11.
No one has been looking forward to being back at TD Place more than Atletico strategic partner Jeff Hunt.
“To think our team played almost a year and a half, not being able to play in front of our home fans,” said Hunt. “This is one long-awaited debut.
“It's been a long, hard road with a lot of down days.
“It's going to be nice to see the fans embrace the team. We know how much teams mean to the hometown spirit and we haven't had that.”
Hunt said he started tracking the weather two weeks ago, not that he is a strong believer in weather forecasts.
Then just 12 days ago, while standing on the sidelines in Halifax, for the first game for Atletico with any fans in the stands at any venue, he almost had nightmares of the upcoming home opener as torrential rains pounded the Maritimes on game day.
Twelve days later, the forecast is for near-perfect conditions.
While Ontario guidelines would have permitted a crowd of 15,000 at TD Place, Atletico thought about that number, then opted to cap the size of the crowd at 12,000 number to avoid having to open the upper north stand concourse.
The club has averaged almost 500 ticket sales a day and has trended toward the 12,000 mark, meaning the “SRO” signs should be up by kickoff. That figure should set an Ottawa soccer attendance record for a home opener of any other franchise, including the Fury, who shut down after the 2019 season.
The crowd is going to be good for the players, good for the fans and great for the Atletico finances.
Finally, gate receipts.
“It's been frustrating because the game is the real fun factor for all of us involved in owning sports franchises,” said Hunt. “But we have absorbed significant losses along the way.
“The financial overhead becomes extremely tough when there are no revenues. It's like a double whammy. We have no fans or home games and we still have to cut that big cheque.
“But finally there's light at the end of the tunnel.”
Now the 2021 season has not gone exactly as planned for Atletico. Pre-season expectations were for the club to build off its seventh-place finish and be a factor on the CPL table.
Instead, Atletico has won just two of its first 10, played to a draw in another, and lost 7 to find instead in 8th, at the bottom of the standings.
Scoring goals has been a problem for Atletico with just seven thus far, leading to a league-worst goal-differential of minus-9.
And only the top four teams qualify for the playoff round and Atletico has already dug themselves an almost insurmountable task of being 11 points out of the fourth and final spot with 16 games to play.
“We hope to find the magic of home field,” said Hunt. “Although we haven't done well on the pitch, we're hoping the inspiration from our fans will really give us a boost.
“We've played on the road in many empty stadiums. Now we're home, and hopefully, the fans and the team will be celebrating (Saturday).”
It's like a double whammy. We have no fans or home games and we still have to cut that big cheque.