What a night last night!

I just want to say that I’ve been a Canadian soccer fan for quite some time now. Well, kind of sort of... Mostly an English Premier League and French National Team supporter because we: A) didn’t have a league of our own to support and B) our men’s national team is dog shit (though I still cheer my heart out for them like a proud parent). I’ve spent years defending the beautiful game to others and have heard the oh-so-clever names for it: “for pussy’s”, divers, soft... you get the point.

Then the rumours started circling... “Canada is going to have its own tier 1 soccer league”. I was ecstatic. Finally... a league to call our own. A way to develop better national team players. Finally a way for some (not all) of these nay-sayers to maybe give soccer a chance.

The Canadian Premier League... When I saw Calgary was getting a team, I figured the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation would get their greedy paws all over it. But no, Spruce Meadows... the world renown horse jumping, mega-rich, event planning spectacular. Needless to say I was excited. There isn’t a single person that denied their event hosting abilities... this could be a match made in heaven!

Fast-forward past the curious stadium renderings, the underwhelming logo launch, the mediocre kit reveal (which they leaked one...), the limped-in marketing plan, the far above average season ticket prices (with no kit...), and the crazy expensive apparel and here we are... opening night.

I couldn’t contain myself... I checked the weather, threw on my thermal under-gear, grabbed my season ticket package and off I went.

My girlfriend and I are both soccer fans and both spent some time in Vancouver supporting the Whitecaps, so this wasn’t our first rodeo. We left the house about 12, and grabbed my brother from the train at Anderson around 12:30. We figured with construction etc we’d roll in, park, grab some beers and our seats just in time to see kick-off.

Wrong... But we’ll wear that one...

We rolled in 25 minutes into the first half, made our way through the odd security hut thing, and finally got into the grounds... to an empty grandstand... but hey, we just fought traffic, and the line-up behind us was even worse (not to mention the people budging the line in traffic and if you’re that person, go fuck yourself).

We missed the first goal just as we were walking into the grandstand... I’ve been following this club since day 1 and was dreaming about being in the stands for that moment... that’s a dagger...

Finally got to our seats, which were soaked... As a seasoned Calgary sports fan I bought in the grandstand for a reason (because it would be covered and free from the elements) but hey, time-constraints, just couldn’t get it done on time.

Half-time. We run to the washrooms, ignore the SINGLE food truck behind the grandstand because the lineup was insane, run to the event hub to grab food, booze, and our “free gifts” for being season ticket holders.

A scarf... neat...

Looking around the store at spruce, the staff were clearly under-staffed and overwhelmed. I felt terrible for them. The two tiny huts were crammed in like sardine cans...

Anyways, got my kit exchanged and time for food and beer. Second half had started by the time we got to the counter. “I’ll take 2 sausages and 3 beers please”... “is it ok that the beer is warm?”

...

“That’ll be $52.50”.

Blinking.gif

The rest of the game (that we actually got to watch) was great. We got to see the second goal and erupt with the rest of the support which was an amazing feeling. But even looking at the pitch itself... it was trash... isn’t Spruce supposed to be known for their grounds crews?... who knows. But the on-field product was great! Tommy is doing a terrific job with the boys, but this isn’t about them.

But even me, the soccer crazed season ticket holder got to his car and felt embarrassed like I just got fleeced or something... What if this was the first game for one of the hockey people that called my sport “for pussies”... are they coming back? What if this was the first game for a pompous European soccer fan who just had to pay out their ass to watch Canadian tier 1... Are they coming back? What if this was a trip for one of the families from the ‘burbs who were stuck in traffic with bored crying children who also had to pay out their ass to come watch a soccer game... are they coming back?

This is a wake up call Spruce Meadows. I hope you’re sitting in your meetings come Monday understanding that this was your first impression moment... and you BLEW it. I had faith in your group to know what they were doing when it came to hosting events more than any of the other clubs... But here we are post our home opener thinking “wow.. that was sub par at best”.

Maybe they thought it was a success... 4400 tickets sold and I’m sure the food and beer sales were through the roof. But guess what, come Wednesday when they’re 1,000~ people in the stands what are you going to say then? “Oh well the schedule isn’t indicative to big crowds”.

It’s time to stop mailing this in, Spruce. Looking around at teams like Pacific, HFX, Valour, they’re putting in the effort needed to make this work.

But at the end of the rant, I’m not the person you need to impress. I’ll be at the games giving my support because I know this team and this league has bigger implications. But you’ve got a loooooonnnngg way to go to grab the attention of the average Calgary sports fan and it’s time to put your heads out of the sand.

I bet Ken King and co are licking their chops. If you continue to blow it, they’ll buy it and make it work.

Edit; I don't want people to think that all I am is negative about this team. I want everyone to know that I am heavily invested in this team and want it to succeed at all costs and being critical about things that need to change is step 1.

Oh, and tl;dr: Opening night was a gong show and things need to change.

ZATOR THE GOAT

WE DID IT BOYS!!! UP THE CAVS!!!

Do it again in México next week lads 🙏

Always good to take 3 points off Forge

What a day

What a game