The Dawn Of The Canadian Premier League: Forge FC vs. York 9 FC

@CPLSoccer

April 27, 2019 is a day that will live in Canadian sports infamy.

As you know, that day was the marking of the beginning of the new Canadian Premier League (CPL) season, with York 9 FC travelling down the QEW to Hamilton to take on Hamilton Forge FC. I have been monitoring the progress of the creation of the CPL for some time now, and now this is the opportunity for me to talk about the league in general.

There has been a sore need for Canadian Soccer to help build its own identity and create a concrete path for young Canadian players to raise their profile, instead of relying on Major League Soccer and other leagues, which prioritize the growth of young American players. The CPL is trying to be that concrete path for Canadian players, and with the addressing of that urgency, I truly hope that the league finds some sort of success.

However, I must bring up two major issues that can harm the long-term sustainability of the league. The first thing are the costs, and in particular, the cost of travel across Canada for the players and staff for each club. I know that WestJet is a sponsor of Calvary FC, and I would hope that they are subsidizing some of the travel costs for the club. I would love to see something similar for the rest of the CPL clubs. Another major issue is the ability to attract fans to go to CPL matches. There is already a small, strong contingent of Canadian soccer supporters who are fans of the individual clubs. The clubs must branch out and try to attract casual soccer fans, as well as locals, to go to matches in order to ensure the survival of the individual clubs and the league.

I felt honored to make it to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton to be a part of the first-ever CPL match between Forge and York. It felt like I was a part of something historic, and it felt like that day could mean something significant decades down the line. I have never been to Tim Hortons Field before, but because the stadium is right in the middle of a neighbourhood, we encountered great difficulty in trying to find a parking spot in the residential streets around the stadium. We entered the stadium during the singing of the Canadian National Anthem, so we missed the opening ceremonies.

I was surprised to see the amount of people that attended the first-ever CPL match. I was expecting around 10,000 people in attendance, but the attendance figure was around 17,500 people. The attendance figure exceeded my expectations, and I am confident that Forge FC will be one of the healthier-supported clubs in the CPL. The atmosphere around the stadium was a pleasing, family-friendly experience. I was also impressed with the travelling York supporters, who were loud and boisterous throughout the match, greatly drowning out the home support of the Forge faithful. Although the pre-game tifo from the Forge supporters section was nice, I did not hear them all that much during the match. However, it is only the first match, and with some catchy chants, I am sure that the Forge supporters will find their voice in the rest of their home matches.

The match itself was an adequate showpiece of Canadian talent. After scoring an early goal in the match, York kept an organized shape, and Forge were making poor decisions in the offensive third in the first half. It was also disappointing to see Kyle Bekker be out of his depth among other players in yet another league. In the second half, the introduction of Kadell Thomas sparked the Forge offense, and the added pressure on the York goal led to Thomas scoring the equalizer, which finally gave the home fans something to cheer. Overall, the 1-1 draw was the right result for both teams, although York will be disappointed with conceding the equalizer late in the match.

The quality of play in that match was definitely worse than MLS, but I will hold my judgment on this until I see more CPL matches. Regardless, the match was entertaining to watch in its joy, and its frustration of poor decision-making. If I am able to make it to more CPL matches, whether it is in the York region, or in Hamilton, then I will definitely go. It is my duty to support Canadian soccer, and I will definitely support the CPL.

I took some pictures below: