CLEVE DHEENSAW
Times Colonist
Pacific FC president Josh Simpson and chief executive officer and general manager Rob Friend, who have 65 caps for Canada between them from their playing days, watched Wednesday’s Canada-Mexico Gold Cup game at Broncos Stadium in mile-high Denver.
Canadian soccer is a “tight-knit community,” Simpson said. “Everybody in the Canadian contingent in Denver was excited about the Canadian Premier League.”
It’s back to sea level today at Westhills Stadium for the CPL fixture between PFC and FC Edmonton at 3 p.m. It is the penultimate fixture for PFC (2-4-2) and third-to-last for FC Edmonton (1-4-2) before closing out their spring seasons. Neither can overtake leading Cavalry FC, which can clinch the 10-game spring title with two points from its final two games. The remaining games are still important, however, because should Cavalry also win the 18-game second half, the team with the next best overall record over the season’s two parts season will get the second berth into the league final.
Simpson and Friend have taken to heart the CPL’s mandate of developing young pro talent and being the bridge, which has been missing in Canadian soccer, that moves players up to Major League Soccer and Europe.
With the youngest roster in the CPL, the growing pains have been obvious for PFC. But this is a long-term project, Simpson said.
With FIFA mandating World Cup host nations to have a domestic pro league, the CPL is good through 2026. By then, the roots will have grown deep, Simpson predicted.
“The CPL is where the MLS was 20 years ago — no difference,” he said.
Simpson also takes a holistic view about PFC’s on-field performance. “We would have loved to have more results, “ he said. “We are looking to put a winning product on the pitch. We are going to be a powerhouse in developing young Canadian pro players. Two or three years down the road, this team will be something special. Even now, we have not been far off.”
Pacific FC is coming off its first road victory in franchise history following Thursday’s 2-1 win over Valour FC in Winnipeg, which ended an eight-game winless streak that included two Voyageurs Cup losses.
“Thursday’s win was huge for us,” said PFC midfielder Ben Fisk, a former Canada under-20 and under-23 player. “We got back to the style of football we want to play and [that] we can build off.”
FC Edmonton is winless in six games.
“A wounded animal is the most dangerous,” PFC coach Michael Silberbauer said. “It’s a quick turnaround from Thursday and we need to keep our energy up.”
