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Casual Friday: Get This In Before Finals Edition
By How about that, it’s been about a month-and-a-half since our last Casual Friday showed some beer guzzlin’, wall-starin’, racoon-runnin’ moments from the Canadian Premier League.
With the CPL Final approaching, I wanted to highlight some more odds-and-ends of CPL culture before the o̶f̶f̶s̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶s̶ ̶d̶i̶m̶i̶n̶i̶s̶h uh, much-awaited league final.
Without further ado, here’s some offbeat CPL happenings that I thought you ought to see:
This Rocks
Hamilton loves itself a good pop icon, and thanks to one intrepid Forge FC fan one of them now has a Forge football kit to call their own! Rod looks…amused at the kit swap, perhaps suggesting he was planning on wearing an Ottleti kit when he played in Ottawa soon after.
The CPL also had a wild crossover with Kiss back in 2019, with several CPL players attending a concert which had an ad featuring the players, too. The CPL figuring out it’s media budget in 2019 was a confusing time…but I did to try beef wellington in a press box once before four years of straight cold pizza took over.
Adidas? In My CPL? It’s More Likely Than You Think.
While the Canadian Premier League has used Macron to supply its kits for all five season, Adidas supplied some very early kit designs that were never ultimately used. Cavalry inadvertently showed one of them off in a Twitter post about Carducci’s growth, giving us a quick look at goalkeeper hit we’ll never see in the flesh!
Incidentally, my very first Casual Friday shout-out was to an outfield Adidas Cavalry kit spotted on Twitter, too – and the bloke made the post private, probably at the club’s request.
Catch me embedding my own image now, suckers!
This Also Rocks
Okay, a lil’ heavy on the music content, but come on – how cool is it to see artists come to a city and rep the CPL while they play there? British EDM artist Loraine James – known as Whatever the Weather – rocked a the York United Pride Kit during their set in Toronto. You love to see it.
The club has proven itself to be a big platform for 2SLGBTQ+ voices, and you’ve got to say for how much they work towards community involvement…they really deserve more butts in seats.
James Cameron Directs Vancouver To Three Points
Some will say this meme should be retired, but I say this was a match made in heaven. James Cameron and Celine Dion…this is art, CPL content team. Muuuch better than that Keiran Baskett TikTok that will, and I seriously mean this, haunt my dreams forever.
It Gets The Juices Flowing
Imagine being sixteen years old and in the midst of your first professional contract. You’re playing well beyond your years and, despite your club missing playoffs, you get the nod for the Canada U-17 side. In your last club match before going on international duty, you score a peach of a goal.
That’s TJ Tahid for you – and you love to see that he celebrated the big moment with some post-game cranberry juice and some pictures with his grandparents. That’s wholesome AF.
Also, a big shout out to Benedict Rhodes – his Twitter account is a great follow for all things CPL.
Family Man
No further comment on this other than that’s some good tough love from your fam, Matteo.
Of course, it’s no secret that Atletico Ottawa would love to make that a home environment for you!
CPL Shout From Copa90
While Canadian sporting networks continue to generally be a giant tumbleweed when it comes to supporting their own country’s domestic action, London’s Copa90 gave a nice nod to the Cavalry – Forge rivalry when making an Instagram post showing football classics all over the world.
We love the CPL shout, so we’ll forgive Copa90 for misplacing the Toronto FC vs Montreal quite badly on the map…that’s like, almost in Saskatchewan. Pro soccer there is wishful thinking, buddy!
Jonathan Sirois Is A National Treasure
What a year it’s been for former Valour goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, who wielded an opportunity to showcase himself for CF Montreal early on in the season and proved to be not just an MLS quality keeper – something CPL fans already knew – but a record-breaking one in Montreal.
Sirois has always shown great care and respect for the fans, but the fact that he put out a PSA to find a young fan who left before he could give him gloves is next level. You love to see it!
Jean-Baptiste Gives Back
It’s been a tough season for Valour FC, who told fans that the status quo at the end of the season simply doesn’t match their ambition. You can’t fault the heart of the players, however, and Andrew Jean-Baptiste is one of those who gives his all when he’s been fit to play.
It’s awesome to see the Haitian defender look to give back directly to the fans who have turned out at IG Field, so we’d like to give him a kudos for repaying the faith.
Looking Familiar, Mikey?
York United midfielder Michael Petrasso saw a familiar sight while shopping about for kits in England. You really never know where CPL kits will wind up: from a Pacific kit prototype popping up in Barcelona to Petrasso finding a York9 vintage kit in England, we’re slowly creeping into broad football culture.
If we had to bet, we’d guess that Michael Petrasso’s time in green may have ended with his fall-time loan to English side Maidstone United, especially given that he’d been seeking a move back to Merry Old England before re-signing in 2023. So…is this the last time we see him with a green kit? Maybe.
That’s all I’ve got to show you all for now, but I just wanted to say this season has been – and continues to be – an amazing ride. The expanded playoff format added a lot of thrills to both the regular season and the post, and I can’t wait to see how that all culminates this month.