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Casual Friday: Midseason Madness Edition
By It’s been about five months since our last Casual Friday, and somewhere in that fact is a joke about North American work culture.
I’ve collected some odds and ends from Canadian Premier League happenings over the last few months and put them together below. Many of them are quite old now, but as Boris Johnson eloquently put it, them’s the breaks.
Without further ado, let’s kick things off over in Hamilton:
Kit-Tastrophe Or Genius?
Goalkeeper outfield kit: it’s not cursed, it’s canon.
A seven even-goal thriller at Tim Hortons Field saw Triston Henry don the club’s orange outfield kit, but it isn’t the way it sounds.
Forge donned their black-and gray kits for the match and Ottawa brought their ice blue, so Henry…wore the club’s orange outfield kit to differentiate himself more clearly than his usual neon look would have allowed for. Smart!
After all, this is a league where its newest club has black predominantly on both its home and away colours and, even outside of that, has made some truly avoidable colour-clash kit decisions – we don’t go by the traditional grain here.
That Time OneSoccer Made Up A Name For Halifax’s Goalkeeper
There was plenty of excitement when veteran goalkeeper Yan Fillion signed with the club ahead of the 2023 CPL season, but nine matches in and the broadcast crews didn’t quite have the name down yet: he kept on getting referred to as Yannick, which adds a non-existent ‘ick’ on the end of his name.
Evidently feeliing ‘icky’ about that, after nine matches Yann had enough and tweeted directly at the broadcasters to clarify his own name.
You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do! I can relate…did you know my last name isn’t pronounced in a French way, like, at all?
Lost In Translation
With the high-profile transfer of Alberto Zapater to Atletico Ottawa, there’s been some new eyes on Atletico Ottawa – and one of them livetweeted his experience.
To say he had himself a rage is an understatement: blasting the Cavalry backline for ‘moving less then the goalkeeper’, describing the home side as nine ‘Adamas’ Traore, and seeming to believe that the defensive fouls were performed by ‘actors to guarantee the show’, he had himself a time.
It’s a fun ride into one man’s spiraling descent into madness. Highly rated, 10/10.
Aribim Pepple: Premier League Bound, Kind Of
The incredible rise of Luton Town up to the English Premier League has resulted in an interesting trivia factoid: Aribim Pepple is the first former Canadian Premier League player to grace the English top flight, kind of.
The 20-year-old youngster is a long-term project who is expected to be loaned out from the newly-promoted side, having already spent time with Grimsby Town and featuring for Luton’s youth setup.
While he lit the Canadian Premier League up during his second spell here, Pepple has yet to grow into a senior team role in England – but we’re all rooting for him.
Canadian Premier League Comes To AppleTV…By Mistake
AppleTV and MLS subscribers hoping to preview Toronto FC’s match versus Atlanta United got an unexpected taste of Forge FC, with fans of the three-time CPL champions being shown for the ‘Bring On Atlanta’ preview piece. Instead of red-clad TFC supporters, the bright orange of Forge FC was on display – a nice little cameo for the Hamilton-based team.
It’s a bit odd that AppleTV has now shown more of Canada’s top flight content than, say, Rogers. Things are still a bit messy over there, mind you.
International Media Slow To Catch On With Vancouver FC
Mexican media outlets went zero for two when it came to reporting about the correct Vancouver football club ahead of the 2023 CPL season, with an early leak of the Cristian Mares loan mistakenly saying he was off to the ‘Caps, with the marquee signing of Gael Sandoval resulting in the exact same thing weeks later.
(Not that Gael is still in the league by the time this was published, anyway)
While it’ll take time for Google results to get the jist of the Vancouver FC / Vancouver Whitecaps FC difference, we hope that international media does their due diligence – though the mistake is also quite complimentary to the types of internationals Vancouver FC recruited. After all, several outlets thought it quite plausible that these players were off to MLS, as opposed to the five-year-old CPL instead.
We suppose Vancouver FC went zero for two on those guys as well, since neither of them are still with the club a few months later.
Cavalry Bedroom
Alberta’s CPL team received quite an interesting tribute from Trico Homes, a local homebuilder who is a presenting partner for the family section of Cavalry’s 6,000-seat stadium.
The company decorated a model bedroom with a Cavalry FC wall decal, with the rest of the room featuring a collection of Cavalry paraphernalia, giving prospective home buyers a splash of their local professional soccer team.
Trico Homes has inked a three-year commitment with Cavalry, donating tickets to community organizations to ensure that children and families from all over Calgary can experience the lively environment at ATCO Field – and, evidently, what it’d be like to have four Cavalry athletes watching over you when you sleep.
Wait, no, not like that.
Tomatoes? In Poutine? Oh Louisville, You’ve Made Enemies Today
When it comes to poutine, Quebec is king. There’s no debate to be found here.
When Louisville City FC showed off an, erm, poutine-based take on a local favourite, Canadian journalist and previous Northern Tribune contributor Tristan D’Amours did not have time for your poutine-based sacrilege.
It’s not even the first time we’ve written about poutine this year, either.
Wholesome Hat-Trick
We’re ending this Casual Friday off on a lovely note: Halifax Wanderers fans and, truly, anyone tuning in to a home match for the Wanderers will likely be familiar with Denton Froese. Having faithfully dressed up in Wanderers-themed privateer garb from day one, he cuts a majestic figure brimming with enthusiasm for his side day-in and day-out.
This season sees him sporting a brand new pirate hat…because head coach Patrice Gheisar’s wife had taken it upon herself to make Denton a brand new hat, gifting it to him at the club’s sold-out home opener. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about Halifax, nothing will.