Eddies Adopt ‘Captain By Committee’ Process In Bubble

Canadian Premier League side FC Edmonton has now played four matches of the 2021 Canadian Premier League season, with the Alberta-based side handing the captain’s armband to a different player in each fixture.

The first half of the opening bubbled segment of the season has seen Ramon Soria, Connor James, Hunter Gorskie, and Shamit Shome all don the symbolic armband, with captain’s duties rotating between them despite many of these players being on the pitch at the same time through the last few weeks of matches.

When we asked Alan Koch how many co-captains the side would deploy, he revealed that the players themselves organized a ‘captain by committee’ process that will see the Eddies rotate between the four aforementioned athletes as needed:

We have a leadership forum within our group. Different guys from different ages and different backgrounds, to tap in to all the things that the guys need. We’re essentially going with a captain by committee this year, so we’ve got four different guys that we’ll move around.

Alan Koch

When FC Edmonton began its Canadian Premier League era, English veteran Tomi Ameobi was the de facto captain. The 32-year-old wasn’t re-signed by the club this year, leaving the captain’s post vacant.

Ramon Soria had been donning the armband as needed in all three of his years with FC Edmonton, taking on the duty more frequently at last year’s Island Games before the Spanish midfielder re-signed for a third year with the club this January.

While goalkeeper Connor James is a younger face at 24, the third-year-Eddie is a city local who, as a first choice goalkeeper, is sure to one of the more consistently selected athletes of the bunch. The club has another local option in Shamit Shome, who is ready to play a big part after returning to his hometown club after four years in Major League Soccer with CF Montreal.

American defender Hunter Gorskie is the ‘new face’ of the bunch, though the USL veteran has captained several sides throughout his career, including the Tampa Bay Rowdies and San Antonio FC. He spoke with us already about leading by example and helping guide some of the younger recruits in the camp.

All-told, each co-captain brings much-different experiences and background to the role when called upon to use it. Eddies fans should expect to see a lot of rotation between the four aforementioned athletes this year.

Part of the main reason we’re doing that is that we’re rotating a lot of players. If you choose one captain, he needs to be on the pitch for ninety minutes every game, and it’s very, very unrealistic to expect any of our players to be on for the ninety minutes right now. So, we’ve got a group, and I have have confidence in all four of the guys, whoever wears the captain’s armband, and obviously wearing the armband is very symbolic and we expect everybody to step up to the plate.

Alan Koch

FC Edmonton currently finds itself at the bottom of the Canadian Premier League table, though there isn’t a lot to separate the club from the top half: just three points could see the Alberta-based side rise all the way to third place. Two years ago, Connor James told us there was a lot of parity in the league, and it looks like that still rings true.

After going winless last season, FC Edmonton locked in its first win since 2019 against Forge FC on Canada Day and drew against York to rest on four points after four games played. The club will have four more matches in the bubble before a long-awaited return home to play at Clarke Stadium with fans in the stands.

The new-look Eddies have played some entertaining football, scoring a few worldies in the process. While newly-signed striker Tobias Warschewski has set up a pair of assists, none of the club’s goals this season have come from the Eddies striking force just yet – though the arrival of Matthew Durrans in the bubble will give the side further opportunity for such in the near future.

FC Edmonton will look to secure a repeat victory over reigning champions Forge FC this Wednesday. While who will don the armband for the match isn’t known, the side evidently has a lot of options to pick from.