NEW MARKETS OPEN UP FOR A FLOURISHING LEAGUE
By Sarah B. Hood
With the founding of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) in 2017, homegrown soccer has truly come of age, and young footballers throughout Canada can now aspire to play the sport professionally for a team in our national league. The sole Atlantic team, Halifax Wanderers (a.k.a. HFX Wanderers FC), has launched an international series that’s showcasing the game and scoring points with new audiences while developing a player pipeline for the league.
“It’s part of our strategic objectives around the development of professional soccer in Atlantic Canada,” says Matt Fegan, sporting director for the Wanderers.
THE EVENT
The 2024 iteration of the International Summer Series, which ran from July 14 to 27, saw two English under-21 teams touring five cities in Atlantic Canada. Ipswich Town FC U21 and Middlesbrough FC U21 played local teams and each other in St. John’s, Moncton NB, Charlottetown, Halifax and Sydney, NS. Total series attendance was about 10,000. The biggest turnout was a crowd of 4,513, in St. John’s.
The concept has been evolving gradually since 2018, when the Wanderers brought one German team to Canada. In 2023, the Wanderers’ U23 team hosted German team Holstein Kiel in Moncton, Charlottetown and Halifax. Several players on that Wanderers team have since signed professional contracts, including Camilo Vasconcelos, who plays for the Wanderers, and Kimani Stewart-Baynes, who is now with the Colorado Rapids in the USbased Major League Soccer (MLS).
THE CHALLENGE
“Atlantic Canada is known for being very proud and supportive of homegrown talent, whether it’s in sport, music or the arts,” says Fegan. “As a club we have aspirations to have a number of players from our first-team squad from the region, to show younger players who would aspire to play professionally in the future.” Already, the team has signed at least one current or past player from each of the four Atlantic provinces.
Recruiting locally begins by engaging players long before they reach adulthood. “There’s been a lot of attention paid to the efforts of the Canadian Premier League, but the national teams have also talked about the opportunity and the need to identify players at a far younger age than they normally would. [The International Summer Series is] a way we can engage players at a younger age,” Fegan explains.
In addition, as Halifax and the other CPL teams continue to grow, one of the Wanderers’ challenges is to offer their players enough competitive minutes against teams of equivalent calibre, he says, another benefit of the international face-off.
THE OPPORTUNITIES
In organizing the series, the Wanderers have worked closely with UK-based Rebirth Soccer, which sets up scholarships, tours and networking in Canada, the UK and Europe. “Rebirth works with players who get released from academies and don’t really know their way forward,” Fegan says. “Our connection with Rebirth is to help universities bring higher-quality players from outside the country.”
Apart from player development, the International Summer Series is a test case for CPL expansion. “From the business angle, the Canadian Premier League is in its sixth season and is continuing to grow as Canada looks forward to hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. St. John’s is looking at having a team,” he says.
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador contributed $30,000 towards the game in St. John’s, where “the series lets us gauge the level of interest. Especially in St. John’s, it was proof that the growth of the games can happen in that market,” Fegan says. “It’s more than just the 90 minutes of football; it allows you to bring your brand to other markets. And the English teams are raving!”
Photos: The Halifax Wanderers
Published October 2024
