OT: #WeAreEddies.The Official FC Edmonton 2015 NASL Thread

[NewBoysClub97*]

That doesn't seem like a bad number considering I just found out we have this soccer team lol. So are they called the Edmonton Eddies? (I'm serious)

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

Their name is FC Edmonton. Eddies is just a friendly nickname the supporters came up with

 

[The Nuge]

Tough loss against the Whitecaps in the 2nd leg. The Eddies deserved better.

They also deserved a much better turnout...3800 in attendance for such an important game in near perfect weather has to be very disappointing for the club.

3800 really isn't THAT bad with all things considered. Chivas only averaged 7000 last year in MLS. That was obviously well, below the MLS average, but still, it takes time for the fanbase to grow. Seattle got passed over for MLS more than once, and now they draw 45,000 people per game

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

3800 really isn't THAT bad with all things considered. Chivas only averaged 7000 last year in MLS. That was obviously well, below the MLS average, but still, it takes time for the fanbase to grow. Seattle got passed over for MLS more than once, and now they draw 45,000 people per game

The problem is Edmonton draws lowest in the NASL and they've been around for 5 years now. They're also one of the older clubs in the league and they're being outdrawn by Ottawa who is in their first season. 3800 might not seem like a bad number but if the club wants to be a serious option in the Edmonton sports scene it's not enough. There's also not enough marketing. I've seen too many people not even know that the club exists.

It's like being a Yotes or Panthers fan I swear

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED THOUGH a positive turnout for the team. Just need to get it more often

 

[The Nuge]

The problem is Edmonton draws lowest in the NASL and they've been around for 5 years now. They're also one of the older clubs in the league and they're being outdrawn by Ottawa who is in their first season. 3800 might not seem like a bad number but if the club wants to be a serious option in the Edmonton sports scene it's not enough. There's also not enough marketing. I've seen too many people not even know that the club exists.

It's like being a Yotes or Panthers fan I swear

Fair enough. Marketing definitely is huge. You can't expect someone to come if they don't know you exist.

 

[Replacement*]

Been to two games this year with the first one being the windstorm opener. 50km gusting winds and just ridiculous experience. Thsi of course early April when scheduling any sporting event here is nuts. Players could barely even play or know where the ball was going to go. This of course maximized by Clarke being a poor facility that is right on level ground. Not sunken at all meaning you get full blunt force of whatever wind is there. The team played awful in both games I saw, lost both games, and are once again in last place.

Reality is I want to support the club but its chronically bad and with a porous D. Basically give up serious scoring chances at the start of every game.

This is not a good team, at all, which needs to reflected in the complaints of attendance.

Finally year to year theres been so much lineup turnover its impossible to develop much of any connection with the players.

 

[FuriousSenator]

It's really too bad your city hasn't embraced FCE. The NASL as a whole is absolutely flying. Massive increases in attendance year over year, solid franchise expansions every year (with more to come this year in Canada I bet), big jumps in interest/sponsorship/funding, huge star players (Raul, Senna, Ramirez, De Guzman), an all-star ownership cadre that includes Pelé, Ronaldo and Maldini, a broadcast deal with ESPN... Hell this league has even shown itself to be competitive on the field (see Minn. U's defeat of Swansea, Carolina beating LA Galaxy, New York Cosmos destroying New York Red Bulls, FC Edmonton's recent series with Vancouver etc...)

In a few years time this league will be competing with MLS in very real terms. If you're a soccer fan in Edmonton, you're gonna wanna be a part of this...

 

[Replacement*]

It's really too bad your city hasn't embraced FCE. The NASL as a whole is absolutely flying. Massive increases in attendance year over year, solid franchise expansions every year (with more to come this year in Canada I bet), big jumps in interest/sponsorship/funding, huge star players (Raul, Senna, Ramirez, De Guzman), an all-star ownership cadre that includes Pelé, Ronaldo and Maldini, a broadcast deal with ESPN... Hell this league has even shown itself to be competitive on the field (see Minn. U's defeat of Swansea, Carolina beating LA Galaxy, New York Cosmos destroying New York Red Bulls, FC Edmonton's recent series with Vancouver etc...)

In a few years time this league will be competing with MLS in very real terms. If you're a soccer fan in Edmonton, you're gonna wanna be a part of this...

I think we've had this conversation before but the present facility is awful. Absolutely exposed to the elements and we get a lot of wind and cold here in the first segment of the season. We also get a lot of cold days in October. The NASL schedule is not at all conducive to an Edmonton team in this Latitude on the prairies.
That said 3,800 in a facility that has a lot of poor seating and vantage points. (bleachers in this facility are from first row on at field level. You can see literally nothing of a soccer game sitting in the first few rows. Some of the sections like the Canadian Tire section are only 8 rows and are uncomfortable to say the least. Aluminum benches. Just great for conducting chill if its cold outside..

Clarke park is basically the quality of a highschool facility (and several are better) with the bleachers and field sitting right at level ground entirely exposed to the elements. Any wind goes right through the facility. The first game was a complete joke with cold 50-75km gusts of wind throwing the ball out of bounds about 50 times in the match. Players couldn't even complete two passes in a row. Most people just left because nothing even resembling a soccer match was possible under the conditions. Another game in April here against Vancouver got cancelled because we had a foot of snow on game day.

Next, again this is a poor club. One that plays reasonably against MSL clubs in Amway play but is generally bad playing in its own league.

I keep trying the product, really want to like it, I connected with some past players, but the lineup keeps changing, every year seems like 80% different lineup but mostly the facility is so poor that even if I go to a game with the seating available and provided I don't even see it from a proper perspective. As someone who loves watching a game analytically it just isn't possible from most of the seating that this facility affords.

Conversely Foote field allowed much better vantage points and was enjoyable.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

With 6 games remaining on the schedule, FC Edmonton is 2 points back of a playoff position. Next week Real Madrid legend Raul and the New York Cosmos are in town if anyone cares to watch a famous footballer on the cheap.