Drinking with Supporters: Bridge City Firm

 

This is part of a series of brief interviews with members of Canadian Premier League supporters’ groups across the country. Each supporters group was asked the same basic questions, in an attempt to get a proper feeling for the similarities and differences that we’ll see from supporters across the country when the league officially kicks off in 2019. In addition, supporters groups were asked to provide a local beer, or a beer that best represents their group. As a result, these articles will have two parts: The Interview and The Beer.

The Interview

Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself (Jeff Salisbury) and the group.

A. I’ve been heavily supporting Canadian soccer since 2007. One night I caught the Canada – St. Vincent & his Groovy Grenadines World Cup Qualifier match from Stade Saputo, and it grabbed hold of my soul. I’d gone back to university at the U of S and noticed everyone cared about this nation or that club, but there was nothing Canadian-based ever being worn. I took it upon myself to learn about what football Canada had to offer and found both the Whitecaps and Impact of the A-League. TFC was just about to start their first season in MLS as well, which had caught my attention. With the MNT involved in WCQ I found something easy to get behind, and the rest is history.

Valencia and the NY Cosmos had just played their friendly at Mosaic Stadium. The Bridge City Firm started just after this with a message out across Facebook and Twitter to see if there was interest in starting up a supporters group to show support behind Saskatoon getting a Canadian Premier League club. When I sent out the messages I only expected maybe five or six people to show up (the dedicated few who generally showed up to watch Canada matches at Saskatoon’s viewing get togethers) but on that warm evening in July over a dozen people showed up at Hudson’s downtown. We managed to both land on a name and a group logo in the same evening so it was incredibly productive.

Q. What brought you to Bridge City Firm and soccer, in general?

A. Starting BCF actually happened after Paul Beirne caught me on the patio at The Lobby in Regina before the Valencia – Cosmos friendly, and hinted it was neck and neck between Saskatoon and Regina being chosen as the preferred location for SK’s CanPL club and the fact POB had already shown up gave Regina the edge. Not wanting our scum southern neighbors to get the up on us, I sent out the social media messages and now we have BCF. As a quick side note, the desire to see clubs start up in both Saskatoon and Regina is a mutual dream we share with POB, as a Saskatoon – Regina derby would be fierce. We’re all good buds with everyone in POB but boy once that dream becomes a reality all bets are off.

Q. Are there any values and supporters vision attached to the group?

A. BCF Is not meant to be heavily structured as some of the other CanPL SGs appear to be. A core ethos the group has is we exist for the sake of the club and not the other way around. Almost all North American SGs take themselves WAY too seriously, have these formalized structures, paid memberships, and other unnecessary garbage like that. They take on a life beyond the club, and that isn’t necessary either. We’re here just to support a Saskatoon future CanPL club, as well as other local football like the U of S Huskies teams and the provincial representatives at Club Nationals. We’re just the more dedicated supporters, and as is fashionable (and seemingly a prerequisite to having a club in North America) we created a group, gave it a name and colours, and that’s about it.

As for a vision, we’re not going to be a group who tries to impose itself on the rest of the fans in the stands. We believe people can support how they choose. We also believe that a better crowd REACTS to what’s actually happening on the field rather than droning on and on with repetitive, seemingly endless songs. We’d rather come up with a hilarious, spontaneous chant directed at an opposition player or fans than build some structured song book that has to be handed out to people pre-match. As with all other Canadian SGs we’re open to anyone regardless of any differentiation. Soccer will need all the help and support it can get to succeed here, so come one come all to help make a Saskatoon club a success.

Q. Tell us about some of the initiatives the group is involved in?

Things have really cooled off here lately due to knowledge that a Saskatchewan club is definitely not in the plans for the 2019 league launch. As an aside, I personally think 2019 is too soon for the league to launch anyway if the Victoria reveal provides any evidence as to the rushed nature things seem to have at the moment (only two weeks to go from “needing to be fully vetted” to “welcome aboard!”?) but hopefully it’s smooth sailing. We’ve actively gotten out to support both the U of S Huskies Men’s and Women’s programs and plan to do so again this fall. Saskatoon is also hosting Club Nationals this year and we’re planning on heavily backing the SK rep in that tournament. Might need to pull some fire alarms in some hotels this October…

We had plans to manage a grassroots campaign to collect signatures from the general public to present to both the Saskatoon City Council and Government of Saskatchewan but as news of hold ups keeping things for the province at a stand-still, we’ve since shelved that initiative.

Q. With no Canadian Premier League teams playing in 2018, is there another team that your group has been supporting?

Both Huskies Men’s and Women’s squads as well as whoever emerges from Saskatchewan senior provincials to represent the province at this fall’s Club Nationals.

Q. What does your supporters group do, or plan to do, on game day to make it a more exciting match?

A. BCF’s modus operandi is less like your cookie-cutter ultras style of endless, repeating song, smoke, and flares at unusual times (a.k.a. popping smoke bombs and smoking out your own team’s keeper) and more of a reaction to what’s happening on the field. By relying on spontaneity, humour, and quick-wittedness, we’re hoping to inspire others in the crowd to start up a chant of the moment. We don’t want the idea that you can only do the chanting, singing thing if you’re in the supporters section to be a thing in Saskatoon – we want the whole stadium to evolve into its own soccer fan culture. Speaking for myself, I’d be ecstatic if, partway through the first season, a new supporters group emerges on its own with its own style (as long as it doesn’t mean smoking out our own keeper because only idiots like inebriatti do stuff like that).

Q. Without a current CanPL team, how do you explain your passion to other people who may not understand the time and resources you dedicate to Bridge City Firm?

A. It’s pretty simple really – people know myself and others who are part of BCF are straight up football mad. One of our members brokered a deal with his employer years ago to state in his contract they must give him the entirety of the World Cup off as he travels to every Men’s World Cup and has for the last few decades. Other members, including myself, have played since we were barely able to walk (mind you that’s how we are now after a game at our age) and are known in the local soccer community. Some people who encounter us and what we do for BCF and soccer in the city still don’t get it, and likely never will as their lives don’t revolve around the sport like ours do. We’re all probably sick in the head when you get right down to it, you included.

Q. One of the big question marks is where will they play. If CanPL launches a team in Saskatoon, in your opinion where would be an ideal venue, (or venue location if you think something new needs to be built)?

I happen to know for a fact that the initial temporary stadium location is set for the Exhibition Grandstand at Prairieland Park, where the Saskatoon Exhibition happens every August. It’s the highlighted area in the pic below:

The Exhibition Grandstand is only used for that one week out of the year and is being retrofitted with the seating from Regina’s Taylor Field stadium that was recently demolished (along with Regina’s immediate CanPL dreams). The original plan was to house the new club there for a few years until the city of Saskatoon was ready to sign off on the downtown stadium location, where a proposed $20million permanent modular stadium would be built to be the club’s forever home. The proposed parcel of land is highlighted in the pic below:

Q. When I contacted you, I asked that you send a local beer, or a beer that best represents the supporters of Saskatoon. Why was this your pick and where could our readers go to try some?

A. We sent a couple of tall boy Great Western Brewery Original 16 Coppers. We picked this as there’s quite the story behind the GW Brewery. Before GW, the downtown brewery made myriad beers, from Carling to Pabst Blue Ribbon at one point in time (hipsters rejoice!). This was a different Carling by the way, not the English ale. The brewery was going to be closed so the 16 employees who ran it pooled their resources and bought the brewery. They founded Great Western Brewing, thus why the beer is called Original 16. O16 Copper is the copper version of the O16 Pilsner, so it has a taste closer to a red ale. GW is part of pretty well every sports team in the province at this point (even the Riders despite their heavy entrenchment with Pilsner). They also sponsor tons of different initiatives across Saskatchewan. They’re a local success story, and have always used Saskatchewan-sourced product in making their beer.

At this point I’m not sure if GW is available outside of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba. As they’ve pretty well conquered as much of the Prairies as they can, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them expand nationally in a few years.

Q. Let’s face it, bars and pubs are definitely big for local and visiting supporters. Tell us a little about the pub or bar that Bridge City Firm prefer, and a place where you might recommend a visiting supporter to try out.

A. BCF was founded at Hudson’s in downtown Saskatoon but, since the first home of the club is likely to be at Prairieland Park, Sports On Tap is likely going to be our first true home as a group. As it would happen, during the week of the Exhibition, there’s actually a western-themed saloon that operates right beside the main grandstand. In chatting with the SK ownership group, it’s not out of the question that the saloon could operate on game days, so that could be a great spot to have a few pints before kick off. If the club indeed does start at the temp venue in Prairieland, SoT would be the ideal choice for pre-match watering.

As for a spot once the club moves to its permanent home downtown, there are a ton of bars and pubs to choose from. Each has its own unique features, so it makes an away day in Saskatoon worth it every time. If you want a pub operated by a local microbrew, head to The Woods on 2nd Ave. Paddockwood Brewery opened this pub close to a decade ago and it’s a hipster hangout full of manbuns and ironically dressed ladies. If you want to try beers from around the province, including the elusive Prince Albert Brewery beers, try out The Capitol on 1st and 24th. They took their name from the Capitol Theatre, which was a cinema that closed down years ago. They even use the old sign as part of their signage on the outside of the building. Winston’s English Pub has the most beers on tap, mainly from around the world, but also has different local brews available too. O’Shea’s has probably the best rooftop patio downtown. The Rook and Raven is classy while you could go to The Crazy Cactus to get shitfaced on tequila and vodka seven’s. This list only really scratches the surface of what Saskatoon’s downtown has to offer.

Q. Besides the home supporters section during a match, is there a place that visiting supporters may be tempted to visit, but should actually avoid. Why?

A. Stay the hell out of what is known in Saskatoon as the Alphaghetto/Alphabet City. This is the area along 20th St. that starts at Avenue C and runs all the way to Avenue W. Avenue H and 16th St. is notorious. Avenue W is home to more stabbings and drug related crime than the rest of the city combined. Sadly the majority of Saskatoon’s severe poverty and crime runs from Avenue D to Avenue W from about 15th to 22nd St. There’s a fairly large civic project underway to try and provide infrastructure renewal and civic programs to alleviate these issues in that area, but it still isn’t the safest area to go. From Ave A to Ave C along 20th St. is actually a fully renewed area with new restaurants, pubs, and cultural markets, including the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market. Just don’t stray much further than Ave F and don’t move off 20th St. as then you’re getting into risky waters.

Q. Finally, how can people join your group?

A. They just need to ask any one of us. Quite frankly, we’re not that heavily focused on growing things at the moment as right now we’re more focused on watching how things play out for Saskatoon RE: if the current impasse the ownership group has encountered can be resolved for Saskatoon to join CanPL for either 2020 or 2021. Once the momentum gets going again and more concrete details come out on Saskatoon getting a CanPL club then we’ll see how things go.