Drinking with Supporters: Foot Soldiers

 

This is the 2nd 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 and the Footsoldiers.

A. Myself, I’m a Business Analyst who has been in love with sport since I could remember. In the last few years, I’ve transitioned from a disgruntled diehard Calgary Flames fan, to a lover of the beautiful game.

The Foot Soldiers are supporters of the Calgary Foothills PDL club. When Calgary Foothills announced they would be holding an exhibition season in 2014, a group of posters on the Voyageurs forums tried to organize a supporters section for their exhibition season, and called themselves the Foot Soldiers, which was a play on the Foothills name. I never attended those games, but was interested in joining a group once Foothills began play in 2015.

A few months before the season, there had not been any further progress, so one night I decided to start a Twitter account to try and get the ball rolling. It seemed to work. The first 6 of us met in March 2015, more showed up to the first game, and it’s been growing via word of mouth and social media since.

Q. What brought you to the Footsoldiers and soccer, in general?

A. I never grew up a fan of soccer, but when Toronto FC started in 2007, I started to pay more attention to the game. When Danny Dichio scored the first goal, and 20000 supporters threw their seat cushions onto the pitch, I became interested in the supporters side of things, as it looked like a lot of fun. Then while watching the 2011 Voyageurs Cup, I decided to go all in on supporting the local game. At the time, this was difficult as Calgary did not have a club to support outside of AMSL.

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

One key principle guides us in every game, and that is that we are all there to have fun. Soccer is supposed to be a fun escape from our everyday lives. There is no need for any BS or drama. No one is going to die if we lose. So simply show up, and have fun.

If you want to show up and sing and chant and drum, that’s awesome. If you want to start chants about trains for some reason, we’ll join in. If you want to stand with us and spend the game on your phone or chatting with your buddies, that’s fine too.

Another thing that we value is the development of local talent. We love watching players from Calgary and surrounding area show up and beat higher rated players from the NCAA system. Many of us are Canadian national team supporters as well, and we want to see the national team reach the World Cup. We hope what local clubs like Calgary Foothills are doing will help the national team level going forward.

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

A. I would love to tell you about those initiatives. Unfortunately we aren’t involved in anything other than what we do in the stands. Sorry!

Q. I know the Footsoldiers have been supporting Calgary Foothills for quite some time, how will that relationship change if/when a CanPL team lands in Calgary?

 A. We are fully on board in supporting a Calgary CanPL club if one is announced. Our existing relationship with Calgary Foothills will depend on what they will do if a Calgary CanPL club is launched, but as of today we still want to support Calgary Foothills as well.

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

Everything we do is based around two things. The first is bantering our opponents to try and get them off their game. Personally, that is where I excel, although at times that can get me into some trouble. The second is to pump up Calgary Foothills players and inspire them to victory.

One thing I’ve found that is different from other supporters groups is that our support fully revolves reacting to the game. We don’t have generic songs that we sing for 5 minutes every game. Yes, this means we may be quiet for a period of time. That is fine in our books as it represents quality of what we sing vs how much we are singing. Plus, have you ever tried to sing for 90 minutes? It’s exhausting!

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

A. Honestly, I don’t think there is an ideal venue for a Calgary CanPL club.

For the venues that are currently built, I think McMahon Stadium is the best option in a lot of ways. The location is good, the stadium is easy to get to via transit and major roads, lots of parking, a decent pub nearby, lots of washrooms and concessions, etc. The problem is that the stadium itself is far too large, and that the atmosphere would be terrible there. As for other stadiums around the city (Hellard, Glenmore, Calgary Rugby Park), they could be a more intimate ground, providing a better atmosphere, but lack a lot of the amenities that McMahon has.

My pipe dream is for a Calgary CanPL club to knock down the Foothills baseball stadium and built an 8-10k seat soccer stadium on that location. I know Spruce Meadows has been thrown out there as a venue, and in my opinion, that would be a major mistake. Calgary sports fans are extremely fickle, and will use the location as an excuse to stay away, regardless of how nice a stadium is once you step foot inside.

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

A. I chose Big Rock simply because they were the craft brewery that was around before craft beer got big. There are a lot of great local brewers in Calgary, but Big Rock was the pioneer. I chose their Citradelic IPA because it is a departure from their beers, Grasshopper and Traditional specifically, that used to dominate the taps around town.

Sadly, it’s getting a lot harder to get Big Rock beer as the smaller breweries are gaining momentum. I think the Ship & Anchor have both on tap.

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 Footsoldiers prefer, and a place where you might recommend a visiting supporter to try out.

A. I think this is going to be a controversial answer that depends on the purpose of the trip.

If you are going to a pub to watch soccer, my pick for that is Home & Away. They have always been accommodating to me when organizing watch parties, and they have lots of big TV’s, and will bring you table speakers for sound. Yes, the Ship & Anchor have long been the soccer bar in town, but I’ve never been a fan of watching games there. I believe there are too many Eurosnobs who couldn’t care less about the game in this country, and as someone who is trying to grow the local game, I’ve become disenchanted with trying to engage that group of people.

That said, I still love the Ship & Anchor. If you are going for reasons other than watching footy, the Ship & Anchor is definitely the place to be if you want atmosphere. Best patio in the city, good people, great beer and food.

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. The Calgary Stampede. If you want to pretend to be a cowboy and spend ungodly amounts of money on watered down beer and terrible food, then go ahead.

Q. Finally, how can people join your group? And is there anything you’d like to add?

If you want to join our group, just come say during a game and say hello. I will promise that we will make you feel welcome in the group. You can also follow us on social media (facebook.com/footsoldierssg or @footsoldierssg on Twitter).