Speculate on friendlies for 2011

[tarnado1555362291]

I don't see any reason why Moncton or St. Johns should not get a game. Since King George V is field turf I say we use it in the winter...like March or so. Test out Moncton in an early summer game before the Gold Cup.

[derofan]

Last monday I spoke to Morgan Quarry he told me that there will be a training camp this Jan in florida and he told me that the CSA are looiking into 2-3 friendlies during the first half of the year. He told me good chances it will be concacaf opponents but then again who knows things may change

[TFCRegina]

^ Yeah, 3 friendlies against CONCACAF would be good for FIFA points but we could also use one more tougher friendly against a South American side, maybe Colombia or Uruguay.

[Sam]

Last monday I spoke to Morgan Quarry he told me that there will be a training camp this Jan in florida and he told me that the CSA are looiking into 2-3 friendlies during the first half of the year. He told me good chances it will be concacaf opponents but then again who knows things may change

Pitch him the friendly in Moncton idea... Agree with what's been said here I think it would be awesome!

[Oranje]

I would love Moncton/Halifax, a short drive to see our boys rather than a flight!!

[Grizzly]

Not sure what kind of a difference it makes, but Moncton is also in a time zone that is 1 hour closer to Europe than Toronto. Would an hour be that relevant?

Getting there isn't much of a problem either. The players can easily fly from London to either St John's or Halifax and then take a puddle jumper (the flight from Halifax is especially short).

I would be in favour of playing in Moncton (or anywhere else with a decent natural grass stadium) but I don't think the being closer to Europe argument is really valid. Moncton has no direct connection to Europe and Halifax only has London and some summer charters to Paris and Frankfurt. Those players not travelling directly from London, ie. the majority, will spend a lot more time on planes/airports getting to Moncton than to Toronto or Montreal and quite possibly even more than going to Vancouver.

[Sébastien]

Consistently only able to put 10,000 people in the seats in a 20,000 seat stadium?

Honestly, considering the City of Moncton's historical success with one-off events, and mainly sporting ones, I would be completely unsurprised to see this game sell out the 20,000 seats. If marketed properly (and in a New-Brunswick context, that means pasting CanadaEast newspapers with articles promoting the event), the community always shows up in force. Some simply because they want to be seen at a big event, others because they want to go see an event that doesn't come to the maritimes often, if ever. Also, this is not only Moncton, but you would be looking at most of NB for easy driving distance, including Fredericton and Saint John, Halifax and most of PEI.

I have no doubts that Moncton could make this a very succesfull event. I hope the City and the CSA are talking.

[footballfreak]

Honestly, considering the City of Moncton's historical success with one-off events, and mainly sporting ones, I would be completely unsurprised to see this game sell out the 20,000 seats.

The normal capacity is 10,000, which is almost preferable in that it limits the numbers of Mexican/Honduran/etc fans from getting tickets.

[Sébastien]

I sent an email to Ian Fowler, the man who organizes the big events for the city of Moncton, as well as two people who's titled seemed to make sense to send to in the CSA. Here it is:

Mrs. Purdy, Mrs. Hickey and Mr. Fowler,

Although the dates are currently a bit on the unknown side, the Canadian Mens' National Soccer Team will be starting its run for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the next two years, maybe even as soon as Fall 2011. As usual, this will mean a higher than average number of games in Canada per year. Although, as in years past, there will certainly be games in Montreal and Toronto, let me please recommend a stop which you may or may not have thought of: Moncton, New-Brunswick.

I am sending you all this email with the hopes that it will begin some dialogue between the Canadian Soccer Association and the City of Moncton to try to bring one of the matches of the 2014 World Cup Qualifier to Moncton. There are many reasons why Moncton can, should and would succesfully host such an event:

- A brand new track and field / soccer stadium that is expendable up to 20,000 seats (higher potential than Montreal);

- The incredible positive history that Moncton has of succesfully hosting big events (Rolling Stones Concert a few years back with 80,000+ people in attendance, the 2006 Mastercard Memorial Cup, the 2009 World Curling Championship, the 2007 and 2008 CIS Mens' Hockey National Championship, the 2010 World Junior Track and Field Championship, etc.);

- The support of the community towards big events that are rare in the maritime region;

- The fact that it would be more difficult for supporters of opposing National teams to get to Moncton, which gives better odds of the stadium being filled with pro-Canada supporters (unlike Toronto or Montreal);

- A stadium with a natural grass playing surface.

The advantages to Moncton are also easy to figure out and without a doubt worth it:

- The fact that a World Cup Qualifying game would be broadcasted nationally and would show the whole country that, once again, Moncton is able to pull off first class events;

- Having Canadians from other provinces or outside of Moncton come to the game, stay in hotels, eat in local restaurants, etc. (The Voyageurs, a Canadian Soccer Supporters' Group would certainly have many members make the trip to Moncton. Even better odds on weekends, obviously);

- Having fans from other countries making the trip, contributing to the local economy and telling others that Moncton is worth a visit;

- An extra date that the stadium would be in use;

- The glory of hosting an international event.

I sincerely hope that an effort will be made on the Canadian Soccer Association and the City of Moncton's sides to study the feasability of this possibility. As an ex-pat maritimer, nothing would make me happier than going back home to cheer on "Les Rouges".

Thank you very much for your time and I hope to see an announcement about this eventually.

Sincerely,

Sébastien Belliveau

I actually got a response from Mr. Fowler tonight. Can you say blackberry?

Sebastien: Thank you very much for your note and recommendation of Moncton as a host City for a world cup qualifier.

You have listed many reasons why Moncton should play host to one of these games and I will add one you neglected.Next Sunday,Sept 26 we will host the first ever CFL regular season game in Atlantic Canada when Toronto plays host to Edmonton a game that sold out 21000 tickets in less than 24 hours.

We are very proud of our new stadium and the potential we now have to host major events.

The Canadian Soccer Assoc was on our list to visit this fall to explore potential activity.

Be assured of our interest and that we will reach out the CSA

Thanks for your confidence in our city.

Ian

[Sébastien]

The normal capacity is 10,000, which is almost preferable in that it limits the numbers of Mexican/Honduran/etc fans from getting tickets.

Actually, I am pretty certain that it's 8,000... I'll double check on that.

[Trident]

Nefoundland Heads:

Has KGV recovered from that flood properly?

I assume yes.

[TFCRegina]

I sent an email to Ian Fowler, the man who organizes the big events for the city of Moncton, as well as two people who's titled seemed to make sense to send to in the CSA. Here it is:

Mrs. Purdy, Mrs. Hickey and Mr. Fowler,

Although the dates are currently a bit on the unknown side, the Canadian Mens' National Soccer Team will be starting its run for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the next two years, maybe even as soon as Fall 2011. As usual, this will mean a higher than average number of games in Canada per year. Although, as in years past, there will certainly be games in Montreal and Toronto, let me please recommend a stop which you may or may not have thought of: Moncton, New-Brunswick.

I am sending you all this email with the hopes that it will begin some dialogue between the Canadian Soccer Association and the City of Moncton to try to bring one of the matches of the 2014 World Cup Qualifier to Moncton. There are many reasons why Moncton can, should and would succesfully host such an event:

- A brand new track and field / soccer stadium that is expendable up to 20,000 seats (higher potential than Montreal);

- The incredible positive history that Moncton has of succesfully hosting big events (Rolling Stones Concert a few years back with 80,000+ people in attendance, the 2006 Mastercard Memorial Cup, the 2009 World Curling Championship, the 2007 and 2008 CIS Mens' Hockey National Championship, the 2010 World Junior Track and Field Championship, etc.);

- The support of the community towards big events that are rare in the maritime region;

- The fact that it would be more difficult for supporters of opposing National teams to get to Moncton, which gives better odds of the stadium being filled with pro-Canada supporters (unlike Toronto or Montreal);

- A stadium with a natural grass playing surface.

The advantages to Moncton are also easy to figure out and without a doubt worth it:

- The fact that a World Cup Qualifying game would be broadcasted nationally and would show the whole country that, once again, Moncton is able to pull off first class events;

- Having Canadians from other provinces or outside of Moncton come to the game, stay in hotels, eat in local restaurants, etc. (The Voyageurs, a Canadian Soccer Supporters' Group would certainly have many members make the trip to Moncton. Even better odds on weekends, obviously);

- Having fans from other countries making the trip, contributing to the local economy and telling others that Moncton is worth a visit;

- An extra date that the stadium would be in use;

- The glory of hosting an international event.

I sincerely hope that an effort will be made on the Canadian Soccer Association and the City of Moncton's sides to study the feasability of this possibility. As an ex-pat maritimer, nothing would make me happier than going back home to cheer on "Les Rouges".

Thank you very much for your time and I hope to see an announcement about this eventually.

Sincerely,

Sébastien Belliveau

I actually got a response from Mr. Fowler tonight. Can you say blackberry?

Sebastien: Thank you very much for your note and recommendation of Moncton as a host City for a world cup qualifier.

You have listed many reasons why Moncton should play host to one of these games and I will add one you neglected.Next Sunday,Sept 26 we will host the first ever CFL regular season game in Atlantic Canada when Toronto plays host to Edmonton a game that sold out 21000 tickets in less than 24 hours.

We are very proud of our new stadium and the potential we now have to host major events.

The Canadian Soccer Assoc was on our list to visit this fall to explore potential activity.

Be assured of our interest and that we will reach out the CSA

Thanks for your confidence in our city.

Ian

The quick response actually makes me very happy.

[JamboAl]

I can see a friendly occurring in Moncton (or even a WC Qualifier involving a smaller Caribbean nation). I don't think the CSA would have the cahones to do that for a Mexico, Honduras or Costa Rica.

[Sam]

We will probably have somewhere between 3-9 home World Cup qualifiers under the new model. Lets say for example Canada makes the final 2 groups, I'd love to see the home games get spread out across Canada, maybe using Toronto or Montreal as the only constant each round to get a decent fanbase for big matches. Here is what the home sked could look like.

Round 1

@ Toronto BMO Field

@ Moncton Moncton Stadium

@ Montreal Stade Saputo

Round 2

@ Vancouver BC Place (ideally would work with two back to back home games in the same week so they'd only have 1 trip out west)

@ Edmonton Commonwealth

@ Montreal Stade Saputo

Round 3

@ St. Johns King George V Park

@ Toronto BMO Field

@ Montreal Olympic Stadium

EDIT: It took a lot of self restraint not to put Kingston in there

[paul-collins]

If we're assuming that we're talking 2012/2013, Winnipeg might be in the mix too.

[Grizzly]

EDIT: It took a lot of self restraint not to put Kingston in there

If we were playing Mexico in an important game Kingston might be a good choice. Being near Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa we could probably sell most of the stadium in a pre-sale and only give the Mexicans the mandatory number of away tickets. Plus, the bumpy pitch would reduce some of their technical superiority and ground game. CSA needs to start thinking like this in placing games where we have the best advantage both on the pitch and in the stands.

[Sam]

^ I don't know if Richardson could legitimately host an important WCQ. When the Laval football team came to Richardson last year there were 4 radio broadcasters and 2 TV broadcasters (TSN and RDS I believe) and all of the print media were kicked out of the press box into a blocked off section in the stands. If we had Mexican TV, Mexican reporters, plus sportsnet and the Canadian contingent I really don't think Richardson could handle it. When they played the Belize games I don't think there was a Belize TV crew there, and there certainly wasn't the attention that a Mexico game would have.

[JamboAl]

Sam, then that would make Richardson Stadium the perfect choice for a Mexico game.

[RS]

Sam, then that would make Richardson Stadium the perfect choice for a Mexico game.

The problem is that I believe FIFA makes it mandatory to accomodate the media from the opposing country.

As for Moncton, I'm all for it. I'l hold a seat for Robert.

[Sébastien]

Answer from the CSA. Not much there, but that was to be expected.

Mr. Belliveau,

Thank you very much for your email. The email chain has been forwarded to our General Secretary.

We look forward to speaking with Mr. Fowler this fall.

Jennifer Purdy

Assistant to the General Secretary/

Adjointe du Secrétaire-général

[Tuscan]

What are the odds of us setting up a match against Spain? If we want to go for a Prestige match, one against Spain would be hard to beat, and they play a latin style to boot. Kill two birds (albeit humongous mutated ones) with one Red and White A-bomb. Possible to play them here, or only in Spain?

Realistically, however, I think we definitely need to get either the US or Mexico before the Gold Cup. It seems everyone is foaming at the mouth for the States, so why the hell not, the US it is then. Along with them will be a South American side, probably Colombia or another low-ranking COMNEBOL side, a lower-ranking CONCACAF side like the Socas or El Salvador, and someone like Australia, China, or even South Korea. The women have been playing China, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the men taking them on sometime soon.

[Tuscan]

I can see a friendly occurring in Moncton (or even a WC Qualifier involving a smaller Caribbean nation). I don't think the CSA would have the cahones to do that for a Mexico, Honduras or Costa Rica.

Ya know, I question that statement along the logic lines that Mexico in Edmonton didn't draw anywhere NEAR a capacity crowd at Commonwealth, so why should the CSA turn away from the potential of 21,000 sold out and heavily pro-Canadian in Moncton? The more and more I read and research on the history of Nats games in the Maritimes, the more the potential screams at me. I really hope a Maritime city gets either a CSL, or better yet, an NASL/Div.2 side in the next 5 years.

This last part here goes out to those of you who are able to get interviews with Nats players, both Men's and Women's, but we should start asking them about their thoughts on playing outside of Toronto and Montreal, specifically aimed at potential venues like Moncton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, St. John's, and throw in one more just to see what they say.

[squizz1402635577]

Who knew that the one thing to unite Vs from across the country would be a desire to see the team try Moncton as a venue?

In that spirit, I've got an online petition going. I realize online petitions are, in and of themselves, useless. But this petition has enough embedded information (location, 'will you attend?') that a lot of signatures could open the eyes of CSA officials (to whom I intend to direct this).

So please take a moment and add your two cents:

http://www.petitiononline.com/nbsoccer/petition.html

[gkhs]

After the disappointing turnouts I had the exact same instinct; time to try somewhere new. But, as someone who flew out of the Moncton airport this morning, I would suggest (as was previously mentioned) that travel could be a huge challenge to holding a friendly (or qualifier) there.

I think this may be an idea for some future date when one of the proposed stadiums in eastern Canada comes to pass (Ottawa; the new edition of Richardson Stadium; Hamilton), or if a proper stadium magically appears in Halifax.

[Edgar]

Since it's speculation...

Guatemala say they are considering playing against Canada in October. They claim they will play Honduras on Oct 12 in Washington DC.

http://www.prensalibre.com/deportes/futbol_nacional/Seleccion-enfrentaria-Honduras-octubre-Washington_0_337766354.html

However, Indonesia claim they will host Honduras on the same date (Oct 12). As you probably know Honduras will play against New Zealand (away) on Oct 9 and a second friendly in Asia makes sense.

http://www.bolaindo.com/?page=berita⊂=detail&id=12318

On the other hand, how expensive is for the CSA to fly the team back from Kiev and play a new game on Oct 12?