Metro Vancouver CPL Club

[CDNFootballer]

I do think Surrey is the better option if they can get a deal done but Langley's not a bad fallback imo if need be.

Plenty, including me and family/friends cross into Langley for various reasons, LEC location has the huge Latimer Heights residential/commercial development being built with 2 condo towers added to the project, easy access from North Surrey, Abbotsford, Ridge Meadows, via hwy 1 that is not bad in non rush hour times (drive Langley to abby and langley to Surrey non rush hour once/twice a week after coming over the river and no big traffic issues I've had to deal with most times).

For the LEC, add some of the same pre-manufactured grandstands from Italy's BEAR Stadiums that Pacific FC used at Starlight and you have a nice 5-7k stadium.

 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

11 hours ago, Nerf said:

...The Lions have their training centre near a Skytrain station in Surrey, so they could team up with SixFive and put a stadium there.

That is rumoured to have been the preferred location for Port City pre-launch of the league and the last minute move to Langford. A new hockey arena appears to have been the option that local politicians wanted to pursue instead:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-indoor-stadium-proposal-opinion

Edited November 26, 2021 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

That is rumoured to have been the preferred location for Port City pre-launch of the league and the last minute move to Langford. A new hockey arena appears to have been the option that local politicians wanted to pursue instead:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-indoor-stadium-proposal-opinion

I am not sure that is quite right. The Port City branding seemed to suggest either Port of Surrey land or sponsorship, because in normal parlay no one thinks of Surrey as a port, it is way down the list of "identities" it carries. 

The part of Surrey fronting Boundary Bay is not port at all, there is not even moorage for pleasure boats.

So that suggests North Surrey, not where the Lions are (otherwise, I'd agree, an excellent area to consider), but a kilometre or two north by north-west. Bridgeview, South Westminster, there are industrial lots, and some Skytrain connections close enough, besides inviting fans from across the river if you do that. I do believe there were other things that corroborated this, but don't recall. I personally believe they should still consider this, for me the ideal area to build a facility. It does not centre the Valley or Surrey population base, but could drive changes in an area with residential decay. 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Unnamed Trialist

[RJB]

I just really hope they don't call it BCFC.  If it's in Surrey, it should say so somewhere in the name.  I think what makes a club appealing is winning, strong culture, and good operations not the name - which should represent the area.  Frankly, whatever residual negativity there is towards Surrey is disappearing, and that's not even looking at the fact that more people in Surrey are under 15 than are over 65.  There is youth, and they are growing up and staying in Surrey.  Plus, a lot of people South of the Fraser are resentful of Vancouver, and plunking Surrey right there in the name would be more a badge of honour than a drawback.

[nolando]

46 minutes ago, RJB said:

I just really hope they don't call it BCFC.  If it's in Surrey, it should say so somewhere in the name. 

Beaver City FC

[nolando]

2 hours ago, nolando said:

Beaver City FC

Team motto...."Hands off. Our beavers."

[shorty]

 

Surrey with a Fringe FC

[MtlMario]

15 hours ago, nolando said:

Beaver City FC

Nice beaver.😀

[RJB]

Also, I think there's precedent of a jurisdiction paying for the stadium with the condition of a name change. In Phoenix, the state of Arizona provided some funding for the coyotes stadium and wanted them to cha he the name to Arizona. And the Marlins got help from the city of Miami with the expectation they change from Florida to Miami marlins. 

[RJB]

18 hours ago, nolando said:

Beaver City FC

I recall the beaver on the logo for Surrey while growing up, but is it still used?  I also recall Surrey being called the city of parks, so perhaps Park City or something like that could work. Espcially given that many CPL teams don't have a city name in their team name. 

[youllneverwalkalone]

Don't we kinda know already it's going to be Port City?

[Watchmen]

On 11/26/2021 at 3:42 AM, Unnamed Trialist said:

I am not sure that is quite right. The Port City branding seemed to suggest either Port of Surrey land or sponsorship, because in normal parlay no one thinks of Surrey as a port, it is way down the list of "identities" it carries. 

The part of Surrey fronting Boundary Bay is not port at all, there is not even moorage for pleasure boats.

So that suggests North Surrey, not where the Lions are (otherwise, I'd agree, an excellent area to consider), but a kilometre or two north by north-west. Bridgeview, South Westminster, there are industrial lots, and some Skytrain connections close enough, besides inviting fans from across the river if you do that. I do believe there were other things that corroborated this, but don't recall. I personally believe they should still consider this, for me the ideal area to build a facility. It does not centre the Valley or Surrey population base, but could drive changes in an area with residential decay. 

 

While acknowledging that it's a poor name, from what I've heard they were angling for the Lions training facility (to go along with a bigger real estate deal). City said no (or at least no to the city building it), and the Lions would have no reason to want to give up their training facility for this.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Port City?

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-soccer-hub-port-coquitlam

 

[Shway]

More like for a BCL1 team.

[Stanley]

40 minutes ago, youllneverwalkalone said:

Port City?

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-soccer-hub-port-coquitlam

 

They'd need more than a couple of hundred seat grandstand.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

...and it's not obvious how you could ever hope do a 6000 seat pop-up given the design. Think that's setup more for VMSL or L1BC sort of level.

[Watchmen]

Interview with Rob Friend here, at the 129:52 mark:

https://aftn.ca/episode-500-the-aftn-soccer-show/

But the highlights people would want:

1) Location has been selected, stadium design is in place. just signing the paperwork with the municipality, announcement "hopefully" in the next 6 weeks. After that "6 to 8 weeks" to get the name and colours announced.

2) Did not reveal the location, but did let slip that "we probably won't be doing any marketing north of the river", so look for it in either Langley or Surrey. Not really a surprise there.

3) Once the paperwork is signed, Friend will be switching from Pacific to the new team. One employee already hired for it.

4) Still on track for 2023 launch.

[narduch]

Wow its more real than I expected 

[Cblake]

46 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Interview with Rob Friend here, at the 129:52 mark:

https://aftn.ca/episode-500-the-aftn-soccer-show/

But the highlights people would want:

1) Location has been selected, stadium design is in place. just signing the paperwork with the municipality, announcement "hopefully" in the next 6 weeks. After that "6 to 8 weeks" to get the name and colours announced.

2) Did not reveal the location, but did let slip that "we probably won't be doing any marketing north of the river", so look for it in either Langley or Surrey. Not really a surprise there.

3) Once the paperwork is signed, Friend will be switching from Pacific to the new team. One employee already hired for it.

4) Still on track for 2023 launch.

Do we think these groups are trying to go beyond what was put up in Halifax in terms of a stadium, something more permanent? Does the stadium in Halifax have a shelf life that may be helping others decide on the stadium direction they want to go in? Phoenix in USL put up quite a nice modular stadium as an example. 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Don't think there was any doubt this one was happening. There have been very strong rumours about a team starting at the Langley Events Centre since about the midpoint of the 2019 season and the "Port City" group always really wanted to be in the Fraser Valley rather than Vancouver Island. Atletico Ottawa probably pipped them to the post as #8 and after that the dreaded 'rona emerged.

[Aird25]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

3) Once the paperwork is signed, Friend will be switching from Pacific to the new team. One employee already hired for it.

So who takes over for Pacific?

[youllneverwalkalone]

Simpson will stay I assume.

[Watchmen]

43 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Atletico Ottawa probably pipped them to the post as #8

No, Friend specifically said that it's just taken a while for everything to work out.  Ottawa is irrelevant to it.

[Watchmen]

45 minutes ago, Cblake said:

Do we think these groups are trying to go beyond what was put up in Halifax in terms of a stadium, something more permanent? Does the stadium in Halifax have a shelf life that may be helping others decide on the stadium direction they want to go in? Phoenix in USL put up quite a nice modular stadium as an example. 

Didn't say, just that they were happy with the drawings and everything would be made public soon.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

2 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

No, Friend specifically said that it's just taken a while for everything to work out.  Ottawa is irrelevant to it.

What you say publicly and what actually happened can be two very different things.