Pacific FC Launch / 2019 off season thread

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

http://northerntribune.ca/pacific-fc-appears-to-have-signed-shun-takano/

[Rintaran]

On 4/8/2019 at 12:25 PM, SthMelbRed said:

FFS! Is there even a private sector in Greater Victoria?

 

On 4/8/2019 at 1:47 PM, JamboAl said:

Of course there is: a very tiny one.

Not so tiny. Once you get to about #40, you have a 1500-way tie between numerous independent coffee shops with 5-10 people (depending on the season).

[Blackjack15]

15 hours ago, Blackdude said:

I thought that Camara was cut.

@Blackdude Source? How do you know

If true, very unfortunate. Can anyone confirm 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Not catastrophic by any stretch of the imagination, but still has to be worrying for the league and owner. No rush on the behind-the-goal grandstand if those are the numbers at this stage given they still have a capacity of around 4000 without it.

Edited April 10, 2019 by BringBackTheBlizzard

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Not catastrophic by any stretch of the imagination, but still has to be worrying for the league and owner. No rush on the behind-the-goal grandstand if those are the numbers at this stage given they still have a capacity of around 4000 without it.

Victoria will get a lot of last minute, and walk up. If you look at rugby crowds, and baseball, even hockey, the numbers are higher. 

Though if they don't get over 4000 I won't be surprised, I think that after the media hype on opening day, that'll push the Pacific opener up as well, sharply.

[Blackjack15]

2 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Not catastrophic by any stretch of the imagination, but still has to be worrying for the league and owner. No rush on the behind-the-goal grandstand if those are the numbers at this stage given they still have a capacity of around 4000 without it.

Wow that's very concerning numbers, was hoping at some point it was known how they were doing on ticket sales, season and single game; makes you wonder how different it would be if the stadium was in Downtown Victoria and not in west Langford (25 mins away).

8 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Victoria will get a lot of last minute, and walk up. If you look at rugby crowds, and baseball, even hockey, the numbers are higher. 

[An Observer]

I was kinda hoping tha Victoria could do a Halifax being the only pro game in town. It seems they will be some way off

[Kent]

Does anybody know how many tickets the Highlanders sold for the home opener last year? I'm wondering how close these numbers are.

This is going to be the second game in league history. Hopefully they can accelerate the sales.

[ted]

3 hours ago, An Observer said:

I was kinda hoping tha Victoria could do a Halifax being the only pro game in town. It seems they will be some way off

We have easy access to Vancouver and high level amateur sport in Victoria. We will make progress as the only professional team in town once the team actually starts to play. This is a pretty cynical town as it is full of politicians.

 

Just now, Kent said:

Does anybody know how many tickets the Highlanders sold for the home opener last year? I'm wondering how close these numbers are.

This is already at least triple, if not quadruple what Highlanders sold for the opening last year. Pretty sure they were in the 500 - 600 range and were doing incredibly well to get that after the problems of the last few years. Mark et al have done a great job and  I think they will find their niche under PFC.

[King_cheetah]

7 hours ago, Blackjack15 said:

makes you wonder how different it would be if the stadium was in Downtown Victoria and not in west Langford (25 mins away).

Likely very, very different. All across North America, the lessons of putting stadiums in suburbs have really begun to sink in. There is a tangible, even measurable effect on ticket sales for being away from population centres (an mls comissioned study found that their teams lost ~260 fans per match for each mile outside the urban core).  This isn't even to mention the demographic effects. The Fire are looking to buy out their lease in the suburbs to move back downtown (paywall), in part because they're losing out on the millennial market, (the largest growth area for soccer fandom in NA sports). Langford is fast growing and relatively affordable, but so much of that growth is single-family detached homes. They don't have the density or vivacity that a downtown area provides.

It can work in Langford, but anyone who tells you that it's no big deal being in the burbs in incorrect. 

[ted]

4 minutes ago, King_cheetah said:

Likely very, very different...

[snip]

It can work in Langford, but anyone who tells you that it's no big deal being in the burbs in incorrect. 

I love RAP and to make that our home down the road is my hope.

That said, given the "risky" nature of the league, I estimate we would see, at best, 20% more tickets sold if we were using RAP. 

I think the main factors in the ticket buying decision right now are: lack of awareness of the league generally; the unfinished stadium, and; transportation issues (parking, getting to Langford), in that order.

[f26522]

Might be a dumb question, but since Westhills will be built with modular stands could Pacific ever move those to RAP (or somewhere else in Victoria) assuming they had the land? Or are they permanent once they're up?

[ted]

3 hours ago, f26522 said:

Might be a dumb question, but since Westhills will be built with modular stands could Pacific ever move those to RAP (or somewhere else in Victoria) assuming they had the land? Or are they permanent once they're up?

Not a dumb question and technically, the modular stands could be moved leaving the concrete foundations behind.

It won't happen because the City of Langford owns the stadium. They paid for it and I doubt they would want to sell it.

A renovation of RAP would probably use a new design.

[Unnamed Trialist]

There is zero political will in Victoria to encourage a pro team in the city, that is not only not anywhere near the mayor's constituency, you could argue that none of the recent mayoralty candidates, and probably none of the current city councillors, would be the least bit interested. 

It's too bad, since you could fill a city facility 14 days a year more (15, 16) that would mean revenue, and then related revenue for areas near the downtown. You could also ensure a fairly large % of fans coming walking, biking, by one transit link even. It would be feasible in terms of converting baseball as well. 

As the mayor of Langford is a fundamental piece in getting the team into greater Victoria, he is not going to let it go that easily, and those running the club should reciprocally show loyalty to him, at least as long as the numbers allow them to justify the Langford scenario.  

[King_cheetah]

9 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

There is zero political will in Victoria to encourage a pro team in the city, that is not only not anywhere near the mayor's constituency, you could argue that none of the recent mayoralty candidates, and probably none of the current city councillors, would be the least bit interested. 

It's too bad, since you could fill a city facility 14 days a year more (15, 16) that would mean revenue, and then related revenue for areas near the downtown. You could also ensure a fairly large % of fans coming walking, biking, by one transit link even. It would be feasible in terms of converting baseball as well. 

As the mayor of Langford is a fundamental piece in getting the team into greater Victoria, he is not going to let it go that easily, and those running the club should reciprocally show loyalty to him, at least as long as the numbers allow them to justify the Langford scenario.  

You're not wrong on any of this. I didn't mean to say that PFC should have chosen Victoria over Langford, because as you mention, Stew Young basically laid out the red carpet. As far as I can glean, the island simply wouldn't have had a team at all if it wasn't for him.

My point is that playing in the burbs is a serious handicap to attendance, but one that can be overcome. It needs to be acknowledged so that it can be dealt with. Pretending that it's not an issue would be very dangerous. I think they have the right people in place to take this on, BNJ especially. Of course, I am doing my personal best to get everyone I can out to the stadium! Anecdotally, the stadium location is the single major hurdle for people in my demographic (~30ish).

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, King_cheetah said:

You're not wrong on any of this. I didn't mean to say that PFC should have chosen Victoria over Langford, because as you mention, Stew Young basically laid out the red carpet. As far as I can glean, the island simply wouldn't have had a team at all if it wasn't for him.

My point is that playing in the burbs is a serious handicap to attendance, but one that can be overcome. It needs to be acknowledged so that it can be dealt with. Pretending that it's not an issue would be very dangerous. I think they have the right people in place to take this on, BNJ especially. Of course, I am doing my personal best to get everyone I can out to the stadium! Anecdotally, the stadium location is the single major hurdle for people in my demographic (~30ish).

Thing is, it is not that long a drive even. It is less than going to the ferry terminal, which folks do regularly, even if to pick someone up or drop off. It is not that much further coming from Saanich than Victoria even. It means coming down from Duncan or Nanaimo you avoid traffic entering into Victoria.

But the walk and bike in will be likely less than a few hundred, local families maybe. 

And there is really nothing else to do out there apart from the game. 

I frequently stay at a house in Victoria, when visiting, that sees the lights at RAP, so you can imagine what I'd prefer.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Unnamed Trialist

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Norwegian added as goalkeeper coach:

https://pacificfc.canpl.ca/article/pacific-fc-welcomes-marius-rovde-as-head-goalkeeper-coach

...Norwegian-born Røvde, 47 played goalkeeper at the highest level in Norway, Scotland and England. He retired from play in 2007 and now holds a UEFA ‘A’ Goalkeeper Pro License. Røvde worked for Trinidad and Tobago FF for three years in the men and women’s program as director of goalkeepers and deputy technical director.

He later spent eight years as head goalkeeper coach in the MLS for Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Minnesota United FC. In that period, he also served as the Canadian U20 and U17 goalkeeper coach...

Edited April 11, 2019 by BringBackTheBlizzard

[C2SKI]

It looks like there's mostly just single seats, and corner seats left for the home opener. I'm hopefully we can sell out, but I don't know how many walk ups you can really expect at Westhills.

Edited April 13, 2019 by C2SKI

[ted]

On 4/13/2019 at 10:07 AM, C2SKI said:

...I don't know how many walk ups you can really expect at Westhills.

Given the population in the Westshore, I can see lot of families almost literally walking up at the last minute.

[Aird25]

I feel like we're still missing some bite in midfield. What happens if Baldisimo goes down?

[Rintaran]

And the backline grows. Ryan McCurdy has officially signed with the team:

https://pacificfc.canpl.ca/article/pacific-fc-adds-to-back-line-with-addition-of-centre-back-ryan-mccurdy

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

It will be interesting if guys like this are still in the league a year from now. If so, glad that it seems no stone has gone unturned.

[Rocket Robin]

I caught this two goal effort by McCurdy in 2015. I listed him as a forward in that game.

Note the picture of the transport back to Kingston from Toronto for the players!

http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports15/15l1o046.htm

[shamrock]

12 hours ago, youllneverwalkalone said:

It will be interesting if guys like this are still in the league a year from now. If so, glad that it seems no stone has gone unturned.

And if not, another stone will get turned and another player will get a shot. 

[ktf]

I like the McCurdy addition. Solid depth. If nothing else a guy who will work his ass off to get any minutes, as this is really just a surprise chance to be a pro.

The roster is at 18 (assuming Shun Takano becomes official), but that includes De Jong. So, we definitely need a few more bodies. 

Our depth is mildly concerning.

I think we still need a third keeper around. I like the first two, but just in case it would be nice to know there is someone else around at least. I haven't heard of another one on trial. 

The backline is one injury away at any position from being in trouble. 

Midfield/F seem a little better off. I guess it is not any different anywhere else, but it will be curious to see how the depth holds up. 

I feel injuries/lack of them and how all these random L1O, VISL, etc. guys do filling the gaps between more established pros will ultimately decide the best teams, rather then the top guys.