Match Thread : CONCACAF League : Forge FC v Antigua GFC, August 1st 2019

[CanSuffer]

Forge FC having won the "Canada 2" spot in the CONCACAF League preliminary round, by virtue of winning the table-within-the-table contest between CPL "founding" clubs Forge FC, FC Edmonton, and Valour FC, take on Guatemalan club Antigua GFC in a 2-legged tie. The first game will be played at Tim Horton's field in Hamilton on Thursday, August 1st at 6pm ET.

Edited July 27, 2019 by CanSuffer

[CanSuffer]

Is anyone from the GTA thinking of making the trip to Hamilton for this one?

[narduch]

One Soccer has confirmed they will broadcast the Forge home match.

With the 6pm start time not sure how well attendance will do.

[Gian-Luca]

On 7/5/2019 at 10:46 PM, CanSuffer said:

Forge FC having won the "Canada 2" spot in the CONCACAF League preliminary round, by virtue of winning the table-within-the-table contest between CPL "founding" clubs Forge FC, FC Edmonton, and Valour FC, take on Guatemalan club Antigua GFC in a 2-legged tie. The first game will be played at Tim Horton's field in Hamilton on Friday, August 1st at 6pm ET.

August 1st is a Thursday.

[gator]

I got my tickets today, this is an intriguing match because we really don't know how the teams will match up, it's a shame it's such an early kick off!

Edited July 9, 2019 by gator

[maccaliam]

I got my tickets yesterday too. I’m excited for this match. There is something special about an international club competition.  

[RickC]

We got our tix yesterday too. Smallest crowd of the season is likely: mid-week, 6 pm start time, season seat holders have to opt in. But, agree this match is "intriguing" and "special."

[CanSuffer]

On 7/8/2019 at 4:31 PM, Gian-Luca said:

August 1st is a Thursday.

Oops. Thanks. Been confused about that unit now

[Ingham]

I am feeling confident about this game for Forge. Antigua are not one of the big clubs in Guatemala, a league from a football country that isn't very good to begin with.

[narduch]

I think the Guatemalan league starts this weekend. So Forge should have an advantage of being in mid season form

[Kent]

I was already excited for this game, but Cavalry's statement win this week has me even thirstier for this game. Hopefully Forge can keep the league momentum going and get some good results.

Did we ever get any sort of reason why the game is at 6pm? It seems like a really odd choice, but I guess I shouldn't complain. Maybe I'll be able to watch the whole thing online before putting my kids to sleep, instead of missing a big chunk due to bedtime. I'll just have to let them stay up a little bit later.

[narduch]

Believe the matches are staggered so they don't overlap

[Kent]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

Believe the matches are staggered so they don't overlap

They might be overestimating the magnitude of the desire for people to watch 6 straight hours of CONCACAF League games, but at least there seems to be a reason.

[Rintaran]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

They might be overestimating the magnitude of the desire for people to watch 6 straight hours of CONCACAF League games, but at least there seems to be a reason.

If someone were to watch my toddler and infant for me, I'd be willing to make that sacrifice weekly.

[Kent]

49 minutes ago, Rintaran said:

If someone were to watch my toddler and infant for me, I'd be willing to make that sacrifice weekly.

You and I both (although I'd add life in general to the list of priorities ahead of CONCACAF League marathons). But we are also the only two people to ever really talk on the CONCACAF Index thread. My desire to watch Alianza vs San Francisco is far outstripped by my desire for Forge to get a good crowd out for their game.

[RickC]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

Forge to get a good crowd out for their game.

You should dial back your expectations regarding crowd size for this match. I hope there's over 3k but wouldn't be surprised if there is less. We got a call to see if we would move seats as I think they're shutting down some sections that are open for CPL play. 

[Kent]

5 hours ago, RickC said:

You should dial back your expectations regarding crowd size for this match. I hope there's over 3k but wouldn't be surprised if there is less. We got a call to see if we would move seats as I think they're shutting down some sections that are open for CPL play. 

Yeah, that is my point. It's hard enough to get people to mid-week games, no doubt making it 6 o'clock will make the crowd even smaller. My point was that I'd rather the game be at 7:30 or 8 or something reasonable and overlap the Alianza vs San Francisco game to hopefully get a few more people out to the game.

[gator]

I'm really looking forward to this match partly because of the fact we have no idea how these teams will match up, I'm hoping Forge will do well and won't be shocked if we play well and dominate this match! It really is crazy having a 6PM kick off, that rules out many working people or those coming from out of town, hopefully we can advance to the next round and have another home tie!

[CanSuffer]

On 7/23/2019 at 9:31 PM, CanSuffer said:

Oops. Thanks. Been confused about that unit now

... and finally edited and corrected. My bad.

[Ansem]

Took a look at Ticketmaster for the game against Antigua.

Seems like Forge FC will use the same configuration as Investor's Group stadium and only packing the side facing the cameras

 

Looks like it will look better on TV

[Kent]

So the home game this week will be on OneSoccer. Do we know if the away leg will be available for us to watch somewhere? Perhaps on Oz?

[narduch]

Haven't seen anything about the 2nd leg for TV.

Antigua won their league opener 2-0 yesterday.

[Kent]

Did a bit more digging to try to find where games might be streamed. I found this about the first game in the tournament...

https://www.concacafleague.com/en/article/real-esteli-and-santa-tecla-set-to-kick-off-2019-scl

At the bottom there is a link to a PDF that is described as having information on "Where to watch, live stream kick off time..." but it doesn't make mention of any way to watch, except telling you what stadium the game will be played in.

[RS]

20 hours ago, Kent said:

Did a bit more digging to try to find where games might be streamed. I found this about the first game in the tournament...

https://www.concacafleague.com/en/article/real-esteli-and-santa-tecla-set-to-kick-off-2019-scl

At the bottom there is a link to a PDF that is described as having information on "Where to watch, live stream kick off time..." but it doesn't make mention of any way to watch, except telling you what stadium the game will be played in.

In classic CONCACAF fashion, the preview for the Forge game isn't written yet.

TSN owns all CONCACAF rights in Canada, but isn't showing the game. We may have to kick it old school for this one.

[Blackdude]

Here's the match.

https://www.concacafgo.com/concacafgo/video/594c9542-089e-4e2f-a521-d50cc8f70489