Good day to you!

Most of you are probably well aware that I am addicted to futbol.(HAIL GAMBLOR) My internet friendship with teh Hippo, Don T and Balls all started with me wanting to do Champions League previews for the content monster. I’ve travelled a lot for live matches but this will be the first time I get to see my home country live and in person. It’s Thursday so the game against Costa Rica is tomorrow evening and I can hardly wait.

Canada has only ever qualified once for the World Cup and that was back in 1986. This is a travesty in my opinion as grassroots futbol has more participants than hockey which we are known for. The problem was that we did not have a domestic league or have tried a few times and they have all failed. Currently the Canadian Premier League is going in to their 4th season and it seems that the momentum is building. Obviously results help and Canada is looking great to qualify. These two games are so important that the Canadian soccer federation chose Edmonton for the matches looking for any bit of an edge that they could get as the Ricans and El Tri aren’t used to sub zero Celsius temps. Also, our talisman Alphonso Davies came to Edmonton as a refugee when he was 4 and he knows and calls Dumpsville his home. This is the best squad my country has ever had and they are damn exciting to watch.

This goal by Davies against Panama is superb hustle.

There will be five of us driving to Dumpsville (Edmonton) for the game at Commonwealth Stadium (Hi Liz II). It holds 60k and it has been sold out. It’ll be chilly but not as cold as the next game on Tuesday against Mexico. We are going up in 2 cars due to work commitments, my bff, her husband and brother will be coming up mid afternoon. I warned them that I was off that day and planned to be at a brewery in Dumpsville by noon with an old friend of mine. This gentleman who I have known for 25 years was having a tough time a couple years back and I invited him to a Cavalry FC game. The final temperature was -10 C but we chanted, sang and had a phenomenal time in the supporters section even though there was only 1000 people in attendance. He was hooked. He bought season tickets right next to our crew and brings a new guest every week to grow recognition in the city.

Gameday

I’m not a smart man but from time to time I do the right thing. Prior to leaving to head north I took my wife out for breakfast at our favoUrite place as she was going to have to deal with Deci and Litrepug for the night and all day. (Plus I was guaranteed to be wicked hungover the following day) At 9 am my buddy shows up and we head off north for the 3 hours. He being the good man that he is brought a couple Moosehead Radlers (3%) for the drive. The drive is pretty non eventful as it is through the prairies and bleak rolling hills. I did notice thought that these jurisdictions did not have compulsory masking in businesses where the two major cities do. Farmers need their freedumb!

Roll into town and we arrive at Sea Change Brewery which is a really cool spot that a few friends have told me about. We had some lunch and a couple beer. I really wanted to buy a shirt in the pic above but they didn’t have any in my size.  We could have stayed way longer but we had to drop the car off and get to the real pre-gaming. (At this point I had a Radler and 2 sleeves of beer)

Arrive at the beautiful Days Inn Downtown put on some warm clothing have a couple beer and set off to the pub. I have spent quite a bit of time for work in Edmonton and I may talk shit about the place but I do like its greasiness. We head to Kelly’s Tavern where I used to have a beer after every shift when I worked up there on and off in 2018. I shit you not the bartender remembered me which doesn’t say anything about me but does about how much of a pro he is. Perfect. The place was buzzing with your usual locals and folks dressed up in red and white jacked for the game. Everywhere we walked downtown people were getting ready for the game. The mix of adrenaline and alcohol was starting to kick in to a high. (And the edibles ofc)

My friends were delayed leaving home and would have to meet up with us at the game. I had no issue as we were going to The Voyageurs Supporters group meetup at an Italian Wedding Centre (Classy) across from the stadium. Or so I thought. My buddy and I started double fisting pints of Guinness and rye whisky at 2 in the afternoon. After a few rounds we really did want to get to that meetup which is when the Capo of our Cavalry supporters group walks in and sits down to drink. He’s a great lad and was also a high up member of the Voyageurs so putting in time was no problem. Three hours and many drinks go by and at this point I am wasted. Off to the game!

We take the subway right to Commonwealth and decide to see if we can catch the end of the meetup across the street. Everyone was leaving the building but somehow we got 2 to go wines each in paper coffee takeaway cups because why not? There were some trepidations about how long it would take to get in as apparently it was a clown show in Toronto for the Panama game. Here? Easy as pie, show your qr code, show your id, show your ticket and you are in. We could have brought our own booze because there was no pat down at all and everyone was bundled up.

I am also a member of the Voyageurs so our seats were down low at the end but you could feel the energy. I couldn’t really feel the cold at this point because I was good and drunk. We went down to our seats and every second seat had a flag for us. My friends had arrived and upon one look at the state of us knew we were too far gone to catch up. (Not wrong).

For anyone who has been in a futbol supporters section they know the game is secondary to supporting the team via chants, singing, drums etc. It doesn’t matter if it is 200 people at the CPL game or 4000 in our section like this instance you’re watching but also have to pay attention to which songs are going or chanting obscenities at the pitch. It is my slice of heaven where I can forget about real life and immerse myself in that feeling. I didn’t know how the vibe in the section go as Canada is a huge country and The Voyageurs are from clear across it so there would be some familiarity but not much.

I was surprised how engaged the whole section was with very few people knowing each other but it seemed that everyone was feeding off the electricity.

The 1st half was drab with a few chances here and there. Had we not been in our section it would have been a TWBS special. Just before half time I went in search of another beer. At this point I had gotten my second wind but was still in that blissful, oblivious drunk state. As I was walking along the mezzanine I passed a beer stall with 4 people working so I just went to the next guy and bought two beer. Well, I did not see there was a lineup of 50 people who I had just walked by queued up behind some ropes. Reader, at first they were not pleased with my antics. I absolutely apologized immediately as I didn’t realize what I had done and it was a total dickhead move. They laughed at me as they could see I was sincere and I went on my drunken way.

At the seats I also made the error of holding my bffs drink and then I just started drinking it. Oops. Hard Ice tea was a nice switch though.

For the 2nd half The Voyageurs section had turned into a mosh pit. The aisles were full just like we were in Europe and it was basically a general admission scene.. Then we scored. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Beers flying all over, jumping up and down, smoke bomb was lit (since fined for it) and the party was on.

At this point I’m really drunk, so drunk I was drinking cold beer with no gloves  and the temperature was below freezing… The game finished 1-0 which set Canada up for a huge showdown with Mexico on the Tuesday. It was a great feeling with everyone buzzing leaving the stadium . Getting out of there was not on par with Yeah Right’s LA adventure but had we been driving it would have been. The train to get us there looked like King’s Cross in London at rush hour so we opted to walk 20 mins and take the cab back downtown. At this point I will say that there is no way I should have been let in to a pub. I was. Shots, pints, cocktails were consumed and finally I pulled an Irish exit when I went out for a smoke. My buddy apparently stayed after the rest of us until 2 chatting up some lassies from the Yukon. He is single and told me he had never been with a woman from up north before. He woke up alone, fully clothed with a stolen rye from the bar on the night stand.

All in all this was one of the best futbol experiences that I had been too, it was the best in North America for sure. I plan on going to the next home game in January against the Americans.

***I have tickets in Hamilton, I think Omnicron is going to screw this all up.

*** The whole stadium sold out in the presale so for sure it isn’t going to happen.