Every time he enters IG Field, Raphael Ohin runs towards the fans – or where the fans should be.

The hometown Winnipeg midfielder made the pregame routine of visiting Valour FC’s supporters section, also known as the Trench, a habit in the 2019 season – his first as a professional – and kept it up in the 630 days since the Red River Rising supporters group, or any other fans, were last permitted to enter the stadium to see their team play.

That’s about to change Wednesday when Valour becomes the first Canadian Premier League club to welcome fans back to the stands for a tilt with York United (9 pm CT/8 pm ET).

“I do it to feel their energy,” Ohin told CanPL.ca with a lump in his throat. “As soon as I step on the field I run to the Trench, do my movements, go back and forth twice.

“But by Wednesday they’ll be there – wow – I’m just that excited.”

Many of those supporters followed Ohin, 26, through his time with WSA Winnipeg – the PDL side where he first started catching the eye of those outside of the Manitoba capital. He’s been a starlet of the 2021 CPL season, scoring his first goal for the club this week against Atlético Ottawa.

A crowd of Valour supporters had gathered outside the stadium, as they had for all Valour matches, filling it with familiar chants of encouragement.

When you belong to #TheTrench even the voices of a few are mighty. #ForValour pic.twitter.com/kdCDaef4KM

— Nicky (@NickyCottee) June 30, 2021

“Oh, we hear everything on the field,” Ohin said of the supporters. “To see those folks outside the gates banging their drums with their kids means so much to us.

“Some players get nervous but whenever I see fans I have a different feeling – I’m ready to show them I’m there for them,” Ohin said, going on to name several children he knew from 2019 in the stands by name. “It takes my mind off things, it makes me relaxed, and gives me an appreciation for the job.”

Ohin’s aunt, uncle, and cousins will be in attendance Wednesday. Coach Rob Gale will see some familiar faces too with the Manitoba soccer community finally reuniting to see their hometown professional team.

“It feels like a reunion at home games – we’ll know two-thirds of the fans at games from events or working or playing together,” Gale said. “It makes it special but also more difficult when you get 6,000 text messages after a loss telling you what you did wrong.

“That’s what I love about Manitoba – our connectivity. We know we’re more powerful together.”

It’s fitting, in a way, that a community such as Winnipeg be the first Canadian city to host supporters for a CanPL match. The relationship between the supporters and players is more akin to different sections in a greater community, one that many of which, especially Gale and Ohin, have been a part of long before Valour FC kicked a ball in 2019.

When prompted with that thought, Ohin nodded in agreement right away.

“I always go back to what our license plate says – Friendly Manitoba,” Ohin says. “People have a heart here. The fact that many people were willing to show up to the stadium in the rain, late into the night, just to be there for us tells you everything.

“This is the time for us to step it up more for our fans.”

Valour, who has started the season with three straight wins, will look to continue their winning ways in front of a crowd Wednesday against York. To purchase tickets and for more information, click here.