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‘They will be ready’: Gale leads Valour into Van Isle opener

WINNIPEG — Rob Gale and Co. have been in the soccer laboratory for weeks now, mixing various concoctions to come up with the perfect lineup for Valour FC’s inaugural Canadian Premier League match.

And what, pray tell, might that starting 11 look like when the squad steps onto the field Wednesday night in Victoria against Pacific FC?

“There will be 11 players,” began Gale with a sly grin when asked about his lineup at a media conference this week, “and they will be wearing our beautiful black kit. They will be 11 of the 21 I’ve signed so far, and they will be ready.”

It’s been a long road for Gale and his crew leading up to this moment, with the team embarking Tuesday morning for the west coast and the historic first match, before returning to Winnipeg to begin preparations for Saturday’s home opener at Investors Group Field.

The CPL was but a rumour just a few years ago, but as momentum for Canada’s new domestic league grew, so did Gale’s interest. And the more he investigated in what was being built, the more Gale – who had served as the head coach of Canada’s Men’s U-20 squad and also as the Manitoba Soccer Association’s Technical Director – wanted to be involved.

Valour FC (Nora Stankovic/CPL)
Valour FC (Nora Stankovic/CPL)

“This particular (match) and the home opener on Saturday has been a vision for over two years, since the very first discussions we knew Manitoba was going to get a team,” Gale said. “And then myself and (Valour President and CEO) Wade (Miller) had discussions in November of that year on how to bring that story to life, whether I was going to be a part of it or not.

“The more it went on the more I couldn’t see anybody else doing it, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I thought ab0ut that home opener and what it would be like coming into Investors Group Field as a Manitoba team and I thought, ‘Man, I would love to be the guy leading that team out in front of the Manitoba crowd’. So, it’s been two years coming.”

Valour FC will have to hit the ground running, what with five games over a stretch from May 1-16. There are just 10 matches in the Spring Competition portion of the schedule, the winner of which will qualify for the championship along with the Fall Competition winner, which covers the final 18 matches over a stretch from mid-July to mid-October.

Valour FC’s inaugural match on Wednesday does come with some challenges. The match will start at 8 p.m. on Vancouver Island – 10 p.m. here – and is against a Pacific FC squad which earned a 1-0 victory over the HFX Wanderers in the debut of those two teams on Sunday.

That said, Gale and his crew also did get a peek at their opponent, which is critical in a start-up league in which every team is a complete mystery coming out of the starting gates.

“The great unknown is Michael Silberbauer, because he’s the new head coach on the scene and the one that isn’t Canadian,” Gale offered. “It was interesting to see his playing philosophy and how he’s got those jigsaw puzzle pieces and what picture he’s trying to put together. We got a little idea of that.

“They’ve got a clear identity of how they look to attack and how they try to defend. We’ve analyzed that and will be doing some more video over the course of the next 48 hours, obviously, as well.”

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Valour’s coaching staff in training ahead of the club’s first match. (Valour FC)

“It’s just early impressions. They had a player sent off (defender Lukas MacNaughton was red carded and won’t be in the lineup Wednesday) and we don’t know their full fitness and if they have players who can change in the next two days, so we can only go off certain assumptions. But it was good to see them play and how they’re trying to build their style.

“There’s no real advantage to playing away,” he added. “I want to play in front of our fans with our noise and the crowd behind us because that gives you those lifts in that moment. We’ll see. The one factor they’ve got in their favour is they’ve had a game already and have ironed out a few of those kinks in their match day routine. I just said to the lads we need to prepare for all of that and make sure we’re focused.”

More on the unknown aspect of the CPL… Gale said a true sense of each team likely won’t be known until the Spring season is completed. But he does like what he’s seen from his troops.

“I feel great. It’s exciting. I’m fully confident in the group,” Gale said. “I love what we’ve assembled here. I love their identity. I love the passion of the group, their character and first and foremost – I’ve said it every time I’ve been in this room – is they’re great, great people and it’s a pleasure to come into work. It’s a privilege to be able to do this in our hometown… the first game I’ll actually coach inside of Canada will be Wednesday night and I’ve been doing this a long time. A meaningful professional game in Canada is amazing.

“I’m just looking forward to it. I’m like one of the fans. I can’t wait to see the lads go out and express themselves on the field and see that identity come to life. That’s a huge privilege and honour to me, to lead out a Manitoba team. We’re very grateful for that opportunity and looking forward to it.”