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Old 05-04-2019, 09:37 PM   #381
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Great game, great atmosphere, lots of beer... I mentioned to Shermantor today on the way to the match that it has come a long way from a few people on a bus from the Ship to the Soccer Centre.... I owe my soccer fandom to Shermantor and his open invitation to the PDL matches, so I know that today was a special day for him and all the people in this city that have craved professional soccer and love local sports. Only negative of today is the impeding hangover.
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Old 05-04-2019, 09:38 PM   #382
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The uniforms looked awesome on the highlights pack. Wish I had been free, to be able snag a couple of tickets. Hoping to go out for a couple of games this season.
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Old 05-04-2019, 09:43 PM   #383
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Really awesome day out. So many positives.

The team itself looked really solid. York barely touched the ball the first half and only really had 2 chances. Had Cavalry been more clinical in finishing and crossing it would have been 4 or 5. Büscher and Ledgerwood going off gave them a bit of a foothold later on. I wasn't impressed by either Malonga or Brown (despite the goal) but hopefully they show more.

The stadium is fantastic, ignoring the price concerns, they have done a great job. Sitting in the supporters section we are right on top of the field and the metal bleachers made a ton of noise.if the people who lit off the smoke bombs were kicked out then that is disappointing as it really added to the moment. And the attendance was pretty solid especially given the weather.

Hopefully they can fix the parking issues and they really need more food and beer set ups, especially next to the supporters end. Hoping for a solid turnout Wednesday, I think anything in the 2500-3500 range will be really positive.
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Old 05-05-2019, 12:28 AM   #384
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Anyone go on the Ship Bus? How was it?
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Old 05-05-2019, 06:50 AM   #385
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The parking issues should be fixable, though. Spruce Meadows handles much larger crowds for equestrian events.
Yes, by not charging for parking. That eliminates the payment bottleneck.

I doubt we see a crowd that large for a while, so that will help naturally. But one thing they can do is use lot 4 instead of lot 8 so that traffic isn't funneling into one entrance.
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Old 05-05-2019, 08:06 AM   #386
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I was surprised yesterday to see how orange the home kits were in person. They seemed to be red in previous videos I saw.
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Old 05-05-2019, 08:48 AM   #387
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I was surprised yesterday to see how orange the home kits were in person. They seemed to be red in previous videos I saw.
Agreed. I'm sure the idea was to have the same shade of red as the Lord Strathcona's red jackets, but for whatever reason they were not able to. That said, I'd still buy and wear one.
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Old 05-05-2019, 08:49 AM   #388
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Well, that was fun wasn't it?

I thought the Rose and Crown treated supporters very well. Only a few people telegraphed that they were only there for the free bus. We didn't have the issues some have mentioned about parking, but the bus did drop us off in the wrong entrance, and we had to lug our stuff across Spruce Meadows and through the one and only entrance. But it turns out that may have saved us a lot of time...

The transportation on the way back felt like it took 2 hours though. If that is going to be the case then I may have to miss out on weeknight games.

Biggest logistics issue for me at games are the lack of washrooms for the South end. If they have closed off the player entrance you have to walk around the entire stadium, and out to the plaza, to go.

Crowd was dead at kickoff, but it seems that as the game went on, they got into the spirit of things a little more. Two Cavalry players were actually helping us with chants at the start. People seemed to get into the simple chants in the second half, and the noise that was made from the stand by kicking those aluminium pieces really helped. Loved the smoke bombs, but I'm not surprised that those people were kicked out. I've already had that battle with the front office; the league doesn't want them.
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Old 05-05-2019, 08:51 AM   #389
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As for the game itself, I though Jordan Brown and Adekugbe were the best players on the pitch. Was surprised when Wheeldon started his "all PDL" backline, but they did a pretty good job shutting down what I thought was a poor side from attacking.

Malonga looked lazy from what I saw. Escalante was good at getting up the wings, but the turf didn't really suit his style of play.
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Old 05-05-2019, 08:52 AM   #390
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Well, that was fun wasn't it?

Half the crowd was still trying to get into the stadium at kickoff, but it seems that as the game went on, they got into the spirit of things a little more. Two Cavalry players were actually helping us with chants at the start. People seemed to get into the simple chants in the second half, and the noise that was made from the stand by kicking those aluminium pieces really helped.
Fixed your post.
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Old 05-05-2019, 09:05 AM   #391
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As for the game itself, I though Jordan Brown and Adekugbe were the best players on the pitch. Was surprised when Wheeldon started his "all PDL" backline, but they did a pretty good job shutting down what I thought was a poor side from attacking.

Malonga looked lazy from what I saw. Escalante was good at getting up the wings, but the turf didn't really suit his style of play.
Escalante is good. He’s got some skills and I thought he was one of the best out there. Admittedly, I don’t know these guys and that’s the first time seeing them, so who knows. I do agree that Malonga looked rather poor though.
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Old 05-05-2019, 09:11 AM   #392
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Fixed your post.
For sure, but with those who were there, you could hear a pin drop.
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Old 05-05-2019, 09:19 AM   #393
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For sure, but with those who were there, you could hear a pin drop.
I noticed that too, and thought that was the explanation for the increased noise/atmosphere in the second half.

Despite some serious issues that need to be addressed, I will be back a few more times this season. It is a long haul down from Tuscany, but the Cavalry FC is a solid third behind the Flames and Stampeders on my Calgary sports priority list. I would choose to go to a midweek Cavs match over a Saturday Roughnecks or Hitmen game 10 times out of 10.

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Old 05-05-2019, 09:29 AM   #394
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The game still isn't up on OneSoccer. I caught it on their "live" channel at around 930pm when that replay was about 25' in.

It got me pretty excited to make it down for a game in person, but will wait for logistics to settle out as taking 5 hours away from family stuff for 90 minutes of soccer is tough.
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Old 05-05-2019, 11:16 AM   #395
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I was also there at game 1, and I agree with a lot of the comments so far.

For the actual game, I thought Ledgerwood was a clear level above the rest and really influenced the game in a positive way. Very calm and composed, but very deliberate and forceful in challenges. Was all over the pitch and really controlled the game. York didn't have an answer.

Malonga is also a clear cut above skill wise, but I agree that he looked a bit lazy and tentative. His touch and composure was really evident, but he's going to have to get use to a more chippy and physical league.

Northover, Escalante, and Büscher I thought had really strong games too. I like strong wingers that can play both ends, and I think Northover and Escalante looked quite effective.

I liked Jordan Brown's game a lot... really seems to have that natural poacher sense and is really speedy. As long as the midfield can connect to him, I bet he's the top scorer.

Adekugbe I thought looked a bit out of depth to be honest. He seemed the weak link in the midfield in the first half, got better in the second, and to me he seemed exposed when Ledge was subbed out. There's some talent there for sure, I think he'll get used to the higher level of competition.

Camargo and Eustaquio definitely couldn't control the mid like Ledgerwood and Büscher did, and really didn't impress me.

Generally, I thought this was better than the USL games I've seen, and below MLS, but having watched Sounders/Minnesota right after, not by a huge margin. Both games had a lot of the same misplays, missed shots and porous defenses. Very entertaining football either way though.

As for the stadium experience... the grandstand clearly isn't done, but it was still pretty good. Our seats didn't have numbers, and the roof would have been nice. That roof will be absolutely clutch though. Good sightlines, but the pillars do interfere a bit.

Washroom facilities were ample, and even at half time, was in and out quick. Better than Saddledome and McMahon for that.

Entry was pretty easy, and we were through security and check-in very fast.

Beers/concessions were surprisingly incapable of handling crowds. Selection was good (Trad, Grasshopper, Moosehead, Oxer Ale, cider, and a couple other options at the Big Rock tent by the looks of things), prices were not amazing but about what you'd expect at a pro sports event. I was surprised there were no grandstand vendors and unless you were content to miss a bunch of the game (which I was not), halftime was a non-starter. All the beer tents were lined up 50+ people deep and moving at a glacial pace.

Parking was frustrating, but we got there 70 mins early, so it was pretty easy. Attendants were short on small bills when we got there, and there was only one credit card machine (and apparently many weren't charged the night before).

Let's say there were somewhere between 3500 and 5000 people there. I think they were set up for maybe half that. You would think these guys had zero experience handling 20-30000 people, since they felt stretched to the limit, and this was maybe 15% of that, and definitely wasn't a sellout.

To be fair, the City and province did Spruce Meadows absolutely no favours as access to the facility from Stoney/22x is really limited and roundabout right now. Don't blame Spruce Meadows for that. Tournament Lane cannot be accessed on Stoney Trail west unless you seriously back track.

I'm looking forward to Wednesday night, as I'm hopeful a smaller crowd and lessons learned from yesterday will make an even better experience.

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Old 05-05-2019, 11:33 AM   #396
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Washroom facilities were ample, and even at half time, was in and out quick. Better than Saddledome and McMahon for that.
Agree with this. The most consistent feedback I heard in the washroom line was "still way quicker than the Saddledome". That's a pretty big compliment one can give to Spruce Meadows.
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Old 05-05-2019, 11:47 AM   #397
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The positives outweighed the negatives IMO, and the negatives should be fairly fixable. Just having more employees taking payments for parking and in the beer lines should speed things up a lot. Hopefully they can open more parking as well. The lines for parking and beer were painfully slow because there was only one debit machine at each line. That should be an easy fix.

Having several people walking around with beer tubs would also massively ease the pressure on concession lines.
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Old 05-05-2019, 11:56 AM   #398
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The positives outweighed the negatives IMO, and the negatives should be fairly fixable. Just having more employees taking payments for parking and in the beer lines should speed things up a lot. Hopefully they can open more parking as well. The lines for parking and beer were painfully slow because there was only one debit machine at each line. That should be an easy fix.

Having several people walking around with beer tubs would also massively ease the pressure on concession lines.
I wonder if it’s just a different crowd at the horse events? As we stood in line for pre-game beers, it seemed odd that they only had that one line for draught. Maybe the horse people just don’t want beer, but for soccer that’s important. It’s going to be great on a nice day with that plaza and some live music (which could be turned down as well), to have a beer or two before the game. It was also weird that they had almost no one selling during the game, and that seems like a no-brainer.

My seats are definitely impacted by a pillar, and I will be calling tomorrow to see about moving. It’s not really their fault, because the stand wasn’t constructed yet, although I specifically asked before I chose those seats. It basically takes the entire midfield out though, so one way or another I’ll be moving.
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Old 05-05-2019, 11:56 AM   #399
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Having several people walking around with beer tubs would also massively ease the pressure on concession lines.
This is going to be one of the items I suggest to the club. They did have someone bringing beer to the supporters section in the second half, and the beer went very quickly. Lots of opportunity for revenue.
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Old 05-05-2019, 12:05 PM   #400
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I felt there were a lot of positives on the afternoon...I was pleasantly surprised as I am by no means a die-hard soccer fan.

But the biggest issue for me is the price of tickets. It needs to come down...the size of crowd was already a bit inflated due to the fact that it was the inaugural game. I’d be very curious to see what it looks like on Wednesday.

I’d be happy paying $15-$40 a ticket, but I cannot justify paying more for a minor-league soccer ticket than my Seasons tickets for the Flames.


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