Steven Sandor's Blog, page 82

“I want to be part of Alberta soccer, of Canadian soccer, moving forward”: Ledgerwood signs with FC Edmonton

Nik Ledgerwood
PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER/PAUL GIAMOU

Nik Ledgerwood felt the time was right to come back home.

If he extended his career in Germany by a few more seasons, he’d be well into his 30s. But, right now, at 30 years of age, he can come to a young team and be both a role model and provide many quality minutes on the pitch.

On Tuesday, FC Edmonton announced that the Lethbridge, Alta.-born midfielder/defender and national team mainstay had inked a deal with the club.

For the better part of the last 14 years, Ledgerwood has played his club football in Germany, most recently with Energie Cottbus. But he really pined to be closer to his family in Alberta — and he’d heard nothing but good things about the NASL from both FCE coach Colin Miller, who spent time as the interim coach of the national side, and national-team midfielder Julian de Guzman, who played for Ottawa last season and will play there again in 2016.

“I think there were a lot of things that came together quite well,” said Ledgerwood over the phone from Lethbridge, where he’s spending time at home and training for the upcoming season. “I’m a family guy. Family is very important to me.”



Ledgerwood’s brother lives in Edmonton; his sister lives in Calgary. The fact that they can both regularly make it to Clarke Field to watch games is important to FCE’s newest signing.

“I want to be part of Alberta soccer, of Canadian soccer, moving forward,” said Ledgerwood. “I feel I have a lot more to offer. And, from talking to Colin, I believe that Edmonton is an ambitious club.”

He said that he feels he can be a strong veteran presence for the club; with Edmonton having so many young Canadians in the system, Ledgerwood has a story to which they can relate — a kid from Alberta who ended up having a successful career in Europe.

“I’m willing to help young players, I’m willing to do anything to help the club,” he said.

With JDG giving significant minutes to the national team in 2015 — and, in November’s World Cup qualifier against Honduras, he looked like he’d turned back the clock 10 years — and FCE defender Mallan Roberts getting a cap in a World Cup qualifier in 2015, there is no longer a stigma that the NASL can hold a player back from the national side.

Ledgerwood spoke to JDG about NASL — and JDG was a good ambassador for the league.

“He had good things to say about the clubs and about the league,” said Ledgerwood. “There are some good professional organizations in NASL. It’s an interesting league, I know it has some ambitious plans to expand. And it’s a league that’s been good to Canadians; both Edmonton and Ottawa promote Canadian talent.”

Ledgerwood says the opportunities Canadian players get in Ottawa and Edmonton simply don’t happen with the Canada-based MLS sides.

“It’s always been that way with MLS clubs in Canada. There could be opportunities for Canadians in MLS but it just doesn’t happen. But it’s a league that’s linked with U.S.”

While Ledgerwood has played fullback many times for the Canadian national team, it looks as if FCE will utilize him as a holding midfielder, where he generally spends his time as a professional. But, Ledgerwood offers versatility to the club. It also needs to be said that right back Eddie Edward also came in and did a good job at the holding midfield spot late in the 2015 season.

“When I became interim head coach of the Canadian national team I had the chance to get to know Nik that little bit better,” FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller was quoted in a release issued by the club. “He was one that was so reliable and we will look at him to be a central midfield player for us. Nik will give us experience, he will give us tenacity and he will raise the bar in terms of the level of professionalism.”

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The Canadian-positive NASL franchises south of the border close up shops

During the 2015 season, the best places for Canadian soccer players to find work in the United States were San Antonio and Atlanta.

Despite an imbalanced system which sees MLS and NASL teams treat Americans as domestic players north of the border but Canadians as internationals south of the border, the Scorpions and Silverbacks averaged giving 110.2 and 105.5 minutes per game to players from our home and native land. That was the most out of all American MLS and/or NASL teams — and more than the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact give to Canadians, too.

Now, with the announcement that the Atlanta Silverbacks franchise has been suspended by NASL, both teams are gone.

In this off-season, the San Antonio soccer franchise was sold to the NBA’s Spurs, and moved to USL as the new owners felt that was a more likely route to the MLS end goal — after all, USL has an affiliation agreement with MLS.



On Monday, NASL announced that Atlanta — which was funded by owners in 2015 — would not return in 2016. Had the owners opted to fund the Silverbacks for another year, the burden would have been especially tough on the Ottawa Fury and FC Edmonton. The Canadian dollar is currently worth just a little over 70 cents US, so the exchange rate on funding an American team would have been brutal.

“The goal all along has been to secure committed local ownership in Atlanta, but despite significant conversations with a number of interested parties, we were unable to identify a group that could lead the Silverbacks in a direction consistent with the rest of our clubs,” said NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson in a release issued by the league on Monday night. “It’s unfortunate, and particularly sad for the Silverbacks’ passionate fan base, which has supported the club tremendously throughout the years.

“We have made incredible strides in just five short years, and one of the key pillars of our league’s growth and improvement has been the emergence of a group of committed owners who believe in the long-term NASL plan,” Peterson said. “Unfortunately in Atlanta – a market we continue to believe could be successful in the NASL – there wasn’t an ownership group identified that met the very specific standards we hold ourselves to as a league.”

The Silverbacks employed Canadians Dominic Oppong and Kyle Porter last season — and Porter played more minutes in 2015 than any Canadian in either MLS or NASL.

The Scorpions had Canadian defenders Nana Attakora and Adrian Cann on the roster, and were coached by Canadian Alen Marcina.

Attakora has since signed with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and Marcina will be the new coach of the expansion Rayo OKC franchise.

The Silverbacks lost to the Cosmos in the 2013 NASL championship game. The Scorpions won the 2014 Soccer Bowl. Maybe a Canadian-positive policy and some on-field success isn’t a good combination for the American sides…

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PLASTIC PITCH 8: Featuring our in-depth look at what the brutal Canadian economy means for Canadian teams

The Canadian dollar may soon plummet under the 70-cent US mark. That impacts Canadian businesses that have to do large portions of their businesses in the United States. That includes the five Canadian major professional soccer clubs. We look at what the low dollar will mean to the Ottawa Fury, FC Edmonton, Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

As well, in this issue, out now:

• While the United States moves to ban heading for youth players, we look at how Canada is treating the issue of soccer-player safety. Heading bans have been discussed, but there’s no hard science to back it up…



• Meet Sonia Denoncourt, the Canadian put in charge of cleaning up CONCACAF’s refereeing mess;

• We look at the Canadian producer and filmmakers behind the in-depth documentary on Juventus; how did Canadians convince the Agnelli family to give them access to one of Italy’s most sacred sporting institutions?

• Calgary Foothills is prepping for another PDL season, but may need a new stadium to call home…

• We look back at Canada’s campaign at the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship;

• Canada’s World Cup qualifying campaign may only go as far as the veteran trio of Julian de Guzman, Atiba Hutchinson and Will Johnson can take it;

• Richard Whittall looks back to the University of British Columbia group that pioneered the field of soccer analytics.

How to get Plastic Pitch? The app is available through Apple and Google Play. (The five-star reviews we get from our readers… well… thank you!)

The best way to subscribe is through our Shopify store. When you order, let us know if you want to activate your subscription in the app, or if you’d rather get copies that can be uploaded to your desktop and/or laptop. (We know that many of you out there don’t love to read on your phones or tablets).

Amway Canadian Championship announcement has no mention of Sportsnet

Sometimes, what isn’t said in a press release is more important than what is said.

On Friday, when the Canadian Soccer Association announced the schedule for the 2016 Amway Canadian Championship, there was no mention of network television coverage. What the release does state is this: “Fans are encouraged to follow @CanadaSoccerEN on Twitter using #canChamp for tournament updates, but also to connect with the five Canadian professional clubs involved for live match coverage (@OttawaFuryFC, @FCEdmontonNow, @impactmontreal, @torontofc,@WhitecapsFC). Match highlights and reports will be available on canadasoccer.com/championship as well as on CanadaSoccerTV.”

The announcement indicates that it’s on the participating teams to provide coverage of the games. There’s no mention of Sportsnet, which has been the tournament’s official broadcaster since it, well, became a true tournament. Actually, there’s no mention of a broadcaster at all.

Last year, the CSA and Sportsnet agreed to put an early end to their contract on Canadian men’s and national team games. As well, the Amway Canadian Championship has been plagued by poor ratings and the fact that it gets buried because many of the games go up against the Stanley Cup playoffs. This year, while the tournament has been pushed back a little, the play-in games between Ottawa and FC Edmonton will be held in May. So, once again, the tournament won’t shake itself from hockey’s media-dominating grasp.



Sportsnet didn’t show the preliminary round games in the past; those games were streamed through Canada Soccer.

Here’s the schedule:

(home team listed first)

May 11, 2016

Preliminary round – first leg

FC Edmonton v Ottawa Fury FC

May 18, 2016

Preliminary round – second leg

Ottawa Fury FC v FC Edmonton

June 1, 2016

Semifinal 1 – first leg

Ottawa Fury FC/FC Edmonton v Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Semifinal 2 – first leg

Toronto FC v Montreal Impact

June 8, 2016

Semifinal 1 – second leg

Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Ottawa Fury FC/FC Edmonton

Semifinal 2 – second leg

Montreal Impact v Toronto FC

June 21 or 22, 2016

Final – first leg

June 28 or 29, 2016

Final – second leg

MLS schedule: TFC, Impact get byes on WCQ weekends, Whitecaps don’t

Either MLS figures that the Vancouver Whitecaps won’t be significantly affected by Canadian World Cup-qualifying call-ups, or the ‘Caps are simply a victim of coincidence.

Because, on first glance, it looks like MLS has done what it can to insulate Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact from the World Cup qualifying cycle, but the Whitecaps don’t get any byes on the weeks that Canada is going to play World Cup qualifiers.

The MLS schedule was released Thursday.

In the next WC qualifying window, Canada plays Mexico at BC Place on March 25, then travels to Mexico on March 29.

The Whitecaps are scheduled to play away to the Houston Dynamo on March 26.

But Toronto FC has a bye that weekend. So does the Impact.



In the late-summer qualifying window, Canada plays what will likely be two vital matches — at Honduras Sept. 2 and home to El Salvador Sept. 6.

The Whitecaps will host the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 3. Toronto FC has a bye that weekend. The Impact has a bye on the weekend, but hosts the Philadelphia Union in a midweek match Sept. 7.

In the November World Cup cycle, national-team coach named Whitecaps Sam Adekugbe, Russell Teibert and Kianz Froese to the roster. If Floro keeps calling those players, the Whitecaps will be able to say that their season will be more impacted by World Cup qualifiers than the other two Canadian side.

MLS will break after games June 2 and won’t play again till June 18, which insulates all clubs from the Copa America Centenario, which is scheduled to be played on American soil.

Check the MLS schedule HERE.

Attakora and Beckie signings show that if they can count as domestics, Canadians can play in America

Nana Attakora

Nana Attakora and Drew Beckie prove a point: That if a Canadian player is able to count as a domestic player on the roster of an U.S.-based NASL team, he’ll get a shot.

Both Attakora, who has represented Canada at the senior-team level, and Beckie, who was part of the U-23 team that tried to qualify for the 2012 Olympic men’s soccer tournament, have the paperwork necessary to count as domestics on the rosters of U.S. teams.

In December, Beckie — a green-card holder who was born in Saskatchewan and grew up in Colorado, but clearly identifies himself as Canadian — was signed by the Carolina RailHawks.

Over the Christmas break, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers signed Attakora and three other players to deals. The Strikers confirmed that “all four players are U.S. citizens or green card holders, and will not count against the seven-man foreign player limit.”



(Of the four players signed, three are former Toronto FC players; Gale Agbossoumonde and Maicon Santos were also inked.)

So, in the cases of Attakora and Beckie, not being counted against the NASL’s foreign-player limit was a huge benefit; unfortunately, it’s not an advantage that many Canadian players have. I’ve been told by many others that, without the ability to count as a domestic, getting trials with American MLS or NASL clubs is very difficult, even if some of those clubs express initial interest. Face it; even if a Canadian would serve those clubs well, it’s hard for the marketing departments of those teams to pump up Canadian signings to fan bases hungry for South Americans or Europeans.

For those who need a refresher, MLS and NASL have two-tiered roster systems. For the Canadian teams, both American and Canadian players count as domestics. But on American teams, only Americans or players with American work status (green cards) count as domestics. Canadians without green cards are internationals and count against those leagues’ international limits.

NASL has said that the roster inequality is a “federation issue” (to quote the words of Commissioner Bill Peterson) and MLS Commissioner Don Garber has said it’s a labour-law issue.

But, USL, a professional league that’s affiliated with MLS, counts Canadians as domestics league-wide. So, while MLS claims labour-law issues, the pro league that it uses to develop its players is quite capable of making Canadians domestics on the rosters of its U.S.-based teams. In fact, since MLS entered into a developmental agreement with USL, it’s only made its labour-law argument all the more questionable.

There are plenty of Canadians looking for work in North American pro soccer. Beckie and Attakora show that it’s easier for Canadians to get work if they’ve got their U.S. paperwork. It’s a pity that all Canadians don’t get that chance, considering we in Canada fall all over ourselves looking to give Americans chances to play here.

As he joins TFC, Will Johnson has glowing things to say about Portland

Will Johnson

Will Johnson’s telephone first press conference as a Toronto FC player had a feeling of an acceptance speech.

He’s won MLS Cups. He’s been an MLS All-Star. He’s an MLS team captain. And, when healthy, he’s an automatic Canadian national-team starter. So there’s nothing wrong with the fact that his first interaction with the media as a Toronto FC midfielder felt like a bit of a victory lap. He’s earned it.

Like any good acceptance speech, he made sure to emphasize the thank-yous. On Friday, he praised the Portland Timbers, his former club, for making the deal to send him to Toronto happen.

“It wasn’t easy, it was complex, but obviously I wanted to come to Toronto,” he said.

And he thanked the medical staff with the Timbers for saving his career. In 2014, he broke his tibia and screws were needed to stabilize the leg. This past fall, he required more surgery to take screws out of the leg. That procedure forced him to miss the Timbers’ run to the MLS Cup.



“It’s been tough,” said Johnson. “I’ve had to stare at a lot of adversity and a potential career-ending injury in the face.”

And while he said the Timbers did everything possible to get him back to playing shape, he knew that, when the second surgery was set, his time with the club would be coming to an end.

“I kind of knew it was the end of me in Portland. The team was going to do well or not, and I wasn’t going to have a role in that.”

Johnson also noted the role that close friend Michael Bradley had in making the case for TFC. Bradley and Johnson played youth soccer together in Chicago, and also crossed paths at Dutch side, Heerenveen. Bradley, now a Designated Player with Toronto FC, keeps in regular contact with Johnson. As Bradley came to recognize that Johnson was likely leaving Portland, the case to join TFC got stronger and stronger.

Even though the trade for Johnson is yet another high-profile move for the biggest spending team in MLS, general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said he doesn’t see himself as get-rich quick kinda roster builder. He said that with MLS’s many “parity mechanisms” in place, that it’s difficult for a team to go from the bottom of the league to contention in the space of a year. In his mind, Johnson’s acquisition is just another step to making the club more competitive in an environment where parity rules the day.

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Hutchinson: National-team success will spur more opportunities for Canadian players

Atiba Hutchinson PHOTO BOB FRID/CANADA SOCCER

Atiba Hutchinson is anchoring the midfield for Besiktas, currently in first place in the Turkey’s top division. Before that, he spent years as the linchpin for PSV Eindhoven.

Hutchinson, who was announced as Canada’s male soccer player of the year Friday, understands that he’s kind of gone where no Canadian has gone before. And, looking at rosters across Europe, we don’t see another Canadian having that kind of impact at a top-flight club.

Hutchinson said Friday that it will take Canada’s men’s team to put together a string of solid international results to convince managers and coaches to give this country’s players shots at making rosters.

“Nobody looks at Canada as a footballing country,” said Hutchinson, named Canada’s player of the year for the fourth time in his career. “But the only way to get recognized is to get results and go far [as a national team].”



Canada has two major statement games coming up in March, a pair of World Cup qualifiers — home and away — with Mexico. After Canada came through with four points in their last two qualifiers against Honduras and El Salvador, Hutchinson said he’s actually sorry that he has to wait months before putting on a Canadian jersey again.

“I think about it [the games against Mexico] so much. I actually don’t want it to be so far away.” He added that there was such a good feeling in Canada’s camp over the previous pair of qualifiers, Hutchinson didn’t want to break that momentum.

Hutchinson, who is from Brampton Ont., joins Women’s World Cup standout Kadeisha Buchanan, also from Brampton, as the players of the year. And Hutchinson knows that he was likely in a battle with Cyle Larin — also from Brampton — for the male player of the year honour. Larin set Major League Soccer’s rookie record for goal-scoring in 2015.

“It does make it special,” said Hutchinson. “I thought he had an amazing season. I personally think he had a very good shot at winning it.”

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The 500 club: The Plastic Pitch subscription drive

When  the Plastic Pitch Kickstarter campaign was launched in late 2013, the goal was to secure funding for at least a year’s worth of issues. Now, based on our quarterly schedule, we are working on issue 8, to be releasd in January 2016. That’s two full years worth of work. We’ve featured work from some of the top soccer writers in North America, and featured stories about Canadians playing here and abroad.

But, it isn’t easy. And expenses continue to pile up. I’ve crunched the numbers and it’s simple. To make this work, Plastic Pitch needs 500 new subscribers by the end of the year. Well, maybe “new” isn’t quite accurate — as renewals would be counted towards to this number.

Subscriptions costs just $15 Canadian — that’s four issues of what this editors feels is some of the best Canadian soccer content you’ll find. Long-form stories, insightful analysis and advocacy for the improvement of the Canadian game. Put it in perspective, $15 is less than the cost of one craft cocktail.

There are a number ways to subscribe; either through the Apple or Google apps, through our Shopify store (CLICK HERE) or directly via PayPal (teamworkpress@rogers.com is the payment address). If you subscribe through Shopify or PayPal, please specify if you want to have issues e-mailed directly to you. But, one word of caution: It is MUCH easier for us to refund your money (if we don’t hit target) if you go through Shopify or PayPal.

Of course, we think a subscription to Plastic Pitch would make a great Christmas gift. Or a way to say thanks to your coach or the volunteers in your soccer program.

Because we put the mag out in three ways; either by e-mail, or through Apple and Google apps, many of our expenses have to be paid out in US funds, even though we’re a Canadian mag. So, the plummeting dollar, well, it hurts. Really hurts. Basically, costs to do business have increased 25 per cent over the past two years.

If you haven’t discovered the mag yet, and want to read it before you buy, you can preview any of our seven issues for free in the apps. Each issue offers a free timed preview, which lets you browse the articles. Inside you’ll find how we were the first to report about the possibility of a Canadian Division 1A league (issue 2), our look at how real Canadian minutes played were on the decline in MLS (issue 1), plus our issue 5 dedicated to the fractured soccer relationship between Canada and the United States. Issue 6 was our Women’s World Cup review issue.

As well, from now till Christmas, you will be able to get our back issues (1-6) for just $1.99 each. You can take advantage of those offers through the apps.

PLASTIC PITCH SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE:

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After several attempts, RailHawks finally land Canadian Drew Beckie

During the course of the 2015 NASL season, Drew Beckie approached then-Ottawa Fury coach Marc Dos Santos with a trade request. He wasn’t starting, and he felt that, given the opportunity in another NASL city, he’d get the chance to play.

“The talks went back and forth,” said Beckie. “But I told Marc that as long as I’m an Ottawa player, I’m going to give you everything I’ve got. I wanted to play. I felt I should have been playing.”

A trade offer was made by the Carolina RailHawks during the 2015 season, but a deal couldn’t be finalized. But, after his Ottawa contract expired at the end of the campaign, Beckie finally made the move to North Carolina. The team announced Beckie’s arrival on Thursday.

And, even though Beckie had requested a trade earlier in the season, he confirmed that Ottawa did offer him a contract for next season. He doesn’t hold ill will towards the Fury organization.

“I was looking for something else,” he said. “I want to be clear, there was no issue with [new Ottawa coach] Paul Dalglish. I just felt like it was time for me to go. I think he’s going to be great. Look, I get to play soccer for a living. I’m not mad about anything.”



Beckie represented Canada at the qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympics. He was a draft pick of the Columbus Crew, but dealt with injuries through most of his stay in Ohio. He played in 35 games over the last two seasons with the Fury.

He was born in Saskatchewan and grew up in the United States, so he has a green card. (He makes it clear that he is not an American citizen, though, that he’s “Canadian all the way.”)

So, with the green card, he’s got the advantage of being able to go to an American team and not take up a coveted international roster spot.

Remember that, in both MLS and NASL, Canadians are only considered domestic players on the Canadian clubs, but those who have their American paperwork can be domestics on American and Canadian teams.

He’s looking forward to working with RailHawks’ coach Colin Clarke.

“He’s a great,very straightforward guy,” Beckie said. “It’s a great team, with great fans.”

Of course, as a “Canadian all the way,” Beckie has spent some of the last week watching his sister, Janine, play for the Canadian national team at the Natal Tournament in Brazil. He spoke to her after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Brazil.

“She’s wearing the number 10, and that comes with a lot of pressure,” he said. “But she’s done great.. She’s making strides to playing on the Olympic team.”

He said, like all young players, his sister has to learn that the intensity and focus can never waver. It’s a lesson that Drew says took him a couple of years as a professional to fully understand.

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