ironcub14

Just catching up here with my Y9 avatar and such, I used to be very active on here pre-pandemic, from my work desktop and such, but during the pandemic, working from home and such, think a lot of the best CPL rumours have moved onto CPL Discord now, it's even faster there than it is on say CPL Reddit. Thought I'd give the quick PSA because here and the V's forums was definitely where we got our start for sure, but there are other forums now to complement here. On 777, we've guessed or known about it since the spring, ever since the YU academy partnered up with Genoa. Right now, based on Northern Tribune we're likely guessing no to 777, though not 100% ruled out. The latest rumours on Twitter/Discord is that the group may be Mexican, or less likely American. About Angus, we'd been complaining for years that he was based in NYC, but we believe he was hired by the league to take over for the mess that Jimmy and Ganzhorn left in 2019 as an emergency fill-in, and just stayed. My guess is that Y9 was "too local" or "too GTA", whatever that could mean, I have my theories, back in 2019, and CPL wanted Y9 to be a bit more professional. But yeah, all YU fans agree we want to see somebody TO/GTA-based for sure. My personal hope is that our new owners hire 1 person specifically to do the President/CEO role, and 1 person to specifically do the GM role. Think it was too much for Angus to do both roles, working from home.

Also wanted to quickly point out that we played a 4-4-2 diamond, with Manny at CAM, Porter at LCM, JDC at RCM, and Murofushi at CDM yesterday for most game. When Petrasso came on for Porter, the formation shifted to the classic 4-3-3 we usually play. We generally defended in the opener in a 4-4-2 diamond as well, with Rivero as the CAM.

Quick thoughts on game #2 Positives first. Rivero great touch, great composure on the goal, but also really smart decision-making and calmness with the ball up top. Thought he had an average or fine game for the opener as well, and it makes sense to have him start and let Wright be the energetic backup. Murofushi a magnet with the ball again, JDC has really re-made himself as an energetic box to box 8 instead of the deep-lying 6 that he played most last season that he wasn't very good at. Ferrari showed he can push for a starting spot, definitely fits right into the squad. Negatives. Manny was misplacing too many passes or losing the ball too easily, as he's done often last season as well. Great ball in the first 10 minutes though. We would still rather see Jimmy ask Telfer and Petrasso to switch flanks, at least during mid-game, because they are too predictable playing as classic wingers at LW and RW respectively. Our defense as a collective is not playing to the high standard we set for the team last season, which is a bit of a downer, cuz it's the same 5 starters at the moment. For our offense to shine, we need some unpredictability, and to me, that's going to come from having Telfer and Petrasso cutting in as inverted wingers, as Blasco and Bustos did to us all game long, and Fisk in the opener.

Yes, another inverted winger fan, nice haha. You know I agree 100% about Telfer and Petrasso at RW and LW respectively. I think Vasconcelos would also find it a more natural fit at LW than RW for sure. I think Telfer was at RW and Vasconcelos at LW for about 15 minutes in the opener, I did see them switch flanks time to time. I think, if Rivero and Vasconcelos were allowed to play longer, while we had the man up, then they would have found more joy for sure. Rivero impressed me with his workrate, he was playing ST on offense, but coming all the way back to CAM on defense, and he also created a nice chance in the first 15 minutes. Vasconcelos obviously disappointed for most of us probably. And yep, Porter is a defensive specialist to me by now, I would definitely rather see Murofushi start in one of the CM spots, he was our most consistent player in the 2nd half. Of course, if Mannella and Manny are fit, then who knows what happens. Arnone would probably not be starting at CDM if the two were fit though.

Thanks for sharing that, it's good to know. I would say it's definitely not an ideal location though. The Vaughan-centric fanbase definitely wouldn't call that an ideal location, compared to other rumoured locations in Vaughan. And, that location is most definitely a highway and car-oriented area. And definitely not the best area for walking around. Good to keep the rumour in mind though, thanks for sharing.

I don't think anybody's said this anywhere yet, so I'll say this one quick. If McNab keeps hinting that the Balderassas are less willing to spend, as they already have spent a fair sum, and are only willing to commit to a marketing spend on an identity they can get behind, then that to me sounds like it's as much the Balderassas that are uncertain about the Y9 brand as McNab is. If you were the owner, and you were happy with the club branding that you nurtured through on the recommendations of Ganzhorn just two years ago, then you wouldn't take any dissent from McNab about the branding, and you'd likely be far more willing to commit to marketing budgets. With it being covid though, this is all just conjecture from me. Who knows what the marketing would've been like without covid.

We agree that Y9 failed in terms of paid ticket sales, all obvious for sure. I also agree with you that McNab is actively re-examining Y9 in whole, including whether it should be a Vaughan team, a York Region team, a GTA team, or a Toronto team. There's some things I've heard through the grapevine that I haven't shared, but the one thing I can guess reasonably is that the club, whatever the branding and marketing may be, will be a Vaughan-based club in the medium and long-term. Just taking some quick easy examples, Y9 and McNab were happy to announce that they just opened or will open a club store in Maple, on Major Mackenzie Drive, in addition to the partnership they already have with Evangelista Sports, near Vaughan Mills. Halifax's success, along with other clubs we've seen, owe lots to a well-placed stadium, near the downtown core. For a Vaughan club, the only locations that could come anywhere close to replicating that proximity to a downtown core and density would be Woodbridge or the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. I think the Y9 ownership is highly conscious of that as well. Until that day though, the key to making York Lions Stadium anything of a success is cheap ticket prices and big marketing blasts where relevant. And the Friday nights, and getting rid of the track. Because the location might be convenient for the fans taking the subway over, but it really isn't close to density or pedestrian traffic whatsoever.

All good points, but the demographics of Vaughan is just so different from downtown TO, you know? Just far more family-oriented, which is why the family market still is the one being chased when they have a club that is basically a Vaughan club. You'd have to be pretty soccer-crazy to attend home matches for two different clubs if you live far away from York Lions.

Hey whats up man~ I said this in the Toronto CPL thread as well, but my gut feeling is that Sauga is a safer bet than North York at this point. There's a good reason why there's so much support for Sauga SG, they have the demographics, density, and a distinct community feel all on their side. North York, especially around North York Centre and Mel Lastman Square, also has the demographics and density, but I wouldn't say we have a distinct community feel in the same way that Sauga does. I don't really know if we'd have a proper North York SG around, to take a quick easy example. The area around Downsview is also super spread out, with little density, a very car-driven area distinct from North York Centre, so it doesn't stand out to me as one of the better options either. I think what works is stadiums being around pedestrian-friendly dense neighbourhoods. That's my view at the moment, but hey, things change so quickly, so who knows?

Nice, that's awesome, and I think that's a huge one, that you'd hope Y9 would be smart enough to coordinate with OSA and YRSA to avoid any overlaps for sure. I think Halifax definitely did that, and CPL clubs in general should always strive for that for sure. Thought I will say, going from experience, most of the fans in the stands are generally going to be more the family types and the guys looking for a fun night at the game. It's definitely hard sometimes to get guys who are pretty good at soccer themselves to come out to games, when they already play a lot, and probably watch a lot of European soccer on tv. But for sure, you also get these guys to come out cuz they have a friend or a fellow clubmate who plays for Y9 or something. So for sure, I hope Y9 and OSA and YRSA work together for sure.

The food and beer stands were nice during the summer. We did get to see this atmosphere for the Montreal VCup game. The ticket prices were far too expensive, and turned off a lot of people initially, which was a huge fatal blow that's hard to recover from. The marketing budget just doesn't seem enough to compete in this market. The scheduling wasn't great, though that has now been rectified. The track also annoys a lot of fans, though that should be rectified for 2021. The thunderstorm and the delayed game fiasco in the home opener was also an awful unluckiness that contributed a bit to the season overall. That experience made it far harder for me all season to convince my family to come. No roof in the stands, for example.

Do agree generally with that. I think we all agree that the Friday night games alone would have been a pretty big boost for attendance, avoiding conflict with TFC and with most youth leagues, which are the two biggest conflict scheduling factors. Season seat prices were lowered in the midfield seats, which would have eventually made a big difference too, once more people had a chance to try out the Friday night games and become bigger Y9 fans. But as McNab said, he wants to leave no stone unturned, so he is most definitely exploring the rebrand along with everything else as well.

The reason a North York resident like me goes to a Y9FC game instead of a TFC game, though I have seasons to both, is, 1) I want to support the CPL and Canadian soccer 2) York Lions is far closer to me than BMO I'd assume those two reasons would be the two main reasons for most Y9FC SSHs in Toronto or anywhere else outside the York Region. In that case, really, whether you name the club York 9, York United, or York Region, none of it would really matter to most CPL fans in Toronto like us. But how do you get more soccer fans who aren't as hardcore about the CPL to come out? You have to appeal to city pride in that case. And if you want to appeal to the tons and tons of calcio fans in Vaughan, and I see them and talk to them often because I play soccer weekly in Concord, is you have to make sure the name is appealing to them. York 9, the 9 does throw a lot of new fans off. York United, you can't go around trying to market to Serie A fans a club that sounds exactly like Man United, you just can't. The Glazers have ensured that Man U will be considered soulless by non-Man U fans for a very long time. York Region FC, now at least that sounds like a club that a Vaughan Serie A fan might get behind.

I live in North York, and I talk Y9 in 5 different online communities at least, here on CSN/Vs, a fb group, a fb group chat, twitter, reddit, discord. In the stands, I usually stand with Gen IX or around them, and I chat Y9 marketing frequently with Ben Z and McNab. Everything I've seen since 2018 tells me that this team is first and foremost, and will always likely be, a Vaughan team. Owners are Vaughan/Concord heavyweights, most supporters are from Woodbridge, Maple, etc, the team has heavy connections to Vaughan Azzurri and OSA, which is HQed in Vaughan, and the initial rumoured new stadium location was Kirby, which is an extension of Maple, and a heavy focus of Vaughan municipal politics. Everything about this team tells you it's a Vaughan team. The only reason they called it York 9 instead of AC Vaughan or something was so that they could offer a marketing olive branch to Richmond Hill, Markham, Aurora, Newmarket, and North York. Brennan being so heavily connected to Newmarket especially always seemed to me like a big reason why the club was so focused on Newmarket last year despite it being a decent far drive away from York Lions Stadium. I just don't see the club ever moving anywhere south of York Lions, which is literally at the border. I also don't think this club is going to actively try to market that hard to North York or York, even though they should. That's why I think a fair chunk of actual Y9 fans want to see York Region FC, since a fair chunk of them live in Vaughan and want to see the club continue to market to them. York United FC makes sense in many ways, but the Man U connotation is seriously throwing people off, and why you see a lot of fans also against any rebrand. Any new name has to be compelling for a potential rebrand. To me, York FC definitely doesn't fit that bill. United, probably not either. York Region FC, maybe.

All factors considered, with TFC and Y9FC in place, with L1O in place, with what the distinct former municipalities and suburban municipalities are like, to me, the only place in the GTA that makes sense and would have a high likelihood of succeeding like Halifax would be Sauga, with a stadium close to Square One. That's the only place dense enough, and with its own distinct sense of community, and far away from both BMO and York Lions to make sense to me. At the moment, I'm not really seeing another downtown TO team, or one in Downsview, or one near North York Centre, or one in Scarlem, or one in Etobicoke, or one near the Danforth, or one in that new complex in Pickering, or one in Brampton, or one in any other municipality to have a high likelihood of succeeding. Of course a rich owner can set up shop in any one of these spots, but if you want a club that has a high likelihood of succeeding, CPL has to put it near Square One. If you drive past Square One and Celebration Square in Sauga, you can see why a CPL club could succeed there. It's rammed in there, and feels like its own big city.