Today I'm going back nine years to 2013 and only my fourth FC Edmonton match at the Clarke Stadium, Edmonton in Canada. At this time it was a North American Soccer League (NASL) match up between the Eddies and Minnesota United.
I have mentioned previously my dislike of the newspaper style programmes that were issued by the Eddies at this time. It's hard to blame them for doing so as printing costs are considerably cheaper than the more commonplace glossy paper issues but they don't fit easily into my collection and are much more flimsy and easily damaged than the smaller glossy editions. It's also worth bearing in mind that these programmes were available free of charge on the day of the game so I'd better stop grumbling now.
I have also previously covered the demise of the NASL in these articles (search on NASL in my blog if you want a re-run) but, in brief, the NASL effectively ceased to exist in 2017 due to financial issues and its member clubs were forced to fold or to find new leagues to play in. In the case of FC Edmonton, after a one season hiatus, they joined the newly constituted Canadian Premier League when it launched in 2019. Minnesota United didn't hang around for the demise of the NASL however. In 2015 it was announced that they had been awarded the 22nd expansion place in the USA's more senior competition, the MLS (Major League Soccer), and United eventually made their timely switch at the beginning of 2017.
In 2013, due to the small number of participating teams, the NASL divided their season into a Spring and Fall competitions with the Champions of each facing off in a one-off "Soccer Bowl" Final to determine the overall 2013 Champions. Today's featured match fell into the Spring season and the two sides had no chance of becoming the Spring Champions with just one week of the Spring part of the season remaining. The Eddies would win the game comfortably by 3-1. You might enjoy the highlights video attached to my blog and especially the pitch at the Clarke Stadium which is marked out for Canadian Football (like American Football only with bigger balls!). Initially I found the markings to be quite confusing but, once you get used to them, they're not too bad in helping you to judge distances and offsides. Thankfully however, such markings have since been removed from Clarke Stadium and only the standard soccer pitch markings remain.
Atlanta Silverbacks eventually won the Spring season with New York Cosmos winning the corresponding Fall season to set up the Soccer Bowl which was played in Atlanta in front of 7,211. The Cosmos won the Final 1-0 to become 2013 NASL Champions
CRB Match No. 1961
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