Westhills Stadium will be host to a historic match as two Canadian coastal soccer teams face off to mark the inaugural Pacific FC season.
The Langford-based club hosts Halifax’s HFX Wanderers FC on April 28, one day after the fledgeling Canadian Premier League season begins.
“We have been looking forward to our first home match for some time,” said Pacific FC President Josh Simpson. “This will be a historic day for Pacific FC and our fans.”
This is the first of 15 games the team will host at Westhills Stadium. The venue is under renovation and should seat 5,000 people by the inaugural match, according to Langford Mayor Stew Young. The second phase of the stadium expansion is expected to be complete by August.
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“Our goal is just to make sure we’re prepared to host the first game and make sure that the experience for the fans is going to be amazing out there,” Young said.
Pacific FC has signed 11 players to their roster since November. Striker Marcus Haber, who was announced early this year, was coached by Halifax head coach Stephen Hart for many years but will now be leading the attack against HFX Wanderers FC at the end of April.
“It’s exciting for us to be able to play at home for the first game in front of our fans,” Haber said in a statement. “Halifax is going to be an athletic group, full of strength and pace and we anticipate a tough match but we will be looking for a win to get off to the right start.”
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Pacific FC players will arrive on the Island on March 1. So far, the roster includes Marcel de Jong, Kadin Chung, Mark Village, Ben Fisk, Victor Blasco, Jose Hernandez, Matthew Baldisimo, Terran Campbell, Noah Verhoeven and Alessandro Hojabrpor. More signing announcements are expected in the coming weeks.
There are seven teams, including Paficic FC, competing in the first season of the CPL from Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Halifax.
The league recently announced a 10-year media partnership with Mediapro, a Spain-based sports broadcasting company that, according to a source, will be investing $200 million into CPL over the duration of the deal.
The first match of the league will be on April 27 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont. between hosts Forge FC and Toronto’s York9 FC.
The remainder of the 2019 CPL schedule is to be released next week.
shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com