PHOTO OF SCARBOROUGH SC 2017 FINALS
ATTRACTIVE GAMES IN THE CSL SET FOR VICTORIA DAY WEEKEND
Kathleen Nurse, manager of Hamilton City 1 SC, has no illusions about the strength of FC Vorkuta for the game at the OSA Soccer Centre in Vaughan on Saturday, the first of two attractive encounters in the CSL this coming Victoria Day weekend.
It’s a big test for the Steel City side, which took the 2017 season off to re-organize, a time Vorkuta entered the Canadian Soccer League with a sizeable professional player contribution from Eastern Europe. The team named after a Russian community near the Arctic Circle promptly won the CSL First Division title in its inaugural year.
“Vorkuta is a very good side and well organized,” said Nurse. “We are re- building, with some players recently signed and we are giving a number of our players from the earlier reserve team an opportunity to step up to what is a very competitive First Division, so it’s going to take a game or two to gain some measure of strength.”
Hamilton City struggled in the early part of the 2016 season, finishing 6th of eight teams in the top division, but advanced in the post season championship to reach the final before losing 2-1 to Serbian White Eagles, a last-minute goal in a game that could have gone either way.
Hamilton City SC marked the return to that community of professional soccer in 2016, the franchise being relocated from London where it was launched in 1973 by Markus Gauss, a German immigrant. Gauss sold the team to Andrew Crowe and partner Zoran Kliseric who in turn passed ownership to former player and coach, Sasa Vukovic.
Hamilton City’s first colours will be in blue and white this season and they will play home games out of the Heritage Green Sports Park.
The season opener for Hamilton City, Saturday’s away encounter with FC Vorkuta, is a 7 pm kickoff
In the second CSL game Saturday, Scarborough SC will be visiting FC Ukraine United at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west-end. Scarborough ended the 2017 regular season in fourth position in the standings and came close to a championship victory, losing a 6-5 penalty shootout to York Region Shooters in the final.
“We came so close to winning, but are even more determined this year as we strengthen our team with more overseas signings,” said GM Kiril Dimitrov, who was instrumental in returning the professional game to Scarborough in 2016.
Veteran Canadian national team defender Adrian Cann, with an illustrious career which included Colorado Rapids, Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact and Esbjerg of Denmark before playing 46 times for Toronto FC, will continue as team captain.
Dimitrov has negotiated a working relationship with the current CSL champions York Region Shooters following a decision by the Vaughan-based club to not field a team in 2018. The arrangement should reap benefits for the east Toronto club.
Saturday’s Ukraine United vs. Scarborough SC game will kickoff at 9 pm