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September 29th Edition
FC Supra has arrived, AFC Toronto secure Supporters' Shield & CanChamp Final preview
It’s national final week, and for the first time ever, it’s Vancouver vs. Vancouver at BC Place for the 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship.
And the competition will be even bigger next year, with the Canadian Premier League unveiling FC Supra du Québec this week as the first Québec-based team in league history.
Plus, AFC Toronto secure the NSL’s inaugural Supporters’ Shield, CanWNT are headed to the Netherlands, and more ahead in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.
In this week's edition:
Canadian Championship
🏆 Can the Whitecaps make it four straight CanChamp Ws in all-BC final?
Canada Soccer
Whatever happens on Wednesday, it will be a day for the Canadian soccer history books.
As the Vancouver Whitecaps host the CPL’s Vancouver FC at BC Place (7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET on TSN, OneSoccer), they look to make it four straight CanChamp titles. Only Toronto FC have done that in the competition’s history, winning from 2009-2012 (The Whitecaps were runners up all four times).
Since those editions of the competition only had between 3-4 teams, this would be an even more impressive feat. It would also earn the Whitecaps a spot back in the Concacaf Champions Cup, and a chance to reach the final for a second consecutive year.
Speaking of impressive feats, despite sitting dead last in the Canadian Premier League, Vancouver FC have already made history by being the first CPL team to advance to the final in a full tournament. Forge played Toronto FC in the final of the Covid-reformatted 2020 final, losing on penalties.
Now, VFC try to become the first CPL team to win the tournament. After what has been a difficult start to life on the pitch for the Langley-based club, this would be a huge moment for them on the national stage.
The Voyageurs Cup will remain in Vancouver, but will it go to the village or the valley?
CPL
⚜️ Bienvenue, FC Supra!
CPL
It’s official, Quebec will have a CPL club. In an event in Laval held on Wednesday, FC Supra was announced as the CPL’s ninth club. The club will take the pitch in 2026 and will share Stade Boréale with the Roses de Montreal. FC Supra will play in the city of Laval which is in the greater-Montreal area. There are rumours that they will move onto the island of Montreal when a venue has been confirmed. It’s smelling like a return to Claude Robillard.
Why FC Supra du Quebec? Before the Montreal Impact, there was Montreal Supra. A club that had been active between 1988 to 1992 during the Canadian Soccer League era. This is not the arrival of a new team but a revival of a heritage club. Supra was the home of Canadian soccer legends such as Mauro Biello and Alex Bunbury. FC Supra du Quebec means that they are from the province, and not from Quebec City. With a name like that, they are making a statement: a club for Quebecois talent.
Club d’ici pour ici. A club from here, for here. Or, a club from Quebec, for Quebec. One of the main objectives of the club is to produce, showcase and be the home for Quebec talents. Think of Athletic Bilbao in Spain, signing only Basque players. Imagine Sam Salter, Sean Rea, Ballou Tabla, David Choinière and Thomas Meilleur-Giguère in the same squad. That’s a recipe that’ll make any coach drool.
Rocco Placentino at the heart of the club. The former Montreal Impact player and former technical director of CS Saint-Laurent has been unveiled to be the club’s president. Placentino is a popular figure in Montreal soccer as being one of the few Canadians to have played in Italy in the early 2000s. But also spearheaded CS Saint-Laurent’s recruitment, which resulted in their famous 2024 CanChamp campaign.
Is the hype real? Based on what we saw at the club announcement event, yes. Very much so. Montrealers had been looking for an alternative to CF Montreal, they have been looking for a club with the community in mind. FC Supra fulfills that desire. During the event, FC Supra ultras had made themselves known. Both club and supporters group have been born on the same night.
CanWNT
🇳🇱 CanWNT get big October test vs. Netherlands
Canada Soccer
CanWNT’s 2025 schedule is complete with the announcement of a friendly against the Netherlands women’s national team on Tuesday, October 28. The venue for the friendly will be confirmed at a later date.
This will certainly be a tough test for the Canadians as they face the side currently ranked 11th in the World, who feature such top talents as Manchester City star Vivianne Miedema, London City’s Daniëlle van de Donk and FC Twente midfielder Jill Roord.
The Dutch are, however, coming off a disappointing Euros this summer, where they failed to get out of their group. They recently hired Arjan Veurink as their new head coach, which will make this an interesting one for both nations.
Canada are looking to add a tenth all-time victory against the Dutch, having gone 9-4-1 in their 14 all-time meetings in international play.
The Canadians will also take on Switzerland earlier in the window, on Friday, October 24 in Lucerne, Switzerland. Both matches are available live on OneSoccer.
Canucks Abroad
🌍 Canucks Abroad
FC Bayern Frauen
🇩🇪 Goal after goal for Vanessa Gilles. The Golden Head might as well be a striker at this point. Gilles is now up to three goals in four league games. That’s good for joint-team lead and second in the Bundesliga scoring race. Bayern also kept their fourth clean sheet in the 4-0 win over Freiburg.
🇪🇸 Tani Time in Villarreal. Time zones? Tani time is international, baby. Tani and Tajon both started alongside each other for the first time, and it brought good fortunes. Oluwaseyi scored his first with the Yellow Submarine in a 2-1 win over Sevilla.
🏴 A brace for Bim. Aribim Pepple scored not one, but two goals this week for Plymouth. The former Cavalry youngster knocked home his first for the club in a 6-2 win over Tottenham’s U23s in the EFL Trophy on Monday. The second came on Saturday in a 4-0 league win over Burton Albion.
🏴 Jade Rose’s first for Manchester City. Gilles wasn’t the only CanWNT centreback to score from a corner this week. Sure, it was a bit scruffy, but they all count nonetheless. Rose’s goal was the first in a 3-1 win over Everton in the League Cup.
🇧🇪 Nathan Saliba sets up a winner for Anderlecht. A little touch pass was all that Saliba needed to get Anderlecht on their way. The match against Gent, postponed from the week before, saw just the one goal between both sides.
🏴 Liam Millar is back for Hull. It was a good 26th birthday for Liam Millar. Finally healed from an ACL injury, the CanMNT winger was on the bench for Hull for the first time in 11 months. He didn’t make it into the match, but it’s promising signs.
🇧🇪 Promise David scores. Speaking of promising signs, Promise gave us a sign, also on Saturday. That sign was that he’s ready to go for October. PD scored his fourth of the season, getting the last touches on a corner in a 2-0 win over Westerlo.
🇮🇹 Ismaël Koné scores. IK had a Hollywood day for Sassuolo on Sunday. Isma carved through Udinese, getting the game’s opener. He would also rack up a pile of attacking stats in the 3-1 win.
👑 Jordyn Huitema forces the OG. A goal’s a goal, even if it’s an own goal. Huitema found herself at the back post on Sunday night, levelling the score with the penultimate touch in a 2-1 win against North Carolina.
MLS
⚽️ MLS News & Recaps
MLS
🔴 TFC hold Miami to a draw. Messi and company visited Toronto to a sold out BMO Field. The first half brought BMO Field to their feet, it was the Messi show with series of link up plays and big goal scoring opportunities were created. Inter Miami broke the deadlock right before half time. However, TFC would reply with a goal in the 60th minute from Djordje Milhailovic. The game ended 1-1.
🔵 CF Montréal pick up a dub away from home. Bleu-blanc-noir travelled to Charlotte and finally tasted victory like water in the desert. The home club opened the account with a goal from Wilfried Zaha but a red card from Charlotte’s Edilson Malanda would change the game. CFM would answer with four more goals ending the game 1-4.
🌊 Whitecaps with two Cascadia Darbies this week. The Caps had two games this week facing off against Cascadia rivals. Vancouver hosted the Portland Timbers on Thursday and held the away team to a 1-1 draw. This past weekend, the Caps travelled to Seattle and were held to another draw as the game ended 2-2. With the two draws, Vancouver remain in second place with one game in hand.
🪓 Kamal Miller with the goal of the year? The CanMNT and Portland Timbers defender, Kamal Miller, went viral this past week with a worldie of a goal. You definitely saw the goal on your socials, but here’s a reminder.
This week’s MLS fixtures:
Saturday, October 4th
CF Montreal vs. Nashville SC (2:30 PM ET @ Stade Saputo)
Chicago Fire vs. Toronto FC (7:30 PM CT)
Sunday, October 5th
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. San Jose Earthquakes (3:00 PM PT @ BC Place)
Canadian Premier League
🍁 CPL News & Recaps
Atlético Ottawa
👏 Sam Salter has now 18 goals this season. Ottleti hosted Cavalry and gave the away side a Ballour Tabla brace and a Sam “Saltbae” Salter special. Salter opened the game with a goal in the 18th minute making it his 18th goal of the season. Tabla later scored in the 72nd and 80th minute to confirm Ottawa’s 3-0 win at home.
🔱 Pacific want this season to end. It has not been the best month for PFC and this past game is one to forget. Forge FC hosted the BC club and thrashed the away side 4-0. For PFC, their defence were in shambles against Forge’s attacking onslaught. This was a tough watch if you’re a PFC supporter.
❎ York United clinched playoffs. The Nine Stripes hosted Valour and defeated the away team 1-0. With that win, York United have secured their spot in the playoffs. For Valour FC, this loss meant that they are no longer in contention for the post-season, settling the five teams moving onto fight for the North Star Cup.
🦅 Vancouver shock Halifax. Okay, this might not be as big a shock as last week. VanFC have now won back-to-back games, doubling their total wins this season. TFC loanee Hugo Mbongue had a brace as the Wanderers wandered off the pitch in a 3-1 result.
This week’s CPL fixtures:
Saturday, October 4
Halifax Wanderers vs. York United (3 PM AT @ Wanderers Grounds)
Forge FC vs. Vancouver FC (4:30 PM ET @ Hamilton Stadium)
Sunday, October 5
Valour FC vs. Atletico Ottawa (2 PM CT @ Princess Auto Stadium)
Pacific FC vs. Cavalry FC (3 PM PT @ Starlight Stadium)
Northern Super League
🌌 NSL News & Recaps
NSL
🥇 AFC Toronto lift the NSL Supporters’ Shield. With AFC Toronto’s win and a loss from Roses de Montréal, Toronto have been crowned with the NSL Supporters’ Shield. The shield is given to the team with the best regular season result. The Supporters’ Shield will be revealed in Toronto in their match against MTL on October 19th.
🌆 AFC keep their winning streak alive against the Rapid. This was a balanced game which appeared that Ottawa may have found a significant weaknesses in AFC: counter-attack. The Rapid had created multiple chances through counter-attacks and maintaining pressure when dispossessed. Despite effective play, AFC secured a 1-0 win in the 33rd minute from a Kaylee Hunter goal. Despite the loss, Ottawa has picked up significant notes from this game as they head into the playoffs.
🦉 The Wild keep a clean sheet in Laval. It might be a little too late for the Wild to clinch a playoff spot but they can end their season on a high with some dubs. This time, they did with an impressive 0-2 dub at Stade Boréale vs the Montreal Roses. Jorian Baucom’s second goal is the type of clean finish that makes us feel warm inside.
🏔️ Vancouver Rise officially clinched playoffs. Halifax Tides hosted Vancouver at the Wanderers Ground. Milly Clegg got the game going for the Tides with a brilliant run and a goal inside the box in the 15th minute. The Rise would respond with a goal from Holly Ward in the 63rd minute. The game ended 1-1, with the draw, Vancouver have clinched the final spot in the NSL playoffs.
👏 Desiree Scott announces her retirement. McLeod, and now Desi — another legend is calling it a day. The 38-year-old whose career started back when U SPORTS was CIS will hope to go out with the NSL title. Desi logged 188 appearances with the CanWNT, adding both Olympic and PanAm gold as well as two Olympic bronze medals.
This week’s NSL fixtures:
Thursday, October 2
Halifax Tides vs. Roses de Montréal (7 PM AT @ Wanderers Grounds)
Saturday, October 4
Calgary Wild vs. AFC Toronto (2 PM MT @ McMahon Stadium)
Other News
📰 In other news
😵💫 Mix-up in Miami. More information has now come to light regarding the ticket confusion. For those not in the know, refunds were issued for the CanMNT’s November match against Venezuela by Ticketmaster. The CSA has now confirmed the match is still on, and that those who were refunded will need to purchase new tickets.
🍁 Canada Soccer Board of Directors meeting. There was some big news coming out of last weekend’s Board of Directors meeting, including:
Development of an initial feasibility assessment for a National Training Centre
Reduction in the CSA’s deficit from $4 million in 2024 to $2.4 million in 2025
Doubled investment in Canada’s Youth National Teams
A new $1 million funding contribution to support the NSL
The release also noted that additional investigations into Dronegate have “led to disciplinary measures for 14 coaches and administration staff”. The CSA’s historical HQ in Ottawa was also announced as being put up for sale, as well as continued conversations with Canadian Soccer Business (CSB).
🧡 Canada Soccer launch the Indigenous Working Group. Lastly, Canada Soccer announced — with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation upcoming on Tuesday — the start of a new Indigenous Working Group. The group, “which will align with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action”, is accepting expressions of interest from those wishing to join or support the group.