September 18, 2024...York United FC Fan Party
(by Rocket Robin)

Details of the York United FC Fan Party held at The Moose and Firkin in Vaughan on Wednesday September 18, 2024 starting at 7:00pm
(text, sound and pictures by Rocket Robin)

This party came as the team was in the middle of a homestand with games on each Friday. They tied Valour on the 13th and are preparing to play Cavalry on the 20th.

I was e-mailed an invitation as a season ticket holder a few weeks ago so had plenty of time to arrange to come with 'a guest'. I had a strange feeling when I received another e-mail earlier today inviting other fans that it wasn't too late to reserve a spot. Oh oh! Maybe there weren't as many people coming as expected?

My friend was waiting for me to pick him up in his lobby so we got here a bit early at 6:30pm. I had never been to the modern strip mall this bar was located at but I only looked for directions on Google Maps....Yeah I should have looked on Google Earth using their streetview because I drove by their delivery door in the back and parked too far away. I reparked my car nearer the front doors so we'd have an easier exit on our way out.

There was some team staff already here to give us a drink ticket and direct us inside. We were in time to see them set up. There was about 1/3 of the restaurant at the start for us to sit. There was a backdrop being set up in one corner with the team logo like a window blind and a few stools and a microphone and sound system rigged up (owned by the team) I expect.

A coat rack was wheeled in from outside that was filled with nothing but team kits, all the white with green/blue stripes. OK. Then as people arrived in street clothes, some men stopped at the rack and put on the kits. OK those are the players...this wasn't a souvenir stand.

My friend and I were a bit confused because we were given a drink ticket on our way in by a club staff member and told our first drink was on the team. OK that's been the usual protocal at other team functions. The waitress added that all soft drinks were on an endless refill policy. Great so a draft for my friend and diet Coke for me. A bit of confusion as she also dropped us a menu with a list of mainly English pub menu items. I told my friend not to order right away as I would wait until I saw what other patrons were doing. Yeah I should have re-read my invitation for the fine print before coming.

OK a table was set aside for a buffet selection of the pub food. The rest of the night the table always had a few platters of food because not everyone arrived at the beginning.

After people got their food and were sitting down, the show began. It was Eoin O'Callaghan the team VP of content and communication strategy who was the MC and asking questions to the coach and players.

They got the bar manager to cut the piped in music so we could hear what was being said. The accoustics weren't great and I wasn't in the front tables so there are times when this is a strain to hear.....

The televisions were dialed to baseball games. There were two games being shown. One had New York Mets beating Washington 9-0 and it was only the fourth inning. Point was they were not the Blue Jays. Later the Blue Jays were on but because of the time zone difference, their game in Texas was just starting by the time we were packing up.

Some alternatives would have been either the MLS Toronto FC vs Columbus Crew game or the FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup semi-final was taking place on TSN. I didn't say anything to the waitress as I thought maybe the York United staff didn't want to remind people of TFC. There was one person I recognized that is still a TFC ticket holder. She answered that she'd given her tickets to a young relative as "I didn't want to miss this!". At the very end there were some 'regulars' coming in to play pool.


York United FC head coach Benjamin Mora.

Audio of Benjamin Mora, Elijah Adekugbe, and Max Ferrari (22 minutes, 17 seconds)

Questions for Benjamin Mora:
What's it like to have the fan support?
How did your personality transfer over to the team?
How important are the home fixtures for the team's play off run?
Are you playing like every game is high pressure?
Closing remarks fron Mora with thank you's.


Eoin O'Callaghan asking questions to Elijah Adekugbe

Questions for Elijah Adekugbe start at about 12 minutes.
Talk to us about this season.
What was it like to get back on the field after injury?
How does it feel getting closer to the playoffs?
Has it felt different this year with the team success at home?
How about these big games coming up?


Max Ferrari answering questions

Questions for Max Ferrari start at about 18 minutes.
What did it feel like to reach that special moment (100 appearances)?
Did it feel like a breath of fresh air to get a new coach?
What's it like to play in front of these home fans?

Prizes were given out for answering team trivia questions.
There'd be one question regarding York regarding each of their remaining opponents at home. "Who had the assist on Shola Jimoh goal in Calgary?". I knew this right away but held back as I felt I shouldn't answer and let the other fans have a chance. 'Brian Wright' was the right answer and a gift bag (to be given out of the way out) was awarded to the guy from Radio 5 who does the Spanish language commentary. Hmm. Next one I'll try to win something for my friend.


York United FC president and CEO Ricardo Pasquel

Questions for Ricardo Pasquel (8 minutes, 44 seconds)
How important is it to have a night like this to meet the fans?
Are you able to enjoy this season at all or is it nerve-racking?
Can you believe you actually own a team?
What do you think of the progress of everything...the play...the game day experience?
How have things progressed for you since January?
O'Callaghan recounts a story on receiving Pasquel's phone call on Christmas night with ideas for the team.

It was about 9:15pm and many of the fans and players were leaving and club staff were taking apart the backdrop so I figured there would be no more prizes nor lucky draws so after I waited for my friend to finish his coke, I drove him home. Agreed to go to our usual watering hole tomorrow. Hey only one prize for fans was given out!

Overall I had fun, my friend did too although he doesn't know much about the team. Some of the players came over during the meal to say 'Hello' to each table. The players ate too and they took up another third of the restaurant. My mingling with the players was mostly confined to showing them their Wikipedia pages have been updated with profile pictures taken by me! A month ago I was e-mailed by a guy named 'Soccer Dude' who asked if my page still had the 'open licence' profile....you can use anything for free on there if you give me credit. 'Yes' I replied. Pretty soon I discovered my pictures were taking over. Biggest shock is Olusola Jimoh now having a picture that I only took at the press conference Friday night!

Former head coach Jim Brennan has been updated too. I don't know if he'll like that--going from an action picture showing him on the field for Toronto FC to him at a table for a post game press conference.

For tonight, I think the team will be disappointed. The fans barely outnumbered the number of players that were here!


The Moose and Firkin in Woodbridge (picture taken as I went in to the venue before it got dark)

Rocket Robin
e-mail: robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
X: @RocketRobin01

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