As the Canadian Premier League’s Board of Governors meeting in downtown Edmonton wrapped up Friday afternoon, Commissioner David Clanachan suggested that Clarke Stadium may not be the only option on the table.

So, the end goal is the CanPL, but the team’s not officially signed on yet. Paulus’s role moving forward hasn’t been made clear, because, well, the future of the team is not clear. The question: How does he shepherd the club towards a 2019 launch that, for Edmonton, is still a wish list item and not a hard target?

“Today was about the past, the present and the future,” said Foothills coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “And the crowd dictated that they’re here to watch local talent. They’re here to invest in Canadian rivalries. It’s hard to strike up a rivalry, as you guys know, with Miami and Puerto Rico. But if you say Calgary’s coming up for an Al Classico, and suddenly everybody wants to see the rivalry. I thought it was a brilliant response from the Edmonton community.”

Don’t call it a comeback, even though Shaun Saiko was an Eddie for years. On Sunday, the man who scored the first NASL goal in FC Edmonton history looks to be rocking his peers, putting Calgary Foothills in fear.

When the Canadian Premier League’s new logo is displayed on the boardroom screen at the CanPL’s Toronto offices, Nasrala describes it like he’s seeing it for the first time. It’s like he’s unpacking a gift on Christmas morning.

But, when dealing with the city bureaucracy, this is still early in the game. It’s time for the various stakeholders to come together. It’s time for dialogue.

The City of Edmonton's Community and Public Services Committee's agenda for its April 18 meeting includes a discussion on "Support for Professional Soccer in Edmonton."

And the glaring, obvious truth is that Canada, despite only having one team in CCL, year after year performs better than the United States, which has four slots in the tournament.

"In the short term, we think we will have a very busy soccer season that includes our league schedule along with a very robust Canadian Championship – something that will be very important to our member clubs.”

I’ve used a lot of that resilient and resourceful thinking since I came to the club almost two years ago. I’ve been very fortunate, our owners, Tom and Dave Fath, have allowed me to bring in new ideas and approaches. However, If someone had told me that within my first two years I would take over a struggling front office, work spend two seasons trying to get it the so hard to take it to the next level, then shut it it down and, just a few months later, be faced with possibility of  try to launching it all over again, I would never have believed them.