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.

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."

Jake Keegan: If you’re reading this article, know that, during the course of the interview, Tyson Farago said that he’d take you out for a “nice dinner.”  Hold him to it!

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.

Beirne can say all he needs to say about not wanting CanPL to be compared to MLS. But he knows, deep down, that this will always be the first place fans will go to. There are three Canadian teams in MLS. MLS games are on Canadian national TV. And, of course, American fans will look at neighbouring Canada as it begins to unravel itself from the U.S. soccer system. They will ask: “If Canada can have single-table, why can’t we?” And we know the fervent anti-MLS factions that exists in the U.S. will use Canada as an example as they continue to fuel their self-destructive Soccer Warz.

Of course, as Beirne will be shaking hands, meeting and greeting, over the next two days, a lot of topics will be covered. We talked about a few Wednesday night.