“Thank you to the people who stood by me these last couple years,” Jalali said in social-media post. “I want to thank my family, my friends, my lawyers [and] the Crown, for not only giving me a second chance, but understanding that I made a mistake and giving me a second chance to do something with my life.”

But, according to FCE coach Jeff Paulus, the fact that the tour is skipping Edmonton plays in the Eddies favour. All the other teams had/will have their region show off their top hopefuls, while FCE might be able to sit on a player or two who wasn’t able to travel for a trial.

The task is daunting. The CanPL coaches are building a soccer league in a country that has never really embraced one. Success on the field, in the stands, and with player development may be elusive for years.

“This is a new project,” Brown said. “And this is a league that is just trying to figure out how to get a talent pool in place, and how to align that with the programs that we have.”

But, in those years, he never knew what it was like to play a true home game. The demands of being in the national program meant that he was often far, far away from his Edmonton home.

Edwini-Bonsu, who has played for various German clubs since 2011, is what FCE coach Jeff Paulus calls a “priority player” for the club.

The City of Edmonton has posted an online survey that asks residents to declare their level of support for the 2026 World Cup.

On Saturday night, the YEG4CPL group, supporters who galvanized support for the Eddies to re-launch its professional team in the CanPL, held an event at an Edmonton pub to announce a new name and logo. The River Valley Vanguard was unveiled. New, blue supporters scarves were unveiled. An old soccer shoe was passed around, and supporters put money inside, with funds to go to Free Footie, the soccer program for disadvantaged youth that was once home to Bayern Munich-bound Alphonso Davies.

City administration has recommended that Clarke remain a multi-sport venue, with shared usage between FC Edmonton and other minor sports. Roger Jevne, the city's director of community facilities, said that some improvements can be made ahead of the kickoff of the 2019 CanPL season, but there's no way that the stadium can be expanded to 7,000 seats by that time.

By Ball's own admission, Clarke "is not visible, it's not inspiring, but it's our home for now and we're working with the city and the other parties to come to an agreement that's good for everyone."