Valour FC signs decorated head coach

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This article was published 26/06/2018 (2878 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Football Club didn’t have to look far to find the man to lead Valour FC — he was in their own backyard.

The club announced Tuesday morning at a media conference at Investors Group Field that Rob Gale — the former head coach of the Canadian men’s U-20 national team — has signed a three-year contract as the inaugural head coach and general manager of Winnipeg’s new professional soccer team. Valour FC will play in the Canadian Premier League, a new soccer league that is slated to begin play in April 2019.

“To have this opportunity now, and to be able to build and develop a team, a culture, a vision, a philosophy from scratch that represents this amazing part of our country, is an opportunity that I just had to pursue,” said Gale, who has lived in Winnipeg for more than a decade.

Gale, 40, was born in Zambia and signed as a youth professional at the age of 14 with Fulham FC — a Premier League team in England.

He moved to Winnipeg to become the captain of Winnipeg Alliance FC, an indoor professional team, and went on to play for Winnipeg Lucania and the Sons of Italy before retiring in 2012.

He moved to the city when he became the technical director for the Manitoba Soccer Association in 2006.

He was also the assistant coach for the U-17 national team that made it to the FIFA U-17 World Cup twice.

Before being hired as the head coach of the U-20 team in 2014, Gale was the man in charge of the men’s U-18 team. Gale was introduced to the media by Wade Miller, president and CEO of Valour FC — the same role he serves with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“When you talk to soccer professionals across the country, it becomes very clear what he’s done in his career as a professional coach and with all the amateur coaching,” Miller said.

“When you talk about his development of youth, he understands who the Canadian players are in this country, so it was a very easy decision.”

Miller said he has gotten to know Gale over the past 18 months, as he consulted with him about the soccer operations for the club. Early into the process of working with Gale, Miller said he was confident he had found his guy.

“It was pretty early on that you could tell there was a passion for soccer and being Manitoban as well is just an extra bonus to it, not the reason for it,” Miller said about hiring Gale. “He’s got such a passion for this city, province and soccer that we’re in good shape moving forward.”

While the boss has been announced, the roster won’t begin to take shape until the fall, Gale said.

However, the coach and general manager plans to put an emphasis on the team having homegrown talent involved in the organization.

“The Canadian Premier League as we all know is going to be a league for Canadians by Canadians, but this team is going to be a team for Manitobans by Manitobans,” Gale said.

“It will have a Manitoban in me running it, a Manitoba staff around us and Manitoba players playing right from the very first year.”

Valour FC has begun to sell memberships, where fans can put down a $50 deposit to reserve their spot in line to choose their seats for season tickets.

Wade Miller said the team has sold more than a thousand memberships, which is the most in the league.

“We’re less than 21 days into this, so it’s a really great start from that perspective and you can see the support building,” Miller said.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @TaylorAllen31