Valour FC a wreck that needs fixing

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This article was published 11/10/2023 (814 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s no secret that Valour FC is a mess.

On the pitch, Winnipeg’s professional soccer club sunk to new lows in 2023. It scored a paltry 25 goals in 28 matches to earn themselves a last-place finish in the eight-team Canadian Premier League with a 6-8-14 won-draw-lost record. Since the league began play in 2019, Valour is the only team — outside of Vancouver FC, which just completed its first season — to never finish in the top half of the table. Six clubs have been in the league since Year 1 and Valour has won the fewest matches of them all since the start with 36 wins in 119 matches.

The results, or lack thereof, are being felt off the field. Valour was a $950,000 loser for the parent Winnipeg Football Club in 2022 and that number is unlikely to look any better when the 2023 financial report is made public.

The inaugural season saw 5,335 fans per match at IG Field. Those days are long gone as Valour had the third lowest attendance in the CPL this season with an average turnout of around 3,200, a slight upgrade over 2022 when they had 3,111, but still far from good enough. The Winnipeg Goldeyes (3,641), Manitoba Moose (3,848) and the Winnipeg Sea Bears (5,484) all bring more spectators through the gates for home games.

Prior to the season, Winnipeg Football Club (WFC) president and CEO Wade Miller said Valour needs around 4,500-5,000 fans on match days to become a viable entity. By failing to reach that target, it has many wondering what the WFC — the organization that owns and operates Valour and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — are planning to do with their soccer side.

There have been rumblings the WFC was looking to sell the team.

“We’re running it and we’re going to find a way to make this work for our fans, for our players, and for this city. We love having Valour,” Miller told the Free Press in a phone interview.

“We were part of this project when it started. We completely believe in the project. My first discussion about the Canadian Premier League started in 2015… We see what’s happening with soccer in this country, and Valour needs to be in Winnipeg and we’re gonna work hard to make that happen.”

Miller, however, did not rule out the possibility of a sale. He declined to comment on whether they’ve had any parties show interest.

“We’ll look at everything when opportunities present themselves, for sure. Don’t ever think we’re not going to do that,” said Miller.

There’s a number of people who have supported the club since it kicked off for the first time on May 1, 2019 who have taken to social media to announce they’ve cancelled their season tickets for next season as they don’t have faith in the WFC, more specifically, Miller. It’s led to some supporters using the hashtag #MillerOut as their way to voice their desire for change in leadership.

“Well, I appreciate the passion. I appreciate what they bring to game days. There’s frustration, and there should be, so, I understand it,” said Miller.

There won’t be a change in leadership on the sidelines as Miller has given head coach and general manager Phillip Dos Santos a one-year contract extension into 2024. Since replacing Rob Gale in September of 2021, Dos Santos has led Valour to a 19-18-31 record. Gale was 18-8-30 before getting fired.

“It’s been two years he’s had to take this (team) over). He needs time to be able to do that. I know that’s not what some fans want to hear, but I’m a firm believer that if you get the right person, you give them the opportunity to make it happen,” said Miller.

“I see the opportunity and I believe in the direction he’s taking this organization. Are we satisfied with where we finished? Absolutely not. But I truly believe there’s better things to come for Valour.”

For that to come to fruition, Dos Santos needs to do a better job at building a roster. He failed to find replacements for offensive threats such as Moses Dyer, William Akio and Sean Rea and Valour paid for it this season. The club does have some promising young pieces, such as goalkeeper Rayane Yesli and midfielder Matteo de Brienne, but lacks a true star that can be built around.

Valour is looking at ways to improve their domestic and international scouting. Dos Santos would like the club to add a reliable scouting department that would allow them to consistently have eyes and ears in different markets.

“I think we know where we stand. We know what needs to be done, and I approach it with anticipation and excitement,” said Dos Santos.

“I still have the energy, the passion, and the ambition to succeed with this club and that’s what I want to do. For me, this is a normal process. It’s not something I fight with. I look at it with anticipation and motivation to bring results to this club, to bring playoff games to this club, to bring an MLS team and a Canadian Championship to this stadium, to win something. I think that’s what drives us and that’s how the approach needs to be.”

A recent move that was met with outrage was Valour’s decision to cancel its high-performance program. The program provided young, promising, local talent with the opportunity to train and develop with Valour’s staff during the winter months. Miller believes they can be more beneficial to the Manitoba soccer community by taking a different route. They’re in the process of finalizing the details of what that will look like.

“We thought it would be a better approach to work with clubs and academies and work with their technical directors, and allow our guys to work with them directly, rather than us running a program that only benefits a few kids,” said Miller.

“We think we can have a bigger impact on kids by working directly with those clubs and the academies.”

Valour has a lot of work to do to fix the franchise’s reputation as a perennial loser, but Miller remains confident.

“Stick with us and we will get this turned around,” said Miller. “I think I have the history of doing that.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @taylorallen31