NASL FC Edmonton

FC Edmonton Announces Four-Match Manchester Preseason Tripâ=80=A8

Published on February 14, 2017 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
FC Edmonton News Release


EDMONTON, AB - FC Edmonton is heading abroad for preseason once again. The North American Soccer League (NASL) club has announced plans for a 13-day, four-match preseason trip to Manchester, England, March 9-22 in preparation for the 2017 season.

FC Edmonton will participate in four exhibition matches while in Manchester, facing English Championship sides Newcastle United U-23 and Wigan Reserves, as well as English Premiership sides Burnley U-23 and Stoke U-23.

"FC Edmonton is coming off its best season in club history, and last year's successful run started with games against top competition during a preseason trip to Scotland," NASL Interim Commissioner Rishi Sehgal said. "With this year's trip to England, the club will have a tremendous opportunity to come together as a group and train at a high level going into the season. I think the trip as a whole demonstrates, once again, the strong commitment and passion of owners Tom and Dave Fath."

FC Edmonton will train at The Armitage Sports Centre, the main athletic facility for the University of Manchester. The Armitage Sports Centre features two full-sized outdoor 3-G turf fields and access to weight training and cardio machines.

"We are looking for exactly the same principles as we did in Scotland and have four very difficult games," Miller said. "We're based in Manchester, playing against four very high-profile clubs and I think it speaks volumes about our club that they want to play FC Edmonton."

Last year, FC Edmonton also faced four clubs in a two-week span. The trip paid dividends during the 2016 season, with the club going on to post its best regular season record in club history and earning a berth in the NASL postseason for the first time in five seasons.

"We will definitely see a standard that is being raised from the games last year, with the greatest respect to those teams that we played, who were excellent," Miller added. "This year we want to go that little bit further in our preseason and that little bit further in the league and The Championship."

As was the case for FC Edmonton's 2016 preseason trip to Scotland, the club will have an opportunity to spread the Edmonton brand abroad while developing relationships at the international level of the sport.

"I believe this type of preseason will be invaluable for us," Miller concluded. "We're very grateful for Tom and Dave Fath's support. Without them, these sort of things are not possible. They also share in the vision of the club and the direction that we are moving and I think it's an exciting time for the club."

FC Edmonton kicks off their 2017 NASL campaign, April 2! Lock down your season tickets with just a $50 deposit. For tickets and more information, click HERE, call 780.700.2600 or visit www.fcedmonton.com/claimyourthrone.

Check out the FC Edmonton Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



North American Soccer League Stories from February 14, 2017


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central