Scottish United’s Canadian Championship debut is marred by off-the-field controversy

Scottish United lost 6-0 to Cavalry FC but that was only part of the story

In, what was supposed to be, a major milestone for an Edmonton Scottish club that is heavily decorated over its one hundred and eighteen years, their first appearance in the Voyager’s Cup (Canadian Championship) was overshadowed by the news broken by Steven Sandor in The Edmonton Journal that the club may not exist in the near future.

Scottish United are facing lawsuits and missed payments to kit manufacturers and the Edmonton Scottish Society that runs the Edmonton Scottish but not the Scottish United.

The feeling is reminiscent of the 2015 US Open Cup, when news of the Traffic Sports Scandal broke mere hours before the US NASL teams took to the fields in the Open Cup. The body language and the looks on the players’ faces still stand out to me over a decade later. The dark clouds over those players’ heads led to losses that should have been victories.

Unlike the 2015 US Open Cup this match was between a young League Alberta Scottish United and a CPL-based Cavalry squad that defeated Pumas UNAM in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Cavalry set the tone with two goals in the first twenty minutes, with Scottish only setting up one solid scoring chance in the first half at the 44 minute mark, but the shot lacked calm composure and sailed far wide of the net.

The second half brought more mature dominance from Calgary as they moved the score four goals on the Scottish by ripping their defensive line to shreds on surgical through balls. As the rain started to pour to match the mood of the day for the Scottish club, Cavalry showed no mercy as they scored twice more. A late cross bar was the only real “what if” on the night, but it was mute behind a 6-0 scoreline.

What was meant to be a celebration of deep Canadian soccer history ended up drowning in a puddle on ATCO field’s pitch.