It’s one of the biggest pieces of news to come out of Valour FC thus far.

According to an official club statement, head coach and general manager Robert Gale is looking to his country of origin, England, to find a club to join Valour in an official affiliation. He will reportedly be attempting to strike up some sort of deal with Premier League clubs in and around London, which could include the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, West Ham, or Gale’s former employer, Fulham. It seems Gale’s past connections could do the club a world of good moving forward, as a potential affiliation with a club of Premier League stature could benefit Valour FC in different ways for years to come.

Plenty of the biggest clubs in world football have affiliations, sometimes called ‘sister clubs’. Arsenal are affiliated with Colorado Rapids due to sharing the same owner in Stan Kroenke, and Manchester United are affiliated with an unbelievable 11 clubs around the world. Perhaps more famously, Chelsea are affiliated with Vitesse Arnhem and Manchester City are affiliated with both New York City FC and Melbourne City. The story between Chelsea, Man City, and their respective affiliates are interesting ones. Both clubs have signed standout players from their affiliate clubs (Aaron Mooy, Daniel Arzani, Marko Van Ginkel), and both clubs have sent players on loan to those clubs as well, especially Chelsea.

Having an official affiliate makes the exchanging of players on a temporary or permanent basis much easier when it comes to formalities and paperwork.

“It’s also a case of letting people know what we’re about as well because we have a fantastic stadium and are going to have terrific staff and players"



Rob Gale is headed across the pond to meet with Premier League clubs.

📝 | https://t.co/dFu8llvcwI#ForValour | #CanPL pic.twitter.com/yADqoECl5A — ValourFC (@ValourFootball) January 16, 2019

For Valour FC to strike up a partnership with a bigger side could potentially see the club taking a young player or two on loan at some point, or selling a standout performer to the big leagues. It’s truthfully a win-win situation that greatly benefits the club. It would increase the exposure of the players, as the affiliate clubs will keep a close eye on potential chances to snap up a talent from their sister club.

Not only will an affiliation benefit players, but perhaps even coaches and other members of staff as well. It is an excellent way for the club and its members to gain exposure in a different market. Imagine that Valour strike up a deal with Fulham FC, and in 8 years we produce a top local talent straight out of St. Vital, Richmond West, or Garden City that shines for Valour. That player would then automatically have the eyes of a Premier League club (or whichever league Fulham are in by then) on him as he stars in this league, which would eventually lead to them scouting him and possibly even purchasing him.

That’s the type of opportunity that an affiliation could conjure up for the club, city, and league.

“We’re also going to assimilate ourselves with the backroom staff and look at some of the game-day traditions and other things that are going on to help us for rolling out our own unique experience. That’s one of our main objectives – to stand out as a different sporting experience. That’s what the Canadian Premier League is going to be about. Young Canadians might not have experienced a professional soccer match and what that entails.” Rob Gale

It seems that Valour FC have the development of the atmosphere, stadium, operations, marketing, and vision in mind with this affiliation as well. It’s prudent thinking, and they are clearly looking for inspiration as to how to go about creating a professional environment for players, staff, and fans to all thrive in and enjoy at Investors Group Field.

In a brand new league, there are bound to be some growing pains. Despite this, it seems that the club with the least growing pains right off-the-bat is likely going to be the most successful. A potential affiliation could allow Valour FC to gain some inspiration and knowledge in order to make Winnipeg’s transition into professional soccer a seamless one. If you are currently in a job, you will likely understand how important connections are. The exchange of benefits is something that can help both parties grow, and that’s exactly what Valour FC are attempting to do by meeting with Premier League clubs. It could be a deal that gives the chance of a lifetime to a player or coach of the future, and isn’t that exactly what this league is for?

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Mahith Gamage Website An avid football fan right from his first experiences with the sport, Mahith Gamage has been dabbling in football journalism for a few years now, creating his own world football blog and podcast, freeflow football, whilst featuring frequently on many other football media outlets, covering European football. With the start of the Canadian Premier League in 2019, Mahith began coverage of his hometown club, Valour FC, through NSXI. He enjoys spreading his knowledge and opinions of the beautiful game to fellow football fanatics in Canada and throughout the world, using articles and tweets, thriving particularly on tactical analysis and player scouting. You can find him tweeting about world football day and night, at @mahithgamage.

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