We’re Higher Than You; Rovers Sink Altitude FC in Home Opener
A pirate’s life is inherently one spent travelling, journeying. You can’t be a pirate and stay in one place all the time, can you? One must, more often than not, “set sail on the high seas” – almost literally, in our case; no sails were set, but our band of pirates has already travelled by boat to an away match this young season, and we’ll soon do it again.
The thing is, though we love our “pirate” moniker, travel is not the only inspiration for it. Us Swanguardians are also home-bodies. It’s right there in the name; we are the Guardians of Swangard (yes, note the spelling) Stadium. We have a home port to defend, and the great thing about journeying away from home is that, once you finally get back, it feels so good to be where things are most familiar and comfortable. That said, and while many great things indeed were, not everything was familiar at dear, old Swangard when we finally got in its midst for the first time in 10 months.
As you may or may not know, the 55-year-old stadium that we call home received some tending to over Rovers’ offseason. Specifically, the running track was redone. The longtime rust-like red ring around that beautiful rectangle of natural green grass is out. Almost Celtic-style hoops have taken its place, though the non-green stripes are light grey instead of white. I’m a Celtic fan, and we have a real green-blooded Glaswegian amongst us as well, but at Swangard we’re all about Rovers. So, while the new look does blend in well with in pitch from afar, the old rusty track was better suited to our red, black, and white livery up close. The city of Burnaby runs Swangard, and they were apparently going for their own municipal shade of green. I’m sure we’ll get used to it, most probably have already, but the change was certainly top of mind on this post-op reunion day.
There wasn’t long to dwell on change as routine soon took over. As always before every home match, we gathered for a pre-game “tailgate” in the Central Park woodlands just beyond the stadium. It was lovely to see everyone circled around a picnic table full of snacks, loot, and a janky BBQ again after so long. There were even some great Rovers programs from years past, a mini archive to peruse. Then Global TV showed up; change pushed back against routine as a man with a video camera documented and inquired about our warm-up soirée. Was I filmed and interviewed while showcasing our MacGyver lunch special of the week, a breakfast-sausage taco on a toasted corn soft shell with pickled onions, Cheetos, salsa and Franks RedHot? Oh yes. “If you can’t win on the pitch, at least win off it,” was my impromptu line before digging into some groundbreaking gameday fare. Were we also asked to sing in the woods, which we never do, and to use a broken branch in place of a drumstick? Yes, indeed. Was it all odd but also fun? Yes and yes again.
The good news is that, on this day (and most gamedays, fortunately) Rovers did win on the pitch. In fact, we got our first “Double Dub” of the 2024 season – both our women and men were victorious against Altitude! Get in. Maddy Mah and the Rovers women, lead by first-year coach Kevin Booker, got off the schneid and tallied their first three points of the season. A huge 2-1 win. You could see how much it meant to them all. And, despite how the scoreline appears, Rovers actually scored three times… the one against was an own-goal! We’re a giving bunch. Mah, though not one of the… three goal-scorers, was clearly the fan-favourite. A pack of Cygnets, our new term for junior Rovers supporters – Swanguardians-in-training, if you will – made their admiration for Maddy clear with signs and cheers. They joined us behind the net in the supporters section for a while, boldly taking over drumming duties. Then, after the final whistle, the Cygnets mobbed Maddy, almost removing the Rovers midfielder from sight completely as they gave her one massive group hug. Adorable. That’s what it’s all about.
The Rovers men kept the good vibes going, cruising to a resounding 6-0 win. Two goals came in the first half, and the four others occurred after the 63rd minute. There was a steady stream of resplendent red smoke to end the day, right through stoppage time and the final whistle, into the night. Rovers are now unbeaten three games into this League1 BC men’s season. They’ve not just won; Brendan Teeling’s lads have been dominant. 12 goals for, only 1 against. Nine points out of nine. The only reason we don’t lead the league is because we’ve played two less games than the Whitecaps Academy, who have lost and tied in addition to winning thrice. Their loss? Yep, thanks to us.
I think the most efficient, effective way to wrap things up might be through a new song we workshopped that wonderful Friday night beneath the lights…
“We’ve got Matteo in the middle,
He knows exactly what we need,
Devin’s on attack,
Justyn’s in the back,
Rovers are going to win the league!”
Bring on the very-first Burnaby derby.
