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Island Times: A Quick-Strike Visit to Harbourside Sets Up a Big Finale in Victoria
Most don’t get away days like we do. One of the coolest things about supporting local football here in BC is the relative proximity of each ground and the beautiful scenes between them. With MLS and the CPL, hitting the road to support your team might mean flying thousands of miles across the continent. League1 BC, on the other hand, offers stunning day trips. There’s nothing quite like sailing by ferry through the shimmery Salish Sea, glorious mountain peaks all around, en route to invade one of the intimate grounds on Vancouver Island. Rovers and their supporters, fresh off a successful trip to Nanaimo’s Harbourside FC, are now preparing for…
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Rovers Hunt for Points & Playoff Positioning in Their Last Lower Mainland Match, Look Ahead to Harbourside
Rovers are a-roving this July, off on the road for the last five matches of the 2023 League1 BC season, but this ain’t no Summer vacation. Both the men’s and women’s teams have work to do to ensure they make the playoffs, and to stay in contention for the Juan de Fuca Plate. Chelsea Hannesson’s side are in the fourth and final playoff spot, but only by one point over Harbourside FC, their next opponent. First-year head coach Darren Russcher has his men in first place, though they’re technically tied with the Victoria Highlanders for points and therefore lead thanks to goal differential. The Juan de Fuca Plate is awarded…
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Home Sweet Home: Rovers’ Say Goodbye to Beloved Swangard Stadium for the Year
The most bittersweet of days arrived; it was time for the season finale at Swangard, our beloved little home and supporter-group namesake. Work is being done on the stadium track, so TSS Rovers must live up to their own name and roam the road for five-consecutive away matches this July (plus the playoffs) to end their 2023 League1 BC campaign. Joining fellow supporters on tour is a special experience, but nothing can replace a sun-soaked day shared on the natural Swangard grass. Our own bit of paradise. The idea of now waiting nine to ten months for another is agonising. This final home match also came on a Wednesday, sandwiched…
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The 2023 Ironworker’s Derby, A Two-Legged Affair: Game 1 Recap + Game 2 Preview
Our sun-soaked Rovers gamedays at Swangard are already winding down for the year, sadly – the last five matches of the season are all on the road as work is being done to the track that surrounds our grass pitch. Sunday’s home tilt against Altitude FC, the first leg of the this year’s Ironworker’s Derby, was the penultimate chance to root for the home team in 2023. The League1 BC season is already short enough, running for only three full months of the year, May thru July; most of our Rovers are also collegiate athletes, and thus their window of playing time outside of school is short. It’s tough to…
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A Spirit of the Rovers Spotlight: Aaryn Vivian Finds Her Football Home
I arrived at the side entrance of Swangard Stadium on a sunny Saturday, ready to assist my fellow Swanguardians with setting up; this isn’t some big-league operation, where everyone can stumble in right at kickoff to start the party. Nope, here at TSS Rovers the supporters are part of the family, and that means there’s work to be done. While the players are in their locker rooms getting stretched out and taped up, a handful of Swanguardians pitch in and make the colourful in-game display what it is. And, unlike with MLS or even the CPL, each League1 BC matchday is a double-bill; first the women’s team play, and then…
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Rovers League1 BC Matchweek 4 – Trading Blows and Scorelines with Langley’s Unity FC
The Rovers gamedays continue to come hot and heavy, as does that sunshine. It was another steamy, summer-like May Saturday at Swangard, and there are few better places to take in the majesty of a fine Lower Mainland afternoon. Part of the stadium, the southwest side, which includes its entrance, is nestled away in the friendly confines of Burnaby’s beautiful, tree-filled Central Park; the other half opens up to the north, the low ground of Burnaby allowing view of the stunning North Shore mountains. The Swangard pitch, surrounded by an earth-toned track, feels like the centre of this universe. When it all comes together on a balmy day beneath a…
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Pirates on Tour – Rovers Invade the Island in Search of More Can Champ Glory
Rovers’ now-signature win over Valour in the Canadian Championship preliminary round was a glorious bit of treasure, enough for a supporter to live on for years. But the victory was also a ticket to the high seas, as the next Voyageurs Cup battle came against Vancouver Island’s CPL club, Pacific FC. It was time for us Pirates to batten down the hatches, fly the flag, and head off in search of gold – those three shiny points of PFC’s trident. Our pack of Pirates set sail from Tsawwassen on a sun-soaked Wednesday afternoon, meeting on the ship’s top deck to hoist the Jolly Roger. Nearby civilians scuttled away from our…
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Rovers League1 BC Matchweek 2 – A Heated Double-Bill Against the Highlanders
It’s been a sunny start to this new TSS Rovers season, on and off the pitch. The first two matchdays (including the Voyageurs Cup clash) saw the venerable Swangard Stadium bathed in glorious sun, a major win in the annual BC Springtime weather lottery. Speaking of major wins, that three-goal performance by the men’s side against the CPL’s Valour was bright enough to light up the night, giving us one of the highest of highs in club football: the cup upset. But, of course, things can’t always be rosy; the weather turns, challenges come. This League1 BC double bill against the Victoria Highlanders played out beneath a blanket of grey…
TSS Rovers Supporters Trust
