I miss nothing, Caps are in the big leagues now and I've left it all behind.

Been there since 1996 when I moved to BC from Alberta (A-League) Days.

Div 2 days, even the great teams in the 80's can't compare to top tier football on and off the pitch.

There is alot I miss. The nights at swangard, the smaller sense of camaraderie with the smaller Southside, being so close to the pitch, being able to get a cider without missing a single play if you were quick.

That said I wouldn't go back, as I like what we have now much more.

Swangard

bili said: The smell of grass at the game.

Indeed. Don't miss the running track (ST's in the grandstands) or the rain. But the smell of the grass at Swangard is one of the great memories in my life.

ETA: I miss tailgating too ... :-(

Ah.. great thread. I too miss Swanny and the beautiful pitch. I miss Wes backing right up to us to launch another of his legendary '09 throws. I miss the cheap, close parking at the Telus building. I never thought I would miss standing right beside the Timbers Army when they were up but sure enough, I do. Gbeke and Gordie Chin and definitely Luca. And Janicki and his bloody head.. But all that being said.. I do not miss 0-0 draws every match.. I wouldn't trade the on-field product, that is for certain

I miss Swangard, I didn't go to every game, but it was a nice little stadium and it was a good price for admission to football and an overall entertaining night out.

Lord_Bob said: I miss Canadians. I miss Swangard Stadium. I miss being able to start an impromptu, hilariously insulting chant rather than having to listen to the capos and be lectured on how mean I am. I miss tailgating. I miss some of the great teams we had to play against. I miss being the plucky, underrated underdog rather than the big bad colossus. I miss Phil Davies, Martin Nash, Wes Knight, Jay Nolly, Zourab Tsiskaridze, Luca Bellisomo, and Randy Edwini-Bonsu. I miss championships, although that one looks like it'll be coming back. I miss beating Toronto FC; fingers crossed that one returns as well.

Pretty much all this.

I miss the spontaneity of chants, which is one of the reasons I just sit up in the press box now. Just doesn't feel the same down there any more at home games.

Away games, Reserves, PDL etc are all great, plus you have a chance to have a good blether if you want and mix and be beside different people during the games.

Closeness to the action too is something I miss as well.

Why do you think I go to the PDL matches and events like the open practice on Thursday? It's not D2, but I get to hang out at Swangard.

Not to mention no Canuck bandwagon douches :)

SAFC_Yank said: There's a whole list of reasons I'm glad the move was made but I'd rather have the old thing back on game days.

• I miss sitting 10 yards off the centre line two rows up, so close you could hear every word from the players on that side of the pitch. So close that a comment from one person could get players to respond. "Braz, you're ugly." "I know."
• I miss standing behind the goal in warmups with my son, eating an affordable, if not terribly healthy, dinner bought from the same woman in the concession stand every week.
• I miss the sense of closeness to everybody, including the players.
• I miss Kindel and Nash in their pomp, utterly dicing people with little flicks and back heels down the left side.
• I miss many of the people we sat with, and our goofy little yell of "Ack-tor" at any opposing player who went down softly.
• I miss Vicente Arze knocking over advertising boards every other game.
• I miss Wes Charles, Jeff Clarke, Lyle Martin, even Tony Caig. _ And I miss Wes Knight sprinting out right toward us, tossing a water bottle across the touch line, clapping and shouting at us, "Let's Go," and a few of us always chanting "Wes, Wes, Wes" back at him.

I miss it all. And while I see a better standard of play, and have a lot more people I can talk to about it instead of getting blank stares, I really wouldn't have been all that bothered if it hadn't changed.

Would it be too cheeky to just concur with this, especially warmups with the son and Kindel, Clarke, Velente, JJ, Nashy and Davey Morris. Those were the backbone of the two most recent championship teams. Well maybe not Davey so much, but there was only one Davey Morris. That's for sure.

Most items covered already, but one nice thing about Swangard's south end was not being constantly bombarded with 80-decibel advertising and muzak before the match, at half-time, and after full-time. There was a PA system, but it was much quieter, and we were far away from it. Players chirping at each other in the 18-yard box was louder.

The 2008 and 2009 Voyageurs Cups were particularly special, especially when we hosted TFC. 2009 was almost magical - Toure scoring a brace from down the left wing, and the overflowing Southsiders spilling off those two rickety aluminum stands (how did they not collapse?), galvanized by a "cupset" over the arrogant MLS red-plastics. Sadly, playing the underdog role in the Canadian Championship is gone, as Lord Bob mentions, since we're one of the big boys now. (Although I suppose squaring off against some CONCACAF Champions League giants might partially make up for that one of these seasons.)

I also liked the fact that we had our own area: not many people moaning to the FO about swearing, nobody asking us to sit down, etc. I was disheartened during the very first Empire match last year at the sheer number of no-fun-city types who were asking us all to sit down, not wave flags, etc.

General admission was also part of the fun at Swangard, although admittedly it wouldn't work well with the larger MLS crowds at BC Place.

If Vancouver were to host an independent D2 or PDL club in the future, I'd buy a season ticket in a heartbeat.

REAL GRASS!

Echo many of the sentiments put forth already. Also while there are some things I loved about Swangard I sure wouldn't trade how things are now to go back to that.

Things I miss most:

• How the location just made the stadium scream out "Vancouver" with the trees in the background

-The fact the southside could get away with more than they do now

-Seeing Pedram interact with both teams from his perch right beside the tunnel. High 5's to all the caps, "you suck" to all the opposition.

-Seeing some really great interaction between fans/team members. Including Teitur giving Pedram/Andy a ride to the skytrain after the games. Not that the players/staff now aren't good guys, just how things are don't lend themselves to these moments.

It's a total pie int eh sky dream given how the teams ticket package works. But I think it would be fantastic to have the 1st round Voageurs Cup game played at Swangard a la Sounders at Starfire for USOC. Give STH right of first refusal and then have some tickets open for the public. If you throw some extra seating in there you can get 7-10k with a reasonable budget. I think it would just be a really cool 1 off every year, kind of a reverse Winter Classic, for the NHL in the sense you move to a smaller stadium, while going back to the more traditional game feel.

My dream suggestion to make this work, is replace that game for the STH with a preseason friendly against another team who plays in the non traditional schedule such as AIK from Sweden this past year. IN the end the fans get a game with higher calibre players, as well it would probably bring some added interest, as naturally anything from Europe is precieved as better than anything in NA. Yes it wouldn't matter but it would be interesting and then we can get our Amway game at Swangard. Just a little dream

I miss seeing errant shots fly into the VIP bbq end and bean some twit in the head that wasn't watching the game.

I miss Evil Bert being my customer service rep.

Lord_Bob said:

Blue_and_White_Army said: Most items covered already, but one nice thing about Swangard's south end was not being constantly bombarded with 80-decibel advertising and muzak before the match, at half-time, and after full-time. There was a PA system, but it was much quieter, and we were far away from it. Players chirping at each other in the 18-yard box was louder.

While I agree with this (Swangard was just soccer; in MLS teams feel like they need to provide some Complete Sensory Experience), we shouldn't forget the old-school division two Whitecaps used to play music during play. Worse than any number of advertisements.

Hang the DJ!

SAFC_Yank said:

Lord_Bob said:

Blue_and_White_Army said: Most items covered already, but one nice thing about Swangard's south end was not being constantly bombarded with 80-decibel advertising and muzak before the match, at half-time, and after full-time. There was a PA system, but it was much quieter, and we were far away from it. Players chirping at each other in the 18-yard box was louder.

While I agree with this (Swangard was just soccer; in MLS teams feel like they need to provide some Complete Sensory Experience), we shouldn't forget the old-school division two Whitecaps used to play music during play. Worse than any number of advertisements.

With the exception of "White is the Colour" bleeding into the start of the second half, didn't they pretty much abandon the music the last four or five years?

They did give it up eventually, but there was a run there in the early to mid 2000's where they played music during the game play every game. I remember one time they played the "Young and Restless" theme during game play and I felt the Caps had jumped the shark.

I used to write emails after every season complaining about music during game play.

:P

I miss being immediately behind the goal. The Southsiders played a tangible role in making our home ground uncomfortable for the opposition, particularly the opposition goalkeeper. We used to research all sorts of shady background information and blast them with it for 45 minutes.

Now that we're off to the side, I don't think the south end is a very intimidating place for away 'keepers anymore.

(But of course this has to do with the club's "perceived value" seating nonsense...)

I would say your both right. Being right behind the net made us much more intimidating for the keeper. But the setback makes us less intimidating to all the other players.

The solution to the track was to sit in the bleachers rather than grandstand. Far closer to the action. There's a reason Wes was a fan favourite, and much of it was because we could talk to him while he was on the field and he would respond. Section Q, for the win.

I miss the Domenic Mobilio days. (God rest his soul)

The real grass pitch of swanny. It also being a quick walk through the park from where I live. Drinking Liquor on the walk over, sneaking it into the grounds, getting shite-faced, and feeling like you were a part of the game, standing only a few feet from the action. I miss the cheap tickets, and the usual faces you could count on seeing at every match. I miss

Cool October night games were the best. And always the afternoon home opener.

I don't miss security. I will never forget what those bastards did to me and my friends during the late 90's to mid 2000's. Over-zealous cop wannabe's.

There are many things I miss about the USL days, but Security isn't one of 'em !

Blue_and_White_Army said:

Bistchen said: I don't miss security. I will never forget what those bastards did to me and my friends during the late 90's to mid 2000's. Over-zealous cop wannabe's.

There are many things I miss about the USL days, but Security isn't one of 'em !

True: other than Ginger Bob, I don't have much good to say about them.

I recall once that three of us went to a women's match (prior to a men's game). The only security guard was bored out of his mind, so he came over and chatted with us. He mentioned that he was an MMA nut, that he trained regularly at some MMA gym, and that he wanted things to kick off at a men's match so that he could practice his moves. :-w

Was that the match against Seattle where the keeper came over after the match and said something like, "You're jerks, but I love it"? The only time I ever threw a cup onto the pitch.

SAFC_Yank said: Was that the match against Seattle where the keeper came over after the match and said something like, "You're jerks, but I love it"?

That's the one. I think her exact words were, "How did you know about my broken tibula?" ;)