Montreal soccer football May
:the 1st half, Sports

A wild spring for soccer is giving way to a fierce summer for football culture

by Paul Desbaillets

Heroes emerged as European leagues wrapped their seasons, our CF rebranded with a nod to the city’s soccer past and more.

May was a wild month in the world of football.

The seasons have come to a close for all of the major European football leagues. In Italy, you had AC Milan crowned champs. In Spain, it was was Real Madrid. In Germany, Canadian superstar Alphonso Davies and his club Bayern claimed the title. In France, it was the powerhouse club PSG who were named kings of the castle.

Kylian Mbappé stays in Paris

Not to stray too far off topic, but the whole Kylian Mbappé saga came to a close with him staying in the French capital for $35-million a year until June 2025. He led the league in goals and assists.

Some other big money news in the world of football saw 21 year-old Erling Haaland’s story come to close. The Norwegian fly to the U.K. to complete his $65-million transfer to Premier League champions Manchester City. Man-City announced they had reached an agreement with the forward to join them from Borussia Dortmund.

Erling Haaland, the $65-million-dollar man

In England, we saw the champions declared based on one point alone. It was a very exciting last day of the season with nothing set in stone until the final whistle. In the end, Manchester City were crowned British champions, and by winning the league, they undercut the potential for Liverpool to win the quadruple. Liverpool were on pace to do that after beating (my beloved) Chelsea FC in not one but two different trophy matches this season, with both being decided on penalties. Manchester City have now won the league eight times.

In other Premier League news, Nottingham Forest ended their 43-year wait for top-flight football, with a win over Huddersfield Town in the championship playoff final at Wembley. This victory was worth about £170-million to the club. They will be joining Fulham and Bournemouth as the three new kids on the block next season.

Nottingham Forest

Speaking of my beloved Blues, the ongoing sales saga is finally coming to a close. The British government, the previous Russian owner and now the Premier League have approved the £4.25-billion sale of the club to American Tom Boehly & Co. I will be watching very closely what all this will mean during the off-season as the clubs use the next month and a half to prepare for the beginning of the 2022–2023 season, which starts Aug. 6.

To wrap up European football nice and clean for this season, I need to mention the big match at the end of the month. Liverpool FC played Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Paris on May 28. Real Madrid won the match 1–0 and have now won a mind-blowing 14 UEFA Champions League titles. Potential Ballon d’Orwinner Benzema, Modric and Carvajal now join Ronaldo as the only players to play in and win five Champions League finals.

In North American football news, the MLS season is going strong and our local CF Montréal is doing remarkably well this year. At press time, Montreal sits fourth in the Eastern conference and have advanced in the Canadian championship. The team is working well together and being effectively coached. As the weather gets better, more and more Montrealers are making their way out to the stadium to cheer on the boys.

CF Montréal going strong

In the last week of May, the club also unveiled a new logo to make up for the shortcomings of the last re-brand, which happened during the pandemic and was not well received by the majority of the local football-loving public. Out with the snowflake and back in with the fleur-de-lys. CF Montréal’s new logo will debut in the 2023 season. The club says the new crest honours its past, with the crest features the team’s name, the fleur-de-lys, the shield, the predominance of the colour blue and 1993, the year of the club’s first season. The black and blue stripes are an homage to the early years and to the year 1994, when they won their first championship. 

“Take your victories, whatever they might be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.”

—Mia Hamm

This article was originally published in the June 2022 issue of Cult MTL.

Check out The 1st Half podcast (about soccer and football culture in Montreal and beyond) here.

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Posted in :the 1st half, Sports

by Paul Desbaillets

Contributor
Paul is a Canadian entrepreneur. He is a partner in Burgundy Lion Group which owns several establishments in his hometown of Montreal. Paul is also the founder of GOAL Initiatives Foundation, a national CRA charity making a difference through cultural development, wellness and youth sports programming. In 2019, Paul created the 1st Half Podcast Football Culture show, dedicated to all aspects of the beautiful game. Paul interviews chefs, musicians, artists, athletes, fanatics, influencers and anyone else he can find willing to talk to him about the football ecosystem.