Pacific FC set for season opener this Saturday at Starlight Stadium in Langford

This Saturday the Halifax Wonderers are in town to face Pacific FC in the season opener at Starlight Stadium in Langford. For the fans, there will be some changes at the pitch.

“We’re going to be animating the beer garden this year,” said Paul Beirne, managing director of Pacific FC.

The team is aiming for more of a party atmosphere, with a DJ, locals beers and a happy hour.

There’s also a new food menu created by Branko Mustafovic from Collective Catering.

“Today we’re going to test out the Trident Burger,” said Mustafovic.

At a team press conference, Mustafovic brought in three different sample burgers. It was the job of five official taste testers to try all three options and decide on the best one. The winner will be the burger served for the entire 2024 season.

We will get to the winner in a moment.

The team has been based at Starlight Stadium in Langford since its inception in 2018.

There have been questions raised if the team is planning on staying put in the Westshore after only signing a one-year agreement with the City of Langford. The city was looking for a five-year commitment.

“We just did a one-year deal in order to buy time,” said Beirne. “Time was the only real factor that was getting in the way.”

The sticking point between the team and the city revolves around the Island Training Centre. The team says it’s under-utilized and would like to expand its uses to other community groups. The City of Langford is looking into options and therefore only a one-year deal was made.

“You have a facility, you want to lock in your major tenant so a five-year deal would have been ideal,” said Scott Goodmanson, the mayor of Langford.

The two parties say they are working towards a solution.

After chowing down on option A, B and C, it was burger decision time, sort of.

Two testers picked option A, two picked option C and one picked B.

Mustafovic says he’ll combine all three flavours into one delicious Trident Burger this season.

“I am looking forward to a sold out crowd here,” said Josh Heard, Pacific FC team captain.

Heard says it’s been a long two months of training to get to this weekend but says the team is ready.

“When this place is full there’s not a better place in the CPL to play football so it’s great,” said Heard. “We’re just excited to get back and play the game we love.”