Six-goal shellacking sparked Altitude FC as they look to win their first League1 BC championship

Altitude FC are out to make history. Prior to this season, the third year League1 BC club had never reached the playoffs in either the men’s or the women’s division. Now, they stand just 90 minutes away from lifting their first ever trophy when they face off against regular season champs TSS Rovers in the 2024 Men’s L1BC Championship game at Swangard Stadium on Sunday.

Last weekend was a huge day for the club, making history following a hard-fought 3-1 semi-final victory over Vancouver Whitecaps at a packed Kinsmen Field in North Vancouver. It was a game that Altitude dominated in spells, but they failed to turn that dominance into goals and were holding on to a narrow 1-0 lead thanks to Oliver Herbert’s 16th minute goal.

The Whitecaps made it interesting, levelling things up through Ethan Stiver in the 71st minute, but the North Shore side found another gear, scoring late goals from Lucas Booth and a second from Herbert to secure a famous victory.

“The boys deserve it,” Altitude head coach Faly Basse told AFTN after securing his side’s spot in the championship game last Sunday. “They’ve been working since the beginning of the season really hard to come to that point, so this is actually the gift from their work that they’ve been doing since then. So I’m happy for the boys, 100%.”

Altitude have been the in-form side in the second half of the league season, losing just once in their last eight matches of the campaign. That loss came at the hands of TSS Rovers, a 1-0 home defeat in a match that went a long way to deciding who got the League’s spot in next year’s Canadian Championship.

The Rovers are a team which has seemingly had Altitude’s number over the years. The North Vancouver team have won only one of their six previous meetings and have been heavily outscored.

TSS have won both of the games between the sides this season. The first meeting came at Swangard on May 17, where a rampant Rovers side ran out 6-0 winners.

It was the third time in their first four matches that Altitude had been kept off the scoreboard, but it was to prove to be the big turning point of the season for the North Shore side. They regrouped, they were galvanized, they had a point to prove, and they went on a six match unbeaten run, recording four wins and two draws, climbing up the table in the process and getting into the playoff positions.

“Yeah, I think the boys realised that the game that we play, like I always say, when you’re starting a season, you’re maybe going to have one or two games that you maybe are going to be behind always,” Basse told us. “Any big team, any team who go far away and win championships, they always have one or two games like that and I think the game that we played at Swangard was one of them.

“So we played, we had to control the first, I would say, 30 minutes of the game and then after, you know, mistakes were coming and then boom. Then you have to pay for that. So, you know, that was the game that we and the boys know it. I told them this is the game that we have to let go and keep moving and keep focusing on what we are doing and our potential and quality that we have, because we have a big quality team.”

The second meeting saw the Rovers win by a single goal in a very close game that game could have gone either way. A result that leaves them feeling they have everything to play for this weekend and they still have a point to prove that that first result was a not a good representation of the team.

“It’s a good squad that we have this year,” Basse continued. “And the most important thing, those guys are living really good together, right? So I think to be able to have successful team, you must have a team who can get together, living together, understanding together, and want to work together. This year we can see that on the field, on the field and off the field.”

Just getting to the Championship game is massive for Altitude from an off the pitch perspective. It’s going to help grow the club, grow the fanbase, and perhaps most importantly of all maybe help them get more sponsors and players for the team next year. It just feels such a big, defining moment for the club as a whole.

“Oh, definitely,” Basse agreed. “When you’re winning, you attract, right? Because you can see the stadium was packed today. So I think that’s exactly what we’re looking for. We’re looking for a community, everyone to get together around this team, and yeah, sponsors. We’re looking for many, many team sponsors to be able to help to bring this team to the next level again.

“The club has been doing a really, really great job, but I think by moving to the next steps, again, that will help to have all the community, all the North Shore around this team. I think it’s going to help 100% to move to the next level again. So yeah, definitely this is amazing to see the stadium packed like that, beautiful day, and having a great result. So I’m happy to see that so that we can see that in the North Shore we have a football community and a football culture here.”

Altitude and TSS Rovers play for the 2024 League1 BC Championship at Swangard Stadium on Sunday. The game is set to kick off at 4pm. Tickets are available HERE, but if you can’t make it along, AFTN will have the commentary for both the men’s and women’s Championship game on the League’s YouTube channel.