About

This is a blog for soccer in Halifax.

It will sit, like I sit, somewhere between supporter and reporter. I’m a journalism student turned writer who lives in Halifax, who has written about soccer for The Dalhousie Gazette and The CIS Blog among others, and who has been a TFC supporter since Day 1.

Ever since my first time covering a game back in 2008, I’ve been waiting for a chance to watch professional soccer in Halifax with the real support that I know exists in this community. This site is a tribute to that and an attempt to add to it, in my own way.

Writing here will focus on Halifax Wanderers FC, the Canadian Premier League club set to begin play in April 2019. But the Wanderers exist at the top of a dynamic pyramid that’s unique to Atlantic Canada that includes club soccer, university sport, and academies. These communities will be critical to the short and long-term success of the Wanderers, and so I’ll write about them, too.

For years, that pyramid needed a golden crown on top. It has one now. How do the rest fit? How will Halifax Wanderers FC grow and operate within this community? How will soccer in Atlantic Canada change in the next five, ten, fifteen years? These are all questions that will evolve, their answers changing with every match, every week, and every year.

The Merchant Sailor exists to document that evolution, question it, celebrate it, and add to it.

Welcome aboard!