Rocco Placentino stood in front of the players, coaches and club management, ready to give a speech before the club’s first ever training session.
As the club’s co-founder and president tried to find the words, he became emotional seeing what had been created and what was staring him down.
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Former Canadian international Placentino saw a group of players and coaches all born or raised in Quebec, Canada.
They had been brought together, inspired by the Athletic Club de Bilbao, to help place Canada’s only French-speaking province in the football landscape.
“It’s done with local pride, local players, local staff, local senior management and local partnerships,” said Placentino of Supra, who continues his pre-season preparation on Sunday before competing in the Canadian Premier League.
“Even though it’s not just talking about it, but also putting it into action, which we’re doing. It’s real, it’s not a myth, it’s not fiction. It’s the truth, it’s happening and we’re extremely proud of it.”
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A Quebec “melting pot”
Placentino grew up in Montreal and played for Quebec’s other professional soccer team, Major League Soccer CF Montreal, as well as playing in the Italian second and third divisions.
As Montreal launches its scouting network across the world to be competitive, FC Supra is focusing on local players who may have been overlooked.
They want to give other Quebec players the chance to try to imitate Canadian internationals such as Ismael Kone from Saussolo and Moise Bombito from Nice.
Bombito was born in Montreal, while Koné left the Ivory Coast to settle in this city at the age of seven. Their travels highlight the rich cultural mix and obsession with football in Quebec.
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“The goal is to have a local pride program in the Canadian Premier League, a team that could provide local and multicultural players,” Placentino said.
“I look at countries like Belgium and Iceland. If they are able to train players and sell them around the world to become phenomenal footballers, why can’t we do it in Quebec?
“A lot of players would fall through the cracks here and miss opportunities to shine and expose themselves at a higher level.
“All we need to do is take these players, put them in a very professional environment while keeping that street player DNA.”
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A unique touch demonstrating Supra’s pride in its province is having the Quebec flag printed on its kits.
Paul Desbaillets, director of the Supra brand, says the goal was to bring to life the unique character of Quebec.
“There has always been a history between Quebec and Canada,” he said.
“What makes us so proud about this club is that there is further proof of why this province is so spectacular. We are a complete mix of French, Italian, British, Moroccan, Persian and Asian.
“It doesn’t matter the ethnic origin. We first formed around Supra and it’s our crucible of what Quebec is.”
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Adopting the original Supra club
Quebec Supra may be a new club that has yet to play a competitive game, but the idea for the club’s colors and name comes from one of Montreal’s first soccer teams.
Supra Montreal only operated between 1988 and 1992, but provided the environment for a six-year-old Placentino to form some of his earliest soccer memories.
“I remember going to games with my dad and watching players who were mostly local players playing for Supra Montreal,” he said.
“I loved the colors. I loved the blue, white and red.
“And I said, ‘You know what? I want to relive that experience as the founder of this club and bring back that local pride and that Quebec feeling.’ We wanted to relive it and modernize it as best we could.”
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Besides the colors and the name, there is a more personal connection between the two clubs through one of their new players, Alessandro Biello.
What makes the 19-year-old’s signing so special is that his father, Mauro, played for the original Supra and was captain of Placentino while they played together at CF Montreal.
“When we signed (Alessandro) Biello, all the boxes were checked in terms of what we were looking for,” Placentino said.
“The work ethic, bleeding for colors, bleeding for the city, playing in front of family and friends, having that drive to do well with the Supra, so that maybe one day it can be sold to a team in Europe.
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“So it’s a very proud moment for us to see Mauro’s son playing for Supra and I hope he follows in his father’s footsteps.”
Reject 150 offers and generate international interest
Quebec has approximately nine million inhabitants. To represent FC Supra, a player or coach must be born, raised or have a deep connection with the state.
This transfer policy is similar to Athletic Club’s Basque approach, with Placentino hoping to visit the Spanish side to understand how it is possible to develop a club using this transfer policy.
The president of Supra has already discovered certain advantages and disadvantages of pursuing such a policy, the former Canadian international having had to reject more than 150 offers from players with no connection to Quebec.
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But despite the focus on growing local talent, athletes who have left Quebec to travel to the four corners of the world but want to get involved with Supra have also expressed interest.
“There are players who play in Guatemala, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Malta who are all Quebec players and who say ‘I want to come home,'” Placentino explained.
“They can’t wait to come home and when you hear that, I get goosebumps.”
These feelings from the players, coaches and management are shared by Placentino, which is why the club motto is so poignant.
“A club from here, for here.” This translates to “A club from here, for here”.
