The most telling sign that the Halifax Wanderers are not the same ill-fated team of old might well be this: On Saturday, Aug. 19, the Wanderers managed to draw defending Canadian Premier League champions Forge FC in a tight 1-1 road affair, and Halifax will head home feeling like they could’ve taken all three points away. Through three matches against Hamilton’s Forge this season, the Wanderers have remained undefeated, with one win and two draws.

In other years? That kind of head-to-head record against the three-time CPL champions would’ve been unheard of.

In this week’s Wanderer Grounds episode, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman recap the Wanderers’ road result, Dan Nimick’s hot streak, Lorenzo Callegari’s YouTube adventures and the CPL’s U-21 minutes quandary.

Photo credit: Canadian Premier League

In this week's episode, Martin is joined by Canadian international (and now Wanderers centre-back) Doneil Henry. The two talk about the Wanderers' 3-0 win over Vancouver FC and what playing and living in Halifax has been like for Henry.

Matt joins Martin at the tail end of the interview and the two of them go through the game, talk about João Morelli's performance and some standouts. The boys also talk about U-21 minutes while getting some U-21 minutes in on the podcast.

Photo credit: Trevor MacMillan / HFX Wanderers FC

In this week's episode Matt and Martin are joined by League Commissioner Mark Noonan and the three of them talk about the future of the league and the standard of reffing.

Then Martin and Matt do a speed run through the events of the last game, as Martin had to rush off for a birthday event. Happy Birthday Martin!

Photo credit: Trevor MacMillan / HFX Wanderers FC

In this week's episode, it's just Martin because Matt's voice is down for the count.

Make that five home wins in a row for the Halifax Wanderers. On Sunday, July 23, in front of an ebullient Halifax crowd, the Wanderers looked comfortable in beating reigning regular season champions Atlético Ottawa 1-0 behind a magnificent goal from striker Théo Collomb.

In this week’s episode of The Wanderer Grounds, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman discuss the Wanderers’ run of form, Canadian international Doneil Henry’s debut and the best way to eat a potato. Plus, Collomb joins the show to talk about that moment from Sunday’s match, the gift of French cuisine and how he came up with his favourite goal celebration: the knee slide.

(Also: Martin was wrong about the Wanderers' win streak. He would like to beg forgiveness.)

Photo credit: Canadian Premier League

This episode of the Wanderer Grounds is a crossover episode! Last week the Friends of the Commons local advocacy group put a post on their website letting everyone know that they are suing the city over the privatization of the Wanderer’s Grounds.

The reason, according to the legal letter linked above, is they believe the Wanderer’s Grounds have been defacto privatized without public consultation, which goes against rules dating as back as far as the Crown grants from the 1700s. Their argument is that since the 1700s, this land has been public, and more recently and specifically, the commitment to make the Wanderer’s Grounds public has been codified in law as recently as the 1990s. So, they argue, this land is supposed to be public.

They also argue that this land, even though it is, in theory, public there are a lot of restrictions as to who can actually, practically, use the land. So many restrictions that it is defacto private, and the only beneficiary is the Wanderer’s ownership. This privatization was done without public consultation and extended (in the new lease) without public consultation. This breaks more rules, and so the Friends of the Commons are planning on suing the city to make them follow the rules they are supposed to follow in the Charter and demanding all operations cease on the Grounds.

In this crossover episode of The Wanderer Grounds/The Grand Parade, Matt and Martin take a deep dive into the weeds and imagine a future where the Wanderer’s Grounds plays an integral role in forming a community, all the while being a public good in the beating heart of a Wonderful city.

Also covered: the game that happened on the weekend.

In this episode Matt and Martin talk about a soggy game, Fillion's antics and the return of Morelli.

Photo credit: Trevor MacMillan / HFX Wanderers FC

In this week's Wanderer Grounds episode, Coast reporter Martin Bauman is joined post-match by Wanderers beat reporter Joshua Healey (Wanderers Notebook) and Wanderers centre-back Dan Nimick to recap HFX Wanderers FC's dramatic 2-1 victory over defending Canadian Premier League champions Forge FC. Nimick talks penalty mind-tricks, pump-up songs and why he loves a good bowl of Chipotle. Plus, Martin and Josh discuss Wesley Timoteo's turn at left-back, the Wanderers' four-game unbeaten run and a historic night at Wanderers Grounds.

Photo credit: Trevor MacMillan / HFX Wanderers FC

In this week's episode Matt is joined by new guest Lauchlin. The two of them are joined by Aiden Daniels to talk about whether or not it's okay to be mean to soccer players (and his sweet goal).

Then Josh from the Wanderers Notebook (thewanderersnotebook.ca) joins and they talk about press box shenanigans, reffing and debate if Halifax's grass gives the team an advantage.

You can read Josh's recap here: https://wanderersnotebook.ca/2023/06/18/hfx-wanderers-keep-rolling-with-second-win-beat-cavalry-fc-3-1/

Photo credit: Trevor MacMillan / HFX Wanderers FC

In this episode of The Wanderer Grounds podcast, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman recap a raucous 2-0 home victory for HFX Wanderers FC—the Canadian Premier League soccer club’s first win of 2023, as well as the first under new coach Patrice Gheisar. 

Matt apologizes for doubting Mo Omar’s midfield merits, Martin digs deep into hot-take territory to suggest that when teams play well, it leads to winning more games and the two take stock of a brilliant performance from English midfielder Callum Watson. Plus: 2021 MVP João Morelli returns.

Has Aidan Daniels cemented his Starting XI spot? Does Halifax’s earlier 0-3 loss to York United FC feel any different after the Greater Toronto-based club’s run of success? And why Martin believes it’s everyone’s duty when flying in a commercial airplane to be as physically uncomfortable as possible.

Photo credit: Trevor MacMillan / HFX Wanderers FC