The playoff table is set for the Halifax Wanderers. How far will they go?

Eleven months ago, on the day the Halifax Wanderers announced Patrice Gheisar as the second head coach in the club’s short history, the new man of the hour paused for a moment to talk about expectation. It was the elephant in the room: Despite leading the Canadian Premier League in attendance through four seasons—and by a margin about as wide as the Bedford Basin—the Wanderers had precious little silverware to show for it. The club had made the playoffs just once, losing in the 2020 CPL final. And apart from a smattering of individual accolades—a pair of Golden Boot trophies (Akeem Garcia and João Morelli), a Coach of the Year award (Stephen Hart) and a lone Player of the Year award (Morelli)—the Wanderers had no real history of on-field success. How much expectation, then, did Gheisar feel stepping into his new role with a sparsely-filled trophy cabinet?

“The word I use is excitement,” he told the reporters gathered on Nov. 30, 2022. “I’m excited to fill that [cabinet] up very, very quickly.”

Job one in achieving that goal is done. A year after Halifax’s seventh-place finish, the Wanderers are officially headed to the playoffs—and for the first time in franchise history, Halifax will host a playoff game at the Wanderers Grounds. On Saturday, Oct. 14, the Wanderers will host the winner of York United FC and Pacific FC. Win, and they’re headed to the CPL semifinal. That Halifax has home-field advantage next weekend—the perks of a third-place regular season finish—shows just how far the club has come in its new era.

You would be forgiven for thinking the Wanderers might flounder in 2023. The club entered the season with 17 new players on its roster, and began with an inauspicious six draws and two losses to start its campaign. A familiar chorus of same old, same old was starting to bubble at the Wanderers Grounds. Then, a flash of results: First, a 2-0 home victory over Valour FC, followed by a 3-1 eruption over Cavalry FC. By the time the Wanderers beat Forge FC 2-1 in extra time on a rainy June night, there was a different feeling in the air—and not just from all the moisture. It was belief.

That belief, it turns out, was warranted. Under Gheisar’s watch in 2023, the Wanderers set franchise records in a whole host of categories: Not just wins (11, besting 2021 and 2022’s mark of 8), but points (42, up from 35), goals scored (39, up from 28), goal differential (+7, a 21-goal improvement from 2022), goals conceded (32, down from 35) and total passes (13,000, up from 12,128). The on-field product has matched the numbers: First-year forward Massimo Ferrin has joined the conversation as a top-10 CPL player. Defender Dan Nimick, in all likelihood, will be wearing a Major League Soccer jersey or playing somewhere in the English Football League ranks next season. (Now, it seems, centre-back partner Cale Loughrey could join him.) French midfield wizard Lorenzo Callegari will almost assuredly be in the running for the CPL’s Player of the Year award. He’ll probably earn some votes from his peers as the league’s Player’s Player of the Year, too.

Consider this: The Wanderers were a hair’s breadth away from a second-place regular season finish—and will likely feel they should’ve earned it. After a wild final CPL weekend that saw Halifax finish tied on points, wins, goal differential and goals scored with defending champions Forge FC, it took the fourth CPL tie breaker—away goal differential—to award the second playoff seed to Hamilton, instead of Halifax. This, despite the fact that the Wanderers held a better head-to-head record against Forge in 2023 (two Halifax wins, two draws).

A single extra goal in the Wanderers’ favour in 2023—and fans of the team could surely point to two—and Halifax would be ahead of Forge. Ferrin nearly had the difference-maker against Winnipeg’s Valour FC on Friday, Oct. 6, hitting the post on a picture-perfect delivery from Jake Ruby. Instead, the Wanderers’ 1-0 victory meant their playoff fate would be decided by Forge and Pacific. And while it nearly worked in Halifax’s favour—both clubs lost, as Halifax needed them to—it wasn’t quite enough.

The outcome means a longer playoff path for the Wanderers—as the second seed, Forge will play against top-seeded Cavalry FC for an immediate berth in the CPL final, and the loser will remain in the playoffs—but it’s exactly the kind of challenge Gheisar should be excited about. It’s one he relished mere months ago.

“Everyone loves the finals, but I said this to the guys: If I had the power of rubbing my hands together and clapping and going [straight] to the finals, I wouldn’t want that—because we’re not ready,” he told The Coast at the start of the Wanderers’ season. “I want us to earn it—to go through the journey, go through the ups and downs and the lessons we need.

“For me, I’m just excited. It’s like preparing to go on a trip that you’ve been dying to go for.”

That trip begins, as it should, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Wanderers Grounds. A trophy awaits. Let the ride begin.