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CITY OF LANGFORD RESPONSE TO COMMENTS BY PFC PRESIDENT

(Langford, B.C.) – The City of Langford remains committed to supporting Pacific FC (PFC) and ensuring the club’s success in our community. However, recent public comments by PFC President Josh Simpson, specifically that the City has not been “exactly simple to work with since Stew left,” are both inflammatory and factually incorrect. It is important that Langford residents are informed of the City’s ongoing efforts and the challenges it has faced in maintaining its partnership with PFC.

From the outset, the current Council has taken proactive steps to support PFC, including approving the relocation of a hydro pole on Langford Parkway to increase usable space on the north side of the field. Despite these efforts, PFC is currently in arrears to the City for over $90,000, which includes unpaid office rent, stadium rental fees, and game-related costs. Further, PFC has not remitted to the City the $1.00 per ticket service charge for any of its home games in 2025, which is intended to support ongoing stadium maintenance. Additionally, PFC owes $691,477.77 under the Indoor Training Centre agreement, an amount the City has held in abeyance in the spirit of ongoing partnership and to allow for continued negotiations of a long-term stadium use agreement.

Beyond its financial obligations to the City, PFC also owes more than $24,000 to the City’s field operator and food and beverage provider, both small, local businesses. While all stadium users are required to pay facility rental fees at the time of use, the City has allowed PFC to accrue a negative balance in good faith. Specifically, and rather than enforcing penalties beyond interest for outstanding amounts, such as locking PFC out of the stadium and office space, the City has chosen to honour the partnership and seek solutions that do not negatively impact fans, families, season ticket holders, or sponsors.

Unfortunately, PFC has remained largely unresponsive to emails and phone calls to resolve the outstanding debts until it requires a renewed stadium use contract with the City. This is a pattern that has persisted annually since the expiry of the initial five-year stadium use agreement, which PFC chose not to renew for an additional five years at their sole discretion.

In addition to not collecting on outstanding amounts owing, the City has consistently demonstrated its commitment to supporting PFC and fostering a successful partnership. This includes providing free advertising on the City’s digital boards, agreeing to amendments to the stadium use agreement such as increasing PFCs share of advertising revenue to 100%, supplying five portable bleachers at no cost for PFC’s recent game at Royal Athletic Park, and committing to hold a referendum on a stadium expansion, at the City’s cost, once PFC signs a five-year agreement, despite current game-day attendance being well below stadium capacity.

Despite these efforts and the City’s continued willingness to find solutions, PFC has been unresponsive and unreasonable in negotiations for a long-term stadium use agreement that balances the club’s needs with the interests of Langford residents. Further, PFC has demanded reduced field rental rates for games and youth rates for practices, despite being an adult, for-profit organization. Such concessions could violate the Community Charter unless equivalent value is returned to the City, and would be unfair to other community-based stadium users.

“Langford has always been proud to host Pacific FC and support its growth in our community,” said Scott Goodmanson, Mayor of Langford. “We’ve made every effort to be fair, flexible, and forward-looking in our partnership. While recent comments are disappointing, our priority remains with the residents of Langford and ensuring that public resources are managed responsibly. We remain open to working with PFC in good faith, but we also have a duty to protect the interests of our taxpayers.”

As noted above, the City of Langford remains committed to supporting PFC and ensuring the club’s success in our community. However, should the relationship become untenable, the City will take all necessary steps to protect the interests of Langford taxpayers.

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MEDIA CONTACT
Harriet D’Costa,
Communications Advisor
Cell: 250-661-9346
Email: