Goal Initiatives: No Borders In Soccer

Donate and Show Support To Goal Initiatives Here.

There are no borders in soccer. It’s been a few months since we went to Canada for the 2022 World Cup, and one of our favorite things we took from the trip was visiting the Burgundy Lion Pub and learning about their work to uplift soccer in Montréal. Through their nonprofit Goal Initiatives, they’re funding multiple soccer programs in Canada and supporting thousands of young athletes as they pursue their goals with the sport. Through multiple events ranging from tournaments to fundraising galas, Goal Initiatives has successfully engaged the Canadian soccer community to grow the sport we all love.

With the most important decade in North American soccer history upon us, it’s up to all of us to band together and set our local communities — in both Canada and the US — up for future success. With that theme in mind, we collaborated with Goal Initiatives for a fun photoshoot highlighting both of our countries, and our hope to see us grow together by giving back to the sport. In addition, we sat down with Burgundy Lion and Goal Initiatives founder Paul Desbaillet to chat about the storied soccer tradition of the pub, the missions and accomplishments of Goal Initiatives, as well as our hopes for both of our countries to support the next generation of athletes that will represent North America in the years to come.

Can you tell me about the history of the pub and how it started?

The pub is going into its 15th year, so it all started back in 2008. We were several partners that got together, and we were working every night after work on a business plan to get this thing going. Back in the day, there was a big divide between the English and French facets of Montreal, and we all wanted to have an English pub, but there were none. There were Irish or Scottish pubs, but not English. We wanted to provide that space, so we found this great location, and we’ve dug out every single corner of space in this place to be able to utilize it.

Over the years it’s been insane, and it’s all about family. It’s madness, and you can feel there’s a history when you walk through these walls. You can have three hundred people here, but it still feels warm and connected, just like if you were spending some time with your closest mates.

Definitely had the chance to experience that when we were there. It felt so intimate.

We always wanted it to be an intimate experience for anyone walking through our doors. You could have a squeegee kid and a street writer at the bar next to somebody in a tuxedo that just came by from a fancy gala. That’s the whole idea of a public house. It’s a safe place to meet and do your own thing.

How has the football side of the pub grown over the years?

It was all about slowly building it. We used to show England games back in the day, and we had to pay Setanta Sports – who had the rights in North America – crazy money to be able to play the matches. We were supposed to charge $20 a head for anyone that wanted to watch, but we never did that. We just paid the rights upfront to show it, and I still remember how big it was to be able to show international matches, and how exciting that all was. We built a community the right way, slow and steady. We’d reach out to people, throw events, and do our best to be a space for every supporter to enjoy.

There were obviously many people interested in football at that point, but nobody was using it as their thing. For us, we weren’t showing any other sport aside from football. No NFL, NBA, MLB, MMA or all this other stuff. We created a space to enjoy football, and I think people really appreciated that. We did our part, and we’re still doing our part, to continue to grow football here in North America.

What do you think are some of your favorite memories from these past fifteen years?

I’m a Chelsea fan, so the 2012 Champions League definitely stands out as a favorite memory. Another good memory was when we hosted the team at the pub in 2016. They brought all the trophies and it was absolutely nuts. A pub in Montreal – imagine that.

After the pandemic, one of my favorite memories was when England made the Euro final in 2021. We were just post-pandemic, and seeing all these people happy and excited to be together was incredible. A year prior, we weren’t allowed to see each other, and finally, the pub was back to being packed. We built a beer garden outside for extra space, we had mini kegs on the tables, big screens all over the place, and fish and chips. It was unreal. There are so many good memories. We’ve had World Cups, we’ve had Euros, we’ve had people going crazy bouncing off the tables, but those two memories are just the ones that really stand out.

What has been the most rewarding thing about being part of all this?

Meeting different people from all over and helping bring them together. We are the home base for so many supporters’ groups from countries all over the world, and that means so much. It’s brilliant. We’ve made sure to keep it comfortable for fans from all over to just come here and have a good time. As a North American, I can’t say I’ve been bred to have a deep-seated rivalry stemming back three generations, but it’s gotta start somewhere.

You mentioned being the epicenter of the soccer community in Montreal. How did Goal Initiatives come about?

We knew we had to give back to the community. If a neighborhood supports you, you gotta support your neighborhood right back. If people are coming into the pub buying drinks and food, you gotta give back. We started all the way back in 2010 putting on a little tournament at a park. It was cold and rainy, and I just thought it was never going to happen again. I thought everyone had had a terrible time, but it was the exact opposite. Every year it just got better and better. Eventually, we ended up in stadiums, raising dollars for great organizations and bringing people together. We had people playing soccer, getting tattoos, haircuts, drinking, and eating — it was amazing. We had different tents with various activities, and it was all free to the public. We’re all about community, so for us to be able to tap into that with football was brilliant. We were bringing local bars, restaurants, small businesses, and brands together to support our different causes in football.

From soirees to festivals to tournaments, you guys have had a pretty busy 2023. What are some goals you have for the organization looking to the future?

We want to keep raising more money to be able to do more things for the community every year. We want to be able to support more organizations and local communities moving forward. On top of that, we’re really keen on being able to collaborate with others across the border. We want to find interesting ways to do things all over North America. There are no borders in football, so there shouldn’t be any borders in what we do. We are thinking of ways that we can hold events in different cities across Canada but also in the US.

With the 2026 World Cup around the corner, it just feels right. We want to do as many things as possible and work with as many like-minded humans as possible. North America’s vision of football is different than Europe’s or Latin America’s, or Africa’s. It’s not about copying or comparing, it’s just about doing it our way. There is no better or worse. Some regions and people may have been doing it longer, but that doesn’t mean they’re doing it better. We have to do whatever we enjoy, and that’s how the game is gonna grow on our shores. We should all be proud of what we are building here.

Photography by: Peter Bonilla