What Playing in Calgary Taught Me About Football at Altitude

When people talk about a football match in Mexico City, altitude can sound like an excuse. I thought about the time I spent playing for Cavalry FC in Calgary. Mexico City is higher, and the two experiences are not identical, but playing and training above sea level gave me a sense of why a visiting side might find repeated sprints difficult.

The first sprint tells you more than the warm-up

In Calgary, I could feel normal while passing, shooting and jogging before a match. The first hard sprint was different. My breathing felt heavier, my mouth and throat felt dry, and my legs did not seem to recover as quickly between efforts. A pressing run on its own was manageable; doing it again and again was the test.

We also trained through a demanding pre-season, sometimes in very cold weather. Visiting teams often commented on our fitness. That experience made me think about the difference between living and training somewhere for months and arriving to play a single match.

Why I took England's challenge seriously

Watching England play in Mexico City brought those memories back. I could see the players working hard late in the game and understood why the conditions were part of the conversation. That is my perspective as a former player, rather than an explanation for every moment on the pitch. Fitness, tactics and the opposition all matter too.

The point is that a professional player can be fit and still find an unfamiliar environment demanding. My own first weeks in Calgary felt different from the period after I had trained there regularly. When I hear people dismiss altitude altogether, that is the experience I want to share.

In the video, I talk through what Calgary felt like, what I noticed in England's performance and the question I would ask any football fan: how would you handle repeated runs in those conditions?

Watch the full video on YouTube.