The Vancouver Whitecaps were a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1986, the team played its final year in the second tier of the United States soccer pyramid in the NASL Conference of the USSF Division 2 Professional League coached by Teitur Thordarson. The team played its home games at Swangard Stadium in nearby Burnaby, British Columbia. The team's colours were blue and white.
Swangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for soccer, rugby, football, and athletics, the stadium also used to be home to the Simon Fraser Clan football team and the Vancouver Whitecaps while they were in the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and various US-based Division 2 leagues. It opened on April 26, 1969, and has a capacity of 5,288.
Robert Douglas Friend is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a forward, and CEO of Pacific FC.
The Vancouver Whitecaps FC women was a Canadian soccer club based in Vancouver, British Columbia that played in the USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team was formed in 2001 under the name Vancouver Breakers following a merger of the Vancouver Lady 86ers and Vancouver Angels. In 2003, they changed their name to the Whitecaps to match the men's team.
Kara Elise Lang Romero is a former Canadian soccer player and current sports analyst, who represented her country in two FIFA World Cups and the Olympic Games, and played club soccer for Vancouver Whitecaps Women. She is the youngest woman to be named to Canada National Women's Team, making her National Team debut on 1 March 2002 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal at age 15. Lang retired on 5 January 2011 at the age of 24 due to recurring knee and ACL injuries. Lang began a comeback in 2013, with her ambition being to help Canada in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, but suffered a third ACL injury in February 2014, effectively ending her comeback. She now has two sons and a daughter with professional baseball player Ricky Romero. She was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame as a player in November 2015.
Emily Jane Zurrer is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Swedish club Jitex BK in the Damallsvenskan and the Canada women's national soccer team. She previously played for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League, Dalsjöfors GoIF in the Damallsvenskan, and the Vancouver Whitecaps in the W-League.
Ottawa Fury Women was a Canadian women's soccer team based in Ottawa, Ontario. Founded in 2000, the team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team competed in the W-League's Central Conference with the rest of the league's Canadian clubs.
Andrea Neil is a pioneer of women's soccer in Canada. Neil retired from the game after representing Canada more than any other Canadian player in history.
Martina Marie Franko is a Canadian soccer defender who played for Vancouver Whitecaps.
Simon Edmund Thomas is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Norwegian club Tromsø.
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, 2009, and began play in 2011 as the 17th team to enter Major League Soccer while replacing the USSF Division 2 team of the same name in the city, making them a phoenix club and the third to carry the Whitecaps name. The club has been owned and managed by the same group since their USSF days.
Randee Joanne Hermus is a Canadian former professional soccer defender, who won the bronze medal with the Canadian women's national soccer team at the 2007 Pan American Games. Born in Surrey, British Columbia, she played for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Katie Thorlakson is a Canadian retired soccer forward, who last played for Melbourne Victory FC. Thorlakson won two medals with the Canadian women's national soccer team at the Pan American Games in 2003 and 2007. She played collegiately soccer for the University of Notre Dame women's soccer team, where she record 73 assists, second most in school history. In 2004, she won the Soccer America Player of the Year Award, awarded to the best player in collegiate soccer for that year.
Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Toluca. He is a Mexican naturalized citizen.
John Eli "Jeb" Brovsky is an American former soccer player.
Desiree Rose Marie Scott is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League club Kansas City Current and the Canadian national team. Nicknamed "the destroyer", she won gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which was her third Olympic medal following bronze medals in 2012 in London and in 2016 in Rio.
Geraldine "Geri" Donnelly is a Canadian former soccer player. A midfielder, she represented Canada at the 1995 and 1999 editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup and was named Canadian Player of the Year in 1996 and 1999. Donnelly was part of the Canadian squad who won the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship. She was selected as a member of the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014.
Shannon Elizabeth Woeller is a Canadian soccer defender who plays for IF Brommapojkarna in the Damallsvenskan.
Julia Angela Grosso is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Juventus FC and the Canada women's national team. She attained international prominence after scoring the title-winning penalty kick at the 2020 Summer Olympics, leading Canada to its first gold medal.
The Canada Soccer National Development Centre and Canada Soccer EXCEL programs are full-time women's soccer development programs run by the Canadian Soccer Association in partnership with the various provincial associations to develop Canadian women's soccer players as part of the Canadian women's soccer pathway. There are three National Development Centres in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia and Regional EXCEL programs in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
