 | ||
| Full name | Calgary Foothills Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Stadium | Calgary Soccer Centre | |
| League | United Women's Soccer League1 Alberta | |
| 2023 | UWS: 2nd, West | |
| Website | Club website | |
Calgary Foothills WFC is a Canadian soccer club based in Calgary, Alberta that currently plays in United Women's Soccer and League1 Alberta. The club was founded as a youth club in 1972 and in 2017 as a UWS franchise. The team is the women's team of Calgary Foothills FC.
The Calgary Foothills Soccer Club was founded in 1972 as a youth soccer club. [1] In 2014, the club formed a men's semi-pro side to play in the US-based Premier Development League to begin play in 2015. [2]
In 2015, the club formed a women's side, playing an season of exhibition matches in 2015, with the aim to compete in the USL W-League beginning in 2016. [3] [4] However, the W-League unexpectedly folded after the 2015 season, leaving the club without a league to play in. [5] In 2015, they played a series of 7 friendlies, including a 1–0 victory over the W-League West-leading Seattle Sounders Women.[ citation needed ] The club planned to switch to the UWS for 2016, but those plans were put on hold after the Canadian Soccer Association denied the denied the applications of the Laval Comets and Quebec Dynamo for the 2016 UWS. [4]
The following year in 2017, they did manage to join the UWS, [6] [7] becoming the first Canadian team in the US-based league, [8] after receiving their sanctioning from the CSA, Alberta Soccer Association, and the United States Soccer Federation. [9] The club's inaugural UWS game was played on May 26, 2017, against Real Salt Lake Women, with Foothills suffering a 3–0 defeat. [10] The club finished their inaugural season coming in second place in the West Conference. [11]
In 2018, the Foothills won their first West Conference title, advancing to the league playoffs where they lost in the semi-finals. [12] In 2019, they repeated as West Division Champions, earning a berth in the Final Four tournament for the second year, as well as earning the right to host the tournament at Mount Royal University field. [13] After defeating the Lancaster Inferno in the semifinals, Foothills would lose the 2019 UWS Championship 1–0 to LA Galaxy OC in front of over 1000 fans. [14] [15]
In June 2020, the UWS would announce the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as such, Calgary Foothills would not play that season. [16] They returned to action in 2021, with a match against a new Canadian expansion franchise from Edmonton, SASA Impact FC, in the first all-Canadian UWS match. [17] In the 2022 season they would win all 10 of their regular season games, before eventually losing to Chicago Mustangs in the 2022 UWS Finals. [18]
In 2021, the club became part of a group looking to create a new Canadian pro-am women's league. [19] In 2022, it was announced that the club would be, alongside Vancouver Whitecaps F.C., one of eight teams in a new Canadian women's pro-league started by former national team player Diana Matheson and targeted to start in 2025. [20]
In 2023, they added a second team to play in League1 Alberta, while also continuing to play in United Women's Soccer. [21]
The Foot Soldiers were founded in February 2015 with the intention of bringing a passionate atmosphere to Calgary Foothills FC games. [22]
| Season | League | Division | Record | Rank | Playoffs | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | United Women's Soccer | West Conference | 4–1–3 | 2nd (5) | did not qualify | |
| 2018 | 7–2–1 | 1st (6) | Semi-finals | |||
| 2019 | 6–1–1 | 1st (5) | Finalists | |||
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | West Conference | 2–1–1 | 2nd (5) | did not qualify | [23] | |
| 2022 | 10–0–0 | 1st (6) | Finalists | [24] | ||
| 2023 | 5–0–2 | 2nd (5) | did not qualify | [25] | ||
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