Full name | Cavalry Football Club [1] | ||
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Short name | Cavs [2] [3] [4] | ||
Founded | May 5, 2018 | ||
Stadium | |||
Capacity | 6,000 | ||
Owner | Spruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment | ||
President | Ian Allison | ||
Coach | Tommy Wheeldon Jr. | ||
League | Canadian Premier League | ||
2023 | Canadian Premier League, 1st Playoffs: Runner-up | ||
Website | Club website | ||
Active teams of Cavalry FC |
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Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches at ATCO Field on the grounds of Spruce Meadows in Foothills County.
The team is managed by Tommy Wheeldon Jr. and owned by Spruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment. [5]
On May 5, 2018, Calgary was one of four cities accepted by the Canadian Soccer Association for professional club membership. [6]
Cavalry FC was announced on May 17, 2018, as the second team to officially join the Canadian Premier League. [7] Spruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment Group CEO Linda Southern-Heathcott and COO Ian Allison were joined by league commissioner David Clanachan and league president Paul Beirne to unveil the team. [8]
The club's name, crest and colours were all revealed at the event at Spruce Meadows, while Tommy Wheeldon Jr. was announced as head coach and general manager. [9] [10] Plans to renovate existing facilities at Spruce Meadows, resulting in a soccer-specific stadium with a capacity of at least 5,000 seats, were also revealed. [11] [12]
On June 26, 2019, Cavalry FC qualified for the 2019 Canadian Premier League Championship by winning the inaugural CPL Spring season. [13] The following month the Cavs became the first CPL club to defeat a Major League Soccer club in the Canadian Championship by upsetting Vancouver Whitecaps FC in 2019 over two-legs. [14]
Goalkeeper Marco Carducci became the first CPL player called up to the Canada men's national soccer team when, on August 28, 2019, he was requested for a pair of Nations League A matches against Cuba. [15]
The team's crest was designed by Jon Rogers. The crest features a chevron in homage to the Lord Strathcona's Horse armoured regiment, Alberta Foothills and Rocky Mountains, and a football to represent the past and future of Calgary as a sporting city. [12]
The club's colours are green, red and black (branded by the club as "army green," "Calgary red," and "black on black"). These colours symbolize the green of Calgary's nature and Spruce Meadows, and the red and black of other Calgary sports teams and the flag of Lord Strathcona's Horse. [16]
Cavalry FC play at ATCO Field, a 6,000-seat stadium [17] located at Spruce Meadows, at the 'Meadows on the Green' equestrian ring. [18] [19] The stadium is modular to allow for future growth and uses natural grass. In September 2019, Spruce Meadows presented a new area plan to Foothills County, that includes a 12,000 seat soccer-specific stadium on the grounds that would replace ATCO Field over the next 30 years. [20] [21]
The Foot Soldiers are a group originally formed in 2015 to support USL League Two club Calgary Foothills and the Calgary Foothills UWS team. The supporters group began supporting Cavalary in the lead-up to the first match, with the group's numbers swelling. Fans sitting in sections 108 and 109 have created a group called the Mighty 109 / 108 who sit on the other side of the entrance arch. The Front Line Ultras stand in section 200 and have supported the team since 2019. [22]
Al Classico
The Al Classico existed with FC Edmonton as a geographical rivalry between the two Alberta-based clubs in the Canadian Premier League. The rivalry is part of a larger sporting rivalry between teams based in Calgary and Edmonton; the two largest cities in the province. [23] The Wildrose Cup was awarded annually to the team that wins the most points from the series in league play (excluding 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), which Cavalry won each year until FC Edmonton ceased operations in 2022. [24]
Cavalry FC–Forge FC rivalry
The Cavalry FC–Forge FC rivalry developed during the 2019 spring season as the two top clubs in the league. [25] The rivalry bled into the 2019 Canadian Championship in which Cavalry defeated Forge 3–2 over two legs on aggregate. The first leg, which resulted in a 1–1 draw, ended with heated altercations between both sides on the pitch, leading to a disciplinary review by the Canadian Soccer Association. [26]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Executive | |
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Owner, chairman, and CEO | Linda Southern-Heathcott |
President and COO | Ian Alisson |
General manager | Tommy Wheeldon Jr. |
Assistant general manager | Tofa Fakunle |
Coaching staff | |
Head coach | Tommy Wheeldon Jr. |
Technical director and assistant coach | Leon Hapgood |
Assistant coach | Nik Ledgerwood |
Goalkeeper coach | Jordan Santiago |
Coach | Nation | Tenure | Record | |||||
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G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
Tommy Wheeldon Jr. | England | May 17, 2018 – present | 111 | 58 | 22 | 31 | 52.25 |
Years | Name | Nation |
---|---|---|
2019–2021 [29] | Nikolas Ledgerwood | Canada |
2022 [30] | Mason Trafford | Canada |
2023–present [31] | Marco Carducci | Canada |
Season | League | Playoffs | CC | Continental | Average attendance | Top goalscorer(s) | |||||||||||||
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Div | League | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Pos. | Name | Goals | ||||||
2019 | 1 | CPL | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 51 | 19 | +32 | 62 | 2.21 | 1st | RU | SF | Ineligible | 3,292 | Dominique Malonga | 13 | |
2020 | CPL | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 16 | 1.60 | – | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | N/A | Jordan Brown Nathan Mavila | 3 | ||
2021 | CPL | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 50 | 1.79 | 2nd | SF | QF | 2,544 | Joe Mason | 8 | |||
2022 | CPL | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 47 | 1.68 | 3rd | SF | QF | 3,492 | Joe Mason | 8 | |||
2023 | CPL | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 46 | 27 | +19 | 55 | 1.96 | 1st | RU | PR | 4,090 | Myer Bevan | 11 |
1. Average attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in league season, league playoffs, Canadian Championship, CONCACAF League, and other competitive continental matches.
Year | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
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2024 | CONCACAF Champions Cup | Round one | Orlando City SC | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–6 |
Cavalry operates a reserve team, Cavalry FC U21, in League1 Alberta. [32]
Spruce Meadows is a multi-purpose sports facility near Calgary, Alberta built by the Southern family which opened in 1975.
FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017 and then going on hiatus in 2018 when the NASL ceased competitive operations and cancelled the 2018 season. They returned in 2019 to compete in the Canadian Premier League from the league's inaugural season in 2019 until 2022, when it was dissolved by the league. From 2012 onward, FC Edmonton's home field had been Clarke Stadium.
Benjamin Anthony Fisk-Routledge is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a left winger for Canadian Premier League club Vancouver FC.
Marco Christian Carducci is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC and Canada national team.
Rareș "Chris" Șerban is a former Canadian soccer player who last played for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League.
The Canadian Premier League is a professional men's soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary national soccer league competition. The league consists of eight teams, from five of Canada's ten provinces. Each team plays 28 games in the regular season which is followed by playoffs culminating in the CPL Finals.
Sergio Andres Camargo Peñaranda is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League.
The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title and earned a berth in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.
Thomas Wheeldon Jr. is an English former professional footballer and current head coach of Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League.
Cavalry FC v FC Edmonton, referred to as the Al Classico or Battle of Alberta, was an inter-city soccer rivalry between Alberta-based clubs Cavalry FC and FC Edmonton. It was one of several sporting rivalries between the two largest cities of the province. The rivalry ended in 2022 when FC Edmonton folded.
The 2019 Cavalry FC season was the first season in the club's history, as well as the first season in Canadian Premier League history.
The 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals determined the winner of the Canadian Premier League's inaugural 2019 season. It featured Cavalry FC of Calgary, Alberta, and Forge FC of Hamilton, Ontario, and was the culmination of a rivalry that had developed between those teams.
Bruno Zebie is a former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Born in France, Zebie represented Canada at youth level.
Elijah Adekugbe is a professional soccer player who currently plays for York United in the Canadian Premier League.
Ali Adem Musse is a Somali professional footballer who plays as a winger for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC and the Somalia national team.
ATCO Field is a soccer stadium at Spruce Meadows in Foothills County, Alberta, Canada. It is home to Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League. The venue also serves as the home for several equestrian events spanning two to four weeks per year. ATCO, the Canadian corporation from which the stadium gets its name, is also owned by the Southern family.
Alessandro Feridun Hojabrpour is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a central midfielder for Canadian Premier League side Forge FC.
Karifa Yao is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Rhode Island FC of the USL Championship.
The Cavalry–Forge rivalry is a soccer rivalry between Calgary-based Cavalry FC and Forge FC of Hamilton, Ontario. The two clubs began play in 2019 and faced each other nine times that season with all matches being decided by one goal or fewer. The clubs were the top teams in the inaugural Canadian Premier League season and the natural rivalry that developed between them has been described as the best in the league.