Valour FC

Valour FC

Full name	Valour Football Club [1]
Founded	May 6, 2017;7 years ago (2017-05-06)
Stadium	Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg
Capacity	33,000
Owner	Winnipeg Football Club (community ownership)
President	Wade Miller
Coach	Phillip Dos Santos
League	Canadian Premier League
2024	Regular season, 8th Playoffs, did not qualify
Website	http://valourfc.canpl.ca/
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Valour FC is a Canadian professional soccer club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays their home matches at Princess Auto Stadium.

The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned through the Winnipeg Football Club.

History

On May 6, 2017, Winnipeg was one of two cities accepted by the Canadian Soccer Association for professional club membership when the Canadian Premier League was unanimously approved. ^[2] It was confirmed that Canadian Football League clubs the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were behind the ownership groups. ^[3] Wade Miller, CEO of the Winnipeg Football Club, was named as the club's president. ^[4]

In May 2018, it was reported that the club would be called Valour FC. ^[5] On June 6, 2018 the club was officially unveiled as the fourth team to join the Canadian Premier League. ^[6] As well as confirming its place in the league for the 2019 launch season, the club also revealed its crest, colours and branding. ^[7] On June 26, the club named Rob Gale as the first head coach and general manager. ^[8]

In the overall standings, Valour ranked 7th of 7 teams in 2019, 6th of 8 teams in 2020, and 5th of 8 teams in 2021. On September 23, 2021, while in 5th place, Valour FC sacked head coach Rob Gale and named Phillip Dos Santos as his replacement. ^[9]

Stadium

Façade of Princess Auto Stadium, home field for Valour FC.

The club plays its home games at Princess Auto Stadium, a 33,234-seat Canadian football stadium. ^[10] The stadium opened in 2013 on the University of Manitoba campus next to University Stadium. ^[11] The stadium is also used by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the University of Manitoba Bisons football team. ^[12]

Crest and colours

The club's identity is heavily linked to the story of Winnipeg's Valour Road, and named to recognize Corporal Leo Clarke, Sergeant-Major Frederick William Hall, and Lieutenant Robert Shankland, who all lived on the same street and received the Victoria Cross for acts of bravery during the First World War. ^[13]

The letter "V" in the centre of the crest emulates a folded medal ribbon and also represents the meeting of the Red River and Assiniboine River in Winnipeg. ^[14] The right side of the "V" creates a "W" for Winnipeg, and the circle under the "V" is in the shape of the Victoria Cross medal. The wheat at the top of the crest represents Manitoba's agricultural industry. ^[15]

The official club colours are maroon, gold and black (branded by the club as "Valour maroon," "wheat gold," and "earth black"). These colours symbolize the ribbon of the Victoria Cross and the wheat fields and soil of the Canadian Prairies. ^[14]

Youth

On August 8, 2018, Valour FC Elite Girls (formerly the Manitoba Blizzard) was founded to give girls in Winnipeg an opportunity to travel to college showcases in the U.S and Canada, while getting educated on the recruiting process. The team will be led by Head Coach Jim Zinko and Manager Trevor Kidd. Training begins in the fall, while the Valour FC Elite Girls competition season runs from late November into April. ^[16]

Club culture

The club's mascot leans heavily on imagery of the Victoria Cross, being a lion named 'Vic'. He wears the club's colours on a t-shirt, shorts, and wristbands. ^{[17] [ non-primary source needed ]}

Red River Rising Supporters group first met at Nicolino's Restaurant in January 2017, before a Winnipeg team was announced. The group met regularly in anticipation of an eventual Winnipeg team and now occupy section 144 at Princess Auto Stadium. ^[18] The section is known as The Trench. ^[19]

Players and staff

Roster

As of July 5, 2024 ^[20]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ZIM Darlington Murasiranwa 2 DF   ESP Roberto Alarcón 3 DF   CAN Jordan Haynes 4 DF   GER Charalampos Chantzopoulos 6 MF   CAN Dante Campbell 7 MF   ENG Kian Williams 8 MF   USA Juan Pablo Sánchez 9 FW   AUS Jordan Swibel 10 FW   CAN Shaan Hundal 11 MF   CAN Noah Verhoeven (on loan from Atlético Ottawa) 13 DF   AUS Tass Mourdoukoutas 16 FW   CAN Joe Hanson

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF   CAN Jordan Faria 19 FW   CIV Abdul Binate 20 MF   POR Diogo Ressurreição 21 MF   CAN Marcello Polisi 23 DF   CAN Gianfranco Facchineri 24 MF   CAN Zachary Sukunda 25 FW   CAN Loïc Kwemi 27 MF   GHA Raphael Ohin (captain) 30 DF   CAN Themi Antonoglou 33 DF   MLI Abdou Samaké 50 GK   CAN Jonathan Viscosi 64 MF   CAN Safwane Mlah

Current staff

As of March 4, 2023 ^{[21] [22]}

Executive
President & CEO	Wade Miller
General manager	Phillip Dos Santos
Coaching staff
Head coach	Phillip Dos Santos
Assistant coach	Jay Bhindi
Assistant coach	Daryl Fordyce
Goalkeeping coach	Patrick Di Stefani

Head coaches

As of May 14, 2024 ^[23]

Coach	Nation	Tenure	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Rob Gale	England	June 26, 2018 – September 23, 2021	57	18	8	31	031.58
Phillip Dos Santos	Canada	September 23, 2021 – present	97	26	25	46	026.80

Club captains

Years	Name	Nation
2019	Jordan Murrell [24] [25]	Canada
2019	Skylar Thomas [24]	Canada
2020	Dylan Carreiro [26]	Canada
2020–2022	Daryl Fordyce [27]	Northern Ireland
2021–2023	Andrew Jean-Baptiste [27]	Haiti
2024-	Raphael Ohin	Ghana

Records

Year-by-year

Season	League												Playoffs	CC	Continental		Average attendance	Top goalscorer(s)
	Div	League	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Pos.						Name	Goals
2019 [28]	1	CPL	28	8	4	16	30	52	–22	28	1.00	6th	DNQ	R2	DNQ		5,335	Marco Bustos	7
2020		CPL	7	2	2	3	8	9	–1	8	1.14	6th		DNQ			N/A	Eight players	1
2021		CPL	28	10	5	13	38	36	+2	35	1.25	5th		QF				Moses Dyer	9
2022		CPL	28	10	7	11	36	34	+2	37	1.32	5th		PR			3,111	Moses Dyer	9
2023		CPL	28	6	8	14	25	38	–13	26	0.93	8th		PR			3,220	Diego Gutiérrez Walter Ponce Kian Williams	4
2024		CPL	28	7	7	14	31	42	–11	28	1.00	8th		PR			3,106	Shaan Hundal Jordan Swibel	7

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.

All-time most appearances

As of November 21, 2024 ^[29]

#	Name	Nation	Career	Appearances
				CPL	Cup	Int'l	Total
1	Diego Gutiérrez	Canada	2019–2020, 2022–2023	79	3	0	82
2	Raphael Ohin	Ghana	2019–present	75	5	0	80
3	Andy Baquero	Cuba	2021–2023	74	2	0	76
4	Federico Peña	Trinidad and Tobago	2019–2022	59	3	0	62
5	Daryl Fordyce	Northern Ireland	2020–2022	56	3	0	59
6	Moses Dyer	New Zealand	2020–2022	54	3	0	57
7	Dante Campbell	Canada	2020, 2023–present	54	2	0	56
	Stefan Cebara	Canada	2020–2022	54	2	0	56
9	Sean Rea	Canada	2021–2022	50	3	0	53
10	Brett Levis	Canada	2020–2022	43	2	0	45

Note: Bold indicates active player

All-time top scorers

As of November 21, 2024 ^[29]

#	Name	Nation	Career	Goals
				CPL	Cup	Int'l	Total
1	Moses Dyer	New Zealand	2020–2022	19	0	0	19
2	William Akio	South Sudan	2021–2022	10	0	0	10
3	Marco Bustos	Canada	2019	7	1	0	8
	Austin Ricci	Canada	2020–2021	5	3	0	8
5	Shaan Hundal	Canada	2020, 2024–present	7	0	0	7
	Sean Rea	Canada	2021–2022	6	1	0	7
	Jordan Swibel	Australia	2024–present	7	0	0	7
8	Tyler Attardo	Canada	2019	6	0	0	6
	Matteo de Brienne	Canada	2022–2023	6	0	0	6
	Michael Petrasso	Canada	2019	6	0	0	6
	Walter Ponce	Chile	2022–2023	6	0	0	6

Note: Bold indicates active player

References

1. "Valour Football Club". Valour FC. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
2. O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (May 6, 2017). "Canadian Premier League unanimously ratified by CSA". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
3. Friesen, Paul (May 12, 2017). "New soccer league could work here". Winnipeg Sun. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
4. Golby, Travis (May 7, 2017). "Winnipeg scores spot in Canadian pro soccer league". CBC News. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
5. "The CanPL Hub on Twitter". Twitter. May 18, 2018. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
6. McIsaac, Greg (June 6, 2018). "Valour FC Joins Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
7. "Winnipeg entry in the Canadian Premier League to be called Valour FC". National Post. June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
8. "Rob Gale named inaugural Head Coach & GM". Valour FC. June 26, 2018. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
9. Jaques, John (September 23, 2021). "Valour FC Fires Rob Gale, Names Phillip Dos Santos As New Head Coach". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
10. "Stadium Profile". valourfc.canpl.ca. Valour FC. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
11. "Investors Group Field costs balloon to $203.5M". CBC News. September 23, 2013. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
12. "Stadium History". Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
13. "Winnipeg entry in the Canadian Premier League to be called Valour FC". Vancouver Courier. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
14. "Emblem Inspiration". valourfc.canpl.ca. Valour FC. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on June 10, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
15. "Valour FC announced as fourth CanPL team". The CanPL Hub. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
16. "Valour FC Elite Girls". valourfc.canpl.ca. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
17. "Meet Valour FC's mascot". Valour FC. canpl.ca. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
18. Sawatzky, Mike (April 30, 2019). "Eager soccer fans will ensure Red River Rising all season long". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
19. Sawatzky, Mike (May 4, 2019). "Soccer fans revved about Valour FC debut". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
20. "Roster". Valour FC. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
21. "Stewardship". valourfc.canpl.ca. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
22. "Valour FC announce update to coaching staff". February 15, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
23. "CanPL Schedule".
24. "Valour FC names Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas as inaugural captains". canpl.com. Canadian Premier League. April 24, 2019. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
25. "Valour's Murrell apologizes for red card incident, steps down as captain". canpl.com. Canadian Premier League. August 7, 2019. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
26. "Valour FC parts ways with Canadian midfielder Dylan Carreiro". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. October 17, 2020. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
27. "'My heart was pounding': Valour FC reveal Jean-Baptiste & Fordyce as 2021 captains". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. June 4, 2021. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
28. "Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League 2019 Standings. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
29. "Canada - Valour FC - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news". Soccerway. Retrieved November 21, 2024.

External links

• Official website