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.
The Montreal Impact was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1993, the team played in various leagues in the second tier of the United States soccer league system, beginning with the American Professional Soccer League. They later played in the A-League/USL First Division, the USSF D2 Pro League, and the North American Soccer League. Following the 2011 season, the Impact were replaced by a team of the same name which joined Major League Soccer in 2012.
Chris Williams is a Canadian former soccer player who played the majority of his career in the USL A-League. His most successful tenure was with Montreal Impact, where he won a USL A-League Championship, and a Voyageurs Cup. Williams also represented Canada at the international level with three appearances.
The Canadian soccer league system, also called the Canadian soccer pyramid, is a term used in soccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), which oversees the system and domestic cups but does not operate any of its component leagues. In addition, some Canadian teams compete in leagues that are based in the United States.
The Canadian Championship is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and CF Montréal, eight Canadian Premier League sides, and the champions of League1 Ontario, League1 British Columbia, and Ligue1 Québec. The tournament is organized by the Canadian Soccer Association and has been broadcast on OneSoccer since 2019.
The 2004 Voyageurs Cup was the third Voyageurs Cup tournament which was started by the Canadian supporters group The Voyageurs. The 2004 edition of the competition featured the expansion Edmonton Aviators as well as the four 2003 teams: Calgary Storm, Montreal Impact, Toronto Lynx and Vancouver Whitecaps.
The George Gross Memorial Trophy is awarded to the most valuable player of the Canadian Championship. It is named after George Gross, a highly respected sports journalist who covered soccer for the Toronto Telegram and Toronto Sun.
Russell James Teibert is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played his entire career for Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer.
The 2011 Canadian Championship was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association that took place in the cities of Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in 2011. As in previous tournaments, participating teams included the Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. FC Edmonton participated in this year's competition for the first time. Toronto FC won the tournament, claiming the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's entry into the preliminary round of the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League. The tournament has been held annually since 2008.
The history of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, Canada, spans over four decades. The first team to use the "Whitecaps" name was the Vancouver Whitecaps of the now-defunct North American Soccer League, playing from 1974 to 1984. After two years while the core of the players were focused on preparations for the 1986 World Cup, a second version of the club was founded in 1986 as the Vancouver 86ers. This team bought back the Whitecaps name in 2000 and has operated continuously in various leagues since 1986. A Whitecaps FC team began play in Major League Soccer starting in 2011 making it the first time since 1984 that a "Whitecaps" team played in the top tier of soccer in the United States and Canada.
The 2009 Vancouver Whitecaps season was the club's 24th year of existence, as well as their 17th and 2nd last year as a Division 2 club in the franchise model of US-based soccer leagues. Vancouver was officially named an MLS expansion city on March 18, 2009. Following the end of the 2010 season, the Whitecaps FC joined MLS, becoming the second Canadian club and 19th overall to enter the league.
The 2008 Vancouver Whitecaps season was the club's 23rd year of existence, as well as their 16th as a Division 2 club in the franchise model of US-based soccer leagues. With games against well supported MLS side Toronto FC in the Voyageurs Cup and local rival Seattle Sounders selling 22,000 season tickets for MLS in 2009, the Vancouver Whitecaps were marketed as one of the leading markets for a 2011 MLS expansion side. This included expanding the ownership to include Victoria, BC raised NBA star Steve Nash in July. The Division 1 MLS speculation along with the higher profile that came with public negotiations with Vancouver City Council and the Port of Metro Vancouver to develop the Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium gave a boost to media coverage and game attendances. The privately financed stadium, first proposed in 2006, appeared to be reaching its final government land use approvals in 2008.
The 2005 Voyageurs Cup was the fourth Voyageurs Cup tournament which was started by the Canadian supporters group The Voyageurs. The 2005 Edition of the tournament featured Montreal Impact, Toronto Lynx and Vancouver Whitecaps. Professional soccer teams in Edmonton and Calgary ceased being operated by the league and folded at the end of the 2004 season respectively.
The 2015 in Canadian soccer was the 139th edition of competitive soccer in Canada.
The 2016 in Canadian soccer was the 140th edition of competitive soccer in Canada.
The 2007 Voyageurs Cup was the sixth edition of the Voyageurs Cup tournament started by the Canadian supporters group The Voyageurs and the final edition that would take place under its format prior to the Cup's absorption into the new cup competition, the Canadian Championship, organized by the CSA the following season. For the 2007 edition of the tournament only two teams featured, the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps. During the previous season, the Toronto Lynx had announced that they were voluntarily relegating themselves two levels, to the USL Premier Development League, likely due to their low attendance and the fact that Major League Soccer expansion franchise Toronto FC would be arriving to the city the next season.
The 2022 Canadian Championship was the fifteenth edition of Canada's national soccer cup tournament, awarding the Voyageurs Cup. It took place from May 10 to July 26, 2022. The winners of the tournament, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, were awarded the Voyageurs Cup and earned a berth in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.
The Voyageurs Cup was a competition organized by The Voyageurs supporters' group to determine the best Canadian soccer club playing in the USL W-League between 2004 and 2006. Head-to-head matches between Canadian clubs during the regular season were added to a table, where the top team were awarded the Women's Voyageurs Cup trophies. Because there was no inter-conference play in the regular season, an east and west team were both crowned at the end of each season. In 2006 however, the coincidental meeting between the east and west champion in the playoff finals allowed the Voyageurs to additionally honour a "Super Cup" champion.
