The Voyageurs Cup (French: Coupe des Voyageurs) is the domestic trophy for professional soccer in Canada, awarded to the best men's club in the country.
The Voyageurs Cup was first conceived in March 2002 by fans of the Canada men's national team, known as the Voyageurs, following Canada's surprise success at the 2000 Gold Cup. After years of being promised a domestic Canadian cup by the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), the Voyageurs took it upon themselves to commission a national trophy using member donations. Veteran Voyageurs member and chief fundraiser since the group's founding in 1996, Dwayne Cole, solicited donations on the Voyageurs internet forum, resulting in $3,500–4,000 donated. The money was used to commission the trophy, made in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The cup itself is a handled wine cooler made from solid brass and electroplated in sterling silver. The base is lacquered, solid Canadian Oak and set with die cut polished aluminum maple leaf annual plates. An accompanying solid oak case was also crafted for safe transport.[1] The cost of engraving, shipping, maintenance, and promotion of the trophy continued to be paid for by private donations from individual members of the Voyageurs until 2008.
Prior to the start of the 2007 USL season, the Toronto Lynx moved to the Premier Development League, and effectively withdrew from the Voyageurs Cup competition in the process. As a result, in 2007 the trophy was decided solely on regular-season results between the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps. This was the last year the cup was awarded based on regular season matches.
The Montreal Impact won the first seven titles, the first six by virtue of their regular-season record in the USL against other Canadian sides. They won the inaugural 2008 Canadian Championship to retain the trophy, their seventh straight Voyageurs Cup victory. Toronto FC won the 2009 Canadian Championship to win the Voyageurs Cup for the first time. After thirteen unsuccessful attempts, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC won their first Voyageurs Cup title in 2015. The Calgary Storm never finished higher than fourth in the competition while the Edmonton Aviators finished third in their lone appearance in the tournament. The Toronto Lynx finished as runners-up in four of the five years they participated. FC Edmonton played in five consecutive Canadian Championship semi-finals from 2011 to 2015, but were never able to reach the final. The closest they came was in 2014, when they had almost defeated the Montreal Impact on away goals, but conceded from a penalty kick in the 90+7th minute to lose 4–5 on aggregate.[4]
The Canadian Championship greatly expanded in size in the late 2010s. In 2018, the champions of the provincial semi-pro leagues were granted entry into the tournament, which gave semi-pro teams a chance to win the Voyageurs Cup for the first time. In 2019, the tournament more than doubled in size when all seven teams from the newly formed Canadian Premier League were added to the competition. As of 2025[update], 15 teams compete annually for the Voyageurs Cup.
Format
2002–2007: USL era
Prior to 2008, the men's title was decided on regular-season matches between Canada's USL First Division sides.
2008–2010: Canadian Championship, round robin format
The inaugural Canadian Championship was held in 2008, with the three Canadian teams spread across MLS (Toronto FC) and the USL First Division (Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps) each playing four non-league games in a round robin format.
2011–present: Canadian Championship, knockout format
Beginning with the 2011 tournament, a knockout format has been used. In 2011, with four teams involved, the tournament was changed to be a home-and-away semi-final round and a similar final round between the winners. Toronto, as reigning champions, were assigned the top seed and were matched with Edmonton, which was assigned the fourth seed as newcomers to the tournament. The two remaining teams, Montreal and Vancouver, faced off in the other semi-final.[5][6]
↑ Due to pandemic-related difficulties, the 2020 tournament consisted of a single match held on June 4, 2022. It was contested between one team from Major League Soccer and one from the Canadian Premier League. In total, 11 teams were eligible to qualify.
Statistics for CF Montréal include the original Montreal Impact of the USL and NASL, who contested the trophy from 2002 to 2011, before being replaced by a new MLS franchise of the same name and ownership.
Statistics for Vancouver Whitecaps FC include the original Vancouver Whitecaps of the USL, who contested the trophy from 2002 to 2010, before being replaced by a new MLS franchise of the same name and ownership.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
