Western Canada Soccer League

Last updated
Western Canada Soccer League
Founded1963
CountryCanada
Confederation CONCACAF
Number of clubsHigh of 10, Low of 4

The Western Canada Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for eight seasons over a nine-year period from 1963 to 1971 and eventually operated across nine cities in four Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Western Canada Soccer League was one of four major leagues in Canadian soccer alongside the Pacific Coast League, the National Soccer League of Ontario/Quebec, and the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League. [1]

Contents

In 1963, the league featured 10 clubs across five cities in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1967, the league expanded to Manitoba, [2] thus becoming the first Canadian soccer league to operate a league schedule across three provinces. The league later added teams in British Columbia and, for one season only, a team in Washington, United States.

Along with a regular season schedule that usually operated from May to August, the Molson Cup playoffs took place in August or September. Teams also participated in other competitions including their provincial playoffs and Canada Soccer's national The Challenge Trophy competition. In 1967, in the weeks after winning the league's playoff Molson Cup, the Calgary Buffalo Kickers became the first and only Western Canada Soccer League team to reach the national final (a 2–1 loss to Toronto Ballymena). [3]

The Western Canada Soccer League was co-founded by Alec Castleton and Sam Donaghey, both of whom were involved with the Alberta Soccer Association. The league's inaugural match was played on May 4, 1963, in Saskatoon, [4] with opening weekend matches in Calgary and Edmonton postponed because of inclement weather. The price of admission to that opening match at Griffiths Stadium was 50 cents per ticket. Saskatoon Concordia won that first match 7–1 over Saskatoon Hollandia, [5] with Adolf Becker the four-goal hero and George Turay scoring the first-ever goal in the Western Canada Soccer League.

The most famous player to play for a Western Canada League team, albeit not in league action, was Stanley Matthews who dressed for Calgary ATCO in two exhibition matches in July 1964. [6] [7] Matthews joined the Calgary squad under player-manager Les Medley, who was one of Matthews' former England teammates.

Champions

The league featured a single table from 1963 to 1969 and then separate Coast and Prairie divisions in 1970 and 1971. There was also a separate playoff (Cup) competition from 1964 to 1970. Regina Concordia SC were the first champions in 1963, [8] but they were upset in the Molson Cup by 10th place Lethbridge Hungária on 24 August 1963. [9]

Champions

YearPlay-off champions
Challenge Cup		Play-off runners-upRegular season champions
1963Lethbridge Hungária SCRegina Concordia SCRegina Concordia SC
1964Regina Concordia SCLethbridge Hungária SCRegina Concordia SC
1966Calgary Buffalo Kickers FCRegina Concordia SCEdmonton Canadians
1967Calgary Buffalo Kickers FCSaskatoon City SCEdmonton Victoria Canadians
1968Calgary Kickers FCEdmonton Victoria CanadiansCalgary Kickers FC
1969Vancouver SpartansRegina Concordia SCVancouver Spartans
1970Victoria RoyalsRegina Concordia SCCoast: Victoria Royals
Prairies: Regina Concordia SC

Titles

TeamPlayoff championshipsRegular season championshipsTotal championships
TitlesYearsTitlesYears
Calgary Kickers FC31966, 1967, 1968119684
Regina Concordia SC1196431963, 1964, 19704
Vancouver Spartans11969119692
Edmonton Canadians / Edmonton Victoria Canadians021966, 19672
Victoria Royals11970119702
Lethbridge Hungária SC1196301

Teams from 1963 to 1971

Notable players

Twelve players from the Western Canada Soccer League have since been inducted in the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as honoured players.

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References

  1. ↑ "2018 Canada Soccer Records & Results".
  2. ↑ "The Winnipeg Tribune, 1967-02-14 (Page 20) - digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca". digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca.
  3. ↑ "The Calgary Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  4. ↑ "Saskatoon Star-Phoenix - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  5. ↑ "Saskatoon Star-Phoenix - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  6. ↑ "The Calgary Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  7. ↑ "The Calgary Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  8. ↑ "The Leader-Post - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  9. ↑ "The Leader-Post - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
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