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.
Swangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for soccer, rugby, football, and athletics, the stadium also used to be home to the Simon Fraser Clan football team and the Vancouver Whitecaps while they were in the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and various US-based Division 2 leagues. It opened on April 26, 1969, and has a capacity of 5,288.
The Vancouver Whitecaps FC women was a Canadian soccer club based in Vancouver, British Columbia that played in the USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team was formed in 2001 under the name Vancouver Breakers following a merger of the Vancouver Lady 86ers and Vancouver Angels. In 2003, they changed their name to the Whitecaps to match the men's team.
The Pacific Coast Soccer League is an amateur soccer league, currently featuring teams from British Columbia. In the past, clubs from Washington and Oregon have competed.
Les "Buzz" Parsons is a Canadian former soccer player who played at both professional and international levels as a midfielder. During his career in North America with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Parsons was affectionately known as "White Shoes", owing to the white boots he wore. After retiring as a player, Parsons later became a professional soccer coach.
Gordon Chin is a Canadian former soccer player. He is of partial Chinese descent.
Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club (CMFSC), formerly known as FC Xtreme and Tri-Cities Xtreme, are a Canadian men's and women's soccer club soccer team, founded in the city of Coquitlam, British Columbia in 2003. The team is a member of the Pacific Coast Soccer League.
Columbus FC is a Canadian soccer club based in Vancouver, British Columbia currently playing in the Premier division of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. In 2013, the club was recognized as a Canada Soccer Hall of Fame Organization of Distinction.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23, formerly known as Whitecaps FC Reserves, was a Canadian soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Although founded in 2005 as part of the development system for the Vancouver Whitecaps USL First Division franchise, beginning in 2011 they became part of the development system for Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference.
Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008 and currently play in the League1 British Columbia.
Athletic Club of BC were a now dissolved Canadian soccer team based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Paul Ballard is a Canadian soccer coach. He is currently the head coach of the women's soccer program at Bishop's University. His coaching career followed a five-year run as a professional soccer player internationally. Since retiring from his professional/semi-professional career, Paul has developed a passion for coaching and mentoring athletes through transformational servant leadership.
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.
Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian women's soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia that plays in League1 British Columbia.
Alexander Marello is a Canadian professional soccer player, who plays for Vancouver Metro Soccer League club Inter FC.
Chelsea Buckland is a Canadian former soccer forward who played for the Oregon State Beavers and the Canadian women's national team. Born and raised in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, she played at the youth and senior women's level for Vancouver Whitecaps FC, before joining the Beavers in the NCAA ranks in 2008. She joined the national team prior to her junior college year and has been with Canada at the 2011 FIFA World Cup and the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The 2005 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season was the club's 19th year of play, as well as their 13th as a Division 2 club in the franchise model of US-based soccer leagues. They played in the now defunct USL First Division which in 2005 was rebranded from A-League and was the highest level of Canadian club soccer. 2005 was Bob Lilley's first season as head coach after Tony Fonseca was released to take on the new District Development Centre Technical Director position with the BCSA. Under Tony Fonseca the Whitecaps had playoffs qualifications three straight years and advanced to the semifinals once. Part of the re-organization of BC youth soccer involved the Whitecaps expanding their youth program to ten Super Y League teams. The Whitecaps were one of only a few US or Canadian clubs with a complete youth system. MLS teams in 2005 did not have as extensive a club structure.
Paris Donald Gee is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for York United in the Canadian Premier League.
The Pacific Coast Soccer League was an amateur and briefly semi-professional soccer league in Canada. The league had several incarnations from 1908 to 1973 before it merged with the Mainland Senior Soccer League and the Intercity Junior League after the 1972–73 season to form the British Columbia Senior Soccer League. While the league predominantly featured teams from Vancouver's mainland and Vancouver Island, it also featured a team from Seattle, United States for two years.
Marcello Polisi is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Canadian Premier League side Valour FC.
