Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010)
| Full name | Vancouver Whitecaps | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | 'Caps | ||
| Founded | 1986 (as Vancouver 86ers) | ||
| Dissolved | 2010 (MLS 2011) | ||
| Stadium | Swangard Stadium Burnaby, British Columbia | ||
| Capacity | 5,288 | ||
| Owner | Greg Kerfoot | ||
| Head coach | Teitur Thordarson | ||
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| 2010 | Regular Season: 2nd, NASL Overall: 5th Playoffs: Semifinals | ||
| Website | http://whitecapsfc.com/ | ||
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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.
On March 19, 2009, an ownership group led by principal Greg Kerfoot was granted a Major League Soccer expansion franchise which began play in 2011 under the name Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
In addition to its men's side the Whitecaps also field a women's team in the USL W-League, two developmental teams (Vancouver Whitecaps Residency, in the USL Premier Development League, and the Whitecaps FC Prospects, in the Pacific Coast Soccer League), and four youth teams in the USL Super Y-League (Coastal WFC, Mountain WFC, Surrey WFC and Okanagan WFC) ranging in age from U13 to U17 for both boys and girls.
The team was previously known as the Vancouver 86ers of both the Canadian Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League (APSL), and later the A-League. The club later played in two later versions of the second tier A-League known as the USL-1 and USSF Division 2 Professional League in North America.