Calgary Foothills Football Club (CFFC) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta, that competes in USL League Two (USL2). The club was founded as a youth club in 1972 and joined as a USL2 franchise in 2015. The team plays its home games at the Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks. The team colours are green and white.

History

Calgary had previously hosted the Calgary Storm of USL2 (then known as

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

) during the 2001 season. Calgary Foothills FC launched in 2014 as they played a series of exhibition games against Vancouver Whitecaps U 23's, FC Edmonton Reserves, and local university clubs. The club's inaugural game was played on May 17, 2015 against Puget Sound Gunners FC, winning 2–1. The club finished 4th in the Northwest Division in 2015 with a 3–2–7 record, ultimately missing the playoffs. In the 2016 season, Calgary Foothills won the Northwest Division with an 8–3–3 record, despite only 4% of supporters predicting the club would win the division. In the playoffs, Calgary Foothills would defeat

Seattle Sounders U-23 Sound FC is an American soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 2006, the team most recently played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. History 2006–2009: Playoffs The Tacoma team was introduced i ...

FC Golden State Force FC Golden State Force is an American soccer team based in Whittier, California, United States that currently plays in USL League Two. The club currently plays at Rio Hondo College Rio Hondo College is a public community college in Whittie ...

, and

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women’s team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

to win the Western Conference. Calgary Foothills would later defeat Ocean City Nor'easters in the semifinals to advance to the 2016 final against Michigan Bucks. Calgary would lose the final 3–2 on a controversial penalty decision in the 86th minute. In the 2017 season, despite losing key players Elijah Adekugbe and Dominic Russo to injury, Calgary Foothills would improve on their point total from the season before, finishing second in the Northwest Division on goal differential to Portland Timbers U-23. The club would lose to Portland in the Northwest Division play-in game. Off the pitch, the club would open an $11 million indoor training facility, the first of its kind in Western Canada. After playing in three stadiums in three years, and struggling to find a venue that met league standards in Calgary, the club would move 20 km south to the town of Okotoks for the 2018 season to play at Foothills Composite High School stadium. Prior to the start of the season, the club made headlines when Canadian national women's team goalkeeper

Stephanie Labbé Stephanie Lynn Marie Labbé (born October 10, 1986) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. She won a bronze medal with Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the NWSL Championship with the Courage in 2019, and a ...

would try out for the USL2 squad. The club would have their best season to date during 2018, only losing once in 14 games, and would become Western Conference champions after defeating

Colorado Rapids U-23 Colorado Rapids U–23 were an American soccer team based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado, United States. Originally founded in 2000 as part of the development system for the Colorado Rapids, the team played in the Premier Develo ...

and

. Foothills would advance to the league final for the second time in three seasons after defeating

Chicago FC United Chicago FC United, commonly called FC United, is an American soccer club in the Chicago metropolitan area. FC United fields youth teams for boys and girls, and a semi-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth-tier of American soccer. Yout ...

, and would win the 2018 Championship 4–2 after extra time, over Reading United AC. The Foothills played in Saskatoon for the first ever SK Summer Soccer Series which is hosted by the Saskatchewan Selects. The Foothills defeated the Selects 2–1 in front of 3,067 people. In April 2020, Calgary Foothills announced their withdrawal from the

2020 USL League Two season The 2020 USL League Two season was to have been the 26th season of the USL League Two, the top pre-professional soccer league in the United States, since its establishment in 1995. Flint City Bucks were the defending champions after defeating Read ...

due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That same month, the league announced the 2020 season would be cancelled.

Youth system

The Foothills have a full youth academy system from ages U4-U18 for boys and girls. Teams play in the Calgary Minor Soccer Association (CMSA) Tiers 1–6. The Generation program consists of the top players in U15 and U17 boys and girls. These teams are prepared to qualify and compete for the Canada Soccer Toyota National Championship.

Supporters' groups

The Foot Soldiers were founded in February 2015 with the intention of bringing a passionate atmosphere to Calgary Foothills FC games.

Coaching staff

Jay Wheeldon Jonathan "Jay" Wheeldon (born 28 August 1988) is an English football coach and former player who serves as head coach of Calgary Foothills. Career Early career After spending many of his youth years with English academies Exeter City and Pl ...

– ''Head Coach'' * Mauro Eustaquio – ''Assistant Coach'' *

Thomas Cowlishaw Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

– ''Goalkeeping Coach'' * Shari MacDonald – ''Athletic Therapist''

Notable former players

USL2 Squad

* Canadian women's national team goalkeeper

had a tryout with the team in preparation for the 2018 season, posting a shutout against the

Lethbridge Pronghorns The Lethbridge Pronghorns, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. They have men's and women's teams that compete in U Sports basketball, rugby union, soccer, swimming, and track and f ...

men's soccer team.

Foothills Academy

* Source
Calgary Foothills FC
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Club records

Most appearances

''League and playoffs'' Bolded players are currently on the Calgary Foothills roster.

Top goalscorers

''League and playoffs'' Bolded players are currently on the Calgary Foothills roster.

Record

Year-by-year

''As of July 20, 2021''

Honours

*USL League Two **National Champions: 2018 ** Western Conference Champions: 2016, 2018 ** Northwest Division Champions: 2016, 2018

Player honours

References

{{Soccer in Calgary Articles with hCards USL League Two teams Soccer clubs in Calgary Association football clubs established in 1972 1972 establishments in Canada Expatriated football clubs