Mark Village (born November 25, 1991) is a Canadian soccer coach and former player who currently serves as the goalkeepers coach for

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club, commonly known as Vancouver FC, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Langley, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer league system. History On Novemb ...

in the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary national soccer league compe ...

Early life

Village played youth soccer with the

Abbotsford Mariners Fraser Valley Mariners is a Canadian soccer team based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Divis ...

. He began playing goalkeeper at age 10.

University career

In 2009, he began attending the University of Fraser Valley, where he played for the men's soccer team in 2011. In his first season in 2011, Village started seven matches and recorded one shutout on September 9 against Trinity Western. In 2012, he was named to the 2012 Canada West All-Star team. In 2012, he was named UFV MVP and helped them win a bronze medal in 2013. He holds several of UFV's Canada West-era goalkeeping records, including most wins (16), shutouts (11), minutes played (4,194), games played (46) and save percentage (.726).

Club career

In 2012, he played with the Fraser Valley Mariners in the Premier Development League. That season, he started 15 games and led the league in saves with 103, and recorded a season high 11 saves in the final match of the season against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC U23. In March 2015, after first going on trial, he signed a professional contract with

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

club

Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteration the team played its h ...

. In March 2017, he extended his contract with the club. Village made his professional debut for Whitecaps 2 on October 7, 2017, against the

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. While the senior club is ...

, during which he made a 5th minute diving save to deny a goal attempt by Daniel Haber, which was later selected as the USL Fans' Choice Save of the Month for October 2017. In November 2017, Village moved to fellow USL club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

for the 2018 season. In January 2019, Village joined

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 2 ...

of the

. He played in Pacific's first ever game on April 28, 2019 and kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory over

HFX Wanderers FC HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer l ...

, the first clean sheet in league history. On November 4, 2019 the club announced it would not be offering Village a contract for the following season. After becoming the club's goalkeeping coach in 2020, he occasionally served as the team's backup goalkeeper in emergency situations from 2020 to 2022.

Coaching career

On February 28, 2020, Village announced his retirement from professional soccer, and that he would be remaining with Pacific as the club's goalkeeper coach under new manager

Pa-Modou Kah Pa Modou Kah (born 30 July 1980) is a Norwegian football coach and former footballer who currently serves as an assistant coach with Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer. Club career Vålerenga Born in Banjul, The Gambia, Kah and his family e ...

. With Pacific, he won the 2021 CPL Championship. He departed the club after the 2022 season. In December 2022, it was announced that he would join

, as their goalkeepers coach for the 2023 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Village, Mark 1991 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Canadian soccer players Soccer people from British Columbia Sportspeople from Abbotsford, British Columbia Canadian expatriate soccer players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Fraser Valley Mariners players Whitecaps FC 2 players FC Cincinnati (2016–18) players Pacific FC players USL Championship players Canadian Premier League players Pacific FC non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches U Sports soccer players Vancouver FC non-playing staff