TSS FC Rovers are 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 ...

team based in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada that play in

League1 British Columbia League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's association football, soccer league in British Columbia, Canada, which began play in May 2022. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the British ...

. Established for the 2017 PDL season by general manager Will Cromack and head coach Colin Elmes, the Rovers are the under-23 team of the TSS Academy, one of the largest soccer schools in British Columbia's Lower Mainland.

History

Founding

TSS (Total Soccer Systems) Academy was founded in 1997, based in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

PDL and WPSL era

In late 2016, they purchased the rights to Premier Development League franchise of the Washington Crossfire, creating a team in British Columbia fielding their first roster in the spring of 2017. They have a supporters group called the "Swanguardians" in reference to the Rovers home stadium Swangard Stadium, who previously attended

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

games when they played out of Swangard Stadium, prior to their joining the

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. When these supporters heard about the Rovers returning soccer back to the iconic stadium, they came out in support with much fanfare. The team has a stated policy of fostering Canadian talent, or players eligible for the Canadian men's national teams, stating every player must be "either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or refugee or immigrant with an intent to one day wear the Maple Leaf." 2018 saw the founding of the women's side to play in the WPSL, notable signings included Canada WNT players Jordyn Huitema and

Julia Grosso Julia Angela Grosso (born August 29, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Juventus FC and the Canada women's national team. She attained international prominence after scoring the ti ...

. In 2018, the men's side saw the team's first truly non-Canadian signing in Dutch, former

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

midfielder

Nick Soolsma Nick Soolsma (born 7 January 1988) is a Dutch footballer. Club career Netherlands Soolsma began his career in the youth ranks of Dutch side FC Volendam. During the 2007 season he played for FC Volendam's Under-19 side. He left Volendam at the ...

as a player-coach. The club competed with the

Victoria Highlanders 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. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 20 ...

for the Juan de Fuca Plate, which was awarded annually to the best PDL/

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

club in British Columbia. The Rovers won it in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, the club updated their logo to include a sword fern, an indigenous plant to coastal BC.

League1 BC era

On November 1, 2021 it was announced that the club would be playing in the inaugural season of

. In addition, the club decided to change their ownership structure, to become fan-owned, similar to clubs in Germany, with fans having voting rights and a say in the team's direction. Fans will own 49% of the team through this initiative. In the debut League1 BC season, the men's team advanced to the Championship Final after finishing in second place in the regular season standings, where they defeated

Varsity FC Varsity may refer to: *University, an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in various academic disciplines Places * Varsity, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada * Varsity Lake ...

in penalty kicks to win the inaugural League1 BC title. As champions, they qualified for the national 2023 Canadian Championship.

Current roster

Men Women

Year-by-year

Men

Women

Notable former players

The following players have either moved on to the professional ranks after playing for the PDL/WPSL/L1BC team club, played for their senior national teams, or played professionally before joining the club. Men * Mamadi Camara * Gabriel Escobar * Thomas Gardner *

Jordan Haynes Jordan Markus Haynes (born January 17, 1996) is a Canadian professional association football, soccer player who currently plays for Valour FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Haynes began playing youth soccer at age five with Maple Lea ...

* Patrick Metcalfe * Marcello Polisi * Matteo Polisi * Fugo Segawa *

Desmond Tachie Desmond Tachie-Mason (born May 1, 1984) is a Canadian soccer player, who is currently playing and working as coach for the Vancouver Metro Soccer League club West Van FC. Career College Tachie played for the Vancouver Selects and attended Ca ...

* Zach Verhoven * Joel Waterman * Kristian Yli-Hietanen Women * Jordyn Huitema *

Emma Regan Emma Rose Regan (born January 28, 2000) is a Canadian international soccer player who plays as a defender for Danish club HB Køge. Early life Regan began playing youth soccer at age six with Burnaby Girls SC. She later played for Mountain Un ...

Honours

Men

Major * League1 BC Championship :: Champions (1):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Minor * Juan de Fuca Plate :: Winners (2): 2018, 2019 :: Runners-up (1): 2017

Combined

* Juan de Fuca Plate :: Runners-up (1): 2022

Supporters

The team is supported by The Swanguardians, a small group of supporters who stand at the south end of the pitch and support the team with banners, smoke displays, and original chants made primarily from Canadian songs. The group was formed in 2017 shortly after the founding of the team, and continues to support its former players in their college, professional, and national team careers on social media through their #AlwaysARover hashtag.

References

External links

* {{British Columbia Sports 2017 establishments in British Columbia Association football clubs established in 2017 USL League Two teams Soccer clubs in British Columbia Sport in Burnaby United Soccer League teams based in Canada Expatriated football clubs League1 British Columbia clubs Women's Premier Soccer League teams