The Vancouver Royals were a Canadian professional

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

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

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, ...

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. Founded in 1967 as the Vancouver Royal Canadians, they were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA), and when the USA and rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the team, rebranded as the Royals, moved to the new league. The Royals played its home matches at the Empire Stadium. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1968 NASL season.

History

In 1966 several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States. One of these groups, United Soccer Association (USA) led by

Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...

, selected 12 cities for team locations with

franchise purchased by Brigadier General E.G. Eakins. The USA originally planned to start play in the spring of 1968; however the rival National Professional Soccer League, which secured a TV contract from CBS, announced it was ready to launch in 1967. Not wanting to let the rival league gain an advantage, the USA decided to launch early. Not having secured any player contracts, the league imported teams from Europe, Brazil, and Uruguay to represent the franchise cities. English team

Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...

was brought in to play as the Royal Canadians. The Royals opened the 1967 season away against the

San Francisco Golden Gate Gales The San Francisco Golden Gate Gales were an American soccer team that played in the United Soccer Association (USA). The team was based in San Francisco, California and played their home games at the Candlestick Park. The team folded when the U ...

with a 6–1 loss on 28 May, but won their home opener against the Dallas Tornado 4–1 on 7 June. The Royals finished the season in fifth place with a record of 3 wins, 5 ties and 4 losses while drawing an average home league attendance of 7,019. Following the 1967 season, the USA merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. As part of the new league's efforts to consolidate teams and cites, the owner of the

franchise, George Fleharty, yielded the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

to the NPSL

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers, also named the California Clippers, were an American soccer team based out of Oakland, California. They played in the non- FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer ...

and bought a controlling interest in the Vancouver Royal Canadians, renaming the team Vancouver Royals.

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...

was originally reported to have been named manager of the new merged team which was to include players both the Royals and Gales organizations had signed between the end of the 1967 season and merger. However, Ferenc Puskás who had been hired to manage the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

franchise was later named by the owner as head coach. Robson, who took over as coach of

Fulham F.C. Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, which compete in the . They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spent at Loftus Road whilst Craven Cottage unde ...

in January 1968, later sued the team for breach of contract. The Royals finished the 1968 NASL season in last place in the Pacific Division with 12 wins 5 ties and 15 losses. The team averaged a home attendance of 6,197. The Royals were one of 12 teams that folded between the 1968 and 1969 NASL seasons.

Coaches

Ian McColl John Miller "Ian" McColl (7 June 1927 – 25 October 2008) was a Scottish football player and manager. McColl played as a defender for Queen's Park and Rangers, while he also represented both the Scotland national team and the Scottish Leag ...

(1967) * Ferenc Puskás, Head Coach (1968) *

Joe Csabai Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * Joe (1970 film), ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * Joe (2013 film), ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * Joe (TV series), ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from ...

, Assistant Coach (1968)

Year-by-year

''Note: Only regular season goals counted''

Notes

External links

Team stats

References