The Vancouver Southsiders is an independent supporters group for

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 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 March ...

Major League Soccer 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 ...

. The group was created in 1999 by soccer fans from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...

and its greater metropolitan area to support the former

of the D2 Pro League. The name of the group alludes to the south side of

Swangard Stadium Swangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for soccer, rugby, football, and athletics, the stadium also used to be home to the Simon Fraser Clan football team and the Vancouver Whit ...

, where the supporters first started to congregate.

History

The group began in 1999 when fans of the Vancouver 86ers began congregating in the pitch-level

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

behind the goal at the south end of

. They originally called themselves "The Carlsberg Crew" in reference to the sponsor of Swangard's beer garden, Carlsberg Beer. The following season, the group renamed itself as the "Canterbury Chorus" following an off-season change to the team's beer sponsor. The group was finally renamed to "The Southsiders" to avoid the need to change names every time the sponsor changed. In 2004, the Southsiders worked with the supporters' groups of Portland and Seattle to establish the

Cascadia Cup The Cascadia Cup is the name of the trophy created in 2004 by supporters of the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, and Vancouver Whitecaps, which is awarded each season to the best soccer team in the Pacific Northwest. The cup is named for the ...

. The cup is awarded to the team that does the best in the season series between the three in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. John Knox, then president of the Southsiders, said that the Cup is "hugely important". The Southsiders' relationship with team ownership has not always been positive. In 2003, the Southsiders felt marginalized by the front office and began depositing empty beer cups onto the field. The relationship improved as a dialog was opened. The front office and group continued to benefit from each other when Vancouver received an MLS

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

. Images of the Southsiders are featured prominently in Whitecaps' marketing campaigns. The group's board was invited to the invite-only launch of the Whitecaps' MLS kits and logo. The Whitecaps' expansion into MLS has also led to an increase in membership; it had grown from about 40 paying members to 100 in July 2010. At the group's annual general meeting, held in December 2010, paid membership was tabulated at just shy of 200 members. Just a year later, the membership base was over 700 strong. John Knox, the previous president of the Southsiders, believes there is no reason why the Southsiders cannot outdo the Seattle Sounders' Emerald City Supporters. Now that the Whitecaps are playing at BC Place stadium, the Southsiders can be found in the southeast corner (sections 249–254).

Culture

The Southsiders originated as a group of fans that enjoyed a European-style experience over the traditional family-friendly atmosphere during matches. They have been described as a "rabid supporters group". Along with adding colour and atmosphere, the group sings various chants during matches. Their theme song is titled "Boundary Road" sung to the tune of

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

's " Take Me Home, Country Roads", it references

's location on Boundary Road 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 ...

, British Columbia. The Southsiders' version is as follows:

Boundary Road, take me home, To the place where I belong. Vancouver, pretty mama, Take me home, Boundary road.

References

External links

Vancouver Southsiders Experience

Vancouver Southsiders Flickr

RedNation.ca Vancouver Southsiders Documentary
{{Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Major League Soccer fan clubs 1999 establishments in British Columbia