The Edmonton Brick Men (also Edmonton Brickmen) were a Canadian soccer team in Edmonton, Alberta that competed in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

and the Western Soccer Alliance. During their time in the WSA and the CSL, the team played at both John Ducey Park and Clarke Stadium for their matches. The choice of John Ducey Park was due in part to the sharing of costs with the Edmonton Trappers.

History

The Edmonton Brick Men were formed in 1985 to fill the void for professional soccer in the city after the Edmonton Drillers of the NASL had folded in 1982 and the Edmonton Eagles of the Canadian Professional Soccer League folded in 1983. The club was owned by

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

owner Peter Pocklington (who previously owned the Drillers) with seed money provided by the Edmonton-based furniture company, The Brick Warehouse, for whom the club was named after, with the logo using the same font for the word ''Brick'' as the furniture retailer. The Brick Men were known for giving local players an opportunity, which helped to launch the early careers of several future Canadian national team players. In 1985, while not formally part of the league, they participated in the 1985 Western Alliance Challenge Series where teams from the Western Soccer Alliance (WSA) played a match against either the Brick Men or the Canadian national team, with those matches counting towards the standings. The Brick Men played eight games in total in 1985, with a record of four wins, three draws, and a single loss against

Dundee FC Dundee Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland, founded in 1893. The team are nicknamed "The Dark Blues" or "The Dee". The club plays its home matches at Dens Park. The club was formed after a me ...

of the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

. The next year, they joined the WSA as an official league franchise for the 1986 season. They finished in last place in the seven-team league with a 3–3–8 record, with the record including two matches against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and

. Despite the poor performance that year, their attendance was reasonable, ranging between 3000 and 4000 spectators per game. After the 1986 season, the Brick Men departed the WSA to join the new

for its inaugural season. In their inaugural CSL match on June 7, 1987, they were defeated by the Vancouver 86ers by a score of 4–2. In their first season, they posted a 7–7–6 record, to finish in third place in the West Division, before falling to Vancouver in the first round of the playoffs. In their second season in the CSL, they struggled, winning only 4 of their 28 matches to finish last in their division and the league. They bounced back in 1989, finishing second in their division, qualifying for the playoffs, where they won their first playoff series, defeating provincial rivals

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 ...

in the first round, before being trounced by Vancouver 9–3 on aggregate (5–3 and 4–0 losses) in the semi-finals. In 1990, the club once again failed to make the playoffs, after finishing last in their four-team division. The club folded following the 1990 season.

Seasons

Notable players

References

{{Soccer in Edmonton Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) teams Defunct soccer clubs in Canada Brick Men Western Soccer Alliance teams 1985 establishments in Alberta