The original Vancouver Whitecaps are a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team founded on December 11, 1973. During the 1970s and 1980s they played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

(NASL). The Whitecaps of that era included international players such as Alan Ball, Ruud Krol and

Bruce Grobbelaar Bruce David Grobbelaar (born 6 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most prominently for English club Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, and for the Zimbabwean national team. Regarded as one of ...

, but also British Columbian stars like

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People *Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (surname), a list of surnames * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwrit ...

and

Sam Lenarduzzi Silvano "Sam" Lenarduzzi (born December 19, 1949) is a former Canadian soccer player. He was a two-time national champion with British Columbia Selects (1966) and Vancouver Columbus FC (1969). He represented Canada in three cycles of FIFA World ...

Buzz Parsons Les "Buzz" Parsons (born 16 December 1950) is a Canadian former soccer player who played at both professional and international levels as a midfielder. During his career in North America with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Parsons was affectionately kno ...

, and Bruce Wilson. In 1979, the team from the "Village of Vancouver" (a reference to ABC TV sportscaster

Jim McKay James Kenneth McManus (September 24, 1921 – June 7, 2008), better known professionally as Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist. McKay was best known for hosting ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' (1961–1998). His intro ...

's observation that "Vancouver must be like the deserted village right now", with so many people watching the game on TV) beat the powerhouse

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

in one of the most thrilling playoff series in NASL history to advance to the 1979 Soccer Bowl. Saturday, September 8, 1979, they triumphed against the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

at the

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...

before a crowd of 50,699 ''(66,843 tickets had been sold for the game)''. It was during this short period that soccer interest peaked in Vancouver. The Whitecaps attendance at Empire Stadium grew to an average of 28,000 per game with playoff matches reaching the 32,000 capacity. The team also recorded two tracks, with "White Is the Colour" (a takeoff on Chelsea's " Blue Is the Colour") becoming a hit on local radio during the run-up to their championship win. The Whitecaps kit starting in 1978 featured a new two-tone blue design created by Vancouver-based graphic designer Dick Martin, who also re-designed the logo and jersey for the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

team

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

. After playing at Vancouver's 32,000-seat Empire Stadium for most of their existence, the team moved into the new 60,000-seat

BC Place Stadium BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a Crown corporation of the province. The venue is currently t ...

in 1983. The team played

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

on and off during their existence. The

Pacific Coliseum Pacific Coliseum, locally known as The Coliseum or the Rink on Renfrew, is an indoor arena located at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its main use has been for ice hockey and the arena has been the home for several ice hockey tea ...

served as the home field for their 1980–81 and 1983–84 NASL indoor seasons. However, for the 1981–82 indoor season the Whitecaps used the much smaller

PNE Agrodome The PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) Agrodome is a sports arena located in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). It was built in 1963 and holds 5,000 people or 3,260 when configured to use the hockey or lacrosse surface. It hosted the British C ...

, as the

became unavailable.

History

Vancouver was announced as an

expansion franchise 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 ...

in the North American Soccer League on December 11, 1973, set to enter the league in 1974 alongside

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and San Jose. The seven-person ownership group was led by Herb Capozzi and included several businesspeople from the Lower Mainland. The city had previously hosted the Vancouver Royal Canadians, a

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...

team that played for the 1967 season with players from Sunderland A.F.C and in 1968 as the Royals before folding. The team announced their name, the Whitecaps, in February 1974 and signed their first player, former

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

striker and Vancouver native Glen Johnson.

Year-by-year

This is a complete list of seasons for the NASL club. For a season-by-season history including the current MLS franchise, see

History of Vancouver Whitecaps FC The history of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, Canada, spans over four decades. The first team to use the "Whitecaps" name was the Vancouver Whitecaps of the now-defunct North American Soccer League, playin ...

. For solely MLS results, see

List of Vancouver Whitecaps FC seasons Vancouver Whitecaps FC is a association football, soccer team based in Vancouver, Canada, that plays in Major League Soccer (MLS) and other association football, soccer competitions. The team's Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984), original namesak ...

. 1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, League Playoffs,

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

, and other competitive continental matches.

Indoor

Honours

NASL Championship *

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Conference titles *

National Conference Champions Division titles *

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

Western Division (National Conference) *

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Northwest Division * 1980–81 Northwest Division (indoor) *

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Western Division NASL attendance leader * 1983 (29,164 per game) * 1984 (15,208 per game) NASL coach of the year * 1978

Tony Waiters Anthony Keith Waiters (1 February 1937 – 5 November 2020) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is better known for his coaching career in Canada. He managed the Vancouver Whitecaps to an NASL championship, and was in charge ...

* 1982

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as ...

North American player of the year * 1978

Bob Lenarduzzi Robert Italo Lenarduzzi, OBC (born May 1, 1955) is a former North American Soccer League player, Canadian international, and coach of the Canadian national and Olympic soccer teams. He is currently club liaison for Vancouver Whitecaps FC. H ...

* 1983

Tino Lettieri Martino "Tino" Lettieri (born 27 September 1957) is a former NASL and MISL professional soccer goalkeeper, who represented Canada twice at the Summer Olympics: 1976 and 1984 and at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Club career Lettieri began his pro ca ...

NASL playoff MVP * 1979 Alan Ball NASL leading goalkeeper * 1978 Phil Parkes (GAA: 0.95, Wins: 23, SO: 10) * 1979 Phil Parkes (GAA: 0.96, SO: 7) * 1982

(GAA: 1.23) * 1983

(GAA: 0.86, GA: 25, SO: 11) U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame members * 2003:

Arnie Mausser Arnold "Arnie" Mausser (born February 28, 1954) is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played with eight different NASL teams from 1975 to 1984. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Mausser may be considered one of the fin ...

, Bruce Wilson Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame members * 2014 Dale Mitchell Indoor All-Star game * 1983–84 Reserves:

Carl Valentine Carl Howard Valentine (born 4 July 1958) is a former professional soccer player and coach who has had a long association with soccer in the Vancouver area. Born in England, he played for the Canada national team at international level. He wa ...

, Peter Ward,

All-Star First Team selections * 1977 Bruce Wilson * 1979 Phil Parkes * 1980 Rudi Krol * 1983 David Watson, Frans Thijssen * 1984 Frans Thijssen, Peter Ward All-Star Second Team selections * 1977

* 1978

John Craven John Raymond Craven (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', '' Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''. Early life Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...

, Kevin Hector * 1979 Alan Ball,

* 1981

Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer who mainly played for Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever player ...

, Pierce O'Leary * 1983

* 1983–84

''(indoor)'' * 1984

, Fran O'Brien All-Star honourable mentions * 1976

Tommy Ord Tommy Ord (15 October 1952 – 15 December 2020) was an English professional football forward. Nearly all of his professional career was spent in North America. Career In 1973, Ord transferred to Montreal Olympique of the North American Socce ...

* 1982

, John Wile * 1983

Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder. In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his country 59 times between 1 ...

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...

, Fran O'Brien * 1984 Paul Bradshaw,

Indoor All-Stars * 1980–81

, Gerry Gray,

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame members * 2000

Luigi Moro Luigi "Lou" Moro (26 April 1918 – 1 October 2009) was a Canadian association football, soccer and box lacrosse athletic trainer. Moro served as the athletic trainer for the Canadian men's national soccer team in Football at the Summer Olympics ...

, Bruce Wilson * 2001 Gerry Gray,

* 2002 Dale Mitchell, Mike Sweeney * 2003

Ian Bridge Ian Christopher Bridge (born 18 September 1959) is a soccer coach and former professional who played as a defender. A former player for the Canada national team, he has coached the Canada women's national team among other teams. Club caree ...

* 2004

Bob Bolitho Robert Bolitho (born July 20, 1952) is a Canadian former soccer player who played for the Canadian national team and in the North American Soccer League and Canadian Soccer League. Club career Bolitho played as a teenager of Pacific Coast Soc ...

* 2005 Garry Ayre * 2006 Brian Robinson, Randy Samuel * 2007 Herb Capozzi, Glen Johnson * 2008 Bruce Twamley, Les Wilson * 2009

Neil Ellett Neil Ellett (born in Richmond, British Columbia) was a Canadian soccer player who spent his career with Vancouver teams, including the Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL), Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North Americ ...

* 2011 Victor Kodelja, Soccer Bowl '79 Champions * 2014 Chris Bennett

Statistics

Attendance

The record home attendance for a Whitecaps game was on June 20, 1983. 60,342 came to watch the caps take on the Seattle Sounders in the first game at

. It was also the largest crowd to ever see a club soccer match in Canada until the Montreal Impact surpassed the mark with 60,860 on May 12, 2012.

Average yearly attendance

*1974 10,098 *1975 7,579 *1976 8,656 *1977 11,897 *1978 15,724 *1979 22,962 *1980 26,834 *1981 23,236 *1982 18,251 *1983 29,164 *1984 15,208

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vancouver Whitecaps (Nasl) Defunct soccer clubs in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Association football clubs established in 1973 Association football clubs disestablished in 1984 Canadian indoor soccer teams North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams based in Canada 1973 establishments in British Columbia 1984 disestablishments in British Columbia Herb Capozzi