Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The original Vancouver Whitecaps were founded on December 11, 1973 and during the 1970s and 1980s played in the North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

(NASL). The Whitecaps achieved success, winning the 1979 Soccer Bowl

Soccer Bowl

The Soccer Bowl was the championship game of the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1983. The event was created by NASL Commissioner Phil Woosnam who was trying to build a neutral-site championship event in the mold of the NFL's Super Bowl....

. The Whitecaps of that era included international players such as Alan Ball

Alan Ball (footballer)

Alan James Ball, Jr., MBE was a professional English footballer and football club manager.He was the youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team and played for various clubs, scoring more than 180 league goals in a career spanning 22 years...

, but also "home grown" stars like Bobby

Bob Lenarduzzi

Robert Italo Lenarduzzi, OBC is a former North American Soccer League star, Canadian international, and coach of the Canadian national and olympic soccer teams. He is currently President of Vancouver Whitecaps FC...

and Sam Lenarduzzi

Sam Lenarduzzi

Silvano "Sam" Lenarduzzi is a Canadian former national soccer team player.Born in Udine, Italy, but raised in Vancouver, Lenarduzzi made his international debut in 1967 as member of the Pan American Games team in Winnipeg. He went on to play PamAm games again in Colombia in 1971...

, Buzz Parsons, and Glen Johnson

Glen Johnson (soccer)

This page is on the former Canadian soccer player. For the current English footballer see Glen Johnson .Glen Johnson is a former Canadian soccer international and prominent player of the original Vancouver Whitecaps of the NASL.A Vancouver native, Johnson was Whitecap's general manager Denny...

. In 1979 the team from the "Village of Vancouver" (a reference to ABC TV sportscaster Jim McKay

Jim McKay

James Kenneth McManus , better known by his professional name of Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist....

'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

The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history...

in one of the most thrilling playoff series in NASL history to advance to the Soccer Bowl

Soccer Bowl

. In the Soccer Bowl, they triumphed against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in a disappointed New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

It was during this short period that soccer interest peaked in Vancouver. The Whitecaps attendance at Empire Stadium

Empire Stadium, Vancouver

Empire Stadium was a multipurpose stadium that formerly stood at the Pacific National Exhibition site at Hastings Park in Vancouver. Track and field and Canadian football, as well as soccer and musical events, were held in the stadium. The stadium was originally constructed for the 1954 British...

grew to regular sellouts, at 32,000. The team also recorded two tracks, with "White is the Colour" becoming a hit on local radio during the run-up to their championship win.

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

BC Place Stadium

BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the home field for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer . Originally opened on June 19, 1983 as the...

in 1983.

With the subsequent demise of the NASL, in 1984 the Whitecaps, along with many other teams in the NASL, were forced to fold.

Statistics

Year	League	W	L	T	Pts	Reg. Season	Playoffs
1974	NASL	5	11	4	70	4th, Western Division	Did not qualify
1975	NASL	11	11	—	99	4th, Western Division	Did not qualify
1976	NASL	14	10	—	120	3rd, Pacific Conference, Western Division	Lost 1st Round (Seattle Seattle Sounders (NASL) The Seattle Sounders were a U.S. professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.-Stadium:The Sounders played at Memorial... )
1977	NASL	14	12	—	1s4	2nd, Pacific Conference, Western Division	Lost Division Championship (Seattle Seattle Sounders (NASL) The Seattle Sounders were a U.S. professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.-Stadium:The Sounders played at Memorial... )
1978	NASL	24	6	—	199	1st, National Conference, Western Division	Won 1st Round (Toronto) Lost Conference Semifinal (Portland Portland Timbers (NASL) The Portland Timbers were a team in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1982. The name has been used by two other soccer franchises: the Timbers of the WSA/APSL, Portland Timbers of the USL and the current team which began play as part of Major League Soccer in 2011.-History:In January... )
1979	NASL	20	10	—	172	1st, National Conference, Western Division	Won Conference Quarterfinal (Dallas Dallas Tornado Dallas Tornado were a soccer team based in Dallas that played in the NASL. They played from 1967 to 1981. Their home fields were Cotton Bowl , P.C. Cobb Stadium , Franklin Field , Texas Stadium and Ownby Stadium on the SMU campus... ) Won Conference Semifinal (Los Angeles Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were a soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League from 1974-81. The team was based in Los Angeles, California and part-owned by Elton John.-History:... ) Won Conference Championship (New York New York Cosmos The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history... ) Won Soccer Bowl '79 Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the championship game of the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1983. The event was created by NASL Commissioner Phil Woosnam who was trying to build a neutral-site championship event in the mold of the NFL's Super Bowl.... (Tampa Bay)
1979/80	NASL Indoor	Did not enter
1980	NASL	16	16	—	139	3rd, National Conference, Western Division	Lost 1st Round (Seattle Seattle Sounders (NASL) The Seattle Sounders were a U.S. professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.-Stadium:The Sounders played at Memorial... )
1980/81	NASL Indoor	11	7	—	—	1st, Northern Division	Won 1st Round (California California Surf The California Surf were a soccer club based in Anaheim, California who played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1981. Their home field was Anaheim Stadium.They originally were the St. Louis Stars... ) Lost Semifinal (Edmonton)
1981	NASL	21	11	—	186	1st, Northwest Division	Lost 1st Round (Tampa Bay)
1981/82	NASL Indoor	10	8	—	—	2nd, National Conference, Northwest Division	Lost 1st Round (San Diego)
1982	NASL	20	12	—	160	3rd, Western Division	Lost 1st Round (San Diego)
1982/83	NASL Indoor	Season cancelled
1983	NASL	24	6	—	187	1st, Western Division	Lost 1st Round (Toronto Toronto Blizzard (NASL) The Toronto Blizzard were a professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that played in the North American Soccer League.-History:The Toronto Metros joined the NASL in 1971. Their home field was Varsity Stadium.... )
1983/84	NASL Indoor	12	20	—	—	5th	Did not qualify
1984	NASL	13	11	—	117	2nd, Western Division	Lost Semifinal (Chicago Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting was an American professional soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from in the 1982-83 season and again from 1984 to 1988... )

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

Seattle Sounders (NASL)

The Seattle Sounders were a U.S. professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.-Stadium:The Sounders played at Memorial...

in the first game at BC Place Stadium

BC Place Stadium

. It is also the largest crowd to ever see a club soccer match in Canada.

NASL average 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

Notable former players

Alan Ball (1979–80) 38 apps 10 goals Peter Beardsley

Peter Beardsley

Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...

(1981–83) Chris Bennett

Chris Bennett (soccer)

Chris Bennett is a former Canadian international and North American Soccer League soccer player. He was also one of the original Vancouver Whitecaps players from their first season in 1974...

(1974) Paul Bradshaw (1984) Brian Budd

Brian Budd

Brian Budd was a Canadian professional soccer player best known for winning the World Superstars competition three years in a row from 1978 to 1980. He was also a soccer sportscaster.-Early years:...

(1974–1977) Liam Buckley

Liam Buckley

Liam Buckley , is an Irish former professional football player and manager.-Playing career:Liam began his League of Ireland career with Shelbourne F.C. and signed for Shamrock Rovers as a full time player in the 1979 close season...

(1981) John Craven

John Craven (footballer)

John Roland Craven was an English professional football player. He played as a defender, but also played as a centre-forward on occasion.-Career:...

(1978–80) David Cross

David Cross (footballer)

David Cross is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He scored 223 goals in 599 appearances in the Football League and the North American Soccer League. Cross was born in Heywood, Lancashire.-Football career:...

(1983/84) 46 apps 29 goals Peter Daniel

Peter Daniel (footballer born 1946)

Peter A. Daniel is a former professional footballer, most notable for his 14 year association with English football club Derby County...

(1979) Gerry Gray

Gerry Gray

Gerard "Gerry" Gray is a former Canadian national soccer team player who is currently the head coach of Tacoma F.C..-Club career:...

(1980-1982) /

Bruce Grobbelaar

Bruce David Grobbelaar is a former football goalkeeper and manager.He played for a number of clubs in a career which spanned for more than 20 years at professional level, most notably Liverpool during their dominant period in the 1980s and early 1990s.-Early years:In his teenage years, Grobbelaar...

(1979–81) Ray Hankin

Ray Hankin

Raymond 'Ray' Hankin is a former English footballer.-Biography:A powerful and burly centre-forward, Hankin started his career at Burnley, where he scored 37 goals in 112 games and won three caps for the England U23 side...

(1980–82) David Harvey

David Harvey (footballer)

David Harvey is a former Scottish internationalist professional association footballer. A goalkeeper, Harvey is best known for his successes with Leeds United.-Leeds United:...

(1980–83) 19 apps o goals Steve Harrison (1978) Gerry Heaney

Gerry Heaney

Gerry Heaney is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a full back. After playing youth football with Hamilton Academical, Heaney played in the Scottish league for Third Lanark, and in the North American Soccer League for the Vancouver Whitecaps.-References:...

(1974) Kevin Hector

Kevin Hector

Kevin James Hector is an English former footballer who scored 268 goals from 662 appearances in the Football League playing for Bradford Park Avenue and Derby County. His 486 League appearances for Derby County is a club record...

(1978–80) Steve Hetzke

Steve Hetzke

Stephen Edward Richard Hetzke is an English former professional footballer. He played as a defender....

(1976) Alan Hinton

Alan Hinton

Alan Thomas Hinton is an English former footballer who most notably played for Derby County and Nottingham Forest in the 1960s...

(1978) Jimmy Holmes

Jimmy Holmes

James Paul Holmes is an Irish former professional footballer. Hailing from Meath Square in The Liberties he won 30 full international caps for the Republic of Ireland....

(1981–82) Glen Johnson

Glen Johnson (soccer)

(1974–77) Willie Johnston

Willie Johnston

William McClure "Willie" Johnston is a Scottish former professional football player, best remembered for his time at Rangers and West Brom.-Career:...

(1979–80) Steve Kember

Steve Kember

Stephen Dennis "Steve" Kember is a former footballer who played in the centre of midfield during his career, before going into management...

(1980–81) Roger Kenyon

Roger Kenyon

Roger Kenyon played football for Everton between 1967 and 1979. He also played for NASL team Vancouver Whitecaps during his career...

(1979–81) Ruud Krol

Ruud Krol

Rudolf Jozef Krol is a retired Dutch footballer who was capped 83 times for his native country. Playing the vast majority of his career with his home town club of Ajax before traveling the world as both a player and a coach...

(1980) Bob Lenarduzzi

Bob Lenarduzzi

(1974–84) Sam Lenarduzzi

Sam Lenarduzzi

(1974–78) Ray Lewington (1979) Tino Lettieri

Tino Lettieri

Martino "Tino" Lettieri is a former NASL and MISL professional soccer goalkeeper, who represented Canada twice at the Summer Olympics: 1976 and 1984 and the 1986 FIFA World Cup.-Playing career:...

(1982–83) Peter Lorimer

Peter Lorimer

Peter Patrick Lorimer is a former footballer who formed part of the much-admired and feared Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s....

(1981–83) Tony McAndrew

Tony McAndrew

Anthony "Tony" McAndrew is a Scottish former footballer who played as a defender in the Football League for Middlesbrough, Chelsea, Darlington and Hartlepool United, and in the North American Soccer League for the Vancouver Whitecaps...

(1976) Bob McNab

Bob McNab

Robert "Bob" McNab is an English former footballer.McNab started out at his local club, Huddersfield Town, playing nearly seventy times in three seasons...

(1979) Mick Martin

Mick Martin

Michael Paul "Mick" Martin was an Irish soccer player during the 1970s and 1980s.Born in Dublin, he played for Bohemians, Manchester United, Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, Vancouver Whitecaps, Cardiff City, Preston North End, Peterborough United, Rotherham United and the Republic of...

(1983–84) Mark Nickeas

Mark Nickeas

Mark Nickeas is a retired English football defender. He spent five seasons in the North American Soccer League, one in the Major Indoor Soccer League and two in the Western Soccer Alliance....

(1981–84) Pierce O'Leary

Pierce O'Leary

Pierce O'Leary is an Irish former professional footballer. Pierce is the brother of former Arsenal star and fellow Irish international David O'Leary....

(1981–84) Charlie Palmer (1974–75) Phil Parkes (1976–79) Buzz Parsons (1976–84) Derek Possee

Derek Possee

Derek Possee is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. In a professional career which lasted from 1963 and 1979, Possee made over 400 league appearances, scoring over 100 league goals.-Career:...

(1977–79) http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player2/derekpossee.htm Davie Robb

Davie Robb

Davie Robb is a Scottish former football player best known for playing for Aberdeen.-Career:Davie Robb was born in Broughty Ferry, Dundee in 1947. Affectionately known to Aberdeen supporters as "The Brush", Robb scored 99 goals in 345 appearances with Aberdeen. He scored the winning goal for...

(1980) http://home.att.net/~nasl/players.htm#R Jon Sammels

Jon Sammels

Jonathon Charles "Jon" Sammels is an English former footballer.Sammels joined Arsenal, the club he supported as a boy, in 1961. He was a regular in the reserves and a successful youth international winning seven caps for England. He scored on his first-team debut for the Gunners on 27 April 1963,...

(1978–79) http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player1/jonsammels.htm Frans Thijssen (1983-1984) Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas (footballer born 1950)

Dave Thomas, born October 5, 1950 in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, England is a former professional footballer and England international who played as a midfielder...

(1981) http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/davethomas.htm Tony Towers

Tony Towers

Mark Anthony Towers is an English former professional footballer who played for Manchester City, Sunderland, Birmingham City and England as a midfielder....

(1984) Bruce Twamley

Bruce Twamley

Bruce Richardson Twamley is a former Canadian international footballer.Twamley began his professional career with Ipswich Town but after only two appearances in two seasons, he moved back to Canada and played for the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League for one season in 1975...

(1975) http://home.att.net/~nasl/players.htm#T Carl Valentine

Carl Valentine

Carl Howard Valentine is a former professional soccer player and coach who has had a long association with soccer in the Vancouver area ....

(1979–84) David Watson (1983) Trevor Whymark

Trevor Whymark

Trevor Whymark is a former English international footballer who played in the Football League in the 1970s and 1980s, notably with Ipswich Town....

(1980) Bruce Wilson

Bruce Wilson (soccer)

Bruce Alec Wilson was a NASL and Canadian international soccer player. He played the second most games of any player in the former league, 299 . He also captained the Canadian team at the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals, the sole time Canada has appeared...

(1974–77) Terry Yorath

Terry Yorath

Terence Charles Yorath is a former footballer and has been a manager at both club and international level. He is also the father of television presenter Gabby Logan....

(1981–82) 59 apps 4 goals

Statistics

Attendance

NASL average attendance

Notable former players

See also