Real Salt Lake travels north of the border to face Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the second time this season. Here are three things to know about Vancouver.
Once Got “86ed”
Vancouver has been a soccer hotbed since 1974 when the Whitecaps first joined the North American Soccer League. With a slew of Canadian Soccer Hall of Famers, the Whitecaps were among the top teams in the league throughout the NASL’s tenure as top league in the U.S. and Canada, winning Soccer Bowl in 1979. When the league folded in 1984, Vancouver was without pro soccer for just one season before the Vancouver 86ers joined the Canadian Soccer League in 1986 – the name commemorating Vancouver’s founding in 1886. Eventually the 86ers moved into the APSL, which later changed to the A-League and the USL, and in 2001 changed the club’s name back to the Whitecaps. In 2006 and 2008 they won the USL title before joining MLS as Vancouver Whitecaps FC in 2011.
One Holdover
After five years in Major League Soccer, Vancouver still has one remaining holdover from the USL era – midfielder Russell Teibert. After three years in Vancouver’s Residency Program, he was called up to the USL club and made his pro debut at just 17 years old in 2010. Since then, he has started in 67 of his 98 appearances in MLS, with two goals and 12 assists to his credit. His standout season came in 2013 when he had two goals and nine assists.
Oh, Canada
With six Homegrown players and the recent additions of David Edgar and Marcel de Jong, Vancouver now has nine Canadian-born players on its roster. Among them, they have made 106 appearances for the Canadian National Team, with only 19-year-old goalkeeper Marco Carducci and 23-year-old midfielder Ben McKendry without caps for The Canucks.
