Vancouver Whitecaps FC will enjoy its 40th anniversary this year and even the Heritage Horns at Canada Place, which will sound after every victory this season, are in the mood to celebrate. In case you didn’t know that the Whitecaps were turning 40, or that the club had four decades of history, the following is a quick history lesson that I borrowed (generously, with permission) from the Whitecaps FC History page:
1974 – 1979
The Whitecaps played their first game on May 5, 1974, when they fell to a 2-1 home defeat to San Jose Earthquakes. Though the first match was a loss, the crowd saw defender Neil Ellett write his name in the history books that day by scoring the Whitecaps’ first-ever goal in the league. Their first playoff appearance in 1976 was against the Seattle Sounders.
In 1979 Vancouver won it all and became the city’s first professional sports team to win a major North American Championship when they defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Upon return to Vancouver on September 9, 1979, as many as 100,000 people lined Vancouver’s Robson Street to salute their heroes during a championship parade, arguably creating the most historic moment in Whitecaps history.
1980 – 1985
The few years following their championship win of 1979, the Whitecaps were unable to defend their title. Hopes were high for a second NASL title in 1983, as Vancouver played host to the Soccer Bowl championship match at the newly-built BC Place Stadium. In fact, the Whitecaps 2-1 victory over Seattle on June 20, 1983, was the first sporting event to be played in BC Place and attracted a crowd of 60,342.
1986 – 1991
The demise of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1984 resulted in the formation of a new league, the Canadian Soccer League (CSL), in 1986. This change in leagues was accompanied by a change in team-name, as the Whitecaps became the 86ers, which name came from the year of Vancouver’s incorporation as a city (1886) and the year of the club’s founding (1986).
From 1988 – 1991, the 86ers established themselves as a powerhouse, winning four-straight league championship titles. The club also set a North American professional sports record by playing 46 consecutive matches without defeat (37 wins and 9 draws). For this accomplishment, the 86ers squad of 1989 was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
1992-1997
The 86ers entered a new era when the CSL folded and they became members of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). With a new look, logo, and colours (red, black, and white) in 1993, the 86ers finished top of the APSL regular season standings before their season was abruptly ended in the playoff semifinals, as Los Angeles Salsa won 3-2 in a shootout at Swangard.
1998-2003
On October 26, 2000, after widespread public support, the 86ers formally changed their name back to the Whitecaps after their new owner, David Stadnyk, purchased the naming rights from former NASL Whitecaps director John Laxton. Local businessman and current owner Greg Kerfoot took ownership of the Whitecaps on November 13, 2002. On February 24, 2003, the Whitecaps men and Breakers women were brought under a new club structure called Whitecaps Football Club (FC).
In 1999 the Vancouver Southsiders supporter club was also formed. It is Canada’s oldest and largest soccer supporter group.
2004-2010
In 2004, the club announced plans to build the Whitecaps Training Centre on the campus of SFU. A memorable year ensured for Whitecaps fans in 2006, as both the men’s and women’s teams claimed an unprecedented double of USL titles. The club won it all again in 2008.
Having submitted a proposal in 2008 to enter MLS, MLS commissioner Don Garber announced on March 18, 2009 that Vancouver would be the home of the 17th team in MLS. The team would start their inaugural season at a temporary stadium on the site of the former Empire Stadium in March 2011. It was also announced that later that year, the new team would make a renovated BC Place their new home.
2011 – Present
In March 2011, Vancouver Whitecaps FC kicked off their first season in Major League Soccer at Empire Field and moved to BC Place in October where they played four matches to finish their inaugural MLS season.
On November 1, 2012, Whitecaps FC played their first-ever MLS postseason match. However, defending MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy defeated the ‘Caps 2-1 in the Western Conference First Round Knockout match in California. On September 6, 2012, Whitecaps FC joined the government of British Columbia and the University of British Columbia (UBC) in announcing the construction of the National Soccer Development Centre (NSDC) on the campus of UBC.
The third season in MLS for Vancouver Whitecaps FC was one filled with great excitement and memorable moments. The ‘Caps were dealt a cruel blow, however, as captain Jay DeMerit ruptured his Achilles tendon just six minutes into the season opener and would not return until September. Though they missed their fearless leader for the majority of the season, Whitecaps FC still went on to set new club records in MLS for wins (13), points (48), and goals scored (53).
Among the more noteworthy moments was a first ever victory over LA Galaxy on May 11, as well as a first win against rivals Seattle Sounders FC on July 6 at BC Place. Kekuta Manneh became the first Whitecaps FC player and youngest MLS player ever to score a hat-trick and he did it in Seattle. That match also sealed a fourth Cascadia Cup title for the ‘Caps – making them the winningest club in competition history – and the first trophy since joining MLS. Camilo Sanvezzo scored his first career hat-trick in a 3-0 win, giving the Brazilian the MLS Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer with 22 goals.
Read the full history on the Whitecaps’ website and follow the team on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
2014 Season
John and I have been season ticket holders since 2012 and we are very excited for this new season to get underway. Each home match is a designated “date day” for us, and we have a fantastic time meeting other fans (we are members of the Southsiders supporter club) and cheering on our team at BC Place.
Affordable single match tickets are on sale now along with 5-Packs, half season tickets, and season tickets. Join us in cheering on our blue and white at BC Place this season.
BC Place will become PlayDome this Spring Break and with over 45 rides and attractions it’s Canada’s largest indoor carnival.
“Feel like you’re floating in air with the Zero Gravity ride, be spun around on the new open air cars of the Ring of Fire and be flung into oblivion on the Super Shot. Popular favorites such as 1001 nights, The Ferris Wheel and the Zipper are all back to be enjoyed.”
BCAA PlayDome presented by Global BC will run from March 15th to March 26. Tickets are available at the door and each person must purchase one of the following passes to enter. The Dome Pass (day pass valid for all rides) is $29; Guest Passes (required to enter as a spectator) are $6; and the Ultimate Pass (unlimited multi-day Dome Pass) is $49. Group rates are also available by calling (604) 252-3663 or emailing groupsales [at] pne.ca. Children under 2 years old are admitted for free but for safety reasons they are not permitted to ride).
With BCAA as the new title sponsor of PlayDome, BCAA cardholders get a $10 discount on each Domeor Ultimate Pass purchased in their transaction. The discount can be claimed by showing your card upon purchase at the BC Place box office during PlayDome. Please note tickets are not available in advance and this discount may not be combined with any other offer.
PlayDome at BC Place Dates and Hours
Saturday, March 15, 2014 from 10:30am to 9:00pm
Sunday, March 16, 2014 from 10:30am to 9:00pm
Monday, March 17, 2014 10:30am to 9:00pm
Tuesday, March 18, 2014 from 10:30am to 9:00pm
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 from 10:30am to 9:00pm
Thursday, March 20, 2014 from 10:30am to 9:00pm
Friday, March 21, 2014 from 10:30am to 9:00pm
Saturday, March 22, 2014 from 10:30am to 9:00pm
Sunday, March 23, 2014 from 10.30am to 6:00pm
Win Passes to PlayDome at BC
If you would like to win tickets to BCAA PlayDome at BC Place, I have a 4-pack of tickets to give away. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, March 13, 2014. The winner will receive four Dome Passes for PlayDome this month.
Update The winner is @RobinLynnG on Twitter!
The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has posted on their Facebook page that The Dorothies are getting ready to be moved to a new location. “Ever seen two mirror image heritage homes on stilts? The move is scheduled for March 10th 17th, where the homes will be relocated to a larger lot, restored and become central to a new infill project.”
The homes, which currently sit at 2827 and 2837 West 43rd Avenue, were built in 1931 and they earned their unusual names because the original owners both had wives named Dorothy.
Back in 2013 the Huffington Post BC reported (via The Globe and Mail): “Their Tudor-style design is nearly identical, with French pane windows, pitched roofs and a driveway separating them that leads to matching garages out back. The homes were last sold for just over $2 million each, and the owner, Trasolini Chetner Corporation, has applied for a permit to knock them down and rebuild. The house at 2827 is currently awaiting approval, while a notice has gone around to neighbours about the redevelopment of 2837.
An effort was made to pick the houses up off their foundation and move them to Vancouver Island with the owner’s support, but the logistics proved too complicated and the $220,000 cost too expensive.”
In December it was announced that The Dorothies would be saved, thanks to residential developer Rob Chetner with the help of architect Timothy Ankenman. The Globe and Mail said: “[Chetnet] and Mr. Ankenman went searching for a nearby Kerrisdale property to relocate the houses to, and found it a couple of blocks away, on W. 41st Avenue.”
The plan needed to pass public consultation, which it eventually did. The idea is to preserve the houses and restore them inside and out, with their basements converted into garden suites and four coach houses built to the rear of the new location, totalling eight suites.
There is plenty to do around town this weekend but one event in particular is free for kids*, indoors (away from the rain), has music, art, and hands-on activities. The Vancouver Art Gallery is hosting another Family FUSE Weekend on Saturday, March 8th and Sunday, March 9th with this month’s theme: “The Landscape of the Imagination” and it’s bound to be a whole lot of fun for the family.
The Landscape of the Imagination takes its inspiration from the Gallery’s new exhibitions Lawren Harris: Canadian Visionary and A Terrible Beauty: Edward Burtynsky, exploring our intimate relationship with the natural and manufactured landscape around us.
In addition, Kid Zeppelin, a talented children’s rock band will cover Led Zeppelin songs to reflect the popular culture reference in the exhibition Myfanwy MacLeod, or There and Back Again. Join artists, musicians, performers and educators to discover how small actions can have big impacts through a range of performances, hands-on activities and workshops.
Family Fuse Weekend Events
Activities include the following on both Saturday and Sunday:
Landscape Button
10:00am to 4:00pm
Create a button that features a picture or words about your favourite kind of landscape.
Art Agents
10:00am to 4:00pm
Join the Art Agents as they explore the work of Lawren Harris: Canadian Visionary. Learn more about the trips he took and the landscapes he loved to paint through a range of hands-on resources.
Kid Zeppelin
Saturday 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm; Sunday 11:30am, 12:30pm
Four Vancouverites aged 11 to 15 plus the music of one of rock’s greatest bands equals Kid Zeppelin. These talented youths have been having a great time preparing a short set of Led Zeppelin songs to accompany Myfanwy MacLeod, or There and Back Again.
Veda Hille and Her Swell Band
1:00pm, 2:00pm and 3:00pm
Join Veda Hille and Her Swell Band as they alternate between two special sets of music put together for the Family FUSE Weekend: songs about Emily Carr and songs about pets. Expect some storytelling, some singing and quite a bit of rocking.
Sketch Station
10:30am to 4:30pm
Join educator Kate Dawson to consider the photographs in the exhibition A Terrible Beauty: Edward Burtynsky. Sketch directly in front of the works and consider our impact on the natural environment.
Built to Scale
12:00pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm
Inspired by Edward Burtynsky’s amazing photographs of natural and manufactured landscapes, Vancouver dance collective The Contingency Plan responds to these beautiful images through contemporary dance. They will explore through movement, ideas of construction, deconstruction, scale and perspective.
Safety First
11:00am to 4:00pm
Come navigate the colourful, interactive light and sound installation from IE Creative artworks. Dress up in your brightest safety gear and proceed slowly and carefully through the Gallery. It’s also an opportunity to create your own safety signs for the dangers that may lurk in your personal world.
The Making Place
10:30am to 4:00pm
Inspired by the work in the exhibitions Lawren Harris: Canadian Visionary and A Terrible Beauty: Edward Burtynsky, try a range of explorative, hands-on activities and create art to take home with you.
Vancouver Aquarium AquaVan
Presented by BC Hydro and BG Group
11:00am to 4:00pm
AquaVan Educators facilitate learning through hands-on exploration of aquatic life from around the world. This is a unique opportunity for all ages to explore the richness of life below the surface! Glimpse at life within a 200L mobile aquarium and discover the connections between aquatic life, the environment and ourselves.
Family Film Lounge
Programmed by Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth
10:00am to 4:30pm
Take a break and relax in our film lounge. Enjoy your lunch or a snack while watching a selection of great animated and live action films.
Family FUSE Weekend is *free for children age 12-and-under when accompanied by an adult and for Gallery Members. Regular adult admission rates apply. Hours are 10:00am to 5:00pm each day this weekend.
The third Vancouver Biennale of Public Art will launch this spring with the theme Open Borders/Crossroads Vancouver. 20 prominent pieces, from artists all over the world, will be installed in parks and open spaces around Metro Vancouver including 10 in New Westminster, North Vancouver, and Squamish.
Past Vancouver Biennale piece. Photo credit:
popejon2 on Flickr
A sculptural work by China’s Ai Weiwei, one of the most famous artists in the world, will be among numerous other public art works by a roster of major international artists being featured in the third Vancouver Biennale.
The biennale will feature works by other big name artists that include Vic Muniz from Brazil, Jonathan Borofsky from the U.S., and Andy Goldsworthy from the United Kingdom. Later this summer, Os Gemeos, the name twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo from Brazil are known by, will create a 360-degree, 23-metre tall mural around a building on Granville Island. Once it’s finished, the mural will feature animation later in the year by Graphics e-Motion, a Montreal-based company. [Source: Vancouver Sun]
Some of the art from previous Vancouver Biennale iterations is still around today as legacy pieces were purchased and donated to the city — like Lululemon founder Chip Wilson did (via Wilson5 Foundation) with Yue Minjun’s A-Maze-Ing Laughter at English Bay. These photogenic sculptures were part of the 2009/2011 Vancouver Biennale.
Open Spaces 2005/2007 was the inaugural Biennale for International Sculpture in Vancouver. For a period of 18 months, the communities of Vancouver and its visitors were invited to participate and interact in a community wide program of special events generated through the strategic placement of 22 major International public art pieces along the walkways, waterfront parks, pathways and major public spaces of Vancouver.
The first public event for the 2014/2016 Vancouver Biennale will take place Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at Emily Carr University from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Follow Vancouver Biennale on Facebook and Twitter, and check out the interactive map of current public art around Vancouver for updates.
