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Pacific FC

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This article is about the soccer club based in Canada. For the former club based in Mexico, see Pacific F.C. (Mexico).

Pacific FC
Nickname(s)The Tridents
Short namePFC
FoundedJune 1, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-06-01)
StadiumStarlight Stadium
Langford, British Columbia
Capacity6,000
OwnerSixFive Sports & Entertainment, Dean Shillington, Rob Friend
PresidentJosh Simpson
Managing directorPaul Beirne
CoachJames Merriman
LeagueCanadian Premier League
2024Canadian Premier League: 5th
Playoffs: play-in
Websitehttp://pacificfc.canpl.ca/
Current season

Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford.

History

On May 5, 2018, "Port City FC" was one of four groups accepted by the Canadian Soccer Association for professional club membership, along with groups that would become Cavalry FC, HFX Wanderers, and York9. Port City was the only one of the four that was not identified with a specific city, and represented an as-of-yet undetermined location in British Columbia.[1] The group was expected to launch a team in either Greater Victoria or Surrey, British Columbia.[2] Former professional player Rob Friend, who grew up in British Columbia, was pictured as a representative of the region.[3] On June 1, the Canadian Premier League granted the Port City ownership group a club on Vancouver Island.[4]

Pacific FC was officially unveiled on July 20 as the seventh team to join the Canadian Premier League.[5] As well as confirming its place in the league for the 2019 launch season, the club also revealed its crest, colours and branding.[6] Former Denmark international Michael Silberbauer was announced as the first head coach on August 20.[7]

They played their first competitive game on April 28, 2019, defeating visitors HFX Wanderers 1–0 with Hendrik Starostzik scoring the only goal and Mark Village keeping a clean sheet.[8] The club parted ways with Silberbauer on October 18, 2019, and announced then-assistant coach James Merriman as interim head coach.[9]

On August 26, 2021, they were matched against Major League Soccer opposition for the first time, being drawn against provincial opponents Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Championship. Although underdogs, they defeated the Whitecaps 4–3, becoming the second CPL club to eliminate an MLS club in the competition.[10][11]

On December 5, Pacific FC won its first Canadian Premier League title after defeating defending champions Forge FC 1–0 in the 2021 CPL Final at Tim Hortons Field.[12] In doing so they became the second team to have been crowned Canadian Premier League champions.[13]

Stadium

Starlight Stadium is a stadium in Langford, British Columbia that is used for home games by Pacific FC.

The club plays its home games at Starlight Stadium. The city of Langford planned to increase the capacity from 1,718 to 8,000, but a utility pole located on the north side of the stadium has prevented any upgrades on that side.[14] By extending the existing south stand and adding seating behind both goals as well as new standing room on the north side, the capacity was increased to 6,200 for the 2019 season.[15][16]

Crest and colours

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pacific FC kits.

The club's branding is designed to represent Vancouver Island. The team's crest is the shape of a Douglas fir, a tree native to Vancouver Island, split into two segments, with the right side forming the shape of the island. The tree is bordered by the ocean and includes a single chevron to represent a wave of the ocean and a 'V' that can stand for Victoria, victory and Vancouver Island.[17]

The secondary logo is a roundel with a trident, meant to represent the strength and courage of the island, as well as the weather attributed to the Pacific Ocean. The logo also includes the motto of the coat of arms of the city of Victoria, which is the Latin phrase Semper Liber (lit. 'Forever Free').[18]

The official club colours are purple, teal, and white (branded by the club as "starfish purple", "lagoon blue", and "lighthouse white"). These colours symbolize the native Pisaster ochraceus sea star, the Pacific Ocean, and the region's lighthouses.[17]

Club culture

Supporters

The first supporters group to show support for a Vancouver Island team to join the Canadian Premier League was the Lake Side Buoys, an existing group who followed the Victoria Highlanders of USL League Two. A second supporters group, called Torcida Oranizada Pacific (TOP) has also emerged.[19]

Rivalries

Vancouver FC

Main article: Pacific FC–Vancouver FC rivalry

Pacific first battled Vancouver FC during the opening match day of the 2023 season at Starlight Stadium with Pacific winning the contest 1-0 with a late winner by Manny Aparicio during the second meeting the teams met at Willoughby Community Park Stadium which lead to a thrilling 6–3 victory with the winner scored by Easton Ongaro.

Cavalry FC

Pacific FC met Cavalry FC for the first time in the Canadian Premier League in the final fixture of the 2019 Spring season, winning 3–1 at Westhills Stadium in an intense match which saw three players sent-off.[20] Pacific FC and Cavalry FC's rivalry intensified during the 2021 season where they met eight times across three Canadian competitions (Canadian Premier League, CPL Playoffs, and the Canadian Championship).[21][22] This rivalry is also fueled by a pre-existing cultural rivalry between each team's respective province: Alberta and British Columbia.[23]

Honours

Best results in other competitions
Competition Result Season
Canadian Championship Semi-finals 2021, 2023
CONCACAF League Round of 16 2022

Players and staff

Roster

As of July 22, 2024[24]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Canada CAN Emil Gazdov
2 DF Canada CAN Georges Mukumbilwa
3 DF Canada CAN Eric Lajeunesse
4 DF Canada CAN Paul Amedume
5 DF Colombia COL Juan Quintana
6 MF Guatemala GUA Marco Domínguez
7 MF Trinidad and Tobago TRI Steffen Yeates
8 MF Canada CAN Pierre Lamothe
9 FW Canada CAN Dario Zanatta
10 FW Canada CAN Adonijah Reid
11 FW Wales WAL Josh Heard (captain)
12 FW Trinidad and Tobago TRI Reon Moore
13 DF Canada CAN Kunle Dada-Luke
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Canada CAN Christian Greco-Taylor
17 FW Canada CAN Devin O'Hea
18 MF Canada CAN Zakaria Bahous
20 MF Canada CAN Sean Young
21 FW Netherlands NED Ayman Sellouf
26 DF Canada CAN Thomas Meilleur-Giguère
28 MF Haiti HAI Cédric Toussaint
34 MF Canada CAN Sami Keshavarz
35 MF Canada CAN Mattias Vales
44 DF France FRA Aly Ndom
55 GK Canada CAN Sean Melvin
88 MF Romania ROU Andrei Tîrcoveanu
— DF Canada CAN Will Edgson

Staff

As of March 11, 2022
Executive
President Canada Josh Simpson[25]
Chief executive officer Canada Rob Friend[25]
Chairman Canada Dean Shillington[25]
Coaching staff
Head coach Canada James Merriman[26]
Assistant coach Mozambique Armando Sá[27]
Assistant coach / youth coach Canada Chris Merriman[28]
Goalkeeper coach Canada Trevor Stiles[28]

Head coaches

As of January 19, 2024
Coach Nation Tenure Record
G W D L Win %
Michael Silberbauer  Denmark August 20, 2018[29] – October 18, 2019[30] 29 7 7 15 024.14
James Merriman (interim)  Canada October 18, 2019[30] – January 14, 2020[31] 1 1 0 0 100.00
Pa-Modou Kah  Norway January 14, 2020[31] – January 21, 2022[26] 41 19 8 14 046.34
James Merriman  Canada January 21, 2022[26] – present 70 31 16 23 044.29

Club captains

Years Name Nation
2019–2020 Marcel de Jong  Canada
2021–2022 Jamar Dixon  Canada
2023–present Josh Heard  Canada

Team records

Year-by-year

Season League Playoffs CC Continental Average
attendance 		Top goalscorer(s)
Div League Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Pos. Name Goals
2019 1 CPL 28 8 7 13 35 46 –11 31 1.11 5th DNQ R1 Ineligible 3,102 Canada Terran Campbell 11
2020 CPL 10 4 2 4 16 13 +3 14 1.40 – 4th DNQ DNQ N/A Canada Marco Bustos 5
2021 CPL 28 13 6 9 47 34 +13 45 1.61 3rd W SF 3,812 Canada Terran Campbell 11
2022 CPL 28 13 7 8 36 33 +3 46 1.64 4th SF QF CONCACAF League R16 3,176 Mexico Alejandro Díaz 16
2023 CPL 28 11 7 10 42 35 +7 40 1.43 4th SF SF DNQ 3,241 Netherlands Ayman Sellouf 7

1. Average attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in league season, league playoffs, Canadian Championship, CONCACAF League, and other competitive continental matches.

International competition

Scores and results list Pacific FC's goal tally first.
Year Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2022 CONCACAF League Preliminary round Jamaica Waterhouse F.C. 6–0[32] 0–0[33] 6–0
Round of 16 Costa Rica Herediano 0–1[34] 1–0[35] 1–1 (5–6 p)

Player records

Most career goals

As of January 19, 2024[citation needed]
# Pos. Name Nation Career at club Goals scored
CPL CC Int'l Total
1 Forward Alejandro Diaz  Mexico 2020–2022 26 2 3 31
2 Forward Terran Campbell  Canada 2019–2021 23 2 0 25
3 Forward Josh Heard  Canada 2020– 15 2 2 19
4 Forward Marco Bustos  Canada 2020–2022 14 0 1 15
5 Midfielder Manny Aparicio  Canada 2021–2023 9 1 0 10

Note: Bold indicates active player

Most career assists

As of January 28, 2024[citation needed]
# Pos. Name Nation Career at club Goals Assisted
CPL CC Int'l Total
1 Midfielder Manny Aparicio  Canada 2021–2023 14 1 1 16
2 Forward Marco Bustos  Canada 2022–2022 15 0 0 15
3 Forward Terran Campbell  Canada 2019–2021 8 2 0 10
4 Forward Josh Heard  Canada 2020– 6 1 2 9
Forward Alejandro Diaz  Mexico 2020–2022 9 0 0 9

Note: Bold indicates active player

Most career appearances

As of January 19, 2024[citation needed]
# Pos. Name Nation Career at club Games played
CPL CC Int'l Total
1 Midfielder Sean Young  Canada 2020– 89 5 4 98
2 Forward Josh Heard  Canada 2020– 85 7 4 96
3 Defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère  Canada 2020– 78 5 4 87
4 Defender Kunle Dada-Luke  Canada 2021– 75 6 4 85
5 Midfielder Manny Aparicio  Canada 2021–2023 68 6 4 78

Note: Bold indicates active player

References

  1. ^ "4 clubs get membership from Soccer Canada; expected to join CPL". Sportsnet. May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  2. ^ Bahl, Andrew (April 19, 2018). "We're Getting a Better Idea of What the Canadian Premier League Will Look Like". Eighty Six Forever. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  3. ^ "Four CPL cities accepted by Canada Soccer". The CanPL Hub. May 5, 2018. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  4. ^ "Canadian Premier League grants Vancouver Island conditional entry". The Globe and Mail. June 1, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  5. ^ McIsaac, Greg (July 20, 2018). "Pacific Football Club Unveiled as Vancouver Island's New Canadian Premier League Club". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  6. ^ "Pacific Football Club latest team to join new Canadian Premier League". Times Colonist. July 20, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  7. ^ Bedakian, Armen (August 20, 2018). "Michael Silberbauer announced as head coach of Pacific FC". Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  8. ^ "HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific FC earns historic 1st win in CPL". April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  9. ^ Laurence, Mira. "Pacific FC and Head Coach Michael Silberbauer Part Ways". pacificfc.canpl.ca. Pacific FC. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  10. ^ "Match Analysis: Pacific FC 4-3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC". Canadian Premier League. August 27, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  11. ^ "Pacific FC Upset Whitecaps to advance to Canadian Championship Quarterfinals". sportsnet.ca. Sportsnet. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  12. ^ "Match report". canpl.ca. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  13. ^ O'Connor–Clark, Charlie (December 5, 2021). "HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific FC crowned Canadian Premier League champions with 1-0 win vs. Forge". canpl.ca. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Horsting, Lindsey (March 1, 2018). "$4 million cost to move hydro pole holding up Langford stadium expansion". Goldstream News Gazette. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  15. ^ "Pacific FC to incorporate Vancouver Island beauty into Westhills Stadium renovations". November 30, 2018. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  16. ^ "All set for Westhills Stadium grand opening on Saturday". August 21, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Emblem Inspiration". pacificfc.canpl.ca. Pacific FC. July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  18. ^ Rendle, Josh (December 4, 2018). "Pacific FC Officially Launches Secondary Logo". pacificfc.canpl.ca. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  19. ^ "About Us". lakesidebuoys.org. Lake Side Buoys. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  20. ^ "HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific stuns Cavalry in wild back-and-forth Spring finale". canpl.ca. July 2019.
  21. ^ "Cavalry FC (Calgary) vs Pacific FC". canadasoccer.com. January 22, 2020.
  22. ^ "Pacific FC downs Cavalry FC in extra time to reach Canadian Premier League final". cbc.ca.
  23. ^ Bach, Danna. "We love to hate Albertans, don't we?". kamloopsnews.ca.
  24. ^ "Roster". Pacific FC. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  25. ^ a b c "Owners' Profile". pacificfc.canpl.ca. Pacific FC. July 20, 2018. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  26. ^ a b c "Pacific FC Welcomes Merriman As New Head Coach – Kah departs". Pacific FC. January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  27. ^ Benedict Rhodes (March 10, 2022). "2022 Coaching Staff – Mark Village and Armando Sá". Pacific FC. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  28. ^ a b "Pacific FC Hires Goalkeeper Coach Trevor Stiles". Pacific FC. February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  29. ^ Bedakian, Armen (August 20, 2018). "Michael Silberbauer named head coach of Pacific FC". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  30. ^ a b "Pacific FC relieves Silberbauer of duties, Merriman takes over as interim coach". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. October 18, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  31. ^ a b "Pacific FC announces new head coach Pa-Modou Kah". Pacific FC. January 14, 2020. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  32. ^ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (August 3, 2022). "RECAP: Pacific explode for 6-0 win to eliminate Waterhouse in Concacaf League". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  33. ^ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (July 26, 2022). "RECAP: Pacific open Concacaf journey with 0-0 draw in Jamaica vs. Waterhouse". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  34. ^ Tierney, Mitchell (August 17, 2022). "RECAP: Late goal costs Pacific FC at home against Herediano in Leg One of Concacaf League round of 16". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  35. ^ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (August 23, 2022). "RECAP: 10-man Pacific fall to Herediano on penalties in gutsy Concacaf League performance". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
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