Victoria has a storied soccer legacy that many may not know about.
Canada’s oldest soccer club, Vic West FC, will pay homage to that legacy this weekend with a celebration marking 50 years since the team’s first national championship win in 1976.
The celebration will take place on Saturday, September 12th at Royal Athletic Park, with several of the club’s teams taking to the pitch.
The club has plenty of history to celebrate, having started all the way back in 1896.
After that 1976 championship, Vic West FC went on to win six provincial championships and four national championships in the following years, and David Lawes, the club’s president, says that legacy is coming full circle.
“We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary of our first national championship, and yet our club is now rebuilt and we’re challenging for it again,” Lawes told Victoria Buzz.
“We were really good back in the 70s and 80s, then we had some years where we weren’t that great, and now we’re back.”
The Wests have been on the rise recently, finishing last season as the second best team in BC. They narrowly missed winning the final in BC’s championship game last year and advancing to the national championships.
This year, they’ve got their eyes on winning it all—but the mountain to get to the top is a hefty one.
To reach the provincial championship, and hopefully the national championship after that, the team will need to win Vancouver Island’s Jackson Cup or place in the top five the league.
This weekend marks the first game of the season for the team, with Vic West FC taking on Gorge FC for the Cup Winner’s Cup. That match will kick off at 2 p.m. at Royal Athletic Park.
At halftime during the game, Lawes says the club will bring out alumni from that illustrious 1976 championship team to celebrate them and pay their respects.
Lawes says the club’s alumni are excited about the direction the team is taking, and it was their idea to celebrate the team’s success.
“They wanted to celebrate it back at Royal Athletic Park stadium, on that grass field—a place that they know well and has a lot of history,” Lawes explained.
Saturday will also feature two other games, with Vic West’s Under 21 Men’s team playing at 12 p.m. and a game from one of their youngest squads at 10 a.m.
Admission to the event is by donation, and the games are sure to be a fantastic celebration for soccer fans.
With the World Cup having taken place in Canada this year, soccer fandom is on the rise throughout the country.
Victoria may just be the hub for the renaissance of the sport in Canada, and Vic West hopes to be the club to make that dream come true.
Cup Winner’s Cup
- Where: Royal Athletic Park, 1014 Caledonia Avenue
- When: Saturday, September 12th – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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