If you didn’t know what decade it was, you might be looking out for a wing-door DeLorian and Marty McFly. With Duran Duran playing in the background. Vic West has brought everybody back to the future. Suddenly it’s the 1980s all over again in the Vancouver Island Soccer League.
Vic West ended a drought of more than 34 years by winning its first Jackson Cup since 1989 last year and followed it up by defending its Cup title last weekend at Starlight Stadium. The Wests continued their drought-busting ways this season and won their first Garrison Cup VISL regular-season championship since 1989. Vic West now has eyes set on its first Province Cup B.C. men’s soccer championship since 1984 when Kenny Loggins was footloose, Van Halen was jumping and Springsteen was dancing in the dark.
Vic West, the oldest soccer club in Canada at 127 years, joins Jackson Cup runner-up Comox Valley United, VISL regular-season runner-up Gorge FC and the other VISL qualifiers Lakehill and Bays United in the 2024 Province Cup tournament, which will conclude with the championship game April 27 at Starlight Stadium. The draw was held Tuesday night.
The first round goes April 5-7 with Vic West drawn to host the Coquitlam Metro Ford Wolves. Lakehill will be away to Abbotsford United, Gorge FC away to Columbus FC, Comox Valley away to recent-era powerhouse BB5 United of Surrey and Bays United home to Ares Afa. The quarter-finals are April 12-14 and semifinals April 19-21. Exact dates will be determined.
The last Island team to win the Province Cup was Gorge FC in 2010 with the last of its four championships from that decade.
“The Province Cup is tough. So much has to go right to win it,” said veteran VISL star and Vic West striker Paddy Nelson.
“You have to play tight, get good goalkeeping and get lucky four games in a row.”
Vic West won its first B.C. championship in 1911 and dominated with six Province Cup championships between 1976 and 1984 with players such as John McGuire, Steve Forslund, former CSL pro Frank Woods and World Cup player Jamie Lowery. London Boxing Club, led by World Cup player George Pakos and later known as Victoria Athletics, won in 1975. Teams from Ladysmith, Cumberland and Nanaimo won a combined 10 B.C. championships between 1920 and 1934.
Meanwhile, the Island representatives in the B.C. Women’s Cup are Gorge FC Team Sales, Lakehill FC, Fusion FC and Nanaimo United. The women’s provincial tournament begins April 5-7 and concludes with the final April 28 at Starlight Stadium. The last Island team to win was Gorge FC in 2022.
