Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23, formerly known as Whitecaps FC Reserves, was a Canadian
American Soccer Pyramid
, in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference.
The team played its home games at Thunderbird Stadium. The team's colours were blue and white.
History
Pacific Coast Soccer League
Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 began their competitive life as Whitecaps FC Reserves in the
Hibernian & Caledonian. However, they lost the championship title match against Victoria United, and had to be content with second place. Andrew Corrazza
was Whitecaps' top scorer, tallying 15 goals for the season.
The PCSL reverted to a single-table format in 2006, but the change in structure did not distract the Whitecaps, who took their first league championship title with an 11–2–1 record, finishing four points clear of FK Pacific in second place and Vancouver Thunderbirds in third.
The team spent the 2007 season in hiatus, preparing for their PDL debut in 2008. In joining the PDL in 2008, the Whitecaps became the first team to make the PCSL to PDL jump.
USL Premier Development League
Original logo of the USL-affiliated Whitecaps
Vancouver's first season in the PDL was an impressive one; they rattled off three wins out of the gate, including an impressive 4–1 victory over 2007 divisional champions
Tacoma Tide 4–1 to take the Western Conference title with another brace from Edwini-Bonsu, and travelled to Ontario to take on Central Conference champions Thunder Bay Chill for a place in the PDL Championship game. The first ever all-Canadian semi final went the way of the Chill, who scored a last minute winner to take the game 2–1 (and would eventually go on to win the national title). For the Whitecaps, however, it was a positive debut season in the PDL, and the future looks bright. The prolific Randy Edwini-Bonsu was top scorer for the season, with nine goals, while Gagandeep Dosanjh and Alex Semenets
contributed 8 assists each.
Having lost many of their best players – including
Victoria Highlanders on the last day of the season left the Caps stuck mid-table in sixth place, out of the playoffs and with some re-building to do. Gagandeep Dosanjh was the team's top scorer with 4 goals, while Russell Teibert
contributed 3 assists.
On November 21, 2014, the Whitecaps announced the formation on the Whitecaps FC 2United Soccer League team. The U23 team was disbanded and its staff was moved to the new team.[1]
Players
Notable former players
This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.
Mehdi Ballouchy
Vicente Arze
Tyler Baldock
Wesley Charles
Jhamie Hyde
Navid Mashinchi
Mason Webb
Thomas Niendorf (2008–2009)
Craig Dalrymple (2010, 2012)
Richard Grootscholten (2010–2012)
Stuart Neely (2013)
