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Valour FC

Valour FC
Full nameValour Football Club[1]
FoundedMay 6, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-05-06)
StadiumPrincess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg
Capacity33,000
OwnerWinnipeg Football Club
(community ownership)
PresidentWade Miller
CoachPhillip Dos Santos
LeagueCanadian Premier League
2024Regular season, 8th
Playoffs, did not qualify
Websitevalourfc.canpl.ca
Current season

Valour FC is a Canadian professional soccer club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays their home matches at Princess Auto Stadium.

The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned through the Winnipeg Football Club.

History

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On May 6, 2017, Winnipeg was one of two cities accepted by the Canadian Soccer Association for professional club membership when the Canadian Premier League was unanimously approved.[2] It was confirmed that Canadian Football League clubs the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were behind the ownership groups.[3] Wade Miller, CEO of the Winnipeg Football Club, was named as the club's president.[4]

In May 2018, it was reported that the club would be called Valour FC.[5] On June 6, 2018 the club was officially unveiled as the fourth team to join the Canadian Premier League.[6] As well as confirming its place in the league for the 2019 launch season, the club also revealed its crest, colours and branding.[7] On June 26, the club named Rob Gale as the first head coach and general manager.[8]

In the overall standings, Valour ranked 7th of 7 teams in 2019, 6th of 8 teams in 2020, and 5th of 8 teams in 2021. On September 23, 2021, while in 5th place, Valour FC sacked head coach Rob Gale and named Phillip Dos Santos as his replacement.[9]

Stadium

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Façade of Princess Auto Stadium, home field for Valour FC.

The club plays its home games at Princess Auto Stadium, a 33,234-seat Canadian football stadium.[10] The stadium opened in 2013 on the University of Manitoba campus next to University Stadium.[11] The stadium is also used by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the University of Manitoba Bisons football team.[12]

Crest and colours

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valour FC kits.

The club's identity is heavily linked to the story of Winnipeg's Valour Road, and named to recognize Corporal Leo Clarke, Sergeant-Major Frederick William Hall, and Lieutenant Robert Shankland, who all lived on the same street and received the Victoria Cross for acts of bravery during the First World War.[13]

The letter "V" in the centre of the crest emulates a folded medal ribbon and also represents the meeting of the Red River and Assiniboine River in Winnipeg.[14] The right side of the "V" creates a "W" for Winnipeg, and the circle under the "V" is in the shape of the Victoria Cross medal. The wheat at the top of the crest represents Manitoba's agricultural industry.[15]

The official club colours are maroon, gold and black (branded by the club as "Valour maroon," "wheat gold," and "earth black"). These colours symbolize the ribbon of the Victoria Cross and the wheat fields and soil of the Canadian Prairies.[14]

Youth

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On August 8, 2018, Valour FC Elite Girls (formerly the Manitoba Blizzard) was founded to give girls in Winnipeg an opportunity to travel to college showcases in the U.S and Canada, while getting educated on the recruiting process. The team will be led by Head Coach Jim Zinko and Manager Trevor Kidd. Training begins in the fall, while the Valour FC Elite Girls competition season runs from late November into April.[16]

Club culture

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The club's mascot leans heavily on imagery of the Victoria Cross, being a lion named 'Vic'. He wears the club's colours on a t-shirt, shorts, and wristbands.[17][non-primary source needed]

Red River Rising Supporters group first met at Nicolino's Restaurant in January 2017, before a Winnipeg team was announced. The group met regularly in anticipation of an eventual Winnipeg team and now occupy section 144 at Princess Auto Stadium.[18] The section is known as The Trench.[19]

Players and staff

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Roster

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As of July 5, 2024[20]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Zimbabwe ZIM Darlington Murasiranwa
2 DF Spain ESP Roberto Alarcón
3 DF Canada CAN Jordan Haynes
4 DF Germany GER Charalampos Chantzopoulos
6 MF Canada CAN Dante Campbell
7 MF England ENG Kian Williams
8 MF United States USA Juan Pablo Sánchez
9 FW Australia AUS Jordan Swibel
10 FW Canada CAN Shaan Hundal
11 MF Canada CAN Noah Verhoeven (on loan from Atlético Ottawa)
13 DF Australia AUS Tass Mourdoukoutas
16 FW Canada CAN Joe Hanson
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF Canada CAN Jordan Faria
19 FW Ivory Coast CIV Abdul Binate
20 MF Portugal POR Diogo Ressurreição
21 MF Canada CAN Marcello Polisi
23 DF Canada CAN Gianfranco Facchineri
24 MF Canada CAN Zachary Sukunda
25 FW Canada CAN Loïc Kwemi
27 MF Ghana GHA Raphael Ohin (captain)
30 DF Canada CAN Themi Antonoglou
33 DF Mali MLI Abdou Samaké
50 GK Canada CAN Jonathan Viscosi
64 MF Canada CAN Safwane Mlah

Current staff

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As of March 4, 2023[21][22]
Executive
President & CEO Canada Wade Miller
General manager Canada Phillip Dos Santos
Coaching staff
Head coach Canada Phillip Dos Santos
Assistant coach Canada Jay Bhindi
Assistant coach Northern Ireland Daryl Fordyce
Goalkeeping coach Belgium Patrick Di Stefani

Head coaches

[edit]
As of May 14, 2024 [23]
Coach Nation Tenure Record
G W D L Win %
Rob Gale  England June 26, 2018 – September 23, 2021 57 18 8 31 031.58
Phillip Dos Santos  Canada September 23, 2021 – present 97 26 25 46 026.80

Club captains

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Years Name Nation
2019 Jordan Murrell[24][25] Canada Canada
2019 Skylar Thomas[24] Canada Canada
2020 Dylan Carreiro[26] Canada Canada
2020–2022 Daryl Fordyce[27] Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
2021–2023 Andrew Jean-Baptiste[27] Haiti Haiti
2024- Raphael Ohin Ghana Ghana

Records

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Year-by-year

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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[28] 1 CPL 28 8 4 16 30 52 –22 28 1.00 6th DNQ R2 DNQ 5,335 Canada Marco Bustos 7
2020 CPL 7 2 2 3 8 9 –1 8 1.14 6th DNQ N/A Eight players 1
2021 CPL 28 10 5 13 38 36 +2 35 1.25 5th QF New Zealand Moses Dyer 9
2022 CPL 28 10 7 11 36 34 +2 37 1.32 5th PR 3,111 New Zealand Moses Dyer 9
2023 CPL 28 6 8 14 25 38 –13 26 0.93 8th PR 3,220 Canada Diego Gutiérrez
Chile Walter Ponce
England Kian Williams		 4
2024 CPL 28 7 7 14 31 42 –11 28 1.00 8th PR 3,106 Canada Shaan Hundal
Australia Jordan Swibel		 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.

All-time most appearances

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As of November 21, 2024[29]
# Name Nation Career Appearances
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Diego Gutiérrez  Canada 2019–2020, 2022–2023 79 3 0 82
2 Raphael Ohin  Ghana 2019–present 75 5 0 80
3 Andy Baquero  Cuba 2021–2023 74 2 0 76
4 Federico Peña  Trinidad and Tobago 2019–2022 59 3 0 62
5 Daryl Fordyce  Northern Ireland 2020–2022 56 3 0 59
6 Moses Dyer  New Zealand 2020–2022 54 3 0 57
7 Dante Campbell  Canada 2020, 2023–present 54 2 0 56
Stefan Cebara  Canada 2020–2022 54 2 0 56
9 Sean Rea  Canada 2021–2022 50 3 0 53
10 Brett Levis  Canada 2020–2022 43 2 0 45

Note: Bold indicates active player

All-time top scorers

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As of November 21, 2024[29]
# Name Nation Career Goals
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Moses Dyer  New Zealand 2020–2022 19 0 0 19
2 William Akio  South Sudan 2021–2022 10 0 0 10
3 Marco Bustos  Canada 2019 7 1 0 8
Austin Ricci  Canada 2020–2021 5 3 0 8
5 Shaan Hundal  Canada 2020, 2024–present 7 0 0 7
Sean Rea  Canada 2021–2022 6 1 0 7
Jordan Swibel  Australia 2024–present 7 0 0 7
8 Tyler Attardo  Canada 2019 6 0 0 6
Matteo de Brienne  Canada 2022–2023 6 0 0 6
Michael Petrasso  Canada 2019 6 0 0 6
Walter Ponce  Chile 2022–2023 6 0 0 6

Note: Bold indicates active player

References

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  1. ^ "Valour Football Club". Valour FC. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  2. ^ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (May 6, 2017). "Canadian Premier League unanimously ratified by CSA". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  3. ^ Friesen, Paul (May 12, 2017). "New soccer league could work here". Winnipeg Sun. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  4. ^ Golby, Travis (May 7, 2017). "Winnipeg scores spot in Canadian pro soccer league". CBC News. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  5. ^ "The CanPL Hub on Twitter". Twitter. May 18, 2018. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  6. ^ McIsaac, Greg (June 6, 2018). "Valour FC Joins Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  7. ^ "Winnipeg entry in the Canadian Premier League to be called Valour FC". National Post. June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "Rob Gale named inaugural Head Coach & GM". Valour FC. June 26, 2018. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  9. ^ Jaques, John (September 23, 2021). "Valour FC Fires Rob Gale, Names Phillip Dos Santos As New Head Coach". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  10. ^ "Stadium Profile". valourfc.canpl.ca. Valour FC. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  11. ^ "Investors Group Field costs balloon to $203.5M". CBC News. September 23, 2013. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  12. ^ "Stadium History". Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  13. ^ "Winnipeg entry in the Canadian Premier League to be called Valour FC". Vancouver Courier. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Emblem Inspiration". valourfc.canpl.ca. Valour FC. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on June 10, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  15. ^ "Valour FC announced as fourth CanPL team". The CanPL Hub. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  16. ^ "Valour FC Elite Girls". valourfc.canpl.ca. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  17. ^ "Meet Valour FC's mascot". Valour FC. canpl.ca. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  18. ^ Sawatzky, Mike (April 30, 2019). "Eager soccer fans will ensure Red River Rising all season long". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  19. ^ Sawatzky, Mike (May 4, 2019). "Soccer fans revved about Valour FC debut". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  20. ^ "Roster". Valour FC. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  21. ^ "Stewardship". valourfc.canpl.ca. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  22. ^ "Valour FC announce update to coaching staff". February 15, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  23. ^ "CanPL Schedule".
  24. ^ a b "Valour FC names Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas as inaugural captains". canpl.com. Canadian Premier League. April 24, 2019. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  25. ^ "Valour's Murrell apologizes for red card incident, steps down as captain". canpl.com. Canadian Premier League. August 7, 2019. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  26. ^ "Valour FC parts ways with Canadian midfielder Dylan Carreiro". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. October 17, 2020. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  27. ^ a b "'My heart was pounding': Valour FC reveal Jean-Baptiste & Fordyce as 2021 captains". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. June 4, 2021. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  28. ^ "Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League 2019 Standings. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  29. ^ a b "Canada - Valour FC - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news". Soccerway. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valour FC.