Pacific Coast Soccer League

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Pacific Coast Soccer League
Country Canada, United States
Confederation CONCACAF
US Soccer
Founded 1908 / 1995
Divisions 2 Premier (Men/Women)
2 Reserve or U21 (Men/Women)
Number of teams Premier: 10(m) 12(w)
Reserve: 7(m) 8(w)
Levels on pyramid 4
Promotion to no
Relegation to no
Current champions Vancouver Thunderbirds (m)
Fraser Valley Action (w)
(2012)
Most championships Victoria United (m, 6 titles)
Seattle Hibernian (w, 4 titles)
Website PCSL.org
2013 Pacific Coast Soccer League season

The Pacific Coast Soccer League is a soccer league featuring teams from British Columbia and Washington. Although the league is affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA)*, and teams could potentially qualify for the US Open Cup through USASA channels, the league is generally considered to be roughly equal with the USL Premier Development League (USL PDL) and the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in the American Soccer Pyramid. The USL PDL and NPSL qualify for the US Open Cup from their own competitions not through the USASA.

In the Canadian Soccer Pyramid it is roughly Division 4. The winner of the Challenge Cup or league playoffs has a berth in the British Columbia Provincial Soccer Championship for the Province Cup.[1] The Province Cup winner plays for the The Challenge Trophy denoting the Canadian national amateur champion. The PCSL does not qualify teams for the professional teams' Canadian Championship. The league has a short 2.5 month summer season and although the top division is open, several clubs are primarily post-secondary players similar to the USL PDL and NPSL in the United States.

  • Note: The PCSL is not listed on the USASA site as either a national league, regional league, or affiliate.[2][3][4] The PCSL is also not listed with the USASA State associations, the Washington State Soccer Association (WSSA)[5] or Oregon Adult Soccer Association (OASA).[6] Past clubs from the PCSL, such as the Seattle Wolves, did play in the USASA National Cups.[7] It is unclear how the PCSL is affiliated or sanctioned in the US as no US based have entered any USASA competitions since at least 2008. Licensed referees have officiated PCSL games in the US during 2012, so some kind of sanctioning appears to be in place.

Contents

History [edit]

The name Pacific Coast Association Football League appears to have been chosen as the railway age had yet to mature to the point where rail travel superseded the steamships traversing the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada. The leagues for various sports of the highest level such as baseball in the summer; therefore, spanned along the Pacific Coast from California to British Columbia not inland.

The original Pacific Coast Association Football (Soccer) League was formed on July 25, 1908 in Victoria at the Drlard Hotel. Executives elected were Con Jones president and Will Ellis secretary-treasurer both from Vancouver and R. Heindmarch of Ladysmith as vice president. A constitution was adopted modelled after the English and Scottish league associations along with a 19 game schedule of matches from September 13, 1908 to January 23, 1909. One recognises the constitution’s contents from current leagues. Annual league subscriptions were set at $10 and five percent of gate receipts while player registration was 10 cents per player. The league champion was to be awarded a $100 silver trophy provided by Con Jones. Membership was limited to the larger clubs present at the meeting including a team from each of Nanaimo, Victoria, and Ladysmith of the Vancouver Island Football League, Vancouver of the Mainland League, and Seattle. The idea promulgated was to have a series of games, following the league principle of each team playing the others home and away, in an international league between teams in the already existing leagues to add prestige to the sport and generate larger attendances. Individual exhibitions between various international sides such as that between Ladysmith of the Vancouver Island League and Seattle of the Puget Sound League in the “Sound City “ at Woodland Park on February 25, 1907 drew one of the largest crowds of the Seattle season with over 2,000 spectators. The four home and four away PCSL games for the Pacific Northwest championship were to be played in addition to their regular league schedules .[8]

There was controversy from the start from playing on Sunday (against some local laws) to the feeling the new PCSL was calculated to exclude other communities or clubs within each community from contesting the champion of the Pacific Northwest. An alternate idea was to formalize determining Island and Mainland champions, having them playoff for the British Columbia championship, and then against the Washington state champion to crown the champion of the Pacific Northwest. The promoters of the league wanted to follow the example of baseball and eventually expand the league from California to British Columbia. It was thought by others that four coincident leagues at the same time would dilute talent and enthusiasm for all competitions detrimentally affecting a city’s results in the Island, provincial, and international competitions. Victoria and some other communities had local community leagues, the existing regional league, and a provincial league competition in addition to the new international league. Some of the existing leagues had multiple divisions and field access was a concern.[9]

There were conflicts when PCSL games were re-scheduled postponing or bumping the other competitions, so that a representative side from local teams could play the PCSL game. The amount of soccer being played is especially notable when one keeps in mind that the same athletes often competed in baseball, boxing, rugby, basketball, lacrosse, and other pursuits in addition to soccer. The PCSL also appears to have motivated the Victoria and District Football Association to begin paying referees. Payment for players and officials was controversial at this time as the amateur and professional question/schism was being debated in most athletic clubs.[10]

The British Colonist calls some of these aggregations of local sides competing in the PCSL Victoria United, Nanaimo United, and Vancouver United while smaller communities’ teams are referred to by the community name. Locals would also recognize some names of grounds for various sports currently in use today such as Royal Athletic Park.[11] In the spring of 1909 an aggregation of the strongest California players from San Francisco did a tour playing each of the PCSL teams in a bid to get Oregonian and Californian participation in the PCSL. Funds from spectators do not appear to have covered the transportation costs of the travel required for the PCSL.[12]

Victoria West played Seattle in the last PCSL match during February 1909 in a make-up game after Victoria failed to send a team January 10, 1909. Nanaimo won the 1909 PCSL championship. On March 7, 1909 the league had their annual general meeting in Seattle deciding to change the season to March 6, 1910 – June 4, 1910 and not accepting a proposal for professionalism. The moves appear to have been made to alleviate most of the conflicts over fields, players, and officials. Teams from Everett, Westminster, and Tacoma were added to the proposed schedule as well as hopes that a team from Portland, Oregon could be added to the schedule. Momentum for the league does not appear to have been maintained and the league folded.[13][14]

A second Pacific Coast Football (Soccer) League was formed on June 15, 1925 with C.G. Callin as president and Tommy Chrisite as secretary. On June 26, 1926 an all-star team from the PCFL played an English F.A. touring team in Vancouver. But the league folded in 1927. A third Pacific Coast Football (Soccer) League was formed on August 30, 1930 with Archie Sinclair as president and Vic Sortwell as secretary-treasurer. On September 19, 1930 the first annual meeting was held and James Corral was named president and Robert Davidson, secretary-treasurer. The original four teams were Vancouver St. Andrews, Vancouver St. Saviours, New Westminster Royals, and a fourth team from Nanaimo. The third version of the PCFL stumbled through the 1930s, before being re-formed in August 1939 with Tommy Nelson as president and Jock Hendry as secretary. This version of the league merged with the Mainland Senior Soccer League and the Intercity Junior League in 1973 to form the British Columbia Senior Soccer League, which later became the Vancouver Metro Soccer League.

The current PCSL was reconstituted thereafter as a separate entity in 1995, and in 2013 enters its 19th year of competition. The highest ranking Canadian team plays for the JF Kennedy Memorial Cup against the Oregon State amateur champions and the Washington State amateur champions.

2012 Teams [edit]

Men's [edit]

Premier [edit]

Teams City Home Field Joined
Bellingham United F.C. Bellingham, Washington Civic Field 2012
Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC Coquitlam Percy Perry Stadium 2009
PoCo City FC Port Coquitlam TBD 2012
Khalsa Sporting Club Port Coquitlam Gates Park 1995
Langley Athletic FC Langley McLeod Athletic Park 2009
Okanagan Challenge Kelowna Apple Bowl 1995
Vancouver Thunderbirds Vancouver Thunderbird Stadium 2005
Victoria Highlanders Reserves Langford Bear Mountain Stadium 2007
Victoria United Victoria Braefoot Park 1995

Reserve [edit]

Teams City Home Field Joined
Chilliwack FC Chilliwack Townsend Park 2008
Kamloops Excel Kamloops Hillside Park 1995
Mid Isle Highlanders Ladysmith Ladysmith Turf 2011
Penticton Pinnacles Penticton Kings Park 1995
TSS Academy Richmond TBA 2010
Victoria United Victoria Hampton Park 1995
West Vancouver FC West Vancouver Ambleside Park 2010

Women's [edit]

Premier [edit]

Teams City Home Field Joined
Magnuson Ford Mariners Abbotsford Bateman Park 2011
Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC Coquitlam Coquitlam Town Center 2003
Fraser Valley Action Langley TWU Rogers Park 2002
Kamloops Heat Kamloops Hillside Stadium
NSGSC Eagles North Vancouver Sutherland Park 2005
Okanagan FC Kelowna UBC Okanagan 2009
Surrey United Cloverdale Cloverdale Athletic Park
TSS Academy Richmond TBD 2010
West Vancouver FC West Vancouver Ambleside Park
Vancouver Thunderbirds Vancouver Thunderbird Stadium 2011
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Burnaby Terry Fox Field 2005
Peninsula COOP Highlanders Victoria Hampton Park 2001

Reserve [edit]

Teams City Home Field Join
Chilliwack FC Chilliwack Townsend Park 2009
Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC Coquitlam Charles Best Field 2003
Fraser Valley Action Langley Spartan Complex Stadium 2002
NSGSC Eagles North Vancouver Sutherland Park 2005
Vancouver FC Women Vancouver TBD 2010
Semiahmoo SC White Rock South Surrey Athletic Park 2006
TSS Academy Richmond TBD 2010
Richmond GSC Richmond Minoru Park 2010
Kelowna United Kelowna Apple Bowl 2001
Kamloops Heat Kamloops TBD 2010
Langley FC Langley Willoughby Turf 2010
Mid Isle Highlanders Ladysmith Merle Logan Turf 2012

Champions [edit]

These are the league champions, or regular season champions in North American sports vernacular.

Men [edit]

Women [edit]

Reserve Men [edit]

Reserve Women [edit]

Challenge Cup Winners [edit]

The Challenge Cup is the playoffs in the North American vernacular with the top four teams, or the Host team and the top three, competing in a single game straight knockout tournament seeded by league standings.

Men [edit]

Women [edit]

Challenge Cup Winners [edit]

Reserve Men [edit]

Reserve Women [edit]

Former Men's PCSL Teams [edit]

Modern Era [edit]

Historical Teams [edit]

Former Women's PCSL Teams [edit]

External links [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Competitions". Bcsoccer.net. Retrieved April 9, 2013. 
  2. ^ Name, No (2012). "USASA National Leagues". USASA Directory. Retrieved 21 April 2013. 
  3. ^ Name, No (2012). "USASA Regional Leagues". USASA Directory. Retrieved 21 April 2013. 
  4. ^ Name, No (2012). "USASA Affiliates". USASA Directory. Retrieved 21 April 2013. 
  5. ^ Name, No (2012). "Leagues". WSSA. Retrieved 21 April 2013. 
  6. ^ Name, No (2012). "OASA Affiliated Leagues". WSSA. Retrieved 21 April 2013. 
  7. ^ http://www.usasa.com/EventsPrograms/nationalcups/index_E.html
  8. ^ British Colonist July 26, 190 p17 and 29 Available:http://www.britishcolonist.ca
  9. ^ British Colonist November 5, 1908 p9 Available:http://www.britishcolonist.ca
  10. ^ British Colonist November 5, 1908 p9 Available:http://www.britishcolonist.ca
  11. ^ British Colonist January 14, 1909 p9 Available:http://www.britishcolonist.ca
  12. ^ British Colonist February 9, 1909 p9 Available:http://www.britishcolonist.ca
  13. ^ British Colonist March 6, 1909 p9 Available:http://www.britishcolonist.ca
  14. ^ Jose, Colin (2012). "The saga of the PCSL". Canadian Soccer History.  Unknown parameter |urlo= ignored (help);
Pacific Coast Soccer League
Overview
Men's national teams
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Women's national teams
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Overview
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Fourth level association football leagues of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
North America
Central America
Caribbean5
  • 1: Canada and the United States share one fourth league, the PDL.
  • 2: North American member but affiliated to CFU.
  • 3: South American member but affiliated to CONCACAF and to CFU.
  • 4:Full CONCACAF member, but not affiliated to FIFA.
  • 5: Unlisted CFU nations do not contain a fourth league.
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