The original Vancouver Whitecaps were founded on December 11, 1973. During the 1970s and 1980s, they played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), a soccer league that no longer exists. The Whitecaps achieved success, winning the 1979 Soccer Bowl.
It was during this short time that soccer became popular in Vancouver. The Whitecaps crowds at Empire Stadium grew to sell out crowds, at 32,000 fans per match.
After playing at Vancouver's 32,000-seat Empire Stadium for most of their early years, the team moved into the new 60,000-seat BC Place Stadium in 1983. However, the end of the NASL in 1984 meant the Whitecaps could not longer play in the NASL.
Whitecaps did not play in 1985, but they joined the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) the next year and changed their name to the 86ers. They joined the United Soccer Leagues in 1990, and renamed themselves back to the Whitecaps and then to "Vancouver Whitecaps FC". For the next twenty years, they played in the second level of soccer in Canada, finally ending in 2010.
Now they play in Major League Soccer, which they started playing in during 2011. On October 21, 2012, the Whitecaps became the first Canadian team to make it into the MLS Cup Playoffs.[4] The team was eliminated in the knockout round by the LA Galaxy.[5]
