The 2008 Vancouver Whitecaps season was the club's 23rd year of existence (or 33rd if counting the NASL Whitecaps), as well as their 16th as a Division 2 club in the franchise model of US-based soccer leagues. With games against well supported MLS side Toronto FC in the Voyageurs Cup and local rival Seattle Sounders selling 22,000 season tickets for MLS in 2009, the Vancouver Whitecaps were marketed as one of the leading markets for a 2011 MLS expansion side. This included expanding the ownership to include Victoria, BC raised NBA star Steve Nash in July. The Division 1 MLS speculation along with the higher profile that came with public negotiations with Vancouver City Council and the Port of Metro Vancouver to develop the Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium gave a boost to media coverage and game attendances. The privately financed stadium, first proposed in 2006, appeared to be reaching its final government land use approvals in 2008.
The 2008 season started in a strong fashion with two losses in their first ten games as new coach Teitur Thordarson maintained the defensive style of previous coach Bob Lilley to grind out results. The USL-1 league was a closely contested affair with eleven points separating 11th and third in the standings. However, the top two teams, the Whitecaps and Puerto Rico were a further ten points clear of third place. The Commissioner's Cup was a contest between the Whitecaps, who finished runner-up by one point, and the Puerto Rico Islanders. The Whitecaps almost squandered a 5-1 aggregate league by letting the Minnesota Thunder back into the second leg of the USL-1 play in round, but held on for a 5-4 aggregate win. In the semi-final series against Montreal Impact they ground out a first leg 1-0 loss after their goal keeper was ejected. The Whitecaps deservedly won the second leg 2-0 at home to go through 2-1 on aggregate to the final against Puerto Rico Islanders. The playoff final was a back and forth game in which the Whitecaps prevailed 2-1 in front of 5,822 at their long time home of Swangard Stadium.
This was the first year of the official tournament for the Voyageurs Cup also known as the Canadian Championship as CONCACAF designated a Canadian spot in the new champions league structure of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Whitecaps finished third in the 2008 Voyaguers Cup with two losses to Montreal and a draw and a win over Division 1 MLS side Toronto FC.
Schedule and results
Tables
Pos Club Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD H2H Pts1Puerto Rico Islanders543015964323+202Vancouver Whitecaps533015873428+63Montreal Impact4230126123328+54Rochester Rhinos41†30119103532+35Charleston Battery4030117123436−2CHA: 4 ptsSEA: 4 pts6Seattle Sounders40301010103736+17Minnesota Thunder3930109114038+28Carolina RailHawks3730910113443−99Miami FC3430810122834−6MIA: 7 ptsATL: 1 pt10Atlanta Silverbacks3430810123750−1311Portland Timbers3130710132633−7 Tie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery † Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008
Pre-season
USL-1
Results by round
Post-season Play-in Round
Semi-finals
Final
Canadian Championship
Canadian Championship standings
Canadian Championship results
Cascadia Cup
Friendlies
Current roster After the 2007 season, the Whitecaps and coach Bob Lilley parted ways with the Whitecaps hiring Teitur Thordarson. Many local long time stalwart veteran players such as Jeff Clarke, Jason Jordan, Steve Kindel, Geordie Lyall, Martin Nash, and Alfredo Valente remained on the roster. Leading striker Eduardo Sebrango also was back for another year with the new coach.
The Whitecaps signed Jamaican striker Nicholas Addlery, US keeper Jay Nolly, Omar Jarun, Japanese international Takashi Hirano, and Bolivian youth international Vicente Arze.
Staff Head coach – Teitur Thordarson Assistant coach – Todd Wawrousek Manager communications – Nathan Vanstone Director of professional teams – Greg Anderson Office manager – Lindsay Pucklik President – Bob Lenarduzzi
All stats as of the end of the season.
Goalkeeper stats No.Nat.PlayerTotalUSL-1Playoffs1Jay Nolly207081241.0439207081241.04393251951.38 129 Srdjan Djekanovic630234||0.57||4||630||23||4||0.57||4||0||0||0||0||0 |- | style="text-align: right;" |0 |||| style="text-align: left;" |Tyler Baldock |0||0||0||0.00||0'0000.000125610.721
Player statistics No.Pos.Name Apps Minutes Goals Assists Shots Fouls 0GK Tyler Baldock1(1)1250000001GK Jay Nolly2723950000312DF Jeff Clarke20(1)174332916403MF Nick Webb0(4)400001004DF Adrian Cann872000114104DF Wesley Charles15(1)132101114306DF Luca Bellisomo9(2)80711311207MF Martin Nash332896132528408DF Steve Kindel27(3)2445021737609MF Alfredo Valente25(6)20462233265111FW Nicholas Addlery16(12)14404144328112FW Eduardo Sebrango31254813376334113DF Geordie Lyall5(1)31200160013MF Mason Webb0(2)2300000014MF Tony Donatelli6(4)480011081015DF Omar Jarun21(4)19451113438117FW Randy Edwini-Bonsu0(4)3600210018DF Mason Trafford5(10)57000380019MF Chris Pozniak6(1)570114111020MF Ethan Gage2(6)445005120020FW Charles Gbeke10(7)7835326282020FW Dever Orgill(1)3800110020MF Navid Mashinchi(1)600000022DF Takashi Hirano16(7)1762106244023MF Vicente Arze8(18)10971225243024DF Lyle Martin25(2)2283158271025MF Tyrell Burgess11(14)10471228152025MF Justin Moose16(8)15642415267026FW Jason Jordan5(20)897231891027MF Stefan Leslie0(6)7000000028DF Diaz Kambere8(2)68400460029GK Srdjan Djekanovic763000000029GK Richard Goddard0000000029MF Admir Salihovic1(3)8810220031GK Simon Thomas00000000—–Opponent Own goals––1––––– Updated February 28, 2014 Note this list includes only players that have dressed in the eighteen. Note brackets indicate substitute appearances. Note statistics are for league and playoffs (not preseason). Voyageurs Cup statistics appear to no longer be available.
References