Pacific FC–Vancouver FC rivalry
The Pacific FC–Vancouver FC rivalry, also known as the BC Derby and Salish Sea Derby, is a British Columbian intra-provincial soccer rivalry between Pacific FC of Langford, and Vancouver FC of Langley Township.[1] They regularly compete with each other in the Canadian Premier League.
| Location | Coastal British Columbia |
|---|---|
| Teams | |
| First meeting | Pacific 1–0 Vancouver CPL (April 15, 2023) |
| Latest meeting | Pacific 1–2 Vancouver CPL (June 27, 2024) |
| Next meeting | Vancouver vs Pacific CPL (August 11, 2024) |
| Stadiums | Starlight Stadium Willoughby Community Park |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 6 |
| Most wins | Vancouver: 4 |
| Top scorer | Gabriel Bitar (3) |
| All-time series | Pacific: 2 Draw: 0 Vancouver: 4 |
| Largest victory | Vancouver 3–6 Pacific CPL (June 2, 2023) |
| Current win streak | Vancouver (4) |
History
Pacific FC are an inaugural member of the Canadian Premier League, and played their first season in 2019. Despite having developed small and/or temporary rivalries with Cavalry FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the rivalries were considered secondary, as Cavalry would view their rivalries with FC Edmonton and Forge FC as being more important, while the Whitecaps played in a different league (MLS) completely. However, this would change following the foundation of Vancouver FC, a Canadian Premier League expansion team that started play in 2023.[2]
The idea of a British Columbia derby or rivalry was quickly adopted by the league and supporters' groups of both clubs.[3] In addition to their geographic proximity, the pair of clubs drew attention for sharing the same ownership group.[4] The first player to sign with Vancouver FC was Callum Irving who had been the starting goalkeeper for Pacific for the past three seasons.[1]
In an attempt to further instigate the rivalry, the league scheduled Pacific FC and Vancouver FC to play their first match of the regular season against each other. Since Vancouver FC was an expansion team in their inaugural season, this match was also their first ever match as a team, excluding preseason friendlies. Pacific FC would win the first match of the rivalry 1–0 in front of 4,825 spectators at Starlight Stadium. The winning goal was scored by Manny Aparicio in the eighty-first minute, which was quickly followed by a provocative celebration in front of the traveling supporters' section.[5]
As the season progressed, Pacific FC would stay near the top of the table, while Vancouver quickly fell into last place, having won only one league match in their first seven games. Pacific FC triumphed again in their second league game against Vancouver with a 6–3 away win. Vancouver FC's first win against Pacific occurred in their third meeting of the regular season. Despite Pacific being up 2–1 late in the game, Gabriel Bitar scored two late goals for Vancouver in the last fourteen minutes, including an 87th minute winner to give Vancouver a 3–2 victory.[6]
Statistics
Head-to-head record
- As of May 25, 2024
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Goals | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAC | VFC | PAC | VFC | |||
| Canadian Premier League | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Total matches | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
Honours
| Pacific FC | Competition | Vancouver FC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CPL Championships | — |
| — | CPL Shield | — |
| — | Canadian Championship | — |
| 1 | Aggregate | 0 |
Results
| Pacific FC win |
| Vancouver FC win |
| Tie |
| Season | Competition | Date | Home team | Result | Away team | Venue | Attendance | Series | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Canadian Premier League | April 15, 2023 | Pacific | 1–0 | Vancouver | Starlight Stadium | 4,825 | PAC 1–0–0 | |
| June 2, 2023 | Vancouver | 3–6 | Pacific | Willoughby Community Park | 3,438 | PAC 2–0–0 | |||
| August 19, 2023 | Vancouver | 3–2 | Pacific | Willoughby Community Park | 2,363 | PAC 2–0–1 | |||
| September 30, 2023 | Pacific | 1–2 | Vancouver | Starlight Stadium | 4,404 | Tied 2–0–2 | |||
| 2024 | Canadian Premier League | May 25, 2024 | Vancouver | 2–1 | Pacific | Willoughby Community Park | 3,127 | VFC 3–0–2 | |
| June 27, 2024 | Pacific | 1–2 | Vancouver | Starlight Stadium | 3,255 | VFC 4–0–2 | |||
| August 11, 2024 | Vancouver | Pacific | Willoughby Community Park | ||||||
| September 14, 2024 | Pacific | Vancouver | Starlight Stadium | ||||||
League ranking by season
| P. | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Season | Playoffs | |
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | SF | |
| 4 | 4 | |
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | 7 | |
| 8 | ||
Player Statistics
Goalscorers
- As of June 27, 2023
| Rank | Pos | Nat | Name | PAC | VFC | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MF | Gabriel Bitar | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2 | MF | Manny Aparicio | 2 | 2 | ||
| MF | Vasco Fry | 2 | 2 | |||
| DF | Thomas Meilleur-Giguère | 2 | 2 | |||
| FW | Easton Ongaro | 2 | 2 | |||
| FW | Ayman Sellouf | 2 | 2 | |||
| 7 | MF | Elage Bah | 1 | 1 | ||
| MF | Mikaël Cantave | 1 | 1 | |||
| FW | Djenairo Daniels | 1 | 1 | |||
| FW | Alejandro Díaz | 1 | 1 | |||
| DF | Amer Didić | 1 | 1 | |||
| MF | Moses Dyer | 1 | 1 | |||
| MF | Josh Heard | 1 | 1 | |||
| FW | Shaan Hundal | 1 | 1 | |||
| MF | Min-jae Kwak | 1 | 1 | |||
| MF | Kekuta Manneh | 1 | 1 | |||
| MF | Taryck Tahid | 1 | 1 | |||
| Totals | 12 | 12 | 24 | |||
Players who played for both clubs
- As of February 2, 2024
Pacific, then Vancouver
- Kadin Chung (Pacific: 2019–2021, Vancouver 2023–present)
- Callum Irving (Pacific: 2022–2022, Vancouver: 2023–present)
- Alejandro Díaz (Pacific: 2020–2022, Vancouver: 2023–present)
References
- Cleve Dheensaw (27 January 2023). "New Pacific FC-Vancouver FC derby to kick off CPL season". Times Colonist. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- Mitchell Tierney (2 November 2022). "'This market is ready for something different': Vancouver FC owner Rob Friend on the vision behind the CPL's newest club". Canadian Premier League.
- Mitchell Tierney (27 January 2023). "'Pride on the line': BC Derby between Vancouver FC and Pacific to open 2023 CPL season". canpl.ca. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- "Vancouver FC offers a look at its new modular Canadian Premier League stadium home". Sportsnet.ca. Canadian Press. February 9, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- J.J. Adams (1 June 2023). "Only a game old, the Pacific FC-Vancouver FC derby has some fire to it". The Province. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (21 August 2023). ""We're not going to quit": Vancouver FC aiming to use first Salish Sea Derby win as catalyst for turnaround". OneSoccer. Retrieved 4 February 2024.